Home Sweet Home

Home sweet home.....

We left our guest house in Addis Ababa at 10:30 am yesterday, and I arrived home at about 10:30 am today. A 24 hour trek that was about as smooth and uneventful as I could have possibly hoped - a sharp contrast to the exciting twists and turns that we experienced abroad.

For now it is time to rest, recover and to be with my amazing wife and three children. After the last 10 days I can honestly say that I am wiped out both physically and emotionally. Tonight, for just one night, I want to my mind to stop processing all that I saw, heard, touched and smelled over the past 240 hours.

I don't want to see the scars on the scalp of the otherwise handsome street child who was abused in a way that you and I can't even fathom. Or the picture of kids eating grass to fill their stomach's in some way to ease their hunger pain.

I don't want to hear another heartbreaking story by an orphanage director about how their kids are hungry and their parents are dying. Or the haunting and ever persistent voices of the children in the streets begging for food or money to survive.

I don't want to think about feeling the bones protruding through the skin of the kids at Grace Baptist Church in Kumbulcha.

I don't want to think about the toxic smell of the stream directly behind the Kind Heart Care Point facility that nearly sent me vomiting (truly the most disgusting odor that I've experienced). Or the inescapable fumes of the diesel engines that dominate the streets of Addis Ababa.

For tonight, selfishly, I just want to be home.

But I can not....

My mind can not stop thinking, seeing, hearing, feeling, and smelling all that was - because it still is - and is to be - unless we do something about it. Just because I'm 10,000 miles away doesn't mean it's gone away. Does it? Just because I'm a resident of a different continent doesn't mean it's someone else's responsibility. Does it? Just because the children aren't in our direct line of sight doesn't mean we have an excuse. Do we?

It is good to be home tonight. It is so very good to be with my family. And at the same time I can honestly say that in my mind I've already started planning for my next trip.

If you were at all touched by what you read on this blog over the past week, I sincerely hope that you'll at least consider joining me. If there is something inside of you that knows that you are being called to do something I would love to share this life changing experience with you - life changing for you and for the kids that we will have the privilege to impact. Contact me at pkidd@resultedge.com

Thank you for your consideration, thank you for all of your prayers and support. Good night.