Sometimes in Africa, things do not go according to the plan. There's a part of visiting any third world country that requires you to be very flexible. One day in Ethiopia our plans to visit an orphanage didn't work out and our translator arranged another ministry for us to visit. Because the purpose of the trip was to visit orphans, we all assumed that we would be going to another orphange and working with children. We pulled over on a busy and crowded street and our translator said, " Don't take anything with you. Leave everything in the van." We all kinda questioned him. There were street kids begging for money at the windows of the van and many people looking at us getting out and leaving all our things. So none of us understood how it would be safe to leave our money, passports, nice cameras etc in the van. He said, " We have to walk thru a lot of homeless people and your stuff is safer here."

We walked in a single file line down the street and down some stairways. The stairways were packed with homeless people. It was hot and smelled bad. People were pulling on me and tapping me to ask for money. When we got down the stairs, we were told that we would be serving lunch. I was so confused, "Where is the orphanage?" I asked, "Where are the kids?". Our translator explained that we were not visiting an orphanage, we were serving lunch to the hundreds of homeless people we had just walked thru. I had never served food in a homeless ministry before and, to be honest,  the idea kinda scared me a little. I was somewhat comforted when a teammate looked at me with big eyes and said, "This freaks me out." I looked at her, agreed with her, and said that we would stick together.

The first round of homeless people came in for lunch. It smelled bad.  I don't handle smells well. I was so hot. I was trying to carry a bucket full of sauce but my back hurt so bad and it was making it worse. I was so uncomfortable. One man asked me to marry him and the whole table started laughing and talking about me and my friend in a language I couldn't understand. After the first round, I was somewhat angry. I didn't sign up for this.  I didn't have that "heart for the homeless" that some people have.

Then God reminded me that HIS heart is for these people. I had read 1 John 4 that morning and the last part of the chapter talks about how God is love and how we are called to love others. These were the people that I was called to love.

Over the next few rounds of people coming to eat, something began to change. Many of the homeless people were disabled and needed help getting to and from the table. They were so grateful for the assistance that we gave them. By the last group, I was having fun serving people and trying to communicate with people. I found myself laughing a lot. Then, I went to a table at the back of the room, where some of the street kids were sitting. I sat down with some young boys and started talking to them. One little boy just kept smiling but never answered. His friends explained to me that he was deaf. One of the workers told me he lost his hearing from untreated ear infections. That broke my heart, because we can treat ear infections so easily here in the US. So I asked if they used sign language or had hearing aids or anything for people that are hearing impaired. The worker said no. While I was talking to the worker, that little boy ran up to me and gave me a huge hug and smiled. Then he left, and headed back out on the streets where he lives.

After we were done serving, the director of the ministry told us a little more about what they do. The name of the ministry is called Hope Enterprises. They feed 1,000 hungry people a day. We asked how much that cost and he said 1 birr per person. When we did the math, we found out that it costs about 60 US dollars to feed 1,000 people! We couldn't believe it. We had just watched 1,000 people eat for about 60 dollars! I am so thankful that I got to witness this! It's amazing to think how far 60 dollars can go.

Serving food at Hope Enterprise was the most stretching part of the trip for me. But, I will never forget that day. One of the girls on our team is a junior in high school and just had her prom. Because of what she experienced here, she decided to borrow a prom dress and do her own hair and makeup. She donated the money she would have spent on prom to Hope Enterprises. By sacrificing one night, she fed hundreds to thousands of people. That is so encourgaging to me.

I am encouraged even more after going to Hope Enterprise to do things that are out of my comfort zone. It was a humbling experience and I learned a lot about myself and my fears. But more importantly, I learned more about the character of Christ and that His perfect love will drive out fear (1 John 4:18).