I’m in a pup tent with an armed guard (because of the wild animals) in the Awash National Park in Ethiopia. For what it’s worth, we could literally hear lions breathing! Needless to say, I’ve never blogged from here before! I’m sure the guard is wondering what that iridescent light is in our tent. Day three on this missionary journey has to rank as one of the most unusual days of my life. When I woke up this morning I certainly didn’t expect to get held up at gunpoint by armed shepherds. That’s a small exaggeration, but I’ll explain.

We left for Awash National Park at 8 AM this morning. Our guide gave us a lot of fascinating background info on Ethiopia and it was incredible to see another side of the country. All I’ve ever known is the city of Addis. The country was beautiful. Mountains surrounded us as we made our way into the rift valley. We stopped for gas at one point and there was a “stare down.” I’m not sure who was more intrigued–us or the natives of that area. We were standing feet apart, but it felt like we were millennium apart because of the language gap and culture gap. Ethiopia is a developing country, but there is still such wide spread poverty. It’s not uncommon to see people living in mud or straw huts that are the size of American closets. Teddy (our guide) told us that 93% of Ethiopians are farmers, but they farm enough land to live on. We also saw a ton of shepherds along the way. There were camels and donkeys and goats everyplace. One of the most amazing sights was a sand twister. It looked like a small tornado.

One of the fascinating things that Teddy told us was that the average Ethiopian family has seven kids! He said that when people don’t have any hope and can’t see three days in front of themselves that sex is the only form of pleasure they have. So lots of sex = large families.

So we stopped for lunch on the side of the road and a large herd of cattle came right by our picnic area. Pastor Joel and I decided to take a little video, but we discovered that locals expect payment for pictures. The shepherds came up and started arguing with our guides. I was a little concerned because although I didn’t understand the language I certainly understood the tone! Things were getting heated up. And then one of the shepherds who was carrying an AK-47 took the lead. I was a few feet from him and his pointing at me didn’t ease my concern. Long story short, we gave them some birr and took off. I wasn’t super concerned. It’s not uncommon for shepherds to carry rifles. But I guess I’ve never been two feet from someone who wants money for taking pictures and they’re carrying a rifle. It added to the adventure!

So we arrived at the Awash National Park after a four hour drive. We picked up a guy named Bulldozer who I won’t soon forget. He looked like he was seventy-five years old. He was very “weathered.” He climbed on top of our Land Cruiser and we gave him a 12 kilometer ride in exchange for fire wood that he cut down for our camp fire. Our guide joked that he was our “GPS” system! He told us that Bulldozer is responsible for all the dirt roads in Awash National Park. The amazing thing about that is this: he doesn’t have a vehicle. For the past twenty-five years he’s leveled pot holes and removed stones and cut undergrowth so that vehicles could drive through the park. And he’s done it without a vehicle! I couldn’t help but think about what a different life that is than mine. But he seemed so content and so fulfilled. He had a ready smile. I have no idea what runs through his mind at night when he goes to bed. Did he dream of being or doing something else? But it seems to me that the people here are so content with the basics of life. It’s Americans so are paralyzed with options. I couldn’t trade what I do. I love the fact that I don’t have to worry about my next meal so that I can be creative and innovative. But I’m impressed with someone like Bulldozer who just does the best he can with what he has where he is.