Ethiopia Mission Update #4 (Final)

Hey everyone, we've finally made it through our last week of the Ethiopia mission trip! It's been quite a month for our team as we've traveled from place to place and met many new faces.

The last week of mission was a full one. We started it out with a flight from Addis Ababa to Assosa on the west border of Ethiopia. While Travis has been our shepherd for the whole trip up until this point, two other Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF) missionaries named Craig and Allison took us under their wing for our 3 day stay in this new environment. Good descriptors for this couple that has been doing ministry in Ethiopia for almost 20 years would be friendly, dedicated, and enthusiastic. It was clear early on that though we'd be away from Travis for a bit, we were in good hands. In addition to these new faces was a group of CMF interns, fellow college students who had decided to spend not one, but two months of their summer serving in Ethiopia! It was a delight to get to know Piper, Kenton, Anna, and Micah (Micah had just graduated high school!) and to incorporate them into our plans for our work in Assosa. Speaking of our plans, the purpose of our trip there was twofold. The first part was to participate in an event the CMF interns had planned: an English night at the Kristos Andinet Church campus ministry close to Assosa University. The goal of this event was to attract people who wanted to practice their English, as well as put the ministry space on the map as a place those people would want to return to for future events. The night was a hit! Our group went out and handed out flyers, inviting people as best we could while trying to navigate the language barrier. While many people turned us down, we were so glad to see some of the folks we invited turn up for the event. The CMF interns did a great job coming up with fun games that broke the ice, a highlight being a game called "Donkey, Baby, Backpack" where groups of two had to perform actions that corresponded with each word. There were laughs all around as people awkwardly tried to climb on their partner's backs as fast as possible when someone yelled "Donkey!" The night concluded with a tea/coffee time, and we're hopeful that that space will continue to be a successful venue for future ministry events.

The biggest aspect of our work in Assosa, though, was to facilitate two days of VBS at a refugee camp for mainly Sudanese refugees. Despite our preconceptions of what the camp would be like, I'm sure many of us were surprised to see that this camp was an entire community, basically a village. It was also home to the church we'd be doing our work at. The leaders of the church were longtime friends of Craig and Allison and welcomed our group with open arms. While one might expect dismal views at a place that was home to so many from difficult backgrounds, we were surrounded by smiling faces and beautiful forests of slanting trees and shockingly lush and green grass, clear reminders of God's care and affection for his people. But, undoubtedly the biggest surprise of all was the sheer amount of children that attended our VBS sessions. Craig had told us that there may be hundreds of kids, and he wasn't exaggerating. Our team of less than twenty was met with what grew to be over 300 kids over the course of two days. Obviously, this was a significant jump from the maximum of 50 we'd grown accustomed to. It was clear from the get-go that although we'd be in Assosa for a short time, we'd be working maybe more intensely those few days than we'd had to before.  Even so, the nature of our VBS work, despite the jump in audience size, was the same as before. We performed our classic skits: The Good Samaritan, Jonah and the Great Fish, and David and Goliath, which thankfully the children seemed to enjoy. We also had game and craft sessions, which allowed them to exercise both their physical and creative energies (it's hard distributing Play-Doh to that many kids!). It was definitely challenging organizing these activities with such a crowd, but Craig was a huge help. When there was a lull, he would teach the kids the song and dance to "Jesus Loves Me", as well as a copy game where the kids would make/do whatever sound and movement he made.

In addition to the children, the adults were a joy to be around, as well. In particular, there were two elderly ladies named Elizabeth and Martha that not only helped us translate during games, but kept the children in line and sat and chatted with us at lunch. Once again, we were blessed by the gracious hospitality of our hosts. By necessity they had to live a simple lifestyle, but this didn't seem to hinder the joy of the Lord in that place. It was humbling and an honor to witness such joy on display. There was a lot to learn from our brothers and sisters there.

The next day we took a short hike to visit some of the congregants of a local church plant in Assosa, and shortly after said our goodbyes and made our way to the airport. One short flight later we were back in Addis. We would miss the friends we made during our foray into Assosa, and forever on our minds will be the people of Sudan who live now in a refugee camp so far from their homes, but it was good to be back in the company of our faithful friends who have shepherded us through this month. We spent the next few days in the same compound as the Weeks family and spent time getting much needed rest. Needless to say, they took very good care of us. We ate lots of familiar food, spent some time shopping for souvenirs in the city, and even had a cookout roasting sausages over a bonfire. Also, Camellia is very happy to share that the day after our return to Addis, she was able to finish the mural at the Ministry Training Center, with the help of Akin, Lelisa, and Bikula! It was such a joy to see her hard work come to fruition, and we hope that the mural (ft. coffee sharing as a symbol of Ethiopian hospitality, meskel flowers, and the Odaa tree) will be a blessing to that community. One of our last nights in Addis, the Weeks family surprised us with pictures of all our various adventures this past month. They organized a time for us to reflect on the work God has done in us and prayed for and with us. The very next morning we faced what might have been the most difficult part of our trip so far: bidding farewell to our friend and brother, our translator Lelisa. Over the course of this month we and Lelisa have grown to be steadfast friends. He has patiently taught us about his culture and very graciously received aspects of our own when he encountered them. Needless to say, he will be dearly missed. It was a bittersweet parting, though, for we knew how much he missed his wife and daughter who he had seen only once since the beginning of our trip, and we were glad to know they were reunited. 

With Lelisa’s departure, our Ethiopian adventure came to an effective close. After church Sunday and lunch afterwards, we packed up and got ready to board our flight home. After a flight delay, a seven hour layover in the Istanbul airport, and an almost 13 hour flight to Dallas, our two days of flying were over. Caleb’s family very graciously received us into their home and ferried us back to Ruston the next day. Our Ethiopian adventure is now over, and we are slowly readjusting to life back state-side, but we will never forget the memories made and relationships forged throughout our time there. Wherever we go from here we will always carry the pride and strength of Ethiopia in our hearts. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported our team throughout this journey. Your prayers mean the world to us. Thank you for helping us be the hands and feet of Jesus throughout the world.

Galata waaqayyoo!

The Wesley Ethiopia 2023 Mission Team