Ethiopia 2024 Mission Update #2

Hello again from Ethiopia!

It's been another full and exciting week for us here, and we can't wait to fill you in on it. 

We woke up early Tuesday morning and packed into two land cruisers to make our trip "down country" to a village called Masha, where we served for a week doing community outreach and VBS programs. On the trip to Masha, we spent the hours watching out the window as we passed the breathtaking highland landscapes. Cows, horses, goats, and other livestock roamed the hills.  Along the road, we also saw at least three different types of monkeys, including black and white long-haired colobus monkeys, as well as baboons with their babies! Between lunch at a restaurant and our next stop, we were able to enjoy some roasted corn and fresh sugar cane from street vendors. We spent the night in Nekempte, a town where Travis spent his first years of mission in Ethiopia. Esse's family was able to eat dinner with us at the hotel. After finishing, Travis, Lamesa, and Esse joined us for Evening Prayer. 

In the morning, we had a full breakfast of fried bread with honey and eggs. We passed more towns, mountains, and rivers. In the evening, we finally arrived at the church where we would be staying for the next week. They immediately served us soft bread and hot, sweet tea before we gathered in the church where we would be staying to sing and dance in an impromptu worship service! They shared their lively worship songs with us, dancing and rejoicing, and we also shared a few of ours. Travis helped facilitate a discussion where we were able to ask each other questions about what it is like to be a Christian in Ethiopia or America, mediated by translators. Finally, they served us a dinner of kocho, injera, and lentil stew. 

The next morning while praying, we were blessed with beautiful misty views over the jungle. Some church members led us down to the waterfall where they have baptized many of their congregation. They graciously held our hands to keep us from falling as we scrambled down muddy hills. One man with a missing leg offered his crutch to Caleb to steady him as we descended the slippery slope. Everyone would cheer as each person reached the cove. On the way there and back, we passed church elder Ato Tariku's house, where we learned how kocho (a staple in the local diet) is made and saw his gardens. While clearing a path to the waterfall, Ato Tariku accidentally cut his leg. When we got back to the church, CJ, one of our team members who aspires to be a medical missionary, was able to offer him first aid. Luckily, the cut was not too serious, and Ato Tariku would not let it hinder him in any way. Several of the ladies of the church were ready for us upon our return with a lunch of potatoes, injera, lentil stew, kocho, and green peppers. We then began our children's program in a field near the church, playing many games and bonding with them. After dinner that night, we split up into smaller groups and hiked down lanes framed by flowery cactus fences to stay the night at various church members' houses where we were able to learn what it is like to be God's Church in a remote village in Ethiopia. It's been amazing to be the recipients of Christ's commands to his church to house and feed the needy even as we came to serve this church! As Jesus says, "As you've done to the least of these, my brothers, you've done to me." 

When we woke up on Friday, the host families showed us how their morning chores were done. We gave our best efforts at milking cows, pounding coffee, and sorting through grain. We were able to participate in the church's weekly morning fasting and worship service. Lamesa (an Ethiopian church planter and interpreter) preached for us through a translator before we danced and clapped to drum beats and worship songs. We played more games with the kids in the afternoon and invited them to our full VBS program, which would take place Saturday morning and afternoon, as well as Sunday afternoon. 

On Saturday, we did the kids program similarly to the one in Burayu with our skits, games, and crafts. Our craft was Play Dough, which was very strange to the kids at first, but they ended up having a lot of fun with it as they got used to it. One of the biggest reasons we traveled to the remote village of Masha was to model how children's programs can look for the local church there. While we may be familiar with kids ministries and VBS programs here in the states, it's not a common practice here in rural churches. For the adults and elders of the church in Masha, this is the first time they've seen skits used to tell Bible stories that lead to Gospel conversations, group games used as evangelical opportunities to invite the unchurched in to relationship with a church and Jesus Christ, and how to practice community outreach to kids from all religious and social backgrounds without needing special equipment or international aid. We were glad to see that, in addition to all the ways that our VBS work was directly affecting the kids we worked with, our efforts in Masha also equipped that church with an example of how to carry on that ministry even after we left. 

For lunch that day, the church butchered a cow. It was the freshest meat many of us had ever had! Meat is only for very special occasions for the people of Masha, enjoyed only up to four times a year. We also bought an Ethiopian drink called birrse, or "honey water." 

On Sunday, we returned to the waterfall to witness three baptisms! God is continuing to grow His church in the world. We worshiped together at church afterwards and received Communion together with our brothers and sisters. To have received and witnessed two sacraments while in Masha was a special gift, since we didn't get to participate in either last year. Once we completed our final kids program with a lesson on the prodigal son, Lamessa invited the kids to future church programs. We celebrated our last day together with late night dancing, worship, and prayer. 

Finally, Monday morning we woke early, hugging the community goodbye and saying a final prayer. We grabbed fried bread on the road for breakfast and went on our way back down the mountains to start the next leg of our mission back in Addis. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to be and serve God's church here in Ethiopia, and keep an eye out for our next mission update in about a week!