Hello Church Family! We left our home base this morning at 7:40 AM and did not arrive back until 8:55 PM. Needless to say we are very, very tired, but it is a good tired. Many seeds have been sown on the soil God has provided and we trust some will fall on the Good Soil. And those that fall on the hard path or the rocky or thorny soil will one day bear fruit itself.
We have to get up every earlier tomorrow morning so I will be brief. I will compose my last blog tomorrow night, the evening before we depart.
Today we completed the second day of training in a city called Ugalan. It was once the capital of the southern region of Ethiopia. Over the course of the year they receive more rain than most regions, so even though it is now summer it is green and lush compared to the other areas we have traveled. They have avocado trees as tall as one of our two story houses. Ferns grow to be five feet tall. Poinsettias are not plants, they are 10 to 12 foot trees and the cactus are out of this world in shape and size. Starbucks harvests much of their beans from this region. That says it all!
We had an evening meeting with ECF, the Ethiopian Evangelical Fellowship. They are doing a great work in the southern region and would very much like our partnership. Their presentation was very impressive and could open some doors to broaden our influence. We left with more questions than answers but we did leave with the confirmation that we are in the right place in our “ends of the earth” mission. The Muslim movement is pumping millions of dollars into the country and is making a significant dent in this once dominant Christian nation. They are surrounded by predominant Muslim nations and they are acting as the funnel for Arabian and Middle Eastern influence into Ethiopia.
We have much to pray about and consider as we seek God’s future direction for our presence here.
Thank you for all of the prayers, emails, and face book messages. They mean more than you know. We are counting the days until we are back home. It is time to make a move towards my room and finish packing. We have to load up and head out early so we can finish our training by 11 am. The drive back to Addis is over five hours and it is imperative we are off the road before dark. There are tons of animals loose on the road way so night time driving is extremely dangerous. We will spend Wednesday night in Addis and then tie up some loose ends on Thursday before flying out at 7:30. Home Friday 9 ish PM.
Praise be to God!
Praise be to God!
Peace, Rick
