Ethiopia 2024 Mission Update #1

Salamno! We made it to Ethiopia, and it’s great to be back! 

Sunday afternoon we made it to the airport and kicked off our trip with our first run through of Shorter Christian Prayer (our communal prayer Books). We then boarded the plane headed towards Istanbul. We spent the next 19 hrs on planes with a very brief layover in Istanbul before arriving in Ethiopia at about 2 am. While on the planes we spent our time reading, watching movies, sleeping, and eating some surprisingly delicious airplane food. Once we arrived in Ethiopia, we spent about an hour and a half getting through customs and finally met up with Travis and his brother Aaron who picked us up from the airport and packed the vehicles they brought with Tetris-level professional efficiency. We then spent Tuesday getting acclimated, recovering from jetlag, and receiving an orientation where we discussed Ethiopian culture, do’s and don'ts, language training, and a little prep for more of the specifics of our trip. On Wednesday we hit the ground running, beginning some projects back at the Pastoral Training Center in Burayu we worked at last year, such as sanding and painting the walls, uprooting the damaged flooring and measuring for more, installing a new water faucet, and more. All of the improvements to the dormitories are a part of Christian Ministry Fellowship’s (CMF) pastoral training program to equip local Ethiopian pastors and churches to do ministry where they are from. You can see some of the work we did last year in our previous mission updates. If you haven't read the posts from last year's trip, you should definitely go read them!  

We continued our work in Burayu on Thursday, and you would not believe the difference you can see in 2 days when you have 14 staff and students working hard all day! On Friday morning, we had two missionaries, Brian and Zenobu, whose calling is in establishing camp ministries here in Ethiopia, come and teach us some tips and tricks on how to run faithful and effective programs in the upcoming VBS and week-long day camps we will have throughout the month. Brian has a background in camp ministry working in the States, and Zenobu is an Ethiopian with a passion to grow children's ministry in his home country, so together they are an incredibly insightful pair. They taught us games to use with kids for the rest of the trip, especially games that use little to no materials or use objects that can be found locally. They also continued to train us in how to evangelize with insightful processing questions after our games as a way to introduce the gospel. 

Later Friday afternoon, we kicked off our first VBS program of the trip! This program took place in Burayu, where we saw lots of familiar faces in the children from last year. Travis informed our group that children’s ministry is something that missionaries here are diligently working alongside churches in Ethiopia to foster and grow, to show children that being a Christian is not all serious all the time, that it can be fun, too! Our team is so grateful to play a small role in the evangelical work the missionaries and the Ethiopian churches are doing here long-term. We continued this VBS all-day Saturday, where we did various skits of Bible stories, discussions with the kids, and lots of games and crafts. We are so glad that we have the same translators from last year, Essey and Lalisa, helping us again throughout the mission; without them, this would not be possible! It was so good to see them and greet them, this time as familiar friends. A few of our team members; Adam, Jamie, and Philip, played street soccer with kids outside who wouldn't or couldn't come in. Our ministry partners told us that these children were probably Muslim and their parents wouldn't allow them onto the church grounds. Praise God that by the time we left they went from barely interacting and keeping their distance to waiting at the edge of the compound to greet us and say goodbye with embraces and laughter. At one point, one of the church members was able to use the friendship we were cultivating just by playing together to share the gospel with the kids on the street. For these kids, just seeing Christians who are willing to interact and play with them is a new experience that changes their expectations for who Christians are. 

On Sunday, we attended church in Burayu, where many of our team members got to experience an Oromian worship service for the first time! As a team, we have been reading a book called “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and after church we had our first book club meeting to discuss the first chapter. That evening, Aaron and Morgan Weeks, who are a married couple working for Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF), hosted a small get-together for other CMF missionaries, interns, and the Wesley crew to be able to gather as one and celebrate all of the good work that is going to happen this summer through various projects across the country. 

This has been an awesome first week together in Ethiopia. Being surrounded by the joyful, hospitable, and loving culture here is indescribable, and we are all loving it. We've eaten so many delicious meals, and the coffee here is unmatched. With one week under our belts, we are looking forward to the coming travel to the down-country village we visited last year called Masha, the week-long day camp we will be hosting for impoverished kids in the capital city, and the work we will be doing to donate and distribute supplies to the families living in a landfill community here in Addis Ababa to better prepare them for the rainy season coming soon. Stay tuned for the next few weeks to see the good work God is doing in our team and in the areas of Ethiopia we have the pleasure of working in!