It's Just About Ethiopia Time

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It’s early Monday morning of the beginning. I am doing my final packing and rushing to finish my post-it note pile of to-do lists. You have to love the night before a big trip. For me it is still somewhat like Christmas Eve. Every hour you wake up only to realize it is not time yet and you endure dreams of forgetting something important at home, ruining the trip.

To start this adventure I must thank everyone. It would not be possible for me to go without everyone’s support. Incredibility big thanks for everyone that has helped me along the way so far. It has been humbling how much people have blessed me, more than I could have even imagined. And thanks for everyone that has just shown interest in the trip. It has probably been my topic of conversation the last three months.

To catch everyone up to date I am going to explain the details of the trip, as we know them.

There are fifteen students from three different schools and three bold adults. Everyone is part of InterVarsity Christian fellowship, which is a campus ministry. Today and tomorrow and a few more days will be our time for travel. My last phone call will be made this morning and then all phone transmissions will be near impossible for six weeks. We are spending a day in Chicago to prepare and focusing for entering a new culture. Tomorrow night we fly to London from Chicago on a 8ish hour flight and then we have a 10-hour flight to Ethiopia.

If you are wondering where Ethiopia is, there is a map if you are rusty on your seventh grade geography. Are destination is Addis Ababa, the capital, which is located in the center of the country. It may be surprising although we are in Africa it will not be desert like conditions. This is actually rainy season there from June through August. I found one site that quoted the mean days of rain in July as 27 days. I assume this will create some interesting stories along they way.

Once we arrive in Addis, our accommodations will be the guest hall of the Mekane Yesus Seminary. There we will be paired for the remainder of the trip with a college student from the Evangelical Student Union of Ethiopia (EvaSUE). This is a similar to a sister/brother chapter of InterVarsity but in Ethiopia. Each week will look somewhat the same. Every Sunday the team will get to experience a different church throughout the city. On Monday through Thursday our daytime will be spent at our work cites. During the week, we will have an American worship service and an Ethiopian worship service. On Fridays we take field trips to do some sight seeing around the city. On Saturdays we spend the morning in the open markets bartering/haggling for our food for the next week.

In our time there, we will be stationed with one of three organizations in the city.
- Compassion Int’l, tutoring and playing with children and training in HIV education, etc.
- Adoption Advocates Int’l, serving, loving, and playing with orphans
- Win Souls, an indigenous ministry to street children, at-risk kids, and young girls formerly in prostitution

Some final points of information before I leave.

I have a gift for my roommate that consists of a funny t-shirt and a 3lb jar of Skippy creamy peanut butter.

After the number of vaccinations I have had, I am almost invincible. However, the warning on my Malaria pill says that it may cause night terrors.

We have no idea if and how often we will get internet access so my eBay shopping will be put on hold. Although if I do get a chance I will update the blog and you will receive an email notice.

If I missed someone on the email list let them know.

Thanks and you will hear from me again.

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