Walking the Bible: An Abyssinian Woman’s : Palestine - Israel - Egypt - Jordan - Nubia - Ethiopia ( Part Three🇪🇭🇮🇱🇪🇭)

 

As an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, I gave myself the gift of pilgrimage walking through Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia. It was my offering of gratitude to my ancestors, who, despite my solitude, guided me toward success. I’ve known what it means to walk alone since inception, birth & growing up loosing siblings, family, parents & friends as well as partners that could not see, value & respect your vision. Just me & God, aligned in spirit, protecting, nurturing, and guiding my unconventional path.

I chose to walk the Bible to honor that divine alignment. To return to the essence of who I am. To unbecome all that is not love within me. I traveled solo, privately, intentionally. And I felt deeply interconnected.

Now, I sit in my father’s garden, listening to the bulldozers tearing down homes across Addis Ababa—Yeka, St. Michael, even my father’s house, built by his blood, sweat, and tears. I play 432Hz and 111Hz frequencies to center myself, to calm my spirit amidst this noise. As the walls fall, I release my grip and surrender. I let go. I let God. I let them.

The Calling – A Pilgrimage of Divine Alignment

In my 30s, I was often approached by men who were drawn to my success—my career, my home, my beauty, my network, my wealth. Many saw me as the ideal wife and mother. But I wasn’t seeking marriage. I was seeking God’s guidance. I needed to know where and how to serve.

That’s when I chose pilgrimage over partnership, prayer over pressure. I aligned with my truth. I fasted. I meditated. I journaled. I listened. And from that alignment, Deldeyoch was born—not just as a platform, but as a calling. A spiritual mission. A commitment to impact, sustainability, and authenticity.

Walking the Lands of Prophets and Kings

I cried in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. This sacred city, now under Palestinian Authority, has stood at the heart of Christian tradition for over two thousand years. The Church of the Nativity, commissioned by Constantine in the 4th century, marks the place of His birth.

In Jerusalem, I walked through layers of history—where prophets prayed and empires clashed. I visited the Upper Room, believed by many to be the site of the Last Supper, where Jesus broke bread with His disciples before the crucifixion. I touched the stones of the Holy Sepulcher, a spiritual nexus for billions across millennia.

In Haifa, I gazed across the Mediterranean Sea—a city shaped by waves of conquest, commerce, and colonization. Once a small port, Haifa grew into a center of coexistence, resistance, and resilience. I stood amid its ancient streets, aware of the unresolved grief in its soil.

I wept silently for the people of Ruined Palestine—their land splintered by occupation, their voices echoing through barbed wire and barricades. Even as I walked as a pilgrim, I was escorted through military checkpoints, constantly reminded that this land—holy to many—remains contested and bleeding.

In Jordan, I was baptized in the River Jordan, a sacred boundary in ancient scriptures and geography. This land was part of the ancient Moabite and Nabataean kingdoms, and home to Petra—the rose-red city carved into stone. Jordan has long been a crossroads of trade and refuge, especially for displaced Palestinians and Syrians.

I climbed Mount Sinai by night, where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments. This mountain, in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, has been a pilgrimage site for over 1,600 years, housing St. Catherine’s Monastery, one of the oldest Christian monasteries still in use.

I traveled across the Suez Canal—built in the 19th century as a man-made waterway connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. This channel reshaped global trade, and has remained a geostrategic flashpoint. It also reminded me how Ethiopia’s Nile is spiritually and politically connected to Egypt’s waters.

I stood at the edge of the Red Sea—through which Moses is said to have led the Israelites in exodus. This sea, beyond its scriptural weight, has long been a gateway for African, Arab, and Asian civilizations to exchange goods, faith, and culture.

I reflected on how this entire region—Ethiopia, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan—once connected via maritime routes through the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean, formed a sophisticated trade network. Spices, gold, textiles, scriptures, and ideas moved across these seas—centuries before colonization.

This is why I created Deldeyoch: a vision to return to Trade, not Aid. A spiritual and economic philosophy rooted in dignity, sovereignty, and ancestral memory. We were traders, not beggars. Builders, not beggars. Our mothers were priestesses and merchants. Our fathers, prophets and craftsmen.

In Alexandria, I stood where the Great Library once housed the wisdom of ancient worlds. I traveled to Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes, cradle of pharaohs and temples that predate Christ by over a millennium. I cruised the Nile, the lifeblood of Egypt, flowing north from Lake Tana in Ethiopia—connecting ancient empires in a web of spirit and commerce.

In Nubia, I sat in silence among people who looked like my family. Ancient Nubia, once part of the Kingdom of Kush, ruled Egypt during its 25th Dynasty, and traded heavily with Axumite Ethiopia across the Red Sea and Nile corridor.

In Ethiopia, I visited Lake Tana, source of the Blue Nile and home to centuries-old island monasteries preserving sacred manuscripts and oral traditions. Ethiopia’s Orthodox Tewahedo Church is among the oldest in the world, having accepted Christianity in the 4th century—before Rome. I walked in Lalibela, with its rock-hewn churches carved from single stones over 800 years ago, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Everywhere I went, I was watched. Searched. Interrogated. From Israel to Jordan, Egypt to Nubia—even in Ethiopia. As a young Ethiopian-American woman with my own SUV, driver, and guide, traveling solo without a husband or group, I raised questions. But I kept walking.

My spirit led me. Not greed. Not a man. Not ambition. It was God within me who protected my naivety, nurtured my innocence, and honored my worthiness. I followed that voice.

Grief, Return, and Divine Detachment

I returned to the Pacific Northwest with a new vision. After walking the Bible and traveling through sacred lands, I was reborn. I settled into my new home and surrounded myself with the family I chose. I was grounded, focused, disciplined—and blessed beyond measure. To whom much is given, much is required. So I prayed, fasted, and asked God for direction.

Soon after, I was headhunted for the opportunity of a lifetime—called back to Ethiopia to help start up an international bank. That was the spark that ignited Deldeyoch’s first official project.

In less than a year, I rented my condo, packed my bags, said my goodbyes, and stepped into an adventure of a lifetime. I went forward with vision, passion, and purpose—ready to serve, to build, and to become.

I was honored to have made my vision—one inspired by walking the Bible and the incredible people I met across continents—into a reality. But I was also exhausted. Spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, and energetically. I had fought many wars to stay in integrity, to be my truth, to lead with light.

And yet I kept learning. The art of diplomacy. The balance of being a free spirit while navigating broken systems and uncertain futures. This is the cycle of death and rebirth I’ve walked through again and again.

As the world evolved, so did I. I allowed the reset. The rebirth. And though I look forward with hope, I also carry a quiet fear—for a new Ethiopia, a new Africa, rising out of rubble. Still, I believe. I believe I can be a bridge. That my walk, my wounds, and my wisdom will help the next generation do better—because they will know better.

Legacy: Deldeyoch and the Feminine Divine

Marriage, motherhood—these are sacred paths. But they weren’t mine. I was called to witness grief, to walk into the despair of my family, my community, my continent, and to choose healing over hiding.

I’ve given everything. I’ve completed over 30 impactful projects. Traveled to more than 30 countries. Mentored youth. Chosen trade over aid. I’ve lived through three regimes in Ethiopia and have done my best to be an ambassador of light.

Deldeyoch is not just a brand—it’s my legacy. It’s how I serve through my gifts, through my truth, through sustainable, spiritually aligned work. I am not always nice. But I am kind. I’m aligned with God, not man.

When this house falls, I take nothing with me—not my beauty, not my titles, not my resume. What stays is my spirit. My prayers. My dogs. My connection to nature. The moon. The stars. The sacred.

The world is shifting. Ancient civilizations—Syria, Egypt, Armenia, Persia, Ethiopia—are facing spiritual, physical, and energetic warfare. As the empires fall and new ones rise, I choose to remain rooted in spirit, responsibility, and purpose.

I’ve accepted this moment. I’ve taken responsibility for my soul’s path. I walk with the ancients, guided by their voices, nurtured by their wisdom, aligned with God's universe.

At the end of it all, that’s what remains.

By Dutchess @deldeyoch