Ethiopia

I just returned from a weeklong trip to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia (population: 3 million). This all happened because a longtime friend, who was doing somewhat of a round-the-world trip (and who by the way on this trip was the first person ever to visit me in Africa), proposed for us to travel together somewhere. So I decided on Ethiopia, since I had been through Addis Ababa four times in transit to or from the U.S. but never left the airport.

My only connection with Ethiopia, aside from knowing the airport very well, was a German sister, Brigitte, who is in the Chinese group in Addis, and with whom I had exchanged a few e-mail messages. She has an interesting history. Years ago, she moved to Dublin, Ireland, to serve where the need is greater, then to Moscow, then to Siberia, then to China, and then to Ethiopia. She spent years in each place before moving either voluntarily or involuntarily. (Those of you in China know what that means.) She has been in Ethiopia for seven years now, and attended SKE two years ago.

I also met a 24-year-old Ethiopian brother, Mikiyas, who is a special pioneer in the Addis Chinese group. He took the first (and only) Chinese language course in Addis five years ago, which was taught by an American couple who did not stay in Ethiopia. His Chinese is near fluent, probably better than mine.

Meeting for field service, Addis Ababa
(Brigitte, standing at left; Mikiyas, standing fourth from left)

The Addis Chinese group, associated with the only English congregation in the country, is about the same size is our Kigali Chinese group, about 10 publishers. Yet, they have a territory of 70,000-100,000 Chinese people!

Three or four times a year the group makes a preaching excursion, lasting up to a few weeks, to isolated areas outside the capital where there are Chinese people. They have experienced all kinds of weather conditions, and spent the night in all sorts of places. Last year's Memorial, with Chinese video, saw 22 Chinese people in attendance! So, they are seeing results from their hard work.

During my visit, Brigitte took a car group of us in her white pickup truck to some areas an hour from the city where there are Chinese factories. She usually enters these compounds without much trouble, as long as the local guards don't see our literature. A pickup truck is a common sight at these factories, anyway. As a precaution, she throws her expired Chinese visa in the windshield. :)

One interesting thing happened: We stopped at a supermarket while I went in to buy something. Shortly thereafter, inside the parked truck, Brigitte saw a Chinese person on the street approaching (and it is not uncommon for us to stop in heavy traffic to chase down a Chinese person), and nearly broke fingernails trying to get the door open to preach to this person! But that person turned out to be...me! We all got quite a laugh over that one.

Well, we did some tourist things also. We went to a place called the Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant, where you not only get local food (including honey wine) but also traditional music and dancing, which get progressively more energetic as the evening progresses. We also went to the National Museum of Ethiopia, which houses "Lucy," the partial skeleton that is purported to be 3 million years old. And we checked out a place called Zoma Contemporary Art Center (no address, difficult to find, visits by appointment only), an environmentally conscious project where you can find mud-and-straw buildings with heavy wooden ornately carved doors, bathrooms with elaborate tile designs, and architecture that is artistically intriguing.

Bethel reception (appropriate picture!)

We also toured Bethel and, as it happened, were able to attend the special program of the Headquarters Representative Visit that Sunday. The program originated at Bethel and was tied in all over the country. I also attended the Pioneer Meeting with the elders of the English congregation, which was on the same day as the one I missed back in Rwanda! 

Yes, Ethiopia is worth a visit!