Look out for these 3 kids with sticks. They mean business! After being overcome by monkeys while having lunch at an open air restaurant in Sodere, the waitstaff was kind enough to equip our Joshua, Micah & Caia with sticks in case the monkeys tried to eat off our plates. And, that they did. The monkeys came right up to the table and tried to steal food. Crazy.
But, with a couple of mean looking monkey busters like these 3, the monkeys didn't stand a chance. They took their job quite seriously and were good protectors of all of us and of our meals.
And, you should have seen the glow on the kids faces. How many restaurants have you been in that have encouraged the kids to be armed with big sticks to ward of the wild animals? I mean, usually we are encouraging our kids to try to sit quietly and keep their hands the themselves in a public setting. But, they were performing a public service, so I guess it was okay.
Here's a worship song that was written by a young Ethiopian worship leader from Dessie, Ethiopia. He shared it in a worship service during a recent Vineyard conference we were attending in Nazret. It is a great example of people writing simple, indigenous, passionate worship songs. God, please continue to place your song in the hearts of Ethiopians that express worship to you and that capture your heart for people!
Last week we got the privilege and honor of being among a very diverse group of pastors and leaders as we all shared in what God is doing through the Vineyard movement across Africa. We joined with pastors from Ethiopia, Brundi, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Norway, Sweden, Finland and The US with the common aim of seeking The Father for what He is doing in Africa. The richness of histories and stories and experience in the room was touching and challenging. Many of these folks face challenges that are outside of our box to this point in time. They are facing issues such as developing churches in hostile environments or trying to train leaders in villages that are totally unaccessible and where there is no communication infrastructure. They are facing how to develop training tools that can assist rural pastors who have difficulty reading and writing. They are facing doing complex reconciliation between peoples and tribes that have warred with each other for generations. They are facing the devastating effects of colonization and imperialism that stole much of the richness from the culture and planted a brand of Christianity that forced people to look like Westerners and act like Westerners, rather than just being Jesus' followers. They are facing the total collapse of economies which has meant that there is absolutely no security in the money that they have in their pockets and that it is better for them to have that money in their pockets than in the bank. They are facing working with difficult government situations and societies that are rocked by violence and crime as well as the effects of long term war. They face many of the same difficulties that we can imagine the early church faced as they began to gather together diverse cultures and diverse histories with diverse education and spiritual baggage in order to establish a unified community that reflected The Kingdom of God while also reflecting elements of their cultures of origin.
Yet, despite these difficulties, these brothers and sisters in Christ continue to preach and demonstrate The Kingdom of God. People are being healed. Reconciliation is occurring. People are coming to know Jesus. People are joining in the process of wholeness. Justice and mercy are kissing. New communities of hope are being planted. People are finding the dignity of having been created in the image of God. Community among very diverse folks is being uncovered. People are finding freedom. People’s bellies are being filled as well as their souls. Its a beautiful picture. Great opposition. Great challenges. Great cost. Yet, with perseverance there are great breakthroughs occurring. Last week I found a whole new group of heroes! Last week I also realized in a more profound way how much we truly need the heterogenous, multi-cultural, multi-national Kingdom community in order to more fully understand that God’s Kingdom is not constrained by culture or race or background or national boundary. I need others if I ever hope to have God show me His Kingdom rather than what I’ve come to think of it as - and if I ever hope to take off my cultural blindness and prejudices to better be able to see what He is doing.
I also think of the many sacrifices made by Jesus followers here in Ethiopia both in order to attend parts of this week of meetings, as well as to see God’s Kingdom expand. Consider the person who knew that God wanted him there, so he took the time off of work to attend, yet he was unsure that his job would still be there when he returns. Or, consider the pastors who traveled 500 kilometers to come to the meetings by bus on roads that do not always exist. A journey of 500 kms here takes at least 10 hours. Or, consider the women who cooked for us during the end of the week. They served us breakfast, lunch and dinner, literally cooking almost around the clock as a sacrifice of love toward us.
But, of course, these sacrifices are just a small peek into the daily sacrifices that pastors and leaders make here in order to see God’s Kingdom advance. Consider the church that was planted in a rural area less than 2 years ago by a young man in his 20’s that has now planted 7 other rural churches - all of which he is providing some form of oversight to. Or, consider the guy who oversees over 60 churches in very difficult areas who takes no salary from his work with them, but rather uses the income from his secular business to help support those churches. Or consider the pastor who has not gotten paid in over a year because he saw the need for his church to have a building to serve their community, yet the church can’t afford to pay him and for the building, both. Or, consider the many who have full time jobs but then are serving God in seeing His Kingdom come full time after hours too. Or, consider those pastors who in the rural areas are involved in the messiness of not only holding worship services but also caring for the widows and orphans who make up a disproportionate percentage of their churches. Or, consider those pastors who would love to be able to have a public space to meet in, yet there is no way they can afford to either rent or build even a small space where they could welcome more to come experience God's Presence with them..
Sacrifice here is on a different level. And, it challenges me in the core of who I am. Yet, I also see how God’s Kingdom breaks in when all of us are together and I happen to think that they somehow are linked. There is a level of death to self in order to be raised in Christ that is practiced here that leads to a richness of our times together where we see God move in power. I’ll confess that at times I have tried to strategize (not that strategy in and of itself is bad) about how to see God move in power and how to better experience His Presence breaking in. I have longed to experience God’s Power and Presence in corporate settings that brings freedom and healing and where people are coming to know Jesus. What I can share now, is what seems to be true here. It comes from the laying down of lives (in the truest sense of the word) and the laying down of comfort and the laying down of success and the laying down of comfort and and entering into the process of death to my self, my needs and my wants along with the embrace of the messiness of ministry. In that process the power of the resurrection comes out and The Kingdom of God keeps advancing.
We have so much to learn from our dear friends here...much more than we will ever teach them.
One of the things that stands out in Addis Ababa is the number of street children who are here. You may find them begging or shining shoes or selling gum or selling Ethiopian wooden toothbrushes. Some will find themselves addicted to chat. Many find themselves in a difficult spot where they are “stuck” in the city without means and without an education to try to find a way out. A stark scene is to travel into Mexico Square early in the morning and see the dozens of children sleeping in the grass median strip. According to our Ethiopian friends, some of the youngest have been trafficked from the countryside to be “used” in the raising of money by beggars and will eventually disappear. These friends have petitioned the government to make it illegal for women to be able to beg with children because of the safety issues involved.
Its a difficult scene in a land where there are now over 5.2 million people in need of emergency food aid, according to a report just released from the Ethiopian government and the UN last week (200,000+ more than thought in December). Life in the countryside is difficult. So, the draw of coming to the city to make a living has a certain promise to it. What has been explained to us is that there are people who go to the countryside promising children jobs in the textile factories and in other businesses. It makes sense to a family to send one of their children to the city - it is one less mouth to feed and it has the promise of money returning to the family in the countryside where subsistence farming is prevalent, but where the yield continues to decrease, especially in the face of lack of rain.
So, children arrive, but within a short time the jobs dry up or they don’t materialize at all. This leaves young children on their own. Children younger than Joshua are left to provide for themselves, sleep on the streets and stay out of trouble.
What are the answers? I’ve loved seeing what some folks are doing to reach out to these street kids and bring hope to them. One guy (who grew up on the streets himself) has started a soccer club which helps give education and food to kids in Jesus’ name while also giving them a positive outlet. They have uniforms and play organized games against street kids from other areas who also have organized teams. Others are providing drop-in centers which help feed, shelter and educate kids while also giving them some skills.
I really love what some folks we met last week are doing, though. They have started an agricultural project in a rural area where a lot of children are trafficked to the city from. In this project they are helping to increase the yield for farmers so that all of the mouths can be fed, they are providing children with skills so that they do not need to go to the city to find work, and they are generating revenue from the sale of fruits and vegetables to help with the ministry expenses of reaching out to street children in Addis Ababa. I love that here is a group of people who have the foresight to not just address the surface need of seeing kids fed and clothed and sheltered here in the city (one area of their ministry does this). But, they also are tackling a larger issue that starts in the countryside with families needing to find provision.
My prayer since meeting these guys is that we can have insight in how to address some of these core issues. What would God have us do to help tackle some of the root issues and not just the surface need. God give us wisdom...
I absolutely LOVE Hanna's hair when it's out of braids - just down and curly. But it gets tangled very easily, and she HATES (aka- crying, screaming, wailing, etc, etc) having her hair combed, so up in braids it goes.
Today, I successfully put in my first corn rows. I've tried before, but between a squiggly toddler and my lack of experience, I've never gotten a row longer than about a centimeter. But today, we achieved 12 full rows! Tigist said my "shurba" looks good, but I think she's just being nice. It already looks frizzy, so we'll see how long it lasts. Now if I can only get my parts straight....
I'm having problems getting pictures to post, but I think you should be able to access them here: photos of Hanna's braids
Timket is a very colorful festival within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which this year occured 12 days after Orthodox Christmas (next year it falls the day before Christmas). It is full of liturgy and colorful robes and bright tapestries. The reason for celebration is to commemorate Jesus' baptism. While many churches in the
West celebrate Epiphany, I had never experienced an Epiphany celebration like this!
All around the country there are large meeting places where people from a number of churches will gather to
celebrate. At Jan Meda (near Sidist Kilo) where we joined in the celebration, the members of about 10 churches gathered at the same place for the purpose of celebration. Our friend's estimate was that there were at least 100,000 people at Jan Meda. We think there were at least 200,000...either way, its a lot of people in the same field.
On Timket Eve (known as Ketera) the festival begins with a mass held at each of the local churches by the priest. Then the Tabot (a replica of the Ark of the Covenant) is carried on the head of one of the priests, covered by very colorful cloth. *A side note: each church has a replica of the Ark of the Covenant which are
kept in the Holy of Holies within the inner sanctum of the church. Because the priests are the only ones who can see the Ark uncovered and whom can enter the Holy of Holies, it brings huge celebration to Ethiopian
Orthodox members when The Ark is brought out.
The procession then starts to the gathering place through the streets. People dance and sing as the accompany the priests and the Ark. The Ark is also kept covered by a brightly-colored cloth-covered umbrella carried by another priest or deacon. It is a scene full of bright colored robes, bright umbrellas and an electric excitement. There is much singing, dancing and clapping...but perhaps the most spectacular scene is the drummers who lead the singing by playing a drum strapped around their necks with one hand on each end while spinning in circles.
Each of the processions will arrive at a different time at the gathering place, however most of the liturgy begins just prior to sunset. Most of the liturgy is conducted in Ge'ez which is a language dating back to the 4th Century. Unfortunately, the language of the mass is only really understood by the priests and other trained
religious people, since the only way to learn Ge'ez is through an apprenticeship with a priest over years of
training. The liturgy throughout the next 24 hours and the preaching will focus on Jesus' baptism, The Father's
voice of approval from heaven and The coming of The Holy Spirit upon Jesus. According to our one friend, the general feeling for many lay people is that in celebrating Timket they will experience God's blessing...so while they do not understand the words being said, there is a sense that God will bless them in the celebration. After leaving, the streets are filled with people dancing, singing and chanting - proclaiming that they are feeling blessed and that they are proud to be Orthodox. One of our friends said that these declarations have become more pronounced as Islam has begun to grow in influence within Ethiopia.
The liturgy is a mixture of prayers, songs, and chants. Much of it is choreographed in incorporating groups of
priests and deacons directing the music with their prayer sticks as well as the use of a metallic ratte-like
instrument named a sistrum. The chants and songs are based on a 5 note scale that traces the whole way back to Saint Yared who wrote Orthodox music using a notation that predates western musical notation in the 6th century. The celebration of Timket is full of centuries old tradition with the hope of calling the church to remember,learn and participate in the significance of Jesus'baptism.
There are liturgical elements which will last throughout the whole night, but the most anticipated event occurs
around midnight when a priest will sprinkle holy water throughout the crowd as a celebration of Jesus' baptism. Many have claimed to have been healed or experienced a sense of blessing when the holy water is spread. At some Timket celebrations, people will also enter a pool of blessed water for baptism or for healing.
Some of the faithful will stay for the whole festival (well over 24 hours) and then in the afternoon they accompany the Arks back to the local churches where they are from. Where we joined in the festival of Timket, there are also government officials who came to celebrate as well as Patriarch Abune Paulos (Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church). As you can imagine, this is a huge celebration, when you consider that approximately 40% of the population of Ethiopia is Orthodox and therefore it is a national holiday. In some ways the celebration appears to be a nationalistic celebration, too. There are Ethiopian flags and colors everywhere. It is uniquely Ethiopian.
We had the privilege of being able to have a front row seat with the Western press...so it was quite the
experience. If you're ever in Ethiopia during Timket, don't miss it. It is an important part of the culture.
Went outside and found that the kids had used chalk to make an entire city covering our entire compound, and were having a blast wiht the Fisher Price Little People in their town. There were houses, barns, roads, a gym, a church, fields...you name it. They had fun for days in their city (until it got washed away). Ahhh, a clean slate for yet another town to be born.
Check out our blog chronicling the journey of adopting our daughter Hanna from Ethiopia from 2007 through the present. http://onelessorphan.blogspot.com
