I am going on about two hours sleep and half a bag of Twizzlers so I will try to be as cognizant as possible. The trip started off fun and we could not ask for better winners to have on along with us than Kayla and her father Dan. They are both fun down to earth people who I like very much.
They even had a birthday card waiting for me in my hotel…Zach did not, but that is enough about that.
We all met in Philadelphia where it seemed only nature to sing the Fresh Prince of Bellaire theme song (…in west Philadelphia born and raised…)loudly. Which I did and one guy got very annoyed with me. The good news is we have video of it to share when we get back as the internet is a bit sketchy in Adis Ababa, which for the record, is even as fun to write as it is to say.
I am not a big Blogger I usually leave that to the guys who like to hear the sound of their own typing but I wanted to write down and somehow convey my thoughts upon arriving in Adis Ababa (still fun to type). Even though we arrived in Ethiopia under the cover of night the darkness could not hide her unbelievable poverty. The streets are literally littered with people and you get quick glimpses of lives that will almost certainly be even sadder when daylight illuminates the horrible inequities in this world.
We always say we are so blessed, which is true but it almost denotes a sense of entitlement. Why us and not them? It is not something we did and I certainly don’t think God favors me and the mess I have made of my life over these beautiful people. So why? For many years the question of why does God allow suffering an poverty stood as a gaping chasm between myself and God. It wasn’t til I was able to settle that question somewhat in my mind that I could move forward with my relationship with Him. If you have ever wondered the same thing I will share with you the revelation I came up with…wait for it…here ya go…I don’t know! I’m not God and there are certain things that I will never understand about a God who created everything I see. I don’t know why children suffer and die on his watch when I believe he is all powerful and could stop it at any time, so why then? The answer: is it doesn’t matter what His reasons are. I have seen it first hand so now what do I do? Do I close my eyes and pray that God will send the answer to these people’s desperate prayers or do I roll up my sleeves and maybe, simply become part of the answer they are praying for by refusing to do nothing. I submit that many times we are the answer to the prayer we pray when we ask God to help people. The reason is it not only helps those people but when you care for the “least of these,†as Jesus said there is an exchange that takes place. These people receive the physical help they need but you experience the power of the God we sometimes merely read about.
