What happened at Gohatsion, Ethiopia?

What happened at Gohatsion, Ethiopia?

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Thank you for praying for our first weekend of ministry in Gohatsion. We are tired, yet happy to be back in Addis Ababa for a night of rest. However, we hit the road again tomorrow for a ministry trip to Hosanna. Usually our ministry trips are spread out, but not this time! We’ll be back in Addis Thursday night.

Here are some random happenings from the past few days:

  • We traveled the 186 kilometers to Gohatsion and back to Addis safely. A new feature of the main road we took is speed bumps in strategic locations. It really does slow the traffic down, for which we were grateful.
  • One of the first things Selamab told me this morning was that he found bed bugs in his bed this morning, so, “No wonder I was itchy all night!” I felt bad for him, yet relieved that the bug of the bed did not reach my room.
  • Before we left, one of the ministry workers that we had breakfast with at the guesthouse in Addis asked us what we do when we train church leaders. She rejoiced to hear that we keep it simple–we teach the Bible. That’s exactly what happened. Selemab taught Colossians, and I addressed what the Head of the church really wants when we gather on Sundays (plus a simple gospel message from Revelation 7 this morning). This is our usual approach–Selamab does exposition through a book, and I address matters of church life from various places in the Bible. We taught Friday late afternoon, all day Saturday (with a Q & A that revealed we had stirred the leaders up!), and then we both preached Sunday morning. It was a full schedule.
  • A sweet lady gave me oranges. She just wanted to express her gratitude for our coming and teaching. It was really a beautiful expression of appreciation, and perhaps costly for this lady.
  • Selamab was able to have important conversations with various church leaders. This is one of the vital aspects of his ministry over here, and he fulfills this responsibility so well.
  • I took a selfie (or is it an “usie”?) with one of the older pastors. I love this man. He sat through every session taking notes on several sheets of blank paper stapled together. I learned later that he was a student of Selamab’s father. It just seemed like the right thing to do in the moment, so I went for it! As you can see in the picture, he seemed to like it.
  • We drank good coffee!

Well, those are just a few things that we know happened. However, in another realm, we really don’t know what happened in Gohatsion. For example, we can’t be certain what changes some of the leaders determined to make in their lives and ministries as they were convinced from the Bible. And we can only wonder what was going through the mind of the eager young man who always sat front and center with a bright, interested, often smiling face.

The Lord knows exactly what happened in this realm, though. He may fill us in some day, but maybe not. Either way, we are content to keep going, confident that God’s word always accomplishes His purposes (Isaiah 55:11).

With Love in Christ,
Steve

steveselfie selamab2