A Relaxing Weekend

Off to the countryside!

Friday June 27th, we drove about an hour outside Addis Ababa and got a breath of fresh air (much needed) and got to see a little bit of what life is like outside the capital city. When we arrived at Babogaya we walked about a mile to a humongous fig tree. According to somebody (I'm not sure who told us this information) by this tree witch doctors gather around to sacrifice a cow and look at the intestines of the cow to "look" into the future. Afterwards, they have a small ceremony and eat the cow. I'm sure there are more details of this ceremony, but I don't remember them all. It is also a religious meeting place where they believe the community can meet with the spirits--they are very syncretistic. The tree is big enough for hundreds to gather under it.

On the way to the tree, we met cute, kind kids that walked with us the whole way. Even though they didn't speak English, they befriend us and walked with us. Some of the girls held my hand when we hiked up the cinder cone. They wanted to help me climb it. Needless to say, it was a work out but rewarding once we got to the top...at 4,000 feet everything you do is a work out, but I must say it was better than trying to climb a mountain in Addis Ababa at 8,000 feet. At the top of the cinder cone we were able to see the surrounding mountains and the city of Babogaya. It was beautiful! One of the pictures we included shows the crater lake that we got to relax around.

On another note, tomorrow we start our second VBS where we're expecting about 75+ kids who have been infected with HIV. We're all looking forward to ministering to these kids in anyway we can. Even though we're going to need a translator since they only speak Amharic, we are looking forward to see what God is going to do this week. Pray that our translators may be able to convey the message of the Gospel clearly and that language may not be a barrier in any area of our ministry with these kids. That's all for now...thank you all for your prayers and know that God is at work doing great things through us and in us.

Blessings,

Gina and Mike :)
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Attached are four pictures: 1) A couple local kids that befriended us, helping Gina up the cinder cone; 2) The ginourmous tree we told you about; 3) Us in the ginormous tree; and 4) The crater lake we visited.

Eye Opener

Yesterday some of the girls and I (Gina) went to Mother Theresa's Orphanage and it was a sensory overload experience, seeing it on TV is different than being there. When we first walked in, all the kids that were playing came running to us and all they wanted  from us was a little attention, a hug, someone to play with them. The man that gave us the tour told us that they have over 100 kids and about 50 of them have some type of physical or mental disability. While there, we also got to see another compound where they have men and women that are currently under treatment for TB, Malaria, and other diseases. All the workers do their best to take care of the kids and the adults that are there. Though they are short of staff and don't necessarily have enough money to hire more people, it was encouraging to see how patient and loving they are towards the kids. What really shocked me while we were there was the smell in the compound where the adults who need medical treatment are treated. Also, when we went to see the infants we saw many that had skin diseases, had burns, were blind, or mentally disabled. I did everything I could not to cry when we saw them in their cribs with flies all over them. Because they can only pay so many employees, all of them are busy taking care of necessary tasks around the orphanage such as cleaning, cooking, etc. Seeing their suffering and smelling it, made me realize not only how blessed we are, but it also reminded me of heaven and how one day there will be no more suffering or pain of any kind. This was definitely an eye opener experience, but it was also very encouraging.
 
Women at Risk- This ministry is amazing! Today we went to help some of the women make cards. This is one of the many job skills that they are being taught to do for work instead of prostitution. We have been told that about 150,000 women are prostitutes in Addis Ababa...yeah, huge number. So what this ministry does is help women who want to get out of prostitution start a new life. They do a lot of group counseling, share the Gospel throughout the program, and help them find other jobs. None of the counselors working with these women have taken counseling classes, but they are the ones willing to help these women. Fortunately they have had professional counselors come and train them from all over the world. In the seven years of this program out of 250 only 10 of these women went back to prostitution, so as you can see it is a very successful program. Attached is a picture of us with some of the women.

Water & Electricity

Over the last 2 1/2 weeks, I have become very thankful for water (dirty and clean) and electricity... and of course candles and flashlights when the electricity is off. We were without water for several days, which would have been fine except for the fact that we discovered it after I (Michael) had just played full court basketball, which let me tell you... quite an experience at 8,000 ft. when you're out of shape. My lungs were not happy! I guess God wanted to teach me some humility :) I have included a picture of our first lack-of-electricity experience--cleaning the kitchen in the dark.

Class has been going well. The students seem to be getting a lot out of the discussions and the notes. Some of the guys have read the books multiple times already. They are hungry. We're going over the doctrine of the Holy Spirit & the world of angels today and tomorrow. Next week I'll be teaching the doctrine of salvation, which I believe is the most important area that we will cover. Pray that I teach clearly. Sunday I am leading a discussion, at the church that we have been helping out, on David and courage. We've been doing character studies (Jonathan & Friendship, Barnabas & encouragement, Joseph & faithfulness so far).

Gina went to one of Mother Teresa's homes yesterday. It was a sobering experience. She'll write more about that and about her time with Women At Risk today.

I'll update the blog again tomorrow before we leave the city for a couple days.

The Ethiopian Experience

We have officially been in the country for 10 days now. Ministries are
taking off and we are having a great time. The electricity and water
have been going off every other day. That has taken some getting used
to, but we're just going with the flow.

We normally leave the house at 8:30a and don't get back until almost
7:30 at night. Gina's first VBS ends today, but she has started working
with teenage girls that used to be homeless. She loves it.

Michael's class is going well. There are 16 enrolled. Some of them have
come as far as 500 km to take this class during the summer. It is a
challenge teaching theology. He finds teaching through the New Testament
much easier, but the guys seem to be enjoying it (and it's a good review
for him). A survey of bible doctrine will probably have more impact on
these guys than just one book of the New Testament. He has also been
meeting with some of the guys before class. He has heard some incredible
stories of men that are pastoring and have been persecuted by
Muslims/orthodox. Others have been shunned by their families for
converting to Christianity. It is amazing to see their faith.

Attached are three pictures. Two are of Michael's class and one is of
Gina and the girls that she has been working with.

June 17th

Yesterday was Michael's first day of class and Gina's first day of her
first VBS. She has a small group, but she absolutely loves the kids and
the small group gives her more one-on-one time. She has been amazed at
how well behaved the kids are. It's amazing how much deeper you can go
when the kids behave and want to learn. Michael's class went great last
night. The group has a thirst and hunger for the word of God and they
are all active in ministry. They asked great questions! The amount of
discussion was surprising. They had some tough questions. There are
about 16 in the class and we will include some pictures soon. Attached
are two pictures: 1) Gina playing a name game with a group of kids to
start out the VBS; and 2) Michael standing in front of the IEC
(International Evangelical Church) and ETC (Evangelical Theological
College) complex, where we both teach on Sunday and Michael teaches his
class M-F from 5p-7p (8a-10a central time).

Almost there...

We had a delay in D.C., to be more specific, a 12 hour delay. Once we made it to Washington, we had to wait about an hour for our luggage. Then we tried to look for the Ethiopian Airline's ticket counter. Went up an elevator and down another elevator walked around the airport to find out the ticket counter was closed. So here we are walking around the airport with 8 pieces of luggage and four carry ons. Given our options, spend the night at the airport or get a hotel, we started our search for a hotel. We called Holiday Inn and were very happy to get a room, but as soon as we got there they told us they were booked. So back to square one. Fortunately, the manager at Holiday Inn called Hampton Inn and got us a room. By the time we finally got our room, we were hungry and tired, so we decided to eat a bag of popcorn and go to bed. After all these obstacles, I am happy to tell you all that we fly out tonight from Washington DC and get to Ethiopia at 7pm their time on Tuesday, about 10am US time, which is the same day as previously scheduled just 12 hours later :) As you can tell our adventure has begun. We do thank God for taking care of us and providing us with a United gate agent that was willing to work with us and gave us the best option possible. We also got all our luggage :) (so far... lol)

That's all for now! We're excited to get there...we'll keep you all updated as much as we can.


Thanks for all your prayers,

Blessings!


Gina and Mike

PS: Gina is okay right now on beauty sleep.

And we're off...

June 8th is almost here! I can't believe how fast these last couple months have flown.

Before we leave for Ethiopia, we want you to know how much we appreciate your prayers and support for this trip. Your prayers and support will impact pastors and churches through the Evangelical Theological College, people from around the world at the International Evangelical Church, children at several churches through VBS (one group of AIDS victims), attention-deprived kids at the orphanages, at-risk teens at the Deborah house, and whoever else God sends our way. Your prayers and support will have an eternal impact.

BTW (by the way) - We still don't know how slow the internet will be and whether it will be easily accessible, but we will do our best to update the blog as soon and as often as possible so that you can see what's happening.

Until Ethiopia ... In Christ — Michael & Gina