* This is a personal blog series about a trip to Ethiopia with Soles for Jesus Jan 25th – Feb 3rd 2012. If you are looking to view newborn, baby or family posts, please see the drop-down ‘Galleries’ on the toolbar above. Thank you!
Sunday morning, day 3 in Addis Ababa. This is our day of rest. Yes, it’s only day 3, but the first 2 days feel like about a week long. There are a lot of churches in Addis – Muslim Mosques, Orthodox churches and then Christian churches. We wanted to experience an Ethiopian christian service, but be able to understand. Beza International Church has an english interpreter, so we went there. It’s quite a large church – likely the largest? They were having an ‘Africa Arise’ conference that was ending that day, so there were christian pastors and leaders from all over the world present at the service. The energy at the worship was amazing. We were sort of in the back near the young families but in the front the congregation was jumping and dancing along with the worship team in the front. I caught a bit here . . . (the singing is in Amharik language here). It’s neat to see how the congregation bursts with praise during the song.
The general message spoke about God's time - Kairos compared to Human time - Chronos. How things can happen at God's-time 'Kairos' much quicker than they could ever happen in 'Chronos' human time. How the God on the mountain is also the God in the valley. Also, how our adversary will try to 'distract' us from our purpose. To have 'traction' is a grip/grasp and to 'dis' or 'take away' that traction is exactly the goal of satan. It was a very awesome message. It was so wonderful to see Africans worshiping the same God. It's truly a family when you're believers in Christ. God is moving in Kairo's-time in Africa!
That evening we had reservations to enjoy a traditional Ethiopian dinner - Injera. Aki, our friend and interpreter, and our new good friend, Joe, joined us - along with our two drivers. The dinner also has traditional dances from different tribes in Ethiopia. We had such fun laughing and enjoying our new friendships. I knew no one going on this trip aside from emails and our 2 team meetings. Day 3 on this trip and I can honestly say these women and men are my sisters and brothers. I will always love them. I love how God's greatest blessings are in the form of loving relationships.
*Joe, Edie and Caryn
* our Virginia girls, Jody & Aimee
* Aki and Diane
* Quianna asking Aki to explain what we were about to eat, ha!
* trying out the Injera
* You rip a piece of bread and use it to pick up what you’d like to eat. I tried the ox and the green beans. For a picky eater, I’m pretty excited that I was willing to try it. It wasn’t that bad though – just an acquired taste.
* I love the expressions.
* The dancers. There were 3 women and 3 men. Their endurance was amazing!
* Aki’s favorite dance below is from his tribe, I believe. It was so fun. Love seeing Aki get into the dance!
When we arrived there was a very large group of Chinese men and women and we realized they were using sign language with each other. At this restaurant they allow some audience participation. At this time a Chinese women who was blind went on stage to sing with the Ethiopian musicians and some of her deaf friends came up to dance…. all while being taped by Christian missionaries. They did really well! It was such a fun night.
A great day and tomorrow we will be visiting an orphanage, a street children ministry and Aki’s home. A good lesson was in store for us…
Joanna - oh, how fun! It almost looks like a concert or a sporting event. Looks like it was a fun night!