Ethiopia Gap Team 2014
c/o Karen Salmon
P O Box 1727
MEKELLE
Ethiopia
Dear Friends and Family,
We would like to thank you so much for your prayers over the last four and a half months. You have
been a really vital part of our work out here. This is our final prayer letter, and we are currently in the
midst of saying lots of ‘goodbyes’ to all our Ethiopian friends.
Last Sunday we did our final Sunday School at both churches. It was sad to say goodbye to all the
children, but we are so grateful to have had this opportunity to share the gospel with these kids and
to witness their enthusiasm in learning more about Jesus. We would appreciate it if you could
continue to remember both Full Gospel Church and Mekanney Yesus Church in your prayers,
especially the Sunday school programmes in both.
After church we were all invited to a lovely lunch at a
restaurant by some people the team had got to know
well at Mekanney Yesus Church – it was really fun and
we enjoyed trying out some more Ethiopian food.
Later that day, the half of the team who had been at
Full Gospel church were invited to a coffee ceremony
to say goodbye to all the Sunday School translators.
We have all really valued the work the translators
have done for us – as with little Tigrinian vocabulary,
we would have struggled to share the Bible so
effectively without them.
With our wonderful Sunday school translators
Karen (our mentor) has been such a blessing to the team over the time that we have been here. We
have been round to her house every other Saturday, and she has been really generous with her time
and belongings. We had our last meal at her house on Saturday, and she did a short talk on reverse
culture shock, and tips for settling back into the UK way of life. This was extremely useful, and we really
value Karen’s wisdom and advice on settling in back home. We would be so grateful if you could
pray for our settling in to English life.
To say goodbye to all the staff at ORE, we had a special lunch cooked by the head cook Heiwot. We
had injera and Doro wot – a traditional Ethiopian chicken dish. It was amazing food and enjoyed by
all (most people on the team are coming round to the rather unusual taste of injera!). We then had a
coffee ceremony and were presented with a traditional Ethiopian shirt each. We put these on
immediately, much to the delight of the staff and children who we taught for the rest of the
afternoon! Getatchew (the head of ORE) did a speech thanking us for our work there, and then
Heiwot did a speech too. One of the things that Heiwot said during her speech was “You pray for the
children and God carries them to Heaven”. This really challenged us to keep on praying for the
children in our classes, and those we have got to know through the project.
The boys on our team have been meeting up with some of the older teenage boys who live at
Operation Rescue. To say goodbye, they had them round to our house for dinner. The girls went out
to make way for the eight Ethiopian teenage boys who descended upon our dining room! A huge
amount of chilli-con-carne was consumed, and the evening was enjoyed by all.
We have also said goodbye to Daniel – the 15
year old blind boy who the girls regularly do bible
studies with. To say goodbye in style, we gave him
a ‘Snickers’ bar – he had never tasted English
chocolate before but he seemed to like it, despite
his initial apprehensiveness, and later exclaimed
that Snickers bars are his favourite food! We have
also got to know two little twins who live at the
ORE house. They are about one and a half years
old, and they are called Berhan and Yishi. They
have such amazing smiles and love being held,
they also enjoy playing with our hair!
As well as saying ‘goodbye’ to the people at ORE,
we have had our last service with the Sudenese
Saying goodbye to Daniel and the twins – Berhan
congregation. Their fellowship has been such an
and Yishi
encouragement to us over the last few months,
and we have really enjoyed worshipping with them. At our last service, we sung “The Lord’s my
Shepherd” and they also provided snacks…Ethiopian style – this included lots of Coke and huge
amounts of Ethiopian mini biscuits and sweets. We are very grateful to them for all they have taught
us and for welcoming us so warmly into their services.
Although things are wrapping up here in Mekelle, we have still been regularly going on social work
visits to see the families of some of the children in our classes at ORE. There is one family with five small
children (three of whom come to ORE), their names are Hadush, Grimalesh and Tahas. They live with
their father on 100-200 birr a month (£3-£6). Another boy in Ellie C and Lizzy’s class lives with his mother
in a corrugated iron house. During the heavy rains of the last few days, his house was completely
washed away. It is situations like these that have really reminded us all to keep relying on God and
not to take our lives for granted.
We have now finished our bible studies in Luke’s gospel. We have learnt so much as we have taken
turns to lead these. We have all been really challenged through looking at different people’s
responses to Jesus, and we have been really encouraged to pray, as Jesus told us to. We have been
reminded of the need to tell people about God’s amazing love and boundless grace in sending
Jesus to die for us, and how thankful we need to be for this amazing truth.
All-in-all, we have had such an incredible and life-changing experience here in Ethiopia over the last
four and a half months. We have each been individually challenged and encouraged by the way
that Ethiopians live for Jesus so obviously and their amazing joy in all situations. We have also been
encouraged knowing that people back home have been praying for God’s work out here, and we
want to thank you again for your prayers.
From the Ethiopia team 2014, goodbye!
From Anna, Lizzy and Ed.
PRAISE POINTS
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For a safe flight back to the UK – we landed on Sunday morning.
For all that God as taught us while we have been out in Ethiopia.
For the strong friendship that the team has formed over the 4 ½ months.
PRAYER POINTS
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For a smooth transition back into the English way of life.
For the children at ORE – please pray that they would remember what they have learnt
through the devotions and for many of them to come to love Jesus for themselves.
For Karen working in Mekelle – for opportunities for her to share the gospel effectively in
the town and for her work to be really fruitful.
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