Wednesday, 11 February 2009

Today, Terry Barker invited Paul and us to join the Canadian W&W team on a day of tourism.  Getachew is kind enough to pick us up and transport us to the district center, where he works, to start the day with a tour of the 5-story building (for the Canadians) and a devotion time.  Pastor Neil, who led the Canadian group, revisited the story of Abraham's faithfulness to God as he, promptly and without questions, set out with his son Isaac for a worship time that would include a sacrifice. God provides everything we need...
We learned a great deal about the library - how a volunteer missionary spent 7 months cataloguing 4000 volumes for the Bible School library.  We also heard about the rigorous requirements of those who choose to study there; they must take classes, teach classes, and begin churches.  Those who finish are very well qualified.

The rented vans take the 18 of us first to St. George Church, named for St. George who "slew the dragon."  These Orthodox Christians have a rich heritage - we learned so much about their history, traditions, and beliefs.  Our tour guide, a gentleman who is a deacon in the church, skillfully played a drum and 2 other typical instruments and chanted the music of the masses.  He also directly us through a museum on the grounds, all of it fascinating.  After lunch at a restaurant called Blue Tops (we shared a shish kebab meal), we traveled to the Addis Ababa University for a museum tour; the building was previously the palace of Emperor Haile Selassie!  The information about daily life for different tribes in Ethiopia was incredible and helped us understand the rich heritage here.  On an upper floor were antique crosses and art depicting things from daily life to the life of Jesus Christ.  The university grounds are beautiful and we took photos of the Canadian team with their cameras for their memories... Next stop, a weaving factory!  All the workers were men, all weaving different fabrics on a few of the many looms in the large metal building. We have video of a couple of weavers and of a man who was spinning fibers into thread, onto the shuttlecock.   Dan will get the photos of these places along with the video as soon as we can get a internet connect that is fast enough.

Our festive dinner was Anbessu's treat -- at a typical Ethiopian restaurant, complete with an injerra-covered table for each 6 people. On this was placed many spicy sauces and authentic Ethiopian dishes, and a roll of injerra for each person to scoop up samples.  The meal was followed by a small bowl of popcorn to share and a coffee ceremony.   What a full day!