My Trash… Someone’s Treasure
As I mentioned yesterday, my time in Ethiopia was a week of “firsts” for me.
Having worked in Korah serving lepers, renovating homes, worshiping with some of the people, new foods, new customs… I couldn’t imagine what else God had in store!
The day before I left Ethiopia, we drove out of Korah to the dump… the city dump.
Two boys that live there
There are about 100 adults and children living there. They eat and sleep there.
It was the worst things my eyes have ever seen! It is shaped like a giant hill and as we made our way to the top of the “hill,” I felt like we were walking into hell. Each step got harder and harder.
Flies and gnats were swarming all over us and the smell was indescribable. Several trucks were there dumping trash and the people would stand right underneath them and grab what they could as the trash poured out.
Then they would scour through the rest of the trash that had landed on the ground.
One guy I talked to told me where each truck was from. He pointed at one and said, “That truck is from Ethiopian Airlines.”
My heart stopped and I immediately thought, “I was on Ethiopian Airlines on Monday… the trash from my tray is probably on that truck!”
The people were grabbing the utensil packets and eating the sugar packets in them as well as other food items they could salvage.
Tears were streaming from all of our eyes as we looked around at the absolute, bottom line “least of these.” We prayed over that place and asked the Lord to give us wisdom about what we were to do from here. He had let us all see this for a reason and now that we had seen it, we were responsible!
My buddy Henock (far left) with me and my Nashville neighbors Barrett and Rachel Ward and their daughter, Howlett
As we drove back to our guest house, our hearts were so heavy no one could say a word. Later that night, we sat around and tried to process all that the Lord had shown us that day.
The next day, before I flew back, I got to visit with my next door neighbors, Barrett and Rachel Ward, who were there adopting their second child. It was so cool to be able to connect with them there!
Barrett heads up an organization called “Mocha Club” and he has also started a ministry there called “Fashion-able.”
Looms at Fashion-able
Fashion-able allows women to get off the streets and make a living by weaving scarfs and other apparel items. I will be telling you more about this later!
I boarded my flight on Ethiopian Airlines that night and when they set my dinner tray in front of me, tears began to stream down my eyes. All I could see was that truck from the day before.
I took the fork from my packet and twisted it tightly around that sugar packet…and left as much I could sealed.
I never before realized that my trash was someone else’s treasure.