Where Is The Great Chasm?
Ahead of our trip, I spent time researching the Horn of Africa and mentally preparing myself for what I thought would be an unimaginable experience. After all, this is often described as the epicenter of global poverty. I had built a dramatic chasm in my mind between my life in America and the reality waiting on the other side of the world. The only comfort was being able to experience this with my son Scott (a true world-changer) and through the support of many friends and family.
Holy Buckets! This was a common expression of a dear friend who loved to visit and serve the people of Ethiopia, and a fitting first statement as we stepped outside the airport. Boots on the ground quickly showed me I wasn’t in Montana anymore. The air carried new smells, the streets hummed with unfamiliar sounds, and my eyes drank in constant motion. Yet the vast divide I had imagined hasn’t fully materialized. Addis Ababa feels surprisingly modern in many ways. Cell phones glow in faces where you’d least expect them, even amid pockets of visible hardship.
Christianity here runs deep and vibrant. Ethiopians carry their faith with visible pride. The gospel has been proclaimed in this land nearly 7x longer than the United States has existed as a nation. These are not distant strangers — they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Kindness flows freely in this sea of people. The roads are pure Wild West chaos — a swirling mix of vehicles, pedestrians, animals, and sheer human energy — yet somehow the system works. Families remain the heartbeat of daily life. Unskilled entrepreneurs hustle creatively to provide for their loved ones. At the same time, I’ve seen how broken families and poor parental decisions leave children bearing the heaviest burdens. Government support is often either obstructive or simply absent. As an American, that part feels uncomfortably familiar.
However I know the chasm is real. I see it most clearly through the eyes of the children we’ve come to serve and the visit we made to the government orphanage. It was also on full display as we visited some family of a couple of the elevate orphan kids that live in a mud hut near one of the largest city dumps. It must be even more overwhelming outside the capital and in the corners of the city we didn’t see.
Even so, Jesus gives us a common foundation that bridges every divide. Because of Him, we are called to love one another wherever we go. And because of Him, we are not so different after all.
~ Barrett
Holy Buckets! This was a common expression of a dear friend who loved to visit and serve the people of Ethiopia, and a fitting first statement as we stepped outside the airport. Boots on the ground quickly showed me I wasn’t in Montana anymore. The air carried new smells, the streets hummed with unfamiliar sounds, and my eyes drank in constant motion. Yet the vast divide I had imagined hasn’t fully materialized. Addis Ababa feels surprisingly modern in many ways. Cell phones glow in faces where you’d least expect them, even amid pockets of visible hardship.
Christianity here runs deep and vibrant. Ethiopians carry their faith with visible pride. The gospel has been proclaimed in this land nearly 7x longer than the United States has existed as a nation. These are not distant strangers — they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Kindness flows freely in this sea of people. The roads are pure Wild West chaos — a swirling mix of vehicles, pedestrians, animals, and sheer human energy — yet somehow the system works. Families remain the heartbeat of daily life. Unskilled entrepreneurs hustle creatively to provide for their loved ones. At the same time, I’ve seen how broken families and poor parental decisions leave children bearing the heaviest burdens. Government support is often either obstructive or simply absent. As an American, that part feels uncomfortably familiar.
However I know the chasm is real. I see it most clearly through the eyes of the children we’ve come to serve and the visit we made to the government orphanage. It was also on full display as we visited some family of a couple of the elevate orphan kids that live in a mud hut near one of the largest city dumps. It must be even more overwhelming outside the capital and in the corners of the city we didn’t see.
Even so, Jesus gives us a common foundation that bridges every divide. Because of Him, we are called to love one another wherever we go. And because of Him, we are not so different after all.
~ Barrett