This is the church building at the Jemo compound.
When we arrived Sunday morning - after a restless night's sleep (restlessbecause of the Orthodox chanting that went on from midnight until day break) - we were greeted with kisses and hand shakes from the children. We chatted with them for a while, until one gently told me, "You are missing church!"
At that point, Chad and I slipped in the back door and found a seat with the rest of the team.
The church was packed full of people. It was HOT! Men and women sat intermixed. The smallest children stayed with their parents - but the older ones found a low bench in front. Mangastew, the worship leader, was also serving as usher. He ushered each person into a seat with an enthusiastic smile.
Being in a new church always makes me a bit nervous. That fact makes me laugh at myself, but it is true. I am a rule follower, and in any new situation, I long to know the rules and follow them! It is extra challenging to follow the "rules" in a church when you can not understand the language.
God is SO gracious though.
He seated me right next to the Pastor's daughter. She spoke very good English and translated every bit of the service for me.
Throughout the service there were beautifully lead worship songs, and offering, a sermon, we were asked to come forward and introduce ourselves (Fikre translated), and finally communion. We were able to participate in communion. That was a beautiful moment to me - communing with our brother's and sister's in Christ at Jemo.
The service seemed very "Lutheran." We learned later in the week that the denomination of the Jemo Church (Mekenejesus - spelling ?) is actually very similar to what we would call Lutheran. I grew up going to my Grandparent's country Lutheran church. Who would have thought that I would one day sit in a Lutheran church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Being in the Jemo church was a really wonderful experience. I am thankful that we began our week worshiping together.
After church, we chatted with the congregation.
The children were the most outgoing.
This is one of my favorite photos from the trip.
It is Kristen's sponsor daughter's running to greet her.
They had recognized her from photos she had sent, and they ran to her each day calling "Kreesten! Kreesten!" so very happily. It was precious.
Jim worked hard to learn as much as he could.
He kept a small notebook in his back pocket and wrote down many words and phrases throughout the week. It was an excellent idea - one that I will recommend to team members on future trips.
My beautiful Berra girl totally enjoyed all the children.
She did such a good job interacting with them.
This boy's name is Yedidiya.
He was one of the last kids to be sponsored, but he quickly became one of my favorites. The older kids were SO helpful. They knew a bit of English, and they were happy to try their hand at translating. I appreciated them very much.
Chad had a wonderful time in Ethiopia.
He admits that before we left, he was really questioning the wisdom of leaving his business for 10 days. Once there, he had no regrets or doubts. He loved every bit of it . . . well - except for the mosquitoes!
We spent time on Sunday exploring the compound and noticing the details.
There is a well on one side of the compound.
There was water spigot on the other side.
So - they have access to water. I am not sure how clean it is - but it is easily accessible.
A favorite memory I have from this day was being surrounded by kids who wanted to teach me Amharic. I would point to a body part and say the English word. The kids would repeat my English word and then tell me the Amharic word. I would then repeat that. Most of the time they would shake their heads "no" at my pronunciation and repeat the process. It was fun.
Part way into my lesson, Troy walked up.
The kids quickly pointed at his bulging biceps and gave me the word for muscles.
I repeated.
They nodded "Ow" (yes)
Then I pointed to Troy's muscle and said "tinnish" (which means small).
The kids giggled ans whispered, surprised that I knew a word they had not taught me.
Finally one kind child yelled "NO! No Tinnish! Tilik (big)!"
We all laughed and laughed until we let Troy in on our joke.
Troy is a great joker. So he took off his hat next, showing the kids his balding head. They giggled and gave him the work for bald. Then he started pulling on his arm hair and pointing to his head - trying to tell them that he wished the hair on his arms would go onto his head instead! He had the kids all confused! They thought that he had magically gotten the hair from his head to begin growing on his arms instead. We laughed and laughed as we watched the kids talking about us that day! It really was funny!
Some of the kids were easy to identify - like Ruhama! I knew her right off the bat.
Others were harder to identify.
One thing I asked the kids to do when they begged for me to take their photo was to tell me their names first. It is obvious that "My name is........" is a phrase they practice. Almost all the kids could answer my "what is your name" question.
I found many kids by asking this question.
It was a fun way to get to know the kids and practice Amharic sounds..
One of the best surprises of the day was asking these boys their name.
The boy on the right told me his name was Desaleng. He then pointed to my mom and said "She my mom." I replied that he was right, Donna was my mom. He shook his head no, and repeated that she was his mom. I quickly realized that he was correct! My mom and dad are his sponsors. Many of the children call their sponsors mom and dad. It was really incredible to hear Desaleng call my mom his mom. It was beautiful and sobering and humbling and gave me great joy all at the same time.
Desaleng went on to introduce the boy on his left. It is his little brother. His name is Gebeyehu.
That knocked my socks off.
His name is Gebeyehu - just like my son.
I just had to breathe for a moment. I had never met another Gebeyehu.
When all the kids were profiled, I searched every one for the names Gebeyehu, Gatisso, Bekelech - Joshua's Ethiopian family. I found none of those names. So, I allowed Joshua to choose our sponsored child.
But in a coincidence that only God could facilitate, our family added a Gebeyehu.
I know it seems like nothing major, but to me it was amazing. This boy - Desaleng - who was calling my mom his (and who called me his sister by the end of the week) had a brother with my son's name. It felt really personal and divine.
It certainly was the beginning of a special connection between our families.
Our play time was interrupted for a bit by coffee!
We had popcorn with the coffee.
Sigh. I LOVE Ethiopian popcorn and coffee.
So.
Much.
We also had roasted corn. The young girl who took the corn off the cobs to roast it allowed me to help her a bit. It was fun to try something new. She was WAY faster than I, but I surely enjoyed the lesson. Her mother did not think it was appropriate for me to help though so I was quickly told "Bekka" (enough) and sent back to my seat.
The Ethiopian ladies treated us like royalty, never wanting us to do any hard work. I am used to working hard, and I did not expect to be waited on. At the same time, I wanted to show them respect and gratitude. I hope I was successful. I have nothing but respect for the way these beautiful women love their children and work for their families. I am honored that they allowed us so much access to their kids. I hope that over time, I am able to build a relationship with the mothers as well.
As I expected, Chad LOVED Ethiopian coffee.
(and that is an understatement)
As we finished our coffee, an afternoon rain shower passed through. It was actually quite refreshing. I did not blame the kids for playing in the rain.
The staff, however, decided to get the kids out of the rain and inside the church.
The Jemo compound contained several buildings.
The greenish building on the left is the Pastor's home.
The building in the middle houses the HopeChest office at Jemo and 2 Sunday School rooms. It is made of wide straw and mud walls. These walls keep the rooms quite cool.
The church is the largest metal building.
The church was filled with park bench style pews and a concrete floor. It worked really well as a multi-purpose room. When we rearranged the benches we could do many things in the room. When the kids spilled on the concrete it was simple to clean up. I really liked the space a lot.
This is the bathroom at Jemo.
I was actually pleasantly surprised.
I had been told there was no bathroom at Jemo. Which made a concrete slap with a hole in it and walls around it for privacy was more than I expected.
I will not claim to miss the "squatty potty" but it was not that bad!
When I rejoined the group, worship was in session.
"Father Abraham" was being sung in Amharic.
It was fun.
Then the staff invited Colin to play an American song.
When he started playing, I had instant chills.
He picked "Blessed Be Your Name."
The very song that I had sobbed through on Mother's Day three years earlier. I could not even attempt to choke out the words that year. "Blessed be your name, on the road marked with suffering, when there is pain in the offering, blessed be your name. Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise, When the darkness closes in Lord, Still I will say blessed be the name of the Lord."
I wept for Joshua's Ethiopian mom that day, like I had never wept before. I argued with God, wondering how to bless His name when He takes a mommy away from her baby. I sobbed and sobbed.
And three years later, I was asked to sing this song in a congregation of beautiful Ethiopian people - on Mother's Day non-the-less.
The fact that I could sing, with a heart full of praise, is evidence that God heals us. He changes us. He redeems us. He is a God of second chances, even when it looks as though a second chance is impossible.
It was an incredible moment.
As worship closed, I noticed a little girl sitting next to me holding on tightly to a folded up piece of paper. I asked if I could see it, and I quickly realized that it was a letter from her sponsor. She was so proud of it. It was a treasure to her. I was thrilled to tell her that her sponsor is my gwadenya (friend)! I was also thrilled to see the kids are getting their mail from their sponsors!
As we got ready to head back tot he guest house for supper, a crowd gathered around Sierra. It was a crowd of teen-age girls all trying to talk to her. They asked her funny questions - like are you married? (Ethiopian kids age more slowly than American kids. She looks 18 in Ethiopia.) Do you have any kids? Do you like school? Can I touch your hair? Is Alicia your mother? They then asked for a photo with us. I'm so glad they did!
The final discovery of the day involved the girl on the right.
She is the Pastor's daughter that translated the service for me.
She is also VERY talented with children's ministries. She had the kids playing games, singing songs, listening with great glee, and anything else she suggested. She was fun, energetic, age-appropriate, and engaging. I was totally impressed.
She asked me if I would like to see the Sunday School rooms. I did, of course!
She told me that they have 300-400 kids in Sunday School each week. Sunday School takes place during the sermon. They have 2 classrooms to house all the kids! They also use the out of doors. As the number of children grew, she trained the rest of the young people in the photo to be teachers. So, these students are now teaching the children each week. They prepare their own lessons and work with about 25 children. I was so impressed with these kids!
I would have stayed longer and asked more questions, but the bus was loaded and they were looking for stragglers like me! So I said a quick good-bye and thank you before climbing into the bus.
We got back to the guest house in time for supper. We hung out as a team in the common area for a while before heading up to bed. Sleep is hard in Ethiopia - with the time change, the new noises, and the flies and mosquitoes. The guest house we stayed at had less outside noise than I have experienced in the past, which was nice. Still, between dogs barking and my brain straining to sort through all I had seen and learned during the day, I slept restlessly. I knew our time in Ethiopia would be short. To sleep seemed a waste of the experience!
