Our last days in Ethiopia...

In some ways it feels like we just arrived, but at times it feels longer than a month and a half. We miss our family and friends and consequently time feels like it is going by very slowly. On the other hand, we have built great relationships and we are sad to go back home. Nonetheless, we have enjoyed the time we've been here, we have been blessed to have met and served the people here in our various ministries and we have also learned a lot in the process.
 
This week is our last VBS, in fact our last day is today. Even though it is our last VBS and we (gina and the other girls in the team) are kind of running low on energy we have been blessed through this ministry. We have been able to train some of the members of IEC (International Evangelical Church) who volunteered to help out with VBS, and we have been able to not only share the Gospel with the kids but also disciple them throughout the week.
 
Additionally, we (gina and girls on the team) have been able to spend more time with the girls from Deborah house (these are the girls that used to live on the street). We shared the gospel with them through Gospel bracelets, and they understood it clearly and that same day using their bracelets, one of the girls shared the Gospel with one of the guards that works at their house. It is evident that these girls love Christ and are grateful for what God has done in their lives. Their testimony is very encouraging and refreshing, and their joy is contagious. It has been a blessing to get to know these girls and to minister to them. [Above is a picture of some of the girls wearing the bracelets. There were about 30 girls total.]

Lastly, we (Mike and Gina) want to thank everyone who has been praying for us from the beginning and also those who have helped us financially to get here to Ethiopia and do what God brought us here to do. We thank God for each of you and pray that He may continue to bless you and that you may be encouraged and blessed knowing that God has done great things here in the Ethiopia through us and in us over the last six weeks. We look forward to sharing with you more details about our adventures!

Blessings!

Gina and Mike

A Good Way to Meet the Locals

Rainy season has arrived. Every day when I leave for class, I ask myself, "Is it going to rain in the next 30 minutes." I'm usually right, but today was the second time that I was dead wrong. While walking to class today (30 min), I rounded the last corner (Sar Bet = Grass House) when it began to rain. I thought to myself, "Well, good thing I brought my umbrella." The wind had been gusting swiftly up until this point, and just then the heavens opened up and waters, reminiscent of the days of Noah's Ark, showered down upon me, which would have been fine if there weren't hurricane force winds and hail.

Just then I spotted two shepherds (yes there are real shepherds walking the streets of Addis Ababa), with their goats, running towards a pretty tall fence on top of a hill. "Why not," I thought to myself. So, I followed them and stood next to the fence sporting, by then, a broken umbrella, wearing khakis and a button down shirt, and carrying a backpack with a laptop computer. Next to me were two shepherds and about four goats. Twenty-first century meets fourth century B.C.

I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking. I must have looked unusually odd and out of place.

There's a humorous story to brighten your day. I'm wet, but I'm laughing out loud (lol) sitting here grading papers.

Moral of the story--follow the shepherds, there will always be meat, greens, and a source of water :) hehe

[Attached is a picture of the aftermath.]

The Bus Tour Bonus

I almost forgot to mention--Saturday we had the opportunity to tour the
city on an Englishesk Double Decker Bus. As you can imagine from seeing
the picture that I included, we stuck out like a soar thumb... in a hand
model convention. I must say we had mixed reviews over the course of the 2 1/2 hour trip. Some pointed, some snapped pictures of us (I thought I was the tourist!), while others yelled various words and phrases in English (everything from you... you! to four letter expletives... I'm sure glad they're teaching them English! hehe). Others just pointed... some used the pointer finger and others just kept waving their middle finger at us. We just smiled and waved back... with our whole hand of course. It was pretty funny at times. The bus ride gave us an incredible opportunity to see the city from above. It's just not smart to whip out a digital camera in the market... unless you're selling it.... and with a price of your pride.One quick funny story - Gina heard her name being yelled out, which in the US wouldn't be so weird, but in Ethiopia... she's probably the only Gina within miles. So, she kept looking and to her surprise, she saw some of her Ethiopian VBS kids running after the bus. That happened several times. I saw one of my students as well, but he didn't run after the bus. He just waved... using his whole hand :) hehe.

The Final Days of Class

Friday marks the last day of my class A Survey of Bible Doctrine. [Attached is a picture of the class. There were two absent.] The class has went well. Some of them struggled with eternal security, but looking at Heb 10, 1 John 5:9-13, and passages from John's gospel, definitely helped solidify this doctrine in their minds. They had many questions about the warning passages in Hebrews, the branches and the Vine in John 15, Phil 2:13, Matt 7:15-23, Matt 24:1-14, etc., but I went passage by passage and did my best to explain these passages. We also talked about what eternal life means (never ending). As Dr. Howard Hendricks always says, if eternal life isn't eternal, we need to call it something else. Another important issue was the verb "save/deliver/rescue" (/swzw/) and the noun "salvation, deliverance" (/swteria/). It normally means rescued from enemies (cf. Ps 7:9-11), delivered from imminent death (cf. Matt 8:25; Acts 27:20; etc.), delivered from disease [to health] (cf. Mark 3:1-5), and delivered from sins (cf. Mt 1:21; Lk 7:48-50). Hence, when we see "saved" in the Bible we need to ask two questions: 1) Saved from what?; and 2) Saved to what? After it was all said and done, many of them changed their minds or already believed in the security of the believer.

This is the second day of Gina's third VBS. The numbers are a little lower than expected, but it is going well. The unexpectedly lower numbers have allowed her to use some of the extra gospel bracelets, which were made by many of you, at the Deborah House (a house for former street girls).

It's amazing how fast this six weeks has flown. We only have eight full days left!

Hearing the story for the first time.

Our VBS at Beza ended Friday July 4th. It was a joyous and a sad day at the same time. We were happy to have been able to minister to these kids, to share the Gospel with them but very sad to say goodbye. All the kids that attended VBS are very poor and many wore the same clothes all week, also more than 50% of them are HIV positive. We were so thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ for the opportunity he gave our team to minister to these kids. It was also a learning experience for us. By the end of the first day, the kids knew all of our names and by the end of our third day even though they didn't know a word in English they knew how to say "thank you" and "I love you."  Those are the words we heard everyday. All the kids treasured all the crafts we made with them that week. Even though many of them consisted of just coloring pages they were so grateful and happy to hold a crayon in their hands and color. But what amazed me (Gina) the most was their reaction to the Bible stories. All but maybe five had never heard about the miracles of Jesus; they were in awe when we told them about Jesus' miracles, His love, His grace and about His sacrifice on the cross for us. They were so attentive and took everything that we taught them into their hearts and were so eager daily to learn more and more. All the kids came from an Orthodox background and had many challenging questions about God. Many asked questions such as: "How is Jesus God and Holy Spirit?" and "If God knew that Adam and Even were going to eat of the fruit of the tree, then why did he put it there?" and "If God wanted to save us all why didn't he just do it?" (Needless to say Dr. Horrell, many of us were thankful for your notes) These are the questions we got asked by this group of kids. And may I add, that general age group was 8-12. It was a challenging week for us as you can see, but it was a blessing.
 
The last day of VBS we shared the story of the Gospel using the bracelets that were very kindly made by Terry and Jeanie Abla and others from Chase Oaks and Michael's mom. The children were so grateful for them, and what was the most memorable moment was to hear them retell the story of the Gospel through the bracelets. We give all honor and glory to God and thank Him for allowing us to minister to these kids.

Please pray for our third and last VBS this week, for we are expecting over 150 kids.

Better than Weight Watchers!

After four busy weeks in the country, our bodies are still acclimating to our dramatically varying daily schedules, the Mt. Everest like altitude, the ever-increasing smog, the food, and the water. On top of that, our group leader is quite a sports fanatic. Thus, we miss several meals per week for sporting events. With all of that said, I may just set a record for the most weight lost in a six week period (18lbs in 4 weeks), in Ethiopia, while recovering from injera poisoning (the national food... which has made everyone sick countless times [including Gina last night]... and which we will be partaking of tonight). Don't misunderstand this post, I'm laughing out loud (lol) while I post this. I'm elated over the unexpected weight loss and I count all of these experiences with joy... usually after the event, but joyous nonetheless. [The picture is our first in-country injera experience. Oh how green we were... or at least would become later that night... hehe.]

BTW - Happy Fourth of July!

The Children

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit Selam Children's Village. It's an orphanage, but not just your average-run-of-the-mill children's home. It has a very unique twist. Several decades ago, a Christian couple, along with their daughter, had an innovative idea to create a self-sufficient children's village. They teach the children trades so that they can move from dependence to independence upon graduation. It is an incredible idea. They have a fully functioning farm, auto-mechanic shop, metal working area, bakery, green house, restaurant, and most importantly a technical school, where the kids learn to be self-sufficient. [PICTURE #1 - One of our group members, Julie (middle), and two girls from the village. Julie was adopted from this village, so it was a special time for the family.] WARNING!! [don't read the following line while eating--> One of the most amazing examples of innovative thinking is the fact that they take the manure from the dairy cows, use the solid for soil (to sell and to farm with) and the gas for cooking (Was that vague enough? hehe). Everything tastes a little peculiar, but they definitely save on money (just kidding... on the taste). [PICTURE #2 - One of the cows trying to lick Gina.]

Gina started another VBS Monday. This one has been more challenging than the first due to the fact that the kids only speak Amharic. They are almost all from the Orthodox church (and HIV +). So, many are coming to faith during the Bible story time. Pray that the translators will be clear and help with crowd control. [PICTURE #3 - The first night of the VBS.] A picture of the kids with the gospel bracelets is forthcoming.

My class is going well. The presentations last night were great. I was very encouraged. We start Soteriology (the doctrine of Salvation) tonight. These next two days are crucial for their future ministry.

BTW - We had power for 4 or 5 days straight (and water)!! It's off today, but we're learning to work around it.