August 16th-26th, 2006
“Thank-you. Thank-you so much for coming to help us. You have brought us hope. That is enough. No more needs to be said,” said a young boy, a college student about my age at the old Italian-built clinic, now serving as our base for the eye ministry.
It had been a long road. The trip began with everything going wrong. As if the previous ticket/date scrambles weren’t enough, the heightened security caused by the recent terrorist threats made the beginning of our travels that much more exciting. By God’s grace we made it through the awkward airport search-throughs and pat downs, made our worrisome London connection, and somehow got all 20 of us to Ethiopia, yet our 3:30am arrival in Addis Ababa was less than smooth as only a portion of the team luggage actually arrived in the country. Many of the team members, including myself, were bumming clothes and toiletries off of other teammates, and learning the true value of clean underwear and toothbrushes. Then, despite efforts from Tigrayan government officials, customs only let through our eyeglass equipment at a price and through Marguerita’s plaintive tears and hours of haggling with officials.
Eventually we made it though but our first day in Addis turned into our first two days in Addis after our Mekele flight was first cancelled and then delayed. Saturday afternoon we finally arrived, a day and a half later than planned, at the airport in Mekele, where we were greeted warmly by the Tigray province Minister of Health who had been anxiously anticipating our arrival. He picked us up from the airport in government-owned vehicles (for those of you unfamiliar with missions trips-this is not a normal occurrence) and we were taken to the clinic in Kwiha where throngs of Tigraians had been patiently awaiting our arrival for days.
To say we had a scrambled set-up is putting it mildly. With half of our materials somewhere between London and Addis, along with all our procedures and a bit of our sanity, compounded by a new facility, nearly untrained team, and an already late start, it was a miracle we got anything working correctly on our first day. Not only so, but as with all of our plans, our previous ideas of ministry in the area were also scrapped during a meeting with the area’s church leadership that afternoon. We came with ideas of proclaiming the saving grace of Jesus openly and boldly to many, planting churches, and starting movements in this very much closed area. Yet quietly, passionately, the spokesmen for the 7 churches in the area made his plea.
“No evangelism. Do not even mention the name of Jesus,” he said. “If the people think we are just trying to convert them, we are lost. This area has been closed for so long that even just the fact that evangelical Christians are allowed to put on the clinic is amazing. We just need to get the door open. Any hint of anything other than humanitarian aid on this first day could be disastrous and lead not only to a dispelling of clinics for the week, but also permanently closed doors and even persecution for the church leaders. Show Jesus’ love in your actions. For today, that is enough.”
A cloud of dampened enthusiasm and sobriety quickly fell over our team’s previously eager faces and we found that our zeal would have to be tempered by patience and humility.
They had undergone much for their faith. Persecution, poverty, rejection, ridicule, all had refined and purified the church. The church, though small (around 1,000 people out of 1 million in the province), was brilliant and radiant with a faith stronger than I had ever met before and with the passion of the Holy Spirit like I had never come in contact with before.
And so, our first day we came to serve and tried to quietly share the love of Christ through our actions. The town of Mekele was well informed of our coming. Everyone seemed to have heard about the clinic. Well-advertised throughout the province, many had journeyed countless miles for the chance for a free eye-test and glasses. To our surprise, the local news media was also awaiting our arrival with camera in hand, interviewing and watching our proceedings. We had many watching our every move.
At the simple facility, there were hundreds of people of all shapes and sizes-from college students to Orthodox priests garbed in rough, white clothes and large crosses, intimidating military men to housewives quietly holding their babies-all overflowing into the little courtyard, lined up in masses on the steps, and sitting on benches around the facility. We could merely prescribe reading and distance glasses but they came with problems of all kinds: swollen eyes, watering eyes, crossed eyes, missing eyes, discolored eyes, and cataracts-these we could not help. However, we were blessed with help from local nurses and doctors who could give a bit more expertise and assistance than we could give.
And, much to the amazement and joy on both Americans and Ethiopian Christians alike, God did what He does best and moved mountains, broke down walls, and threw wide the doors of Mekele. By the second day, walls had already begun to crumble as people’s hearts were warmed by the love shown towards them.
“Why are you here? Why have you come to help us? Why do you have such joy?” patients would ask and gradually the team was able to tell them. They would pull seekers aside, and tell them, “We are here to share the love and salvation of Jesus Christ. He is our joy and He offers love and forgiveness for all.”
On Sunday night, the Vice President of the region took our entire team and translators to an Ethiopian feast at a local restaurant, and near tears, thanked our team for coming to help his people.
“It gives us so much hope to know that people in California would spend their own time and money to come all the way to Ethiopia to help our people. We cannot thank you enough.” Our leaders were able to share the Gospel with the politicians present, as well as develop a relationship with them to enable future cooperative efforts to aid the people in the region. The Minister of Health was a frequent visitor and helper to us, and out of gratitude, insisted on providing means for our entire team to sight see some of the historical sites of the region (once again, for those of you not familiar with missions trips-this kind of government blessing and cooperation is incredible!)
On another joyful note, Sunday afternoon also brought back all our team luggage (as well as my clothes, much to the rejoicing of both myself, my mother whose clothes I no longer had to steal, and my team who no longer had to see/smell me wear the same shirt day in and day out).
They are a strong people, fiercely proud in their customs and country; a beautiful people, rich in thousands of years of tradition and history. A previous world power and cultural center now split between their past glories, their more recent tragedies and failings, and the winds of change and modernization that press heavily on all sides. They are caught in between worlds and times, yet so strong.
It was the Christians of Mekele that most impacted me. Their faith and experiences with God floored me. Stories of dreams, visions, miracles, and the power of the Holy Spirit against the power of darkness left me with mouth agape. Things that we read about in the Bible are seen daily. And the power of the Holy Spirit and necessity of prayer is so much more apparent and I was truly humbled by their faith. As one young girl said, “To pray is to breath,” and by that they lived.
“Our church has been here for 10 years, but we are still very small,” said the local Baptist church elder. “Prayers have been working and opening up the hearts of the people in this area and attitudes are changing. They see in our lives that our faith is real. When they see that we, too, have financial hardships, they see that we were not paid by foreigners to convert.” And he showed us where a church building had been torn down a few years previous by neighbors who tried to take the church down with it.
Over the 5 days of ministry, the eyeglass team treated over a thousand patients and had to turn away even more. By the end of the week, Christ was shared with student, doctor, military man, and politician alike, very cautiously, but many came to know Christ, and the pastors were able to connect with even more. Most importantly, doors were opened for the churches of Mekele.
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