Durame

The area around Durame was beautiful, and thankfully I didn't have any run-ins with the hyenas.

These are the students from my OT1 class. They are in groups going over the lecture material in Amharic. Bridging the language gap was a major challenge during the two week class.

This is a local church I visited. I could understand almost none of the service because it was half in Amharic and half in the local language of Kumbatina.

After the service I sat down with three students and the pastor for beans and coffee. The coffee was very strange because it had a traditional, slightly rancid, butter in it. However, the conversation was phenomenal. We discussed how the church is too focused on building buildings instead of building people.

After the class was over another missionary named Jeremey (the only other white guy in the picture) joined me in Durame for the weekend. We visited the house (the hut in the background) of one of my students named Wabel (he's directly in front of me with the blue polkadot shirt). Wabel's family is completely Muslim, and he used to be persecuted by his family because of his conversion to Christianity. But once before Jeremy visited and his family stopped because they realized that Wabel was becoming a "big deal" since he had American friends. So we visited again to help him receive respect from his family.

In Ethiopian churches men talk off their hats before entering the building.

After visiting another church we sat down with three of the elders. Meeting these men was the most honored I've felt since coming to Ethiopia. It was a high privilege.

Climbing In Ethiopia

It is always refreshing to get out of the city and see the Ethiopian landscape. This is the view from the base of the cliff where I go rock climbing.

This is the climbing cliff itself. There are about 30 routes with bolts drilled into the wall. Most of the routes only go halfway up the cliff since it is too tall for a single rope.

Another view of the country side from the base of the cliff.

Me at the top of a route. I got a little sunburned.

 One day as we were leaving the cliff a bunch of villagers asked for a ride down the gravel rode to Addis Ababa. Taxis don't make the 30 minutes drive up the road that often so I was happy to give them a ride. I got to briefly experience what it was life to be an Ethiopian taxi driver.

This plant is common near the base of the cliff, and I think it was made by Satan himself. It may look harmless, but its soft spines contain some kind of poison or toxin that burns when you touch it. I learned my lesson after brushing against it once and made a point not to touch it again.

More Ethiopian Sights

The sunset over Addis Ababa. I was able to experience a lot of this country's beauty in the past two weeks.

Animals, sheep, goats, cows, chickens, are everywhere. This goat looked especially skeptical of me.

Addis Ababa has very few stoplights. Instead, most intersection are roundabouts (and are crazy). This one features a monument to the martyrs of the Italian fascist massacre of 1937.

This weekend I went camping in a national forest that claims to be the oldest park in Africa.

Cool tree.

We, the Evangelical Theological Faculty, went on a retreat to Lake Babogaya. It is located on one of the areas many crater lakes and is 38 meters deep.

Many, many stars.

While camping we went to look for the waterfall. This was the best we found.

During the celebration of Meskel thousands of Ethiopians gather in the center of Addis Ababa and carry these lighted candles.

The main feature of the Meskel celebration is the lighting of the demera. It commemorates the fire that St. Helena used to find the true cross.

Ethiopian Sights

The sunrise over Addis Ababa as seen from my window. As a whole, the city is not very pretty, but it has its moments of beauty.

This is a traditional Ethiopian dish of injera and kitfo. The meat, kitfo, is traditionally served raw. I was not that brave, so I asked for it lightly cooked.

I love the way that Coca-Cola looks in Amharic.

My Amharic tutor took me to his church league soccer game. The sport is taken very seriously here.

This is one of the classrooms at the Evangelical Theological College where I am teaching.

One student misspelled my name on a paper they turned in.

Thanks, warning sign! I almost really hurt myself.

Ethiopia 101

Praise God! My visa for Ethiopia has been approved, and I will be heading there within a week. To everyone who has supported and prayed for me, thank you. I am very grateful.

You may be asking yourself questions about Ethiopia. Where is it? What is it like? Well, this post will answer some basic questions about the country of Ethiopia.

Where is Ethiopia?

Ethiopia (officially, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia) is a landlocked country located in the horn of Africa. Starting from due North and moving clockwise, it is bordered by Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Sudan. It is about 444,000 square miles (around halfway between the size of Texas and Alaska) and is the world's 27th largest country. With a population of over 90 million people, Ethiopia is the world's most populous landlocked country and the second largest country in Africa. The country consists mainly of highlands and mountains in the West and lower lands and semi-deserts in the East.

I will be in the capital city, Addis Ababa. This thriving city is located near the center of the country in the highlands. It sits at an altitude of over 7,500 feet and has a population of around 3.5 million. Addis Ababa is often referred to as the "political capital of Africa" because it is home to the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and other international bodies.

What is Ethiopia like?

Ethiopia is an externally diverse country with 88 languages spoken, and only seven of these languages have a complete Bible translation. The most widespread are Oromo and Amharic, the official language. Its primary export is coffee (Ethiopia exports more coffee than any other country in the world), but other exports include khat, gold, leather products, and oilseed.

What is Ethiopia's history?
Ethiopia's history goes back to the beginning of humanity. Lucy, a 3.2 million year old humanoid, was found in Ethiopia. Recorded history goes back to the Aksumite Empire which was founded in the 200's. Manichaeus in the 3rd century listed Aksum as one of the four great empires along with Rome, Persia, and China. In the 4th century the Aksumite king Ezana was converted to Christianity by Frumentius from Tyre who had come to live in Ethiopia. Frumentius was later appointed by Athanasius of Alexandria as the bishop of Ethiopia.

You can see in this photo the conversion of Ethiopia to Christianity. Both these coins feature King Ezana in the center. At the top of the left coin you can see the pre-Christian crescent moon symbol, but at the top of the right coin you can see the Christian cross.

According to the tradition found in the Kebra Nagast, the first king of Ethiopia was Menelik I who was the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Many Ethiopian rulers have claimed to be descendants of Menelik I, all the way until Haile Selassie who was deposed in 1974. At that point the Derg, a communist government, took over Ethiopia until the early 1987. Soon after, the Soviet Union pulled all support from Ethiopia which caused a massive economic collapse. In 1994 a new constitution was approved and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front has held power since.

What about Ethiopian Food?
If you have never had Ethiopian food you should look up the Ethiopian restaurant that is closest to you. It is delicious. The national food is injera with wot. Injera is a spongy, slightly sour, bread that is the basic food and utensil. Wot is a thick stew that is often made with root vegetables or meat. You eat with your hands in Ethiopia and the injera is used to scoop up the stews.

What Religion is Practiced?
Ethiopia is about 60% Christian and 35% Muslim. The following graph (from Operation World) shows the percentage of religions and their growths over the past century.

M=Muslim, E=Ethnic Religions, O=Orthodox, P=Protestant, X=Other Christian 

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has dominated the religious and political landscape of Ethiopia since King Ezana. This Church finds their origin from the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and holds that the ark of the covenant is in a small chapel in the northern city of Aksum. It is more similar to Eastern Orthodox traditions but still remains very unique due to its geographical and political isolation from the rest of the world. As a side note, Abune Paulos (1935-2012), the fifth patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary.

Do you have any other questions about Ethiopia? Post them in the comments and I'll try to answer them.

-ደቭሊን(Devlin)