Ethiopia Lighthouse 2011

We arrived safely at our hotel in Addis Ababa after a 34 hour trip, one lost passport, three lost bags and many hours of no sleep. Needless to say, we were happy to see a warm bed and a place to stretch our legs. We lived through the ultimate “God story” and the team was excited to see how He had worked out all the details. At the beginning of our trip we passed out the passports and gave the speech about “guarding them with their lives.” However, after our flight to Chicago, as we were getting ready to board the plane to Frankfurt, one of the team members came and said that she thought that her passport was left on the previous plane which had already left for White Plains, NY. What to do? Make many phone calls to the Taylor Lighthouse director and the student’s parents and cry out to God for guidance and His ability to find a lost passport and fix this big problem. To make a long story short, the plane was returning to O'Hare after we were supposed to leave for Frankfort, so the team member and her luggage had to stay behind. If it wasn’t found she would either have to return home or try to get replacements of her passport and her Ethiopian visa which could take days. The team had a six hour layover in Frankfort so if the passport turned up she might be able to hook up with us since another plane was leaving shortly after. As it turned out, the plane arrived, the passport was found in the seat pocket, she was placed on the next plane to Frankfurt and caught up with us in the Frankfurt airport. The United staff at O'Hare were wonderful and took her under their wings and made sure that she would get there in time to meet the team all for no charge. We were all so relieved to see her. Now, her luggage hasn’t arrived yet but the team girls are keeping her supplied with clothes.

The next morning, which was Christmas Eve in Ethiopia, we left for Project Mercy (PM) in Yetebon, a three hour trip. Ethiopia is a very poor but beautiful country and the PM site is at the base of the Gurage mountains--a beautiful setting. PM has frequent overseas visitors so the accommodations are more than adequate. The team is staying in small round buildings resembling the homes in the area called tukels.

Marta and Demi, Ethiopians who started PM and have run it since it started in Fort Wayne, have a heart for this area. They have started a school, hospital, an orphanage, and are teaching gardening, construction crafts, sewing and glass blowing. It is remarkable what is happening here. They are completely self sustainable and are well thought of in this predominantly Muslim community.

Yesterday was Christmas so it was a holiday here although a less elaborate one than at home. We had a meal of injera and wat, cheese and cooked cabbage and cake brought from Addis. Our group was able to serve the orphanage children their Christmas meal and interact with them for a short time. We even sang some Christmas Carols for them and didn’t sound too bad considering that our team isn’t necessarily blessed with musical skills. In the afternoon, the team played various sports and other games with the kids. They did a great job of interacting with the kids and loved every minute of it.

Today, we went for a hike up to an Orthodox Church in the mountains behind the compound. It was a fairly easy hike but, considering we are 8000 ft up here, it was a little more taxing than you would think. The scenery is glorious, the air fresh, the people friendly, what more could you ask for?

We are excited to see what the remainder of the trip will look like and are praying that the luggage will arrive, that the team will stay healthy (I had my yearly laryngitis already and am on the mend now), and that they will bring their servant hearts with them each day as they teach English at the school and play with the children.
Thank you for your prayers and concern for us.

Love, Roger and Carol