Me? Preach? in Ethiopia?

This morning I (Adam) was able to go to church with an evangelist who started a church in one of the poorest of the poor's area. The place is called the Kora dump. It is the location where all of the garbage of Addis Ababa goes. The people that live there, live off what they find in the dump.

What an experience it was. Actually, it was very refreshing.

On our way there we had to stop on the side of the road to get a quick tire change. While we were waiting, my friend asked me if I would like to preach. Not wanting to be rude and always ready to share, I told him that I would be happy to say a few words. When we arrived at church, we were late (since we had to get a tire change). The church was a small 2 bedroom house, that was stuffed full of chairs. There was about 50-60 people packed into an area barely bigger than my bedroom. I, along with my friend had been saved a seat. We sat at the very front, right next to the preacher, facing the crowd. It was the place of honor. (In the picture above, it is the seat that is against the wall, next to the podium) The whole service was in Amharic, which I did not understand at all. What I did understand though was the praise that was being lifted up in the name of Jesus! I understood the devotion of those around me. I understood that it took a lot for many of those to come to church, as I looked on the ground and saw numerous canes lying around. After the preacher had preached, I was given a turn. I gave my greetings from California and continued to preach, with a translator, for about 15 minutes. After I was done, they put their hands around me and blessed me! How humbling. Then as we sang, I stood, worshiping the same Sovereign God in a different language.

After the service, I was warmly greeted by the elders and the pastor. They started to show me a bunch of pictures of what the church is doing in this part of town. It was incredible to see the way the church comes together to help those in great need. You see, there is GREAT need in this church.

This church is mostly made up of widows, orphans, blind men, deaf men and lepers. I did not even realize that leprosy was really still around. Well, it is. I sat one foot away from it, and shook hands with it. It had taken all the fingers and toes of those plagued by it. None of the kids that were running around had diapers on, therefore urine was all over the ground. Many of those attending are HIV positive. I am also positive that many of those had TB.

I did not get a chance to tour the dump area today, but I will another time. I also was told that I will be able to tour some of the homes in the area. Some of the ways that the church has been helping those are by taking older, at risk, orphan girls out from the dump and housing them in a better area. They also buy charcoal (a necessity) for the lame and carry it to their houses for them.

I am praying about how God wants to use me, and my family, in this place over the next few weeks.

I know one thing for sure, and that is I am excited about next Sunday!

You can watch THIS VIDEO about Kora dump by clicking the link. The man in the video is a man that I met at church. He is one of the elders there.

The picture above is with me, the evangelist, the guitarist, and the pastor.