| �ndem�n-aderachu! Good morning and greetings from Addis Ababa! I am writing this report on the last day of our two-week journey to Ethiopia. As I look outside my window at the city below and the people passing by in the crowded streets, I find it difficult to express in words what we have experienced during our time here. Simply put . . . the trip has far exceeded our expectations; it has been an awesome experience and God has truly done some amazing things! We arrived in Addis Ababa on Saturday evening, tired and blurry-eyed. After a brief orientation time, we quickly got settled in at the Red Cross Center and went to bed, hoping for a good night�s sleep. However, many were surprised to be wide-awake by 4:00am and to be greeted in the morning by sounds of a rooster crowing outside and also the prayer call from the Muslim mosque located directly behind our facilities. Sunday morning, we had the opportunity to visit the International Evangelical Church, which is the largest English-speaking evangelical church in Ethiopia, for a worship service. After lunch, much of that afternoon and the next day were spent in cultural orientation, preparing for our assignment(s) within the Addis Ababa area, and also prayer walking in these same areas. During our time in Addis, the students were divided into two teams. The first team had the opportunity to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) at two different locations � churches in Kalite and Gulaly. Using the Gospel of Mark as their text, the students at the ESL camp learned reading comprehension, worked on building vocabularies, and pronunciation. The team also played several games, learned new songs, and developed many relationships with the students. Of course, the team members also had an excellent opportunity to share the gospel with many non-believers. During the two weeks, almost 20 students accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as a result of the ESL camps! The second team had the responsibility of leading Health Education & True Love Waits camps at two different churches in Mekenisa and Repi, as well as leading a one-day training seminar about the True Love Waits program for pastors and church leaders. In discussions with the Addis people team prior to the trip, one of the requests made was to develop a program that would address the problem of HIV/AIDS, as well as sexual promiscuity among the young people, within Ethiopia. This was actually a pilot program and something that had never been attempted in this area; thus we were unsure of how the people would respond. However, it was amazing to see God at work throughout this process! Just prior to our arrival there, the Ethiopian government, (for the first time ever!) acknowledged that HIV/AIDS was becoming a major problem in their country and they were asking for help. What a perfect example of God�s timing � we had actually been planning this program for weeks and months, and now here was an open door. During the two camps, we educated the people about sexually transmitted diseases, HIV & AIDS, and also the myths of �safe-sex.� We also taught them that, from a health standpoint, the only 100% effective way to avoid these diseases was through abstinence. We then introduced the True Love Waits program and emphasized that, from a biblical perspective, God also desires us to practice abstinence before marriage. Throughout the two weeks, 138 young people and church leaders made the True Love Waits commitment (a decision to wait until marriage to have sexual relations). However, this is only the beginning of what God is accomplishing through the True Love Waits program! People were literally lining up, asking if we could stay longer and bring True Love Waits to their churches and communities; and one individual even discussed with us the idea of bringing the program to the campus of the University of Addis Ababa. As a result, the True Love Waits program has now become a priority of the Addis people team, subsequent teams visiting Ethiopia are being asked to come prepared to lead more TLW camps, and further training of the church leaders in the area is already being planned. The goal now is for the True Love Waits program to be carried forward to all of the churches within Addis Ababa, with the hope of getting 100,000 commitments in the first year. For most of the students on our team, this trip was a life-changing experience. Ethiopia is a land filled with poverty and illness, and seeing it (again) through the eyes of my students was almost as overwhelming as experiencing it for the first time. I know that many of us learned never to take for granted the many blessing we have here in the United States. It was also incredible to learn about the land, the language, the culture, and the people of Ethiopia. The people especially were unbelievably gracious, giving, and accepting of us . . . and without a doubt, the most important thing that I bring home with me is the time spent together with the people and the relationships that were developed. Many friendships were built, some that hopefully will last for a lifetime! Please remember to pray for the people of Ethiopia! Also, pray for the students involved on this trip, many of which have been impacted in tremendous ways. My hope and prayer is that this trip is just the beginning for the students of The Salt Company to achieve a global vision and to develop a heart for the nations. |
| The Salt Company Visits Ethiopia June 1st, 2001 to June 15th, 2001 |