52

They had finally made it to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It had been a long and trying day. Because of the nine-hour time difference and how long the trip was, they had to get up at 3:00 a.m. and be at the airport by 5:00. When they’d finally landed and had their first conversation on the ground, both had agreed they should unpack the mouthwash first. She wasn’t sure what time it was now. She was too tired to even pull out her cell phone and check.

They had just checked into the hotel and were walking to their room on the third floor. It was mostly dark when the airplane landed, completely dark outside now. She’d get a better look come daylight, but she could already tell this city looked nothing like any city in America. The cars were different, smaller, odd-looking, and there were a lot less of them for a city this big. But the exhaust fumes were horrible. The buildings looked very different. But it appeared more modern than she had expected.

“Here we are, hon.” Allan opened the door with the hotel key.

The hotel wasn’t bad. Nothing fancy. Like a low-budget hotel you might find in the States. Old but fairly clean. At least it looked clean in dim lamp lighting. “Do I need to worry about bugs?” she asked as they walked through the door.

“Wasn’t a big problem for me the last time. Maybe an occasional fly.” He set their bags on the bed.

“Not a good idea,” she said. “I plan to collapse there in about two minutes.”

Allan laughed. He turned and took her hand and led her to a chair in the corner. “How about you sit here a few minutes? I’ll just unpack the things that wrinkle, not that it matters too much in a town like this. But I know how much you hate wrinkled clothes. I don’t think this room comes with an iron.”

“You are so nice to me.” He really was. He must’ve thanked her for coming a dozen times since they left the house.

“You’re easy to be nice to.”

She watched him work, amazed he had any energy. “It wouldn’t take much for me to fall asleep sitting here.”

“I’m almost done.” He pulled her last blouse from the suitcase. “Think you might like to take a shower before bed?”

“That sounds nice. How’s the hot water?”

“It works. The showerhead’s nothing fancy. But it might relax your muscles, make it easier to sleep.”

“I don’t think I’m going to need any help with that. I could sleep on a wood floor right now.”

After finishing his chore, he zipped the suitcases back up and moved them to a nearby table. “I think I might take one. My back’s pretty stiff from all that time on the plane.”

She got up and checked the curtain, adjusting it to make sure there were no cracks. Then walked over to him and began massaging his shoulders.

“A little lower, between my shoulder blades.”

“You go ahead and take a shower. I’m just gonna change into my pj’s. But maybe you better pray with me first.” Ever since their wedding, Allan had started a habit of praying together every night before they fell asleep. “I don’t think I’ll be awake when you’re done.”

He turned and drew her close, said a short prayer. Once again, he included thanks for God making it possible for Michele to be there with him. Michele knew that all of Allan’s anxiety and stress about the trip had completely disappeared the moment she told him she was coming.

He was tired but very happy.

She was just tired.

Michele woke up the next morning, surprisingly refreshed. They had both slept almost ten hours. On this part of the journey, the jet lag slanted in their favor. The opposite would be true on the way home.

Allan had gotten up a little earlier and was already showered and dressed. “There’s a little café just a couple doors down the street. The team ate there almost every morning as we planned out our day. The food’s not terrible. The coffee’s actually pretty good. How about you start getting ready, and I’ll go down and get two cups to go? Bring them back up here.”

“I could definitely use some coffee. Speaking about planning out the day . . . what is our plan?”

“We’re supposed to meet Henok back at that same café in about” —he glanced at his watch—“forty-five minutes from now.”

“Forty-five minutes? Allan, you know I like more time than that to get ready.”

“I know. But you were completely zonked thirty minutes ago. I didn’t have the heart to wake you. But you’ll be fine. Everything is casual today. Besides, look at you now. You just woke up, and you’re already beautiful. Most women take an hour just to get where you’re at now.”

She laughed. It was a total lie, but it worked. “Go get the coffee.”

He came back about fifteen minutes later. The coffee was surprisingly good; then she remembered one of her favorite Starbucks coffees had Ethiopia in its name. This actually tasted similar.

He picked up his cup and took a sip. “Guess who I saw in the café? Henok. He was already there, drinking coffee and writing in a notebook. So how about this? You finish getting ready and I’ll go down and meet with him. See if we can get some of our business out of the way. And then you come down and join us when you’re ready.”

“By myself?”

“It’s really close. You just walk out the front door of the hotel, turn right, and go three doors down. You don’t even have to cross the street. You can even see the café sign from the front door of the hotel. It hangs out right over the sidewalk.”

That didn’t sound too bad. She just felt insecure. Of course she would, she was halfway around the world. “I guess I could do that. How much time do I have?”

“Doing it this way, you can take another fifteen or twenty minutes if you want. We’ll be at a table along the right wall. I won’t order breakfast until you get there.” He came over and kissed her on the cheek.

When Allan got back to the café, he found Henok where he’d left him. Henok looked up from his notebook; a big smile came over his face as he stood.

“You don’t need to get up,” Allan said.

“Of course I do, my friend. I am so happy to see you.” They shook hands. “You have come such a long way, and on such short notice. I was so sorry to hear about Pastor Ray. Is he in very much pain?”

“He would be, but he’s taking some strong pain medication.”

“I saw some pictures on Facebook of him in his hospital bed,” Henok said. “He was smiling. He sent me a lengthy email also, explaining everything. Which I found amazing considering the accident was just Friday.”

“Well, he’s very sorry he couldn’t come himself. And I’m sorry for him. He’s the one who’s done most of the work getting all this together back in the States.”

“That’s not how he explained it in his email,” Henok said. “He talked about all the work you have done. You are the one who figured everything out and put the budget together. I have been studying it carefully. It will be my job to make it work once you leave.”

Allan couldn’t believe the change he was seeing in Henok from the last time he was here. His eyes were so bright, and he was so confident now. “We know you’ll do a great job. So tell me, what can we expect in our two meetings this morning?”

Ray had already briefed him that there would be one meeting with the government officials to pay all the necessary fees and sign some papers, and one with the building landlord to sign the lease. Henok explained these events in a little more detail. It didn’t sound like either meeting would take very long. Henok said he wasn’t expecting any surprises and, thankfully, there didn’t appear to be any worry about bribes.

After he finished the briefing, Henok said, “When will I get to meet your wife? She’s with you, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is. She should be down here very soon to join us for breakfast.” He turned for a moment to look at the front door. “Before she gets here, I wanted to ask you about Korah. Will we have time to go there this afternoon?”

“I was planning on it. The facility we have picked for the orphanage is on the edge of the city closest to Korah. That’s where we will meet the landlord and sign the lease. After he leaves, I’ll give you and your wife a tour of the facility, show you some of our plans. After that, we’ll drive out to Korah.”

“How long before we’ll be ready to let the first six orphans start living there?”

“We can start now. It is very basic, but it will seem like a king’s palace to the children.”