July 29-30: We boarded the Lufthansa plane, headed for Frankfurt, Germany where we would have a change of planes and then were Addis Ababa bound, with a short stop in the Sudan. Wasn't sure during this time what to expect except that this is definitely a journey led by God. The nine hour flight to Germany wasn't quite as painful as I thought it would be; I didn't sleep a whole lot but watched movies and chatted a bit with the others on the trip. The flight to Addis I slept a majority of the way. I woke up and found out that sweet Cindi was sick and she kept fainting. That was scary not knowing what was happening to her and if she would be ok. I prayed the rest of the way for her safety and well being. We got to Sudan where the plane refueled for about an hour, then we arrived in Addis late in the evening. It was dark so we couldn't see much. Stepping out of the airport, I noticed right away the air was very thick and fairly stinky. There were many people standing out in the parking lot with cute little buses, cars (which was shocking). We piled into our three buses that we would have for the week, our team of 24 and all luggage went on top of the buses. Arriving at the guest house, 5 stories high, Michaela and I were assigned to a bedroom with two other women with three other bedrooms on our same floor all sharing one bathroom.
July 31st: Woke up to get into the shower for my scheduled time. The shower was different; it was a handle you have to hold but at the same time try and wash your hair and body. The toilets cannot have any paper products at all, so when you wipe, you have to put the toilet paper in the trash can. You cannot get any of the water in your mouth so you have to brush your teeth with bottled water and you have to keep your mouth closed in the shower. Everyone met downstairs for breakfast which was eggs, yummy bread, coffee and avocado juice. Thankfully, Cindi was up and moving around, feeling better. Praise God!! We trekked out into the street until E3 came over to the guest house to meet us. The local kids were out playing and more people walked up as we were out there. The people of Ethiopia are fascinated by "ferengi" which is "foreigners" in Amharic. They are so friendly and such beautiful, sweet smiles!
E3 ministries: This organization helps believers spread the Gospel in their communities, provides training to the local churches and also helps establish new churches. The Mission Pastor from this organization came to the guest house to take us to the Alem-Bank church. We prayed prior to leaving, loaded up in the buses and headed out. This particular church in its origin has been in Africa for many, many years. We sat up there and waited until all the teams were made up. The two areas we were sent out to were Jemo and Wechecha. Michaela and I were teamed with Pastor David Daniels of our church, Pantego. We began walking up to Jemo with several other teams of 3 from Pantego, along with an interpreter and a couple discipleship people from the Alem-Bank church. Our interpreter's name walking with our team was Ephram. He was only 15 years old and so incredibly bright. He was on fire for God as were all the people we teamed with. SO neat to see!! Walking up to Jemo was up a mountain so quite a hike. We stopped at the church on the mountain that they considered in the middle of the town of Jemo. We sat there for a bit and the small kids came to that area seeming a bit curious and they were absolutely adorable! Our team of 3 set out further up the mountain. David shared the Gospel to several people while Michaela and I got a feel for how to begin and what to say. This was very interesting as a majority of the people we encountered were Orthodox. They believe in God but they worship Mary and believe that Mary is the way to the Father. There was a dark, looming storm coming closer and closer; we could hear the thunder and the rain coming up closer on top of the houses. Our disciples with us asked if we could come inside one particular home. The woman was so gracious and invited us all into her home, made coffee for us, and allowed us to speak with she and her husband about what we were doing there. She was also Orthodox but she was very sweet to listen. They were a little leary in what David was talking about but the team from the church will be following up with them. When we came out after the storm passed, we began walking back. I tried sharing the Gospel for the first time. It seems like no matter how much you practice, it doesn't come out like you planned. I began talking but talked too fast and forgot about the whole translator process. Ha! I tried slowing down a bit but wound up looking to Pastor for help because the two women were Orthodox and it really threw me off. After that we walked back to the Center of Jemo Church and had a coffee ceremony, then went back to Alem-Bank church. Next was dinner at Tivoli; an American food restaurant. Michaela had lasagna and choked on that (completely different story for another time) and I had the burger. Exhausting day for us all. Went back to the guest house and went to bed.
to be continued.....
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