13 December 2010. Our last full day in Addis Ababa. Up early to join Dr. John Balikowski for breakfast and conversation. Did some packing, reading, and enjoying the morning. At about 10 a.m. Robin Thomas (missionary Bob Thomas' wife) arrived to pick us up for a day of souvenir shopping, conversation, lunch, and a lot of goodbyes!
Other than saying goodbye, it was a fun day. Of course to be able to spend a full day with missionaries is always a fun day! Shopping, bargain hunting, thinking of who might like what--plus wondering what I might like to keep! Purchased some pottery, scarves, Ethiopian coffee, and other items for Christmas gifts.
The four of us enjoyed an American meal at a local restaurant; the owners are from Seattle! While we were there we enjoyed a quick conversation with some other people from the States. The world is very small some times!
After saying goodbye to Rhonda, Bob brought us back to Dr. John's house. Bob downloaded all the pictures we took onto his laptop, hopefully there was some good ones.
After saying goodbye to Bob (who will be bringing us to the airport later) we went to pack some and rest some.
We were so surprised; the house staff gave us a going away gift...a beautiful, handcrafted, pottery coffee pot. So sweet! We then enjoyed a wonderful supper meal and more conversation with Dr. John...we won't be seeing him until January, if we can connect when we get to Florida.
After we finished packing we actually went to sleep for awhile. Our flight is at 4 a.m., but because it is an international flight we need to get there early (or late depending on how you say it). Bob picked us up about midnight to take us to the airport, which was very nice of him! Customs and immigration went very smoothly...it was really suprising to see all of the other people flying out at that same hour.
14 December 2010. So began our long journey home. It is so hard to imagine being in Ethiopia one day and at the end of the same day being home in southeastern WI! We flew from Addis Ababa to Jordan; then to London for the longer flight. We arrived in Chicago about 5:30 pm (if it was still Tuesday I would be surprised). We went through immigration, customs and baggage claim in time to catch the bus to our car in Janesville, WI.
Remember it's December! Yup...our car was covered in snow and ice. It took Bill some time to get it all off, but finally we were home by 9:30 p.m. Did very little after arriving home except go to sleep. I did make a couples of phone calls to let the family know we were home safe.
This ends my remembrance of our missions trip to Ethiopia...hope you enjoyed it.
Soon we'll be planning and going on our next overseas missions trip to Cebu City, Philippines. That will be exciting, too.
Showing posts with label Ethiopia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethiopia. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
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!
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!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Retroactive Part 3
5 December 2010. On Sunday morning in Addis Ababa we were up and moving by 6 am! After breakfast we arrived at church by 8:30 am. Traditionally services are quite lengthy and the two morning services Bill preached at were no different. Not because of his preaching, but because the people are excited about being at church.
Each service was very exciting; filled with music, worship, the people, the church staff...all very wonderful, warmly receiving us into their church. Remember it has always been a dream of mine to go to Africa and here were are at the largest Assemblies of God church in Ethiopia; with 10,000 members we were told!
After the services, Bob & Rhonda Thomas (the missionaries from the Michigan District we were working with) and their children, Dr. John, and us, all went out to eat. After a delicious meal, Bob took us to the local museum for some Ethiopian history.
We were back to John's house by 4 pm. Had a little rest, then watched part of a teaching video, checked our emails, Facebook, visited with John and closed another day in Africa.
When we minister overseas we realize that each day is different and exciting or just another average day. We might not see goats and sheep in the streets everyday or have to turn on the generator because the electricity failed, but we do know that each day is a blessing and an honor for us to have lived it in Africa!
Each service was very exciting; filled with music, worship, the people, the church staff...all very wonderful, warmly receiving us into their church. Remember it has always been a dream of mine to go to Africa and here were are at the largest Assemblies of God church in Ethiopia; with 10,000 members we were told!
After the services, Bob & Rhonda Thomas (the missionaries from the Michigan District we were working with) and their children, Dr. John, and us, all went out to eat. After a delicious meal, Bob took us to the local museum for some Ethiopian history.
We were back to John's house by 4 pm. Had a little rest, then watched part of a teaching video, checked our emails, Facebook, visited with John and closed another day in Africa.
When we minister overseas we realize that each day is different and exciting or just another average day. We might not see goats and sheep in the streets everyday or have to turn on the generator because the electricity failed, but we do know that each day is a blessing and an honor for us to have lived it in Africa!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Retroactive Part 2
Each day we were in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was an amazing experience.
It included conversation with our host, Dr. John, to walking the streets looking for hidden shops, to riding in a taxi-van with a lot of other people, seeing goat and sheep herders moving their animals across 6 lanes of traffic, to the Lexus and Audi cars being driven on those same streets by the people working in the high rise buildings. Amazing!
4 December 2010. After a night of restful sleep we woke to get ready for our day. Breakfast was served to us by Salish, the woman who manages Dr. John's household! She is a terrific cook; we never left the table hungry! After breakfast we went online to inform our families in the states that all was well and to quickly post on Facebook, too! The computer system was very slow and could have disconnected at any time, another experience!
John told us that his other mission responsibility north of the city may be receiving a shipment of dental supplies and he would need to be there to oversee the unloading, etc. If that happens he asked if we could teach his class at the Bible school. We would be in charge of two sessions...video's...no teaching!!! We said sure, another experience?
After some coffee and more conversation we went to our room to study and rest. About 11 am we walked to the local market with Dr. John. The city closes the street to vehicle traffic and the vendors display their items right on the road! Lot's of things from T-shirts, shoes, leather goods, kitchen things; like a flea market in the States. That taxi-van ride I mentioned earlier? That's how we got back to John's house!
That evening we attended the first ever missions convention the local churches held. It was very exciting to see so many people there, eat their food, and sing their songs. One thing about the food in Ethiopia is a special dish they serve...raw meat! Yup...uncooked beef! They love it! But, because they knew us westerner's wouldn't eat it they served other delicious food like lasagna! The evening was great. Many pastors pledged a month's salary towards missions...amazing experience.
We were back to John's by about 9:30 pm to visit some more and then go to sleep. The next day Bill will be preaching two services to two very large crowds...an experience for sure!
It included conversation with our host, Dr. John, to walking the streets looking for hidden shops, to riding in a taxi-van with a lot of other people, seeing goat and sheep herders moving their animals across 6 lanes of traffic, to the Lexus and Audi cars being driven on those same streets by the people working in the high rise buildings. Amazing!
4 December 2010. After a night of restful sleep we woke to get ready for our day. Breakfast was served to us by Salish, the woman who manages Dr. John's household! She is a terrific cook; we never left the table hungry! After breakfast we went online to inform our families in the states that all was well and to quickly post on Facebook, too! The computer system was very slow and could have disconnected at any time, another experience!
John told us that his other mission responsibility north of the city may be receiving a shipment of dental supplies and he would need to be there to oversee the unloading, etc. If that happens he asked if we could teach his class at the Bible school. We would be in charge of two sessions...video's...no teaching!!! We said sure, another experience?
After some coffee and more conversation we went to our room to study and rest. About 11 am we walked to the local market with Dr. John. The city closes the street to vehicle traffic and the vendors display their items right on the road! Lot's of things from T-shirts, shoes, leather goods, kitchen things; like a flea market in the States. That taxi-van ride I mentioned earlier? That's how we got back to John's house!
That evening we attended the first ever missions convention the local churches held. It was very exciting to see so many people there, eat their food, and sing their songs. One thing about the food in Ethiopia is a special dish they serve...raw meat! Yup...uncooked beef! They love it! But, because they knew us westerner's wouldn't eat it they served other delicious food like lasagna! The evening was great. Many pastors pledged a month's salary towards missions...amazing experience.
We were back to John's by about 9:30 pm to visit some more and then go to sleep. The next day Bill will be preaching two services to two very large crowds...an experience for sure!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Retroactive
Today's blog will be on our trip to Ethiopia, Africa. Yes, we were there in December 2010, but I thought today would be a good day to write about it! And besides, I keep a short daily diary of what we do every day (well, not everything but you know what I mean); it helps me remember what we did.
1 December 2010: Day One.
This is the day we fly to Ethiopia, Africa. Can you believe it? Our missionary friend from Florida, Dr. John as we affectionately call him, helped arrange this trip. We'll be ministering with our soon to be friends Bob & Rhonda Thomas. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to go to Africa as a missionary; maybe because of the stories I heard when missionaries would visit our church. Trust me, day one was a full, busy day.
Actually, it was pretty normal to begin with. Got ready for the day, sent out our weekly ministry update, went to work...did normal stuff; made sure my Facebook page was updated and packed my carryon bag. We ate a little bit, relaxed some; then jumped in the car to drive to the local bus terminal for our 2 1/2 hr ride to O'Hare airport in Chicago.
Everything went very smoothly at check-in, security, and the gate...we finally boarded by 8:30 pm (CST). While on board we ate some, rested some, and occupied our time with reading and watching the inflight movie. It was a pretty good flight!
We arrived in London 6 hrs later (by my watch), about 11 am local time but couldn't check in until 6 pm! To make the time go faster we walked a lot, read, and watched people. Finally, we are able to check-in for the next leg of our journey. After check-in, we went to eat at a TGIF restaurant. Unaware that the exchange rate is not good for the US dollar we ate a hamburger and a soda at a cost of $40. Needless to say we were shocked at the cost, but it is a memory!
We finally board the plane at 9 pm (Thursday, Dec. 2) and fly over Europe and North Africa. We arrived safely at 7:15 am; got our visa, immigration stamps, and our luggage. Dr. John & Missionary Bob Thomas met us at the airport and brought us to Dr. John's house. We unpacked, visited, and had something to eat. I was so excited, too, because I got to brush my teeth for the first time in three days (well, it seemed like it anyway).
There is the first installment of a two week adventure in Africa. There are very exciting days ahead in this story, including: having the electric and water go out, eating new foods, and meeting the warm, friendly people of Ethiopia.
1 December 2010: Day One.
This is the day we fly to Ethiopia, Africa. Can you believe it? Our missionary friend from Florida, Dr. John as we affectionately call him, helped arrange this trip. We'll be ministering with our soon to be friends Bob & Rhonda Thomas. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to go to Africa as a missionary; maybe because of the stories I heard when missionaries would visit our church. Trust me, day one was a full, busy day.
Actually, it was pretty normal to begin with. Got ready for the day, sent out our weekly ministry update, went to work...did normal stuff; made sure my Facebook page was updated and packed my carryon bag. We ate a little bit, relaxed some; then jumped in the car to drive to the local bus terminal for our 2 1/2 hr ride to O'Hare airport in Chicago.
Everything went very smoothly at check-in, security, and the gate...we finally boarded by 8:30 pm (CST). While on board we ate some, rested some, and occupied our time with reading and watching the inflight movie. It was a pretty good flight!
We arrived in London 6 hrs later (by my watch), about 11 am local time but couldn't check in until 6 pm! To make the time go faster we walked a lot, read, and watched people. Finally, we are able to check-in for the next leg of our journey. After check-in, we went to eat at a TGIF restaurant. Unaware that the exchange rate is not good for the US dollar we ate a hamburger and a soda at a cost of $40. Needless to say we were shocked at the cost, but it is a memory!
We finally board the plane at 9 pm (Thursday, Dec. 2) and fly over Europe and North Africa. We arrived safely at 7:15 am; got our visa, immigration stamps, and our luggage. Dr. John & Missionary Bob Thomas met us at the airport and brought us to Dr. John's house. We unpacked, visited, and had something to eat. I was so excited, too, because I got to brush my teeth for the first time in three days (well, it seemed like it anyway).
There is the first installment of a two week adventure in Africa. There are very exciting days ahead in this story, including: having the electric and water go out, eating new foods, and meeting the warm, friendly people of Ethiopia.
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