This was our first Sunday in Ethiopia. We always split up so we can see more brethren. Ryan went to Bushluga and I went about 30 min down the road to Canko. It is a newer church (about 10 years old) that is close to Ancha. Ancha is a well-established church where Johannes preaches. I believe the Castleberry church supports him, so some of you may know of him. The church in Canko was started by members of the Ancha church as they were from that area.
Before getting to Canko, we stopped to pick up Misgana. He is Johannes’ son and is a developing translator. Misgana is an excellent young man (25 years old) who is very active in the church. I met him on my last trip and was very glad to see him again.
To get to the Canko building is an adventure. Elias dropped us off on the side of a road near a small opening in the trees. There was a narrow path that wound down for a few minutes before taking an abrupt turn. At that turn was a hill that went straight up for about a quarter mile. At the top sat the church building. By the time we reached the top, I hit my steps goal for the day and my smart watch decided to record my activity as a workout.
The Sunday program is much like ours at home. Bible class first then worship. Misgana translated class and Mesfin the sermon. I’m learning that Mesfin is well-known in the countryside. He grew up in this region and he is an excellent public speaker. They asked him to do the Lord’s supper talk, which was essentially another sermon.
In the remarks after the program, I was once again introduced as David Holder’s son-in-law. I don’t mind this at all. Many people know and love him here, and immediately gives me a connection to them. The speaker explained that, although David was no longer coming, I was sent as his mitiku (mee-tee-coo) i.e. replacement. We all got a good laugh out of this, and the name stuck. I am now Wendimi Mitiku (the Replacement Brother). I needed a good Ethiopian nickname…
We had lunch in the home of Tadella, the local preacher before leaving to get Ryan and Teshale from Bushluga. When we arrived, we were invited to come inside and offered a second meal. That’s just what they do culturally. If you are invited to someone’s house, there will be food and coffee and it won’t be a short visit. It is very different from our culture because time is seemingly irrelevant to them. We will be done when we’re done. We’ll get there when we get there. We will serve you and when you leave, we won’t be strangers. This is especially true among the brethren. In my opinion, it is very easy to build relationships with them because they are more inclined to friendliness and hospitality.
We finally made it to our hotel for coffee and dinner around 5:00pm and were there for quite a while. Towards the end of the evening, the hotel manager sat with us. We have seen him many times during our stay and have become friends. We greet him with a “wendimi!” (brother) and always enjoy a conversation with him. Tonight, he finally sat with us to eat. As the conversation shifted to our work here, he asked us if he could do something for us. In this country there are “prophets” and other preachers who come to teach. When they stay in the hotel, they are treated well and given many free things. Mesfin told us later, many of these people are very wealthy and use the bible and their position to manipulate people. The manager was generally familiar with them and maybe even believed their power, it seemed. He did not understand why we had not made any requests or demands. He also offered to give us something for free while we are here. We thanked him and used this opportunity to share with him the gospel. We let him know that we had not traveled halfway around the world to be served, but to serve. We told him that we are followers of Jesus Christ, and we do this work out of joy, not for what we will receive. We thanked him and told him he could pay us by eating more meals with us. He was somewhat confused but agreed.
After he left us, we discussed the power of not just our teaching, but our example in this work. We have not made any efforts to teach him, and yet he observed that we were different. I thank my God that our simple actions have made way for his glory. It is a blessing to serve in this way, and there’s so much joy that comes from simply being a vessel for God.
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