Posted by christine, September 16, 2009

Amanda in Ethiopia

I’ve always believed that each person has a certain place in the world where their heart feels most at home. The world could be falling down around you and you wouldn’t even notice. There’s a comfort when you walk on certain territory, just knowing that there’s nowhere on this earth that God wants you to be rather than where you are at that moment.

Right in the midst of poverty and lost people and orphans and street boys and a language that I can’t wrap my mind around for the life of me…this is my heart’s home: Ethiopia.

This is where I feel most at peace…but at the same time, I’m still unsettled.

There’s so much to be done in Ethiopia. It’s one of those situations where I feel overwhelmed, because I want to fix it all, but there’s only so much I can do. I wish I could give all these kids a home and find an answer for all these street boys, but I have to trust that God has a plan for them and my job is to continue to follow whatever His will is for me.

Visiting Ethiopia the last two summers has completely changed me. I have a whole new view of what the word “hope” means. Africa is hope. Her people are not given the best situations, but they always find the best in whatever situation they are given. It truly rubs off on you. I was expecting to be incredibly emotional and prepared myself for the worst before the trip, but I found more joy that month in Ethiopia than I could ever find in America.

One of my teammates said it best when she said, “In America, I’m happy. In Africa, I’m joyful.”

There’s always going to be a small piece of my heart missing, and that piece is permanently planted in Ethiopia.

Amanda was on our month-long Mocha Club Ethiopia trip from July 8th-August 9th, 2009. Check out her Indie Jane Photography website, blog, and Twitter. Here are more of her brilliant photos…