Retrospective Seven

Another beautiful day in Ethiopia...Sunday!!!

12 December 2010. Please forgive misspelling of cities and names!!!.

Zaway, Ethiopia, south of Addis Ababa with Pastor Jonas. Because the drive to the church is about 2 1/2 hrs. away we had to get up pretty early. Missionary Bob Thomas picked us up by 7 a.m. Back the clock up from that point and it's pretty early. The only thing... no water or water pressure; which means no shower...a sponge bath with water from the reserve barrel in our bathroom. [Not drinking water mind you, but water to use for bathing, flushing, etc.] We used  bottled water to brush our teeth.

As I said, we drive about 2.5 hrs south of the city through some very beautiful country, towns, and villages. We see people walking, riding bikes, waiting for the bus, or sitting outside enjoying the cool morning. Lot's of animals: sheep, goats, and donkeys. On the way down Bob told us to look for the camel herds and we saw them. Don't see that at all in Wisconsin...a herd of camels on the side of the road!!! He also said, at times there are baboons in the area, but we didn't see any.

Had an excellent time at church; the people were so glad to see us and hear what the Father had to say. Pastor Jonas interpreted for Bill...both did a wonderful job. After service I had some fun with the kids taking their pictures...they were giggling and laughing as they looked at their own photos. A great memory!

After church we ate at a local restaurant with Pastor. We then went to a local lake where we could have seen hippos; apparently they were around the bend of the lake. Had fun talking to a gentleman though, he wanted to be my friend...pastor witnessed to the man. Quite interesting!

One of our main reasons for going to the church was that our host, Dr. John Balikowski (who is a retired dentist) had scheduled a medical clinic at the local prison and we were invited to see what they were doing. I have never been to a place like this...a compound of buildings and dirt. Well organized but still dirty! And the odors...no explanation for that. Oh, if you only could have been there with us; your heart would have been changed forever.

The doctors, nurses, dentists, receptionists, helpers, equipment cleaners, and pastors were so very busy with the needs of both men and women at the prison. And the prisoners were very thankful. I have no idea what crimes they committed; but they needed help. The prison warden was also very thankful that the medical clinic had come. There is a chapel in the compound that local ministers preach and teach at.

The men and women are separate, of course; but something I hadn't thought of...there was also a child there with it's mother. A definite eye opener. The whole time we were there was extremely moving and life-changing.

We say goodbye and thank you to each one who was helping. As we travel back to Addis Ababa we see they same herd of camels except there are at least 100! Amazing! Stopped at a local motel to use their restroom facilities (western!) and later stopped to eat at a restaurant (had pizza!!!).

We were finally back to John's house by about 8 p.m. After that hot, dry, dusty, and wonderful day I treated myself to a nice, hot shower. What was kind of funny was that we read our emails and they were having a big snowstorm in Wisconsin.

Another beautiful day in Ethiopia. Next blog will be about our last full day in Ethiopia!