Welcome to Ambo Baptist Church

“The danger with us is that we want to water down the things that Jesus says and make them mean something in accordance with common sense; if it were only common sense, it was not worthwhile for Him to say it” – Oswald Chambers

LOTS of emotions this morning at our first Ethiopian church service.  It was humbling, frustrating, inspiring, and really fun all at the same time.  I don’t really know where to start other than what I wrote when I got into the service, so here are some quotes (in “chronological” order)…

“I JUST WANT TO SPEAK SPANISH” (but really.  It took up a lot of room on my paper)

-“All the kids just came up to the front of the room and were prayed over by the entire congregation.  COOL.”

“For all I know, these people could be speaking in tongues.  All I could do was smile and clap during worship… I felt like a TOTAL ditz”

I feel like I constantly compare Ethiopia to the trip we took to Costa Rica in high school.  Half of me still expects to see Sofia (one of the girls I got pretty close to) running up to give me a hug at the end of the church service.  It’s weird.  The church was kind of what I expected, just bigger.  It was overcrowded and had no air conditioning, cheap decorations, bright colors, and a crappy speaker system, but they had a keyboard! It’s cool – they’re in the process of expanding their building to a place that will hold 2,000 people: it’s like an Ethiopian mega church! 

“I wanted so badly to walk into worship and be overwhelmed by seeing Ethiopians worshiping the same God that we worship in Georgia, but I’m really struggling to see that this is true.  I see people worshiping here, and my first thought is ‘I don’t know what these people are saying, singing, or talking about.  For all I know, they could be worshiping Satan and I’m ‘Amen’ing because I want to fit in’. And I hate these thoughts and I know they aren’t true, but I can’t help but think ‘If I could understand these people, I would believe that God transcends cultures’.  It’s the whole ‘I have to prove that this is true before I can accept it as true’ mindset”

“I HATE STANDING OUT.  Like… I hate it.  I hate being walked to the front of the church and I hate driving through streets where everyone around us is walking because all I can think is “Here come the self-righteous Americans who think they’re better than everyone and expect special treatment and can’t conform to the ways of Africa so they bring their ways here”.  And I know this isn’t true but I can’t help but think that’s what the people around me are thinking… But people here are SO excited to have us.  They keep telling us what a blessing it is to have us and I’m just like ‘WHY?’  But then I think about how amazing it is to have foreigners come and how much I love learning from them and I think… maybe that’s how it is with me.  Maybe I’m the one with a skewed perspective on America.  Maybe people aren’t actually thinking these things and maybe they are actually telling the truth when they say what a blessing it is to have us here.  Maybe we are all worshiping the same God and we’re here seeing the unity that is found in Christ.  Maybe we can teach these people and learn from them at the same time”.

“God, you are AMAZING.  We just prayed through Psalm 51 (EXACTLY like when Grace, Emily and I did last summer).  We are crying out to you in unison because YOU are the God of the nations.  I looked outside while we were praying and there were people sitting outside with their bibles open praying with us.  They were listening to the sermon outside of the church walls, not coming to church because it’s the thing to do on Sunday’s, but because they are desperate for you and to learn about you.  And this isn’t something that’s limited in Africa, it’s just way more evident because YOU are all they have and the only thing that they can rest their hope in.  It’s refreshing to see.”

Like I said… it was an up and down kind of day.  We got back to Ambo and went to dinner with the family, and it was actually a FUN dinner.  I’m still kind of anxious because I feel like we’re constantly preparing for something (preparing the house, preparing for the team to come in a week, etc.) and I’m having a hard time being present and realizing that I AM IN AFRICA and EVERYTHING that I am experiencing counts. So… I guess that’s my prayer.  That I would be present and take advantage of every opportunity that I have, even when it’s way different than I pictured (not that I had much of a picture, but still).  We’re meeting with the SVO staff to lay out a schedule for this week/PREPARE for the rest of the summer (ironic?) but I’m actually really excited because we’re gonna make to-do lists and action items and that’s my JAM.