Sunday, we got up and split up into groups of 3 to go to different church services around Debre Zeyit. I was with Will and Robin and we went to a small outreach church just around the corner from the guest house. Choo Choo walked us there and back. We met the principal of the school and his kids there too. Ethiopian church takes long services to a whole new meaning. It's usually 3 hours with praying, singing, preaching, announcements, and more preaching. In fact, at our service the evangelist spoke and then the man who was introduced to us as the pastor got up to speak. The people translating for us turned and said, "He's saying the same things." They repeat things a lot apparently. They repeat it when they speak and then they hear it again from someone else. However, that doesn't seem to lessen the value. It makes it more valuable.
When we first got there, the service hadn't quite started yet but we could hear music being played and practiced. We asked what it was and they took us behind the tent to a small room where high school aged young men and women were singing. It seemed like it was worship practice for the service, but they did a lot more in the hour of practice than they did in the service. I think they were just enjoying singing and worshipping together. It was really fun to hang out, watch, and listen. I have a lot of videos I want to share but I'm having issues uploading them. For some reason it won't work through iPhoto. I'll have to redo them straight to my hard drive and try again. There is one of them practicing but I'll keep working on it.
The rest of Sunday was spent figuring out our meals, relaxing, meeting the kids at the foster home, and a quick stop to the Internet to tell everyone we had arrived safely. The Foster Home has 2 mom and 9 kids. The goal of the foster home is to have the kids placed in church homes and families in Ethiopia. They have had a few adopted to the states and 2 are in the process of being adopted by the missionary coordinator (Mussie) and his wife (Jonnett). Mussie and Jonnett live at the guest house and have only been married a month and a half. They have great hearts for service noted especially by the fact that they are living their first married months in a house with constantly coming and going strangers. Playing with the foster kids was definitely a perfect way to start off our time in Ethiopia. Who could resist these smiles???
The rest of Sunday was spent figuring out our meals, relaxing, meeting the kids at the foster home, and a quick stop to the Internet to tell everyone we had arrived safely. The Foster Home has 2 mom and 9 kids. The goal of the foster home is to have the kids placed in church homes and families in Ethiopia. They have had a few adopted to the states and 2 are in the process of being adopted by the missionary coordinator (Mussie) and his wife (Jonnett). Mussie and Jonnett live at the guest house and have only been married a month and a half. They have great hearts for service noted especially by the fact that they are living their first married months in a house with constantly coming and going strangers. Playing with the foster kids was definitely a perfect way to start off our time in Ethiopia. Who could resist these smiles???
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