With all the excitement about Ethiopian Airplanes 🛩, how could we miss the opportunity to stay for a few extra days in Ethiopia, the country where Denise began her long term work as a missionary!
We arranged to stay 3 nights at the SIM Guesthouse in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It had been 13 years since Denise had been in Ethiopia and it was the first time the rest of our family had visited. Oh what fun it was to see all the new developments in the city and also see old friends and introduce my family to them! Abby asked, Mommy, are you Ethiopian? 😆
The guesthouse was a very nice set up. There was a garden with a nice slide and monkey bars, and a swing set. The kids had separate beds in their own room. It was the first time in 3 years that Roy had climbed into a cold bed, and it was thrilling!
We first met Yeminashu, the guest house manager. She was so happy to see Denise: She told me that she had prayed for me when I was there young and single and she was so happy to see me "big" and grown up with a family! (Note that I was 28 when I came to Ethiopia and 35 when I left, but I was still viewed somewhat as a child since I wasn't yet married!)
The next day we had lunch with Laura, one of my American colleagues. She came as a single nurse a year after Denise. While we never served on a team at the same time together she joined me on several ministry adventures. One memorable trip was a three hour mule ride to visit a family where Denise had done mobile vet clinics. It was during Ramadan, so we spent the night and broke the fast (a late supper) with the family. We spent time drinking the salted coffee and sharing the gospel in the back of the hut with the ladies while the men listened in the front. Laura had a extroverted passion to share the Gospel with Denise jumping in and adding a word when necessary. It was fun to see Laura now serving in a very different role with her family. Abby and Josh had a grand time playing with Laura's youngest in their club house and on the zip line!
Denise was completed overwelmed with tears of happiness as we were soon joined by other friends! We connected with Esther, one of Denise's former teammates. Her family is still serving the Borana people. (Her husband had just left on a ministry trip there.) It was great news to hear that the church is continuing to grow where Denise ministered the majority of her time!
We also connected with a neighboring Ethiopian, Indalish. She housed Denise for a month while she studied language. That month provided valuable insight into their culture and home. Indalish invited us to their home that evening for an evening with injera bu wut and coffee ☕️. She even provided lots of child friendly options like chips, fruit, and eggs, and the kids loved their cats. It rained while we visited, and the cats were trying to get inside. When the family shooed the cats out, Abby and Josh always laughed and laughed! Denise was thrilled to hear and see how God had taken care of the family in the years she had been away!!
The next day we went out shopping for coffee so we could share with friends. For lunch we stopped at Kaldis, an Ethiopian coffee house. Denise remembered when it first opened as one location, and now it has many locations throughout the city! The kids enjoyed seeing cement trucks, tractors, and dump trucks while we waited for our meal.
At night we went to Bingham Academy and had a supper with friends we met during our SIM Prefield training. We got a quick tour of the school but the highlight for Abby was definitely the playground and seeing the first grade classroom.
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