Coming Home in Qore
By Dylan Ferguson, CMF Missionary to Ethiopia
In Qore, a district of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, life can be difficult. Poverty, unemployment, and broken family structures leave many people searching for hope. While many organizations focus on serving women and children, young men are often overlooked. Yet their choices and influence profoundly impact families and the future of the community.
Through a growing ministry centered around fitness, mentorship, Bible studies, and discipleship, we're building relationships with young men in Qore and helping them discover the hope found in Jesus Christ. Recently, God reminded me of the importance of that mission through an unexpected encounter.
One morning, I decided to change up my schedule and do something wildly new: go for a walk.
I was trying a practice suggested by my spiritual formation group. The exercise involved walking and praying while reflecting on a passage of Scripture. That morning, I was meditating on the story of the prodigal son returning to his father in Luke 15.
To be honest, I struggled to focus. Every sound seemed to pull my attention away from the passage. By the time I turned toward home, I felt distracted and a little discouraged.
Then something caught my eye.
Standing beside the road was a young man waiting while the enormous tire of his trash truck was being repaired. What caught my attention wasn't the truck. It was the flash of orange on his wrist.
He was wearing a wristband from our ministry.
The band reads, "Jemow Gym... Lead Like Jesus."
We had distributed those wristbands to several of the young men connected to the gym, but I didn't recognize the truck. I found myself wondering who could possibly be driving such a massive vehicle.
Then he looked up.
Our eyes met, and smiles immediately spread across both of our faces.
It was my friend M.
We exchanged hugs and began the usual Ethiopian greetings. As we talked, I learned more about his work. He drives a trash truck through the night, collecting garbage across the city. The job is demanding and exhausting, but in a place like Qore, where opportunities can be scarce, steady employment is a blessing.
As we stood there talking, I couldn't help but think about the passage I'd been reading earlier.
Many of the young men in our ministry know a great deal about Jesus. Often, their understanding of Scripture surprises and encourages me. Yet connecting the truths of the Gospel to the realities of everyday life can be difficult. Long shifts. Financial pressures. Uncertain futures. The hope that someday things will get better.
For many, faith can feel distant from daily life.
Their stories sometimes remind me of the prodigal son living in a faraway country, separated from his father and longing for something more.
Yet the message of Jesus is that the Father is never far away.
Together, we have the privilege of walking alongside these young men as they discover what it means to turn toward Him. We encourage one another to say, as the prodigal son did, "I will set out and go back to my father" (Luke 15:18).
As our gym community grows, we're seeing opportunities to mentor younger students, build meaningful friendships, and have conversations about how God's presence speaks into every area of life, including the challenges of poverty and uncertainty.
That simple wristband reminded me of what God is doing in Qore.
Our mission is to invite those who often feel overlooked, forgotten, or inadequate to come home to the Father who loves them. We want them to know that Jesus meets them not only in church services or Bible studies, but also in trash trucks, neighborhood gyms, classrooms, and everyday life.
One day, by God's grace, I look forward to standing with M and countless others in the kingdom to come, celebrating the Father's love that welcomed us all home.