Ethiopia Feb. 2023: God’s Family Abroad

Written By: Emily Johnson

Ethiopia is my happy place. I am sitting writing my blog from my hotel room and I can hear children laughing outside and it is so peaceful. The villages are beautiful, and the people are even more beautiful. I absolutely love it here!

Yesterday, I was on a team with Dan and Nate, and it was such a cool experience! I went to Ethiopia with them a few years ago and they have grown up so much since then! I was so proud of them!

Today, I had another cool experience! In the last home my team went into, Alli and I helped pour scalding hot coffee into the cups (Ethiopian’s have a really impressive heat tolerance). About halfway into visiting, our translator said that the people in the home had already been saved about 2 weeks ago! Alli, Zoe and I were really excited and asked them a lot of questions about how they got saved and it turned out that a friend had led them to Christ! We were still going to present the cubes for teaching purposes, but one of the men in the home said he already learned them at his church. Turns out Mesfin had gone to his church earlier and taught him the cubes. We heard that there was a lot of persecution in the village and so we decided to pray for them, and it was an absolutely amazing experience. They prayed so fervently and enthusiastically! It was such an honor to be in that house with them. The cherry on top was that we got to ride a horse cart from the last home to the bus.

Here is something the Lord has been teaching me on this trip: The first day my team and I got to a home late, and we had previously missed a home. I was worried because I didn’t know what to do because missing a home was a big no no and we weren’t able to get in contact with Mesfin. In our last home I was processing why I was so stressed and was reminded that I am not in control, but God is always in control. He knew how this day was going to go, and I could trust in Him to make it right. It ended up all working out! I don’t need to worry because God has got it. I just need to rely on Him and trust in Him!

I am so glad I came on this trip! It has been awesome to see God work!