Unplanned Trip...Wonderful Blessing

The following is a journal entry from Ashli’s trip to Ethiopia with one of Holt’s medical mission teams.

By Ashli Keyser, Managing Editor

Durame, Ethiopia—Our last day in Durame had come to an end…or so I had thought. As our group piled out of the cars we had been traveling in all day, I thought about how grateful I was to be here and how much it meant to me to see and experience the work Holt is doing in Ethiopia. I thought about the children and babies I had witnessed being rocked, hugged and fed by their loving, smiling caretakers; I thought about Holt’s work at the Shinshicho clinic and the hundreds of sick children and families who were being helped during this week-long medical campaign. It had truly been an amazing trip. But on this particular evening, exhaustion had also set in and I was more than ready to rest my head on my pillow and drift off into sleep. I had already made it half way up the stairs when Dr. Fikru, Holt Ethiopia Director, suggested that a group of us take a trip to one of Holt’s partner care centers—an hour drive from our hotel. I guess sleep would have to wait.

As I positioned myself in the same seat I had left not more than ten minutes ago, I rested my head on the window to the right of me, closed my eyes and tried not to think about how tired I was as the van pulled away from the hotel. It had been a wonderful, eye-opening trip thus far but, at this particular moment, I was feeling a little unenthusiastic. So, I did what I always try to do when things aren’t going according to my plans…I prayed.

“Lord,” I thought. “Thank you for allowing me to be here. I am pretty tired right now and feeling a little unenthusiastic about this unplanned trip. But I am trying to have faith that you still have more to show me….more to reveal to me. I may not be able to see it right now, but I pray that my purpose for this hour-long trip will be revealed to me…help me to see what You want me to see.” An hour later we made it to the care center.

As we entered the gates of the center, the first thing I noticed was the absence of children playing outside. “Where were all the children,” I thought. “What am I do here, Lord?”

Our group found out that many of the children at this care center had recently been transferred to Addis Ababa and would soon unite with their permanent families. Grateful to learn that children were about to meet their families for the first time, I eagerly anticipated meeting the children who remained at the center.

A few of us entered a small room occupied by two caretakers, but we saw no children. A little disappointment set in once again. I slowly began to make my way across the little cribs that lined each of the walls. I peered into the first crib…no child; the second crib…still no child. And then I made it to the third crib and slowly peeked inside not expecting to see anything but an empty crib with blankets….what I found was Terefet.

Abandoned at a bus station a couple weeks prior to our visit, Terefet smiled up at me as if he had known me for years. He continued to look at me as one of the caretakers gently lifted him out of his crib, set him down and helped him walk outside.

The rest of our group was standing on the grass talking, but their conversation immediately stopped when Terefet made his appearance at the door. Terefet’s charming demeanor and adorable facial expressions made everyone around him laugh. We stayed there for a half an hour completely captivated by this beautiful and brave child.

I couldn’t wait to get Terefet in my arms, and when I finally did, I held him closely, kissed his soft cheek, closed my eyes, once again, and quietly whispered the words: “Thank You.”

God had shown me my purpose for this unplanned trip. Many children had left the care center in the last few days to unite with their permanent families, and only one child remained. A child who just two weeks ago had been left all alone at a bus station and who was now in my arms giggling and smiling. “This precious child needs a family,” I thought. “And it’s up to me to do all I can to help him find one.”

I had asked God to reveal to me my purpose for this hour-long journey; what He revealed to me was my purpose for the entire Ethiopia trip. The Lord showed me how resilient and brave children really are, and how much each one deserves a loving family. God showed me why I do what I do, and what Holt is truly about….his name is Terefet.