the church...

Another day with Bini – awesome. Since we couldn’t go to Lalibella, we asked him to take us to a church on a mountain on the outskirts of town - After a friendly cup of machiato, of course.

We arrived at the Ethiopian Orthodox church with a sense of awe. It was obviously crafted with great care and love. In the expansive courtyard, several priests were going about their duties, and worshipers were coming and going, genuflecting and praying quietly to themselves. In another area, people were busy preparing something and Bini told us that there was going to be a funeral. The church was 160 years old and made mostly of stone.

Bini arranged a guide for us and told us that the original church was actually located at the peak of the mountain. It turns out that the church we were observing was actually a relocation of the original church which happened to be built over 700 years ago!!!! (The guide said 1700, but I know have since learned that it was built in the early 1200s). For perspective, Notre Dame in Paris was completed in 1345, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was completed in 1626 (less than 400 years ago), shortly after Canada was discovered. Christianity has been strong in Ethiopia since the 4^th century, and so in a sense, though, the guide was right. “The church” has been here for 1700 years!

After a 40 minute hike up the mountain, we were all breathing a little heavy (the climb wasn’t strenuous, but we started at well over 8000ft. The original church was worth the sweat. It is what they call a monolithic church, being excavated underground from a single piece of granite. It was completely intact and still used until 1936 when it was bombed by the Italians during the war. The roof collapsed and over 400 people died. Wow, what a tragedy. Of course the ruins were still interesting, but it was amazing to imagine what it was like before. Apparently, the monolithic churches in Lalibella are all still intact.

The whole experience was very encouraging. Thinking about how Christ has been worshiped for so many centuries in their own style and language was very humbling, and yet exciting. It is the kind of thing that I pray people will find when they visit the church in Abengourou, or Batouri or Lomié, 500 years from now. (Not the ruins, but the evidence of a rock-solid faith that is embedded in local culture and language).

On our way back into town, we met Hewit at Samaritan’s Purse where she works. I was very impressed with their work in Ethiopia and with the quality of staff that they had (Hewit included). I had a chat with the director about the possibility of me joining Samaritan’s Purse, and he was very encouraging.

Of course, since it was my last night, we went for some exceptional Ethiopian food at a Kitfo restaurant. Wow. It is hard not to think that it would be a LOT of fun to live and work in Ethiopia. Why do I find so many places in the world to be so fascinating? Oh-well, I guess it is time to say goodbye… It has been a great, relaxing vacation. I am so grateful to Tanya, Hewit and Bini for such a great time, but sad it had to come to an end.