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.
1 comment:
Glad to hear you had a relaxing weekend! We pray this week's VBS provides hope & joy for those special kiddos!
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