Day 9: It's Getting Easier

June 9, 2009

Tuesday

“The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.”

1 Corinthians 8:2-3

It was a pretty uneventful day. Getting a mini-bus to Piazza was so much easier from the other spot I walked to. School today was pretty boring and uneventful. I had Sport at 9:15am (which is recess) and then nothing until 2:00pm when I had Sport again and then Ethics right after that. In Ethics I talked about the first five of the 10 Commandments and then also told the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Lunch today at Kechene was injera and doro wat (chicken stew). I said I would like a little so that I could try it but they gave me a WHOLE LOT. I couldn’t finish it all and the teachers were making fun of me, telling me if I did not clean my plate that I would be punished (like the children are if they don’t eat all their food). I still couldn’t eat it all and I felt really bad for wasting their food.

No power today so we had dinner by candle light again at Cherokee House, and Asni had made this incredible meal of tacos with homemade chips with all the fixings and it was amazing. It was definitely my favorite meal thus far.

Day 8: Crazy Transportation & Finding a Husband

June 8, 2009

Monday

“What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.”

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Today was an experience. First off, I went to and from Kechene all by myself. Going there was…interesting. I walked to Tor Highluch and waited for a mini-bus. And waited. And waited. Finally a cab pulled up and I pushed my way on (which is what you have to do if you ever want to actually get onto a mini-bus during rush hour), just to find out it was going to Mexico and not Piazza. So I had to get back off. Then it happened again. Bus pulls up, I get on, and then have to get right back off again. Finally a guy took pity on me and pushed onto a bus to save me a seat. After I thanked him, the bus pulled away from Tor Highluch and I realized this bus wasn’t going to Piazza either. So I got off and walked back to the road I knew the Piazza buses traveled down and caught a mini-bus there. At Piazza I got on a bus to Kechene and waited for it to fill up, but as soon as it pulled out, the bus died. So I had to get out and find another bus to Kechene. Finally I got to Kechene two and a half hours later. It was a trip -literally! I almost came to tears but kept it in.

The second experience of the day was at Kechene and a man in a suit came out of the office, so I went over to him and introduced myself. His name was Jacob and he is an Ethiopian pastor. He was very talkative and like the fist thing he asked me was

“Are you Christian?”

“Yes”

“Are you Catholic?”

“No.”

“Are you Protestant?”

“Yes.”

This made him very happy and even more talkative. He then asked me,

“Are you married?”

“No.”

“Why not?” (said as an accusation)

“I’m 21 and still in University.”

“But you want to get married?”

“Well yes, someday.”

“Well Ok, I’ll pray for you then that you find a husband.”

And then he actually stopped and prayed for me out loud that I would find a husband. I was laughing so hard, especially because my quiet time this morning was on 1 Corinthians 7 and marrying instead of burning.

Day 7: Day of Worship / Day of Rest

June 7, 2009

Sunday

“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.”

1 Corinthians 6:11

We went to church this morning at IEC, International Evangelical Church. It was Rachel, Brittany, Allison, Blair and myself. Mark didn’t want to come and Kate left for the weekend to travel outside of Addis Ababa with a family adopting through Bethany. The church was big and could have easily been a church building in the U.S., but the best part was the worship.

It was A-mazing!

We sang songs like Come Thou Font and Mighty to Save and a lot of other ones that I really like. They had a full worship team with guitars, drums keyboard and singers and it was just awesome. The pastor who got up to preach had just returned, apparently after being gone for 10 months. His name is Vic Anderson and he had brought a team of students with him from Houston Theological Seminary, in Texas, where he works. It was just wonderful to fellowship with such a diverse group of believers and to be able to sing praises to God as loud as we could. The rest of the day was spent much like Saturday, just lying around the house, talking, napping, reading, and eating.

Day 6 : It's the Weekend!

June 6, 2009

Saturday

Today was spent sleeping in, eating, and lying around the house. Mark went out exploring by himself but all us girls stayed at Cherokee House. We just sat around talking and reading and napping and it was wonderful. We finally left the house in the evening and walked to a Chinese restaurant. The power was off today so when we got to the restaurant it was all dark, but they turned the generator on for us so that we could eat. I had chicken wings fried with hot peppers and spices to make it a little spicy and it was really good. I also tried the chicken fried rice that Blair ordered and I think I might order that next time. We then caught a taxi back to the house (who tried to charge us way to much) and then picked out a movie and all piled onto two beds in the bunkhouse to watch a movie.

On another note, God has truly blessed us here. In the bunkhouse are 6 girls- Brittany, Rachel, Kate, Blair, Allison, and myself- and we are all strong believers in Christ and we all follow Him in our daily lives. This whole week has been spent talking about God and the Bible and good books to read and praying together, etcetera. It has been such a God-send to all of us to be surrounded by fellow believers - especially since none of us were expecting it, since Cherokee is not a specifically Christian organization. It is just another way that God is taking care of me on this trip!

Day 5: Bibles and Dinner Guests

June 5, 2009

(Friday)

Today I had to be at Kechene by 8:30 because the first class I was teaching was at 8:35am. Only on Fridays do I have to be there that early because Fridays are only a half day. The rest of the week I have to be there by 9:00am. Girum (previously spelled Groom) came with me again just to make sure I knew the way (though we went a different way than before, but whatever).

Once I got to Kechene I first taught KG1 math with Azarat ,which was interesting. Basically all I did was write the information from the book they had onto the board and Azarat taught, which was ok because I don’t know what else I would have done. After math I taught Grade 1 Ethics, where I talked about right vs. wrong and how doing the right thing is not always easy. I told the story of Rack, Shack, and Benny and the fiery furnace and the kids seemed to enjoy it. I then had a break so I went and sat in the teachers' room with the other 3 teachers, and little Amun (the boy who read to me the day before) came and read to me again. I also had my Bible out and all the teachers were very intrigued by it because it is big (it’s a study Bible) and because Bibles are expensive there. They were astonished that my Bible cost probably around $70. Azarat was asking me if I could get him an English “normal” Bible (I think he means not a study Bible) because he teaches Sunday School and sometimes interprets for white men who come to the church to visit, and thinks if he had an English Bible he could interpret better. Rachel’s friend is coming and basically taking my place at Kechene when I leave, so Rachel is going to email her and ask her to bring a Bible for him. I then taught ethics again for KG2 and then it was lunch time. I declined the food today because I wasn’t sure I could eat it all and opted for the protein bar I had instead.

After lunch it was time to go home so Azarat walked me to the road and helped me get on my first mini-bus, but after that I was on my own. I switched mini-buses in Piazza and got on one for Tor Highluch and then walked up to the Cherokee House…all this by myself!

Then for the afternoon I just hung out around the house and tried to email (the phone line went out before I could actually send anything). This evening we had guests over for dinner - two boys who had been exchange students through the Cherokee program last year, along with an Ethiopian/American family who lives in Kentucky and was visiting. Both parents had been born in Ethiopia but all 3 of their daughters were born in the U.S.. The girls were 17, 16, and 14 and are some of the smartest people ever. The oldest is going to Harvard in the fall as a freshmen, the second oldest wants to go to Princeton I think and the youngest to Yale. It was insane.