Woliso, Ethiopia

First stop... Woliso, Ethiopia

We flew into Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Spent one night in a "guest house," which was sort of like a bed & breakfast for international parents to stay at while in the process of adopting.

The next day we drove about 8 hours through the Ethiopian countryside to Woliso. 

This is a picture of farmland, but the drive to Woliso was beautiful with rolling hills. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the drive because our little vans were rather bumpy.

Here's a look at some of our team from the back of a van. Patrick & I have a new found appreciation for Dramamine, which worked great for us and we actually got to sit in the front of the other van and talk to our translator - a senior in high school - who taught us a lot about Ethiopian culture
(like how their calendar and way of keeping time is radically different from ours).

While we were in Woliso we worked a lot with kids. We were part of a team with World Orphans, a group that partners American churches with local churches caring for orphans.

We mainly worked with the eight orphans that are now living at a home with house parents on the church property. However, we also put on a kids' camp for the neighborhood kids. There was no problem getting kids to come. Everyday when we pulled into the church, kids from all over town came running.

While we were with the kids in Ethiopia, we did a variety of activities. Most of them spoke no English, so taking pictures, doing crafts, playing soccer & other games provided a way to relate with them. We also used a lot of help from our translator. Most of these kids have not had adults play or interact with them much before coming here and even here, where things are much better for them, they they still don't have much.

   

We also got to give each of the orphans some gifts our teams brought along. It was a gift to us to see how some stuffed animals, coloring books, and sun glasses made their faces light up.

    

    

 We also spent time with the church leaders of our partner church. This church is really more of a network of churches. The main church has planted other churches who have now also planted other churches themselves (so the church where the orphanage is had daughter & grand-daughter churches)

This is a daughter church planted by the main church. Patrick preached here on the Sunday we were in Ethiopia. The kids Sunday school/choir practice area is the smaller building to the left. This church is surrounded by areas where people live - so kind of a rural Ethiopian version of a suburban church :)

On the right is Teshale, the pastor of
the main church. He spoke
good English and was a joy
to relate with. He is attending
seminary in Kenya. In the middle is
Kevin Ruark and Greg Schupra is on
the far left.
The picture on the left is inside the
church plant pictured above.

                                                    

We also got to visit one of the grand-daughter churches, which included a fun walk through farmland  and jungle type vegetation. As we climbed up a hill, we arrived at a clearing to see this...

It was a beautiful sight. 

The physical and sacrificial labor required to build this building in this location seemed difficult enough, but that couldn't compare to the costs of these people to follow Christ surrounded by competing Muslim and Coptic influence. A cost they counted as a joy.

Looking out from the church was this view. From here you could see the church that planted this one on the hill as well as the main church were the orphanage is - a visual heritage.

We were invited inside...

where we sang and they sang (and sounded much better). 

They are now working to plant another church.

We stayed at the Negesh lodge...

which meant jungle, huts, safe food, and...

monkeys! 

Who happen to try to break into huts at night. I thought I was going to die.

We also had plenty of Ethiopian coffee...

and of course Patrick had plenty of authentic Ethiopian food.

   

A few other highlights include Teshale (the pastor) and his family 

inviting our whole team to their home for lunch...

visiting with several people the church is caring for who have AIDS

and spending time with the orphans who were so shy at the beginning 

and beaming with excitement after a few days 

          

     

    

      

Abel (above on the right) became a Christian just over a year ago. He came from a Muslim family and members of his family threatened to kill him if he remained a Christian. He ran away and someone told him to find Teshale who would help him. Now Abel lives on the church property. He helped us get the kids to smile for these pictures - which wasn't easy! 

Each of these pictures has a story behind it. 

Each face is a story of rescue - physical and eternal in the name of Christ.

Next stop... safari in Kenya.