First Thoughts From Addis

I have now spent 3 full days in Addis, and am learning how little I really know and understand about people, life, and God! I've laughed a lot--donkeys and goats in the road next to skyscrapers, business signs ("Mariot", "McBurger"--golden arches and everything!), drivers contantly honking at each other ("get out of my way!", "excuse me!", "sorry!"), a beneficiary saying to another staff member about me "why doesn't she speak Amharic??". Yet I have nearly cried so many times--at an AIDS orphanage where there are 400 kids and so little staff, where babies need to be held and loved; at the thought of being far from home yet at the same time knowing that I can't and shouldn't claim anywhere on this earth as home; at deep spiritual forces that hold people in bondage and compound physical, mental, emotional, and relational issues. Behind the sleep deprivation (I've had time to sleep, just haven't done it well amidst the jetlag, dogs barking, neighbors scrubbing clothes, and early morning calls to prayers), my mind is spinning a bit!
During the past 3 days, I have gotten to do and see a lot. I spent a lot of time at the MTW/SIM HIV/AIDS (want some more letters in there?) project office, where I will be working out of for the next year. The staff there is amazing--both international and indigenous--and is committed to the work at hand. I attended on home visits and sat in on support groups there. I got to visit an AIDS orphanage, which was heartbreaking--you walk in a door and 200+ toddler hands try to grab yours, to get a hug, to just touch you. Today I visited a women's fistula hospital, which was incredible--there is great work being done and lives are being changed--but there is so much left.
And always will be, which leaves me with where I am now! I am here in Addis for the year to hopefully lend my hands to those of a Body reaching out--but know I will learn so much more about love and compassion and giving when you have nothing then I even know.
God has been really gracious to ease this transition thus far--tonight I went to an expat SIM small group, and someone had made Texas Sheet Cake--yes, one of my favorite desserts . . . in Addis. Ok, so it doesn't take much to make me happy. Chocolate goes a long way!!
Thanks for reading this rather long post! I am so grateful for all of you!