Ethiopia 2024 Mission Update #3
Selam, greetings from Ethiopia!
Another eventful week has passed! On Monday we began our journey back from Masha, stopping in Nekempte for the night. We loved our time teaching, playing, and worshiping with our brothers and sisters there. They told us to greet you with peace and to tell their story when we see you again!
After dinner at the hotel in Nekempte with Lalissa and his family, it was time to say goodbye to Lalissa for the trip so he could spend time with them. The next day was his little daughter's birthday! The missionary work we have done up to this point in the trip would absolutely not have been possible without his care for us and the invaluable work of translating for us as we taught VBS lessons and gave instructions for activities and games. We were so glad to see him again this year after working together last mission, and we will be missing him now that we've parted ways.
On Tuesday we finished the down-country trip, arriving in Addis Ababa just in time for American style burgers at a restaurant called Sishu. It had been a while since we'd had French fries!
Wednesday was our day of rest and a day to explore more of the cultural experiences Ethiopia has to share. We drove a short distance up to a park on Entoto Mountain. While there, our team enjoyed the ropes course and trampoline park, as well as a few macchiatos during the intermittent rain! We ended our day with tasty gelato. Many of us were excited to be able to hold the gelato shop owner’s cat and see her kittens!
On Thursday, we turned our attention to the children's programs led by Melese for the kids of the Korah region, a part of Addis Ababa known for its poverty and the city landfill that dominates the landscape. We began the day by playing games such as soccer, Uno, matching games, and card games with the kids, getting to know their dispositions and names. Over the course of our time with them, they will be taught the twelve lessons of C-to-C, "Creation to Crucifixion." We then celebrated with a game of blindfolded Pinata, called "Break the Jebena." Nobody was able to break it but Kaylee! The kids really got a kick out of watching their friends swing at random branches.
For the second half of Thursday, we worked with a ministry called Victory Gate. This ministry serves families who live on the Korah landfill. If you're interested in learning more about this ministry, look up "A Heart for Korah" on Google to see how Victory Gate cares for hundreds of families in the Korah region. As rain poured down outside, we handed out blankets to the people in need, mostly women, children, and diseased or disabled people. Once we were finished, Endale sat us down and told us more about the ministry he founded. One aspect of the ministry is giving milk for TB patients and HIV+ mothers who can't nurse their children without risking transmission. Endale shared his personal testimony, having grown up an orphan in the landfill area, and how he was taken in by a missionary woman and given the resources and education to better live. His heart for caring for the families of Korah comes from having been in their position growing up. After hearing this testimony, we drove down to the landfill to see the place where these people had to live. The landfill was practically a mountain of trash, full of people making their living by scavenging parts to sell. We were told disturbing accounts of how the police do not come to this area, so these people have no protection. Yet, those who are poor cannot afford to live anywhere else, especially the children and the mothers who have been abandoned by their husbands. It is especially hard for these people during the rainy season, which is why our work for the week consisted mostly of handing out blankets, charcoal, and tarps to keep their living places dry, resources that Victory Gate has had difficulty procuring for their ministry since COVID. These supplies are essential during the rainy season to keep warm, stay dry, and have heat to cook and clean.
On Friday, we continued helping with the kids program by participating in and facilitating water games. We passed water between jugs over our heads and balanced little kiddy pools on our feet in groups. Tayt and Caleb got soaked! That afternoon, we handed out more coal and blankets to the families of Korah with Victory Gate.
Saturday was full of fun for the kids! We were all excited to glide down a slip-and-slide made of a long tarp, soap, and water. We played several relay games with the kids who don't usually have access to grass to play on, or water just for fun. Saturday was also Micah's birthday, so naturally, the guys pelted him with water balloons to the kids' delight. That night, we celebrated Micah by going out to an Italian place and eating some delicious cake.
Finally, on Sunday we visited St. Matthews Anglican Church. We met lots of missionaries and foreigners, some from other parts of Africa and others from Europe, and we worshiped and celebrated the Lord's Supper together. We were shocked when right after the service, we were informed that the government was trying to demolish their library for city improvements. Everybody pitched in to move the contents of the library safely to the back of their church compound. This library serves neighborhood kids who can't pay for their textbooks or don't have access to the internet. It is a place where they can study and read for their classes. We pray that they can keep the building, and if not, that their library ministry will continue in another place.
On Sunday afternoon, we visited Unity Park, enjoying the zoo and the history museums that taught us more about the history and modernization of the people we're serving. Afterwards, we returned to the gelato place to savor a sweet treat before heading into our next full week of work, play, and service.
We're entering our last week of mission before heading home on the 23rd. There's never enough room in a single mission update to tell all of the stories of what God has done and is doing here in Ethiopia, so we look forward to telling you more when we come home. Please continue to pray for us as we share the gospel with the people of Ethiopia. Peace!
