Ministry in a Nutshell: Ethiopia

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 Our squad leader team, Thru-Hike, spent the whole month together in Ethiopia doing ATL (Ask the Lord) ministry. When we arrived in Addis Ababa, we had a room at a guesthouse the first night, and then we were on our own to find housing. Thankfully, RJ had a connection from ATO, Lincoln, who lived in Addis. He connected us with Selamta Family Project, which became our family for the month. Here is a link to the blog RJ wrote about Selamta’s mission and story! 

Lincoln and RJ

We were so blessed to serve with Selamta Family Project in several capacities throughout the month. Tamrat, the Country Director, and Habtie, the Assistant Director, became our pseudo-hosts for the month. They took great care of us – housing us in their volunteer accommodations, driving us all over the city, and answering all of our questions about Selamta and Ethiopia!

RJ, Habtie, and Tamrat

Every Saturday, a Nigerian-American we met, Kene, hosts a music camp for Selamta kids. He teaches them about rhythm, reading music, and playing instruments. We had so much fun helping out, and RJ even got to teach a little boy, Tsega, some chords on guitar.

RJ and Kene teaching the kids about chords on a guitar

Tsega and RJ

Chris, a diplomat at the US Embassy, and Habtie started a program for the young men of Selamta. They meet twice a month, and talk about what it means to be a man. Many of these young men, ages 15-25, do not have very many positive male role models in their life. RJ loves this topic and spent 5 years having conversations like this at ATO. This was one of his favorite ministry moments on the Race so far!

Chris and some of the young men

“How to be a Man”

Every summer, Selamta hosts an English camp for its kids and other children from the neighborhood. Our team helped assess over 100 kids’ English – reading, writing, listening, and speaking – in order to best group them for the upcoming camp.

Shannon assessing a girl’s English

Some of the kids completing the Writing portion of the assessment

In addition to working with Selamta, we had time to make connections and meet people all around Addis. One person that we met was Philemon. He was born in Eritrea and forced into a refugee camp at a very young age. He lived in a tent next to a trash dump for fourteen years until his family was kicked out of the refugee camp and shoved into society without a penny to their name. Fili decided he wanted more for his life than the path that had been handed to him and began to push himself far beyond what seemed possible. Through incredible hardships and challenges, he started a coffee shop called Fili Coffee and has been in business for eight months. He is breaking impossible barriers and making a path for himself where a path could not be seen. We got to spend time at Fili’s coffee shop with him and sip delicious Ethiopian coffee while he told us about his life and story.

Another friend we met is Gelila. She was born in Addis Ababa and graduated from college with a nursing degree. Although her parents and friends were pushing her to become a nurse, she knew God had a different plan for her life. Nursing led her to discover the multitudes of people in Addis Ababa who lived in the local trash dump, because they have nowhere else to go. When she discovered this, her heart broke, and she knew she needed to do something. Four years later, she has a thriving jewelry business that employs people from the dump. She pulls people out of the trash and teaches them jewelry making skills. She is fixing the problem one person at a time and creating beautiful jewelry while doing it. We got to visit her workshop and showroom, and Gelila shared the heart behind her business with us. Visit her website to buy some of her beautiful jewelry!

This man is 74 years old. He has leprosy and doesn’t have any fingers. He makes beautiful rugs!

This woman makes clay beads.

A small selection of the beautiful jewelry

One day, we were able to visit a displaced persons camp on the outskirts of Addis Ababa with two of our teams – Son Shine and Sisters. It was a humbling experience to say the least. These people are from the Somali border region of Ethiopia, and have been displaced from their homes due to civil unrest. We were told this camp is actually pretty nice as refugee camps go, which is absolutely heartbreaking. Each family lives in one room, with dirt floors and metal walls. The children are desperate for physical touch and attention. They will fight each other to hold your hand. We sang several songs and taught English to about 50 children, and it was obvious that they are so hungry for learning.

The kids would mob us as soon as we arrived!

Kene and Tamrat invited us to attend an American church, East Ridge, that had been planted in Addis. We jumped right in, and were welcomed with open arms. We attended service every Sunday, RJ played guitar at a praise and worship night, we served in the nursery, and we attended Community Group every Thursday night at Mary Jean and Jeremy’s house. This was a taste of home that was so refreshing after 9 months abroad.

RJ, myself, Mary Jean, Jeremy, and Hudson (their two year old)

Ethiopia was full of friends and amazing experiences. It was my hardest goodbye yet, and I am confident that we will be back someday soon!