Ame-Segm-alehu

Sunday:

Morning came early on day two and I suppose I wasn't surprised to find out that the alarm clock sounded a lot like a goat. Because it was a goat. Our windows were open and in the distance we could hear a monotone hum of foreign chant and singing being piped throughout the city. I later found out this was Orthodox Christian prayers.We headed to the fifth floor for breakfast. A gentlemen made us a scrambled egg with onion and pepper (the hot kind). We practiced casual amharic and true to form, we received smiles as if to say, "we don't understand you, but thanks for trying anyway"

After breakfast we weren't sure of what to expect as we were told to get to the hotel and we would be contacted from there. It was kind of like Charlies' angels or Mission Impossible, in my mind anyway. Our phone did ring and it was "charlie", although he has a different name, he operates in an environment where we will protect his privacy and simply call him "Charlie". He said another couple in town asked to go to the protestant church service and he was going to pick them up at 8:45AM We could join or rest for the morning. Let me think about that one...we're going!

We were early to church so we stopped at a coffee house and grabbed a tea/coffee/machiatto in the Ethiopian knock-off of Starbucks. It appears to be the universal urban drink. A good time to meet our peers, who were a fun bunch from Kentucky. A single mom and her 14 year old son were in ethiopia meeting their daughter/sister for the first time. Also with them were family friends, another mother and son combo. We compared notes and started to get to know each other.

Back to Church. One of the boys traveling with us said, 'That was amazingly like our church at home". And it was! It is so wonderful to know and feel that God is God everywhere. This was a large church and extremely diverse, from Ethiopian to Asian to European and American influences. In singing the doxology, I was struck on how God is the same God yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and how he presents himself in lands foreign or familiar in the same. The pastor preached from the Book of James about why it's so easy to love people "over there", but not easy to love them "here". A great way to start the week.

Then it was off to see Hambisa! We'll cover that in a different blog post.

After our visit to the orphanage, we had found out that the director of the orphanage from remote Ethiopia where Hambisa was dropped of was in Addis! We asked if we could visit with him and he was amenable. We met at a coffeee shop and had a wonderful dialogue with this man for over an hour, discussing his history as an Ethiopian orphan who has since recivied his seminary degree and is now running an orphanage in remote Ethiopia. He is a jovial and fun man and was able to give us first person recollection of Hambisa's birth through 4 months of age. He said Hambisa truly is a gift from God and he knew in his heart that if he and his wife could nurse him back to health God would have a special plan for him. Hambisa has an awesome story, one we can't wait to share with him someday. We are so lucky to have an opportunity to meet Pastor James.

After this meeting "Charlie" took us to a traditional Abysinnian restaurant where we had the pleasure of traditional food and dancing from the Eastern part of Aftrica. This area was formerly known as Abysinnia before being broken into what is now the multiple countries in the Horn of Africa. "Charlie" introduced us to a new drink called "teich?" it is fermented honey and yes it does contain alcohol, though nobody really knows how much. It will no doubt be the subject of multiple conversations between the two boys from kentucky, we were able to get a drink before they were cut off. My response..."Big deal! You're from Kentucky, isn't this just like moonshine?"

By 10Pm jet lag kicked in and it was time to return to the hotel.