Discipleship and Disappointment

This week was a lot of finding and trying to get more people to come to church, and so most of my days are filled with finding. I have come to realize that with Ethiopia just opening as a new mission that my job here will be mostly planting seeds.  I was expressing to my parents that this can be a little discouraging at times.  However, I am trying to keep a perspective on things and realize that we are opening a new mission in a new country to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that can take patience. It is trying mine this week.

Tuesday 

Today was not the most productive day for missionary work, but it was productive with regards to organization in the mission.  We had two very important lessons and group correlation. We were discussing what we need to have happen for us to become a branch.  As I have said before, right now, we are only a “Group”.  A Branch is larger than a group, and then a Ward is larger than a Branch.  For those not of my faith.  These would be what most of you call a congregation.  Most importantly, we need more priesthood holders and Melchizedek priesthood holders now.  We do not have enough members or leaders for the church.  Right now, the Missionaries do that most Sundays.

Wednesday 

Today I felt like my Amharic went out the window. It was like running and jumping out of my head for crying out loud. Besides that, I am good. I will need to learn more, but hey, I was able to communicate enough for me to get a lady’s number when we were in the taxi.  We were able to tell her what we are doing here in Ethiopia and our purpose. 

Thursday 

Welp, today is turkey day! But not in Ethiopia... I am still grateful to everyone back home! My mission, my family, people I love, music, but most importantly, this Gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ!  With them, all things are possible, and I’m so happy and grateful to be a small part of bringing his children back to him. Today we met with a member named Shukri, whom I love; he's amazing.

My companion and I, in a typical taxi, shared with whoever else could squeeze into the vehicle.

Friday 

Lots of finding today! This meant we were out doing a lot of walking and talking, and knocking. Yesterday, when we were out knocking, an older woman answered the door and allowed us to share a brief message.  We thought she lived there.  However, today we were out finding again.  We knocked on a different door, and the same lady answered the door.  Apparently, yesterday she was at a friend’s home.  So, we ended up teaching her a little bit today as well! 

This is a typical meal for us. Injera is the spongy base layer. Everything in Ethiopia is eaten on Injera. They do not have utensils, but rather pull this off and use it to scoop the other items that are lying on it, and then we eat it. This plate has potatoes and then lentils, which are also very common and eaten at almost every meal.

Saturday

Pretty much the same thing today.  It can be a bit discouraging.  We find that people of the Ethiopian Orthodox church are not very open to our message.  The church is such a huge part of the culture here, and they are very entrenched in the church and its beliefs.  However, a lot of them are not even aware of what it is that their church believes.  I would say it is very cultural.  We have found more success with people who are Pentecostal. During the late afternoon and evening, we spent a lot of time on the phone calling people and reminding them to come to church.

Sunday 

Kind of disappointing... not a lot of people showed up.  When I mean not a lot of people, we only had 12.  Last week we had 56 people, and so that was very disappointing.  Then, to top it off, this lady made fun of my Amharic.  It is hard when you are trying so hard to learn the language, and you look like you should be able to speak, but then she made fun of me.  It hurt! But it’s going to be that way for a while, so oh well.  Evening came, and I slept well, and everything was better the next morning! 

This is a photo I did not include from last week at church after the primary program.

Monday

It is P-day. Today was a lazy day; we woke up and went to eat out.  The food is very inexpensive here, and it is nice that my mission money goes so far.  After this, we went home and have been hanging out at home, so it was nice.  After tonight, we might do something, I don’t know, but it’s all up in the air right now.  One big blessing is that I get along very well with my companion.  That is a blessing.  We had transfers this week, and there are four of us missionaries in the area.  All of us are staying.  One of the Elders in the other companionship is on his last transfer.  So, there will certainly be changes in the next transfer. 

In other happenings in the mission. We have miracle calls every week in the mission. This week, it was all about Gambella. This is a region close to the South Sudan border of Ethiopia. (See map)

The people here look more Sudanese than what you might envision an Ethiopian looking like. The weather is very hot. It is winter here now, and when the mission leaders were down here this week, it was 96 degrees. So, you can imagine how warm it gets in this area. There have been a few members of the church there that joined the church on their own and have been living there without any church presence. Over the last few years, there has been discussion of opening up this area. However, with the church so new to Ethiopia, it has taken time. The members there have been praying for this for some time now. A few months ago, the Mission leaders and a few missionaries went to Gambella because the members there had been spreading the gospel, and there were people there who had the desire to be baptized. After this trip, the mission has been working to put missionaries into this area and open up the church in this area. This last transfer, we had two sets of missionaries placed there, and we had many people at church, and the missionaries are very busy with the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am sharing these pictures that the mission leaders took and have shared. It truly is a miracle.