Psalm 31

Hello from Addis Ababa! This is where we were when we first got to Ethiopia two weeks ago.

The last couple of days have been very emotionally intense for all of us. Well, Wednesday wasn't as much. Wednesday we postponed our visit to the Blue Nile Falls in order to do ministry in the morning. I went with Jessica and Clay and David was our translator (aka Partner). We went to a location that was farther away from most places we'd been. Went to a cafe called Dave's cafe and talked with one guy who was a Bajaj driver. (A Bajaj is the Ethiopian taxi). After talking to him we asked a guy who'd been looking over at us a lot if he wanted to talk, but he just wanted the 4 Spiritual Laws booklet, which we gladly gave him. We talked to two more guys, both Orthodox, and made appointments to meet them on Thursday, before leaving that cafe. We tried to go visit one of the translators at his house but he wasn't home.
After lunch we had downtime to do whatever we wanted. A couple of us were feeling splurge-y so we actually went and got massages at this hotel we'd gotten dinner at the night before. It was incredibly relaxing, and it finished with a hot shower, which we hadn't had the whole time of being in Bahir Dar (let's be honest, we didn't have running water most of the time in Bahir Dar).
In the evening we played a game of soccer against the translators. We went to the local YMCA and it took awhile to get the game going because all the kids wouldn't get off the field because they wanted to play too. It was a tough game, and our team sustained many injuries (one minor concussion, one ball hard to the eye resulting in a minor black eye, and a couple scraped legs), and we lost. But we put up a very valiant effort. Final score was 2-3. After the game we had dinner and then the translators came over to hang out. We played games for awhile and then had a serious talk about what we had all learned from this experience, and then a couple people gave thanks gifts.

Thursday was a very emotional day. Went out again with Luke as my sharing partner, and we had Kaleb and David as our partners. Had an appointment at 10 with Adarajo, who Kaleb and I had talked with already twice. It was a hard conversation because we'd already told him really all that we could, and Kaleb and I wanted so much to see him accept, but he said he still needed to think deeper. While we were talking, Luke and David were causing a ruckus--they'd sat down with four guys and were debating something about the legitimacy of the Bible. Luke said, "We didn't even get to share the Gospel. We just argued." So we left quickly after that and went to a juice place. Talked with one guy, who was very Orthodox and couldn't see the difference between what we were telling him and what he already believed. Another conversation where nothing we said was getting through so we had to walk away.
Headed to where we meet up for lunch and kind of had a breakdown. And by kind of I mean I did. I think it was an overflow of a couple different things: frustration at never having anyone accept the whole time (despite telling myself and being told many times that the heart-changing is not ours to do but God's, and that it's nothing we do if they do or do not accept), at seeing so many people so close to accepting but closing their hearts, and realizing how undeserving I am to share this message and how weak my faith was and is. I was broken; that's the short side of it. But while I was crying in a corner, in the arms of a couple friends, I found Psalm 31. I wasn't able to read the whole thing then, but the more I look at it now the more I see how perfectly it fit how I was feeling right then and what happened the rest of the day.
We got lunch and after Luke and I went out with Kaleb and Kassahun (who's on staff here and has been living and working with us the whole time). We had two appointments, none of whom showed up, so we kept cafe hopping. We showed up for our third, and last appointment, who also didn't show up. But in the waiting we talked to one guy, who was like the other conversations we'd had and couldn't see the difference between Orthodox (they believe in Jesus Christ, the saints, and works) and what we believe (just Jesus, that we are saved by FAITH and GRACE, not works). He left, thanking us for the conversation (which was mostly Kassahun), and then Kassahun went around asking everyone in the cafe if they wanted to talk. He found two guys, and so he sat down with them. The three of us were just hanging out waiting for him to finish, and somebody from inside the cafe walked over and asked if we would tell him what we believed. Just like that. Kaleb took over sharing with Getachu, and about four minutes later we saw them praying together. My mind was blown because my first thought when he walked over was that I had no desire to share with anyone I was so tired and frustrated. Then we gave him a Bible, hugs, high fives, and the booklet, which he promptly took back inside and shared with his friends. Then his friend came out and she wanted to go through the booklet with us and then SHE prayed to accept Jesus Christ. Kaleb was so excited because these were the first two people he'd ever seen accept Jesus. What a way to end our time of ministry in Bahir Dar.
I think the Lord was teaching me how weak I am. Even when I'm trying my hardest, if I'm doing it on my own, it's no good. I still have a lot to learn in this area, but there's time.

We said goodbye to our translators at the end of Thursday and we gave our thanks gift. We got Kaleb a basketball, and he was SO excited. I also gave him a KU shirt, so I got a photo of him in the shirt with the basketball. Match made in heaven.

We flew to Addis yesterday and will be leaving in a couple hours to go to Nazret to help with a conference. Hard to believe we only have 10 days left.