STORIES: Hear My Prayer

AXUM, ETHIOPIA. In December 2017, I took a solo journey to Shire, Ethiopia – a town in the Tigray region just south of the Eritrean border. One weekday, I ventured approximately one hour east of Shire to the historic city of Axum, a city filled with UNESCO heritage sites and home of the famed Church of our Lady Mary of Zion, which many believe house the biblical Ark of the Covenant. When I arrived at the church grounds, I observed many parishioners gathering for their daily prayers. Some made their way into the sanctuary, some kneeled at the steps, and some went no further than the gate.