The Orthodox Church

This past weekend, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrated Epiphany. Inside every Orthodox church there are a set of tabots, which are replicas of the tablets found in the ark of the covenant. The Ark of the Covenant holds special meaning in Ethiopia because it is believed that the original ark rests in a small town in northern Ethiopia called Aksum, where it has been for 3,000 years! It is guarded by virgin monks who are forbidden from leaving the chapel grounds until they die once they've been anointed! This is a responsibility that is taken VERY seriously! No one other than these monks is permitted to see the original Ark.

The tabot replicas serve to consecrate the church building, and are kept in the holy of holies, where only senior priests are permitted. On the day of Epiphany, every January 19th, the replica tabots from each church are paraded through the streets.

This is the only day of the year that they leave the inner sanctum of the church. It's a very joyful march, which I witnessed from the Project Mercy compound this past weekend. Everyone was singing, with both men and women wrapped in white nutelas, or scarves. The priests are under the fancy, colorful umbrellas, adorned in very ornate robes and head coverings. The main priest carried the tabots in his hands as the crowd surrounded them in their pilgrimage about 5 kilometers from somewhere in a field to their church up in the mountain. In one of the pictures, you can see that they had quite a distance to go when they passed by the Project Mercy compound.

One of these days, I hope to visit northern Ethiopia and see more of the rich history that this land possesses.

More Trees

We received another delivery of trees from ECHO this past weekend. This shipment contained 175 temperate fruit trees: apples, peaches, plums, figs, persimmons, etc. I owe a big THANK YOU to students from the Taylor University J-term class who are here teaching English and experiencing Ethiopian life for 2 weeks. They generously gave up their Sunday afternoon to help me get all these bare-rooted trees labeled and into soil. I think they had fun doing it, too. A verse was even added to their ongoing theme song in my honor!

The trees from our first shipment are really starting to take off now that the evenings are warming up and we're past the winter solstice. Today Mohammad, the farm manager, and I planted 2 passionfruit vines in the ground.

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

~ John 15: 1-5

Ethiopian Christmas

As you all were throwing out the tree and packing up the decorations, I was celebrating round 2 of the recognition of Christ's birth. This time around was more eventful, with everyone in a communal joyful spirit. Christmas still isn't a huge deal like it is in the western world, but we had a nice celebration here on Monday.

Much of Friday and Saturday was spent in the kitchen, baking 7 different recipes of cookies for the kids' Christmas party. Sunday I, along with 2 others, spent 6 hours preparing and wrapping 85 gifts for all of the housekids.

And Monday all the work was well worth it…the kids did have a special day. But the true meaning of the holiday remained central. We were reminded how there was no room for Christ when he came to this earth. Is there room for him today? Someone here received a card that read: "They say it's my birthday, but I'm not even invited." I appreciated celebrating the holiday in a place where Christ was invited.


The kindergarten had a special Christmas program that we were invited to attend. In fact, Scott and I were the only ones in the audience, so we felt like honored guests. Picture this: 230 5 and 6 year-olds holding lit candles for over 45 minutes! Yes, these kids accomplished that feat – with no burns or tears…just a lot of melted wax on the floor. The thought running through my mind was, could kids in the States handle such a task?

Science Experiment

I'm working with the Grade 11 Biology teacher to conduct an agricultural experiment with her students. They are growing beriberi, a type of chili pepper very common in Ethiopian dishes, in 2 different soil media – one with local Ethiopian soil, and one with a bagged potting mix from the US.

Beriberi is a cash crop for this area. Three years ago, the dried red chilis cost 12 birr/kg. Today the price has jumped to over 30 birr/kg!

The students faithfully come daily and measure the plants. During their visits to the greenhouse, they check out what we're doing and often ask questions about the tree project. Hopefully we have a few arborists in the making! Either that, or they're trying to get out of the classroom a little longer. Yeah, I wasn't born yesterday, but let a girl dream!

More Christmas Pictures

Christmas Dinner

Christmas Calves

Christmas In Yetabon

I’d like to introduce you to some of my dear friends here.

Zoedeetu is a “house mother” to the 60+ kids who call Project Mercy home. She also works as an evangelist at the church during the day. Zoedeetu has been an incredible Christian mentor to me. She radiates love for Christ and shares that love with all she meets.

Mohammad is the farm manager here. He carries a lot of responsibility and always has “bizou sera” (a lot of work to do), but never fails to greet me with a big smile. He’s a very innovative and ambitious farmer. Several of his children are in the Project Mercy school.

Salam is the baby of the family, and being the baby amongst 65 kids equals a lot of attention! It’s fun to see the other kids, as well as many of the workers, dote on her and shower her with affection. She’s well-loved! When I first arrived, she wasn’t very comfortable with the white people. She’s since warmed up to us and now calls my name when she sees me.

These 2 little guys are also given a lot of attention. Tesfu, on the left, is Salam’s brother, and the 2^nd youngest house kid. My favorite memory with him occurred soon after I arrived. I was taking a jog in the field, and he wanted to come along. As we were “running,” he was jabbering away in Amharic, oblivious to the fact that I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Every once in a while, his voice would inflect in a question and he would look up at me, to which I would nod and smile.

Abenezer is a sweetheart, too. He was the first surgery patient in the hospital here. He had an intestinal blockage when he was only about 2 ½ years old. Today he’s a very hyper little kindergartner.

This is Whinishet with her son, Yididiah. Whinishet teaches English in the primary grades. She and her husband, Danny, who is also a teacher, are very active in the church. Whinishet has a gift of hospitality, often inviting us to her home for a “coffee ceremony,” an Ethiopian tradition where the coffee is roasted and prepared in front of you while everyone sits and chats. Yididiah will steal your heart when he says “What’s up?” in his cute little toddler accent.

These 3 ladies are very important to me and all the guests at Project Mercy. Allum, Workie, and Totiledge are the cooks, and what wonderful cooks they are! These ladies are in the kitchen by 6am and they don’t turn the lights off until after 9pm! I have so much admiration for the long days they put in 7 days a week! And they remain so gracious and loving. I didn’t think I would like Ethiopian food very much before I came, but they’ve got me hooked!

Malcom Ghena!

That's "Merry Christmas" in Amharic.  And it was a merry one.  Scott, the other 'ferengi' long-termer, and I went to Addis for the weekend.  If we were going to experience any sort of traditional celebration, it would have to be there.  The western-style shopping centers were all decorated with Christmas trees and an occasional Santa statue (no live ones!), with Christmas music in the background.  That helped to get me in the spirit.   We went to 2 Christmas programs at English-speaking churches.  One of them even had a French choir! They sang a song we had sung in the French choir in Burkina (for Daphne: "Cloches sonnets resolu.  Pais salu! En Jesu!").  It made me a homesick for my friends there, but I was so filled with joy to reminisce about the wonderful time in Burkina.  At that service, we sang most of the traditional carols, which was what I was craving to make the celebration more complete. 

Of course, it wasn't complete without being home with family.  However, God blessed us with an invitation to have Christmas dinner with some other missionaries in Addis, giving a family atmosphere.  Gary and Peggy, who serve at a Korean hospital in the city, hosted us, along with their daughter, visiting from Illinois.  After eating, we played speed scrabble and Dutch blitz. That really felt like Christmas…I couldn't have asked for anything more.  

Well, maybe one other thing…I needed my cow fix!  Marta and Deme (the founders of Project Mercy) invited us to stay at their home while we were in the city. They have a few animals in their compound, and I got some quality calf time Christmas morning!  Take notice of the scarf I'm wearing that Mom knitted for me, which I received Christmas eve…thanks, Mom!

There's not exactly that letdown that we all have after Christmas is over in America since we have another Christmas to look forward to in 2 weeks!  We'll be staying in Yetebon for that one to celebrate with the kids here.