10 Things I learned in Ethiopia

3/2/19

So currently I am sitting here writing this blog in a ski lodge in Toronto watching the snow fall and people come flying down the hill (hill. it’s got nothing on Colorado mountains) while my squad leaders are snowboarding. Doesn’t feel like real life. At all. In fact, about 24 hours ago I was still in Harbu Chulule, a small village in a remote place in Africa with mud huts and limited electricity and water sources. Quite the culture shock I am currently experiencing. The world is such a vast place, it is mind blowing. 

I’m am constantly amazed at the faithfulness and goodness of God as I get to travel the world and as He takes me on the wildest adventures of all time. Life with Papa in control  is anything but boring. 

So here are some of the biggest things I learned in Ethiopia and am going to take with me!

1.) God loves to sit with us. 

Coming to Ethiopia, I had a really hard time transitioning from the busyness of living in a city (Siem Reap) to living in the middle of nowhere in Africa with no Wi-Fi and no distractions. Even back at home my life was always go, go, go. One of the first weekends I was here, I was asking God what He wanted to do with me in this season and He simply told me to ‘sit.’ Honestly, I wasn’t super happy with that answer. Prior to coming to Africa, I had an extremely hard time sitting still. So I wasn’t super excited about the idea of having 3 months to just sit. But, what I have come to learn is that this time to sit with the Lord has helped me to know His voice and has grown my faith in ways that I could never have imagined. I love just sitting with Him now. In fact it’s such a part of my daily routine that if I don’t do it, I don’t really feel that grounded. The Lord makes everything make sense in my life. Even when things don’t really make sense, He always comforts me. 

2.) God’s love sometimes hurts but it is NOT harmful. 

I have learned so much about emotional healing since being in Ethiopia. Allowing God to bring up those memories and to actually walk through them again has been really hard. There’s things that I don’t want to have to relive much less let God in on (even though I know He was there in all of those moments). I know that He brought those memories back up though and showed me what lies I was believing about myself, the situation or other people, what the truths are and also where He was in it all, because He was. It hurts. Walking through Spirit-lead emotional healing is not always very fun but it is ultimately just a testament to the Lord’s character. He is a Father that loves us too deep to leave us in the hurting. So sometimes His love hurts, but is never because He is trying to harm us. He works all pain for our good and He never ever leaves us in the hurting of His love.

3.) He is Jehovah Rapha. 

I got to experience the power of the Lord’s healing first hand since being here. It has been absolutely incredible and it’s hard to even put into words. All I know is that my own physical body is healed. And healing took place throughout our squad too. One of my friends who had severe scoliosis to the point where should could physically feel and see it was healed in the lower part of her spine. It is completely straight in the lower part of her back now. Many people on the squad have prayed and witnessed the Lord healing people’s sight. We got to see an orphan boy who had mental and physical disabilities (in his spine?) come to HOPEthiopia and be partially healed. He can now eat solid foods, move His arms and legs, and can make sounds with His mouth. He improves so much each day, it’s incredible to see. We are all believing that He will one day be completely healed because God is a God of complete healing. 

4.) God is a God of the journey. 

God just wants to be with us. He could care less where we end up or where we are at currently. It’s not a race when it comes to our relationship with Him. Sure He has places that He wants to take us and things that He wants us to step into, but overall He just wants to love us. He takes us on journeys of healing, journeys where we travel, journeys where we learn. Journeys and adventures are endless with Him. I’m so thankful that He wants to take us on a journey because my life is so much more joyful, vibrant and adventurous with Him by my side. I mean, He brought me to Cambodia and Ethiopia! And I know He will continue to bring me into even bigger and better seasons and places after the Race. 

5.) He chooses me, always.

This is something that I have come to realize that I have a hard time believing. I have a hard time with not letting the ways that I don’t feel chosen by people become attached to my view of God. He has been so faithful in reminding me through scripture that I read or through the community surrounding me that I am chosen by Him in everything. He chose me to be His daughter. He chose me to love. He chose me to come to all these countries across the world. He chose me to come to Africa for these last three months to love and learn from the people around me. He chooses and pursues me everyday, regardless of people choosing me or not. I am learning and beginning to rest more in the fact that He will always choose me and that I don’t have to worry about if people do or not. 

6.) The Lord wants us to dream with Him.

It’s easy for me to think that there is only one way to live life. That going to college is the “right” way and getting a nine to five job is the “right” way. I’m not saying these things are wrong, because they’re not. I just know that God calls us and invites us into so much more. I’ve had a dream to travel and explore the world my whole life. I was too scared to admit that even to myself though because I was afraid to feel disappointment. That’s the thing though. The Lord knows the wildest desires and dreams of our hearts but He also has His plans for us. And His plans are so much more wild than anything I could ever dream up. He wants me to trust that what He has for me is big and an amazing adventure. He wants me to dream because He doesn’t want to be limited to the boxes I put Him in. 

7.) God is my protector 

It’s easy for me to feel unprotected when I’m worried about the ways that I can be hurt physically or see physical danger. But, God reminded me through my squad leader, Luis, that He is the protector of my heart, soul and mind. Does He pull us out of situation that may hurt physically? Yes. But sometimes He doesn’t because that would mean taking away the free will of one of His beloved children. His promises to me will always still stand. I can come running into His arms which are a safe place and there is nothing that He can’t heal and mend. If my heart, soul and mind are protected, and I am just living in a Earthly body, can anyone actually really hurt me? I don’t think so. The Lord is my comforter and protector. 

8.) The Lord spurs us on in community.

Recently I’ve been going through the 13 books in the New Testament in which Paul writes letters to the churches. It has been so cool to read about the way that the church body is designed to work and why. I’ve learned that if the root of a body is Christ, then the tree will produce good fruits (Romans 11:16). Each member of the body belongs to all the others; we all belong to each other (Romans 12:5). The squad that the Lord has surrounded me with is truly incredible. It’s hard to even describe them to you all because they tear down every single lie or stereotype that is on the church body, our generation or people in general. They each seek the Lord earnestly and their pursuit to become more like Him spurs me on. It’s easy to sometimes be intimidated by this, but the Lord constantly reminds me that He surrounded me with this community to spur me on. I believe with my entire heart that the Kingdom will come near because of these people and because of this generation. They are incredible and I wish that you could see just a glimpse of the way that these people intentionally pursue everyone around them in love, diligently pray for each other, and celebrate each other. They know how to encourage in weaknesses and empower in both weakness and strength. God placing me on this squad is both the biggest honor and blessing. From the bottom of my heart, I love you, S squad. 

9.) God is the one who does the work (if I allow Him to).

I can do nothing out of my own strength. I am not meant to carry anything. Instead the Lord asks me to lay it all down so that He can continue to move in my life and grow me without everything else getting in the way. Most recently I have experienced a lot of stress and not being at peace physically, spiritually and emotionally because I have tried to take on things that I am not meant to carry. I have to allow Him to move in my life by first laying all these things back down at His feet. 

10.) The Lord is always faithful 

Throughout the Race, I’ve struggled to trust that when things are hard, God is good and faithful. It’s been cool to see that as I have gone about living in Ethiopia, the Lord has reminded me that He works ALL things for good, even when I can’t see it. After the Lord revealed to me that I was angry with Him for the season of my life in which I was super sick and dealing with stomach issues, I was able to heal from that. Now, being on the other side of the mountain, I realized that He used that pain to allow me to walk in His promises of healing. I wouldn’t have fully known and believed that the Lord still heals everyday if I hadn’t experienced the changes in my own physical body. It isn’t my job to question why He does the things He does, but to trust Him and His promises. He works all things for good. He is faithful in it all. Even in pain and hard times, He is faithful. I know that wholeheartedly now and believe it with a kind of trust that I’ve never known before. 

So this is a look into all the big things God taught me in Ethiopia, but honestly the list was kind of endless. God teaches us little things each and every day. 

I hope to get photos posted within the next couple of days and also share links to videos that my squad mates made from Ethiopia! 

(All on Facebook) 

-Elena