Well, unfortunately, we haven’t been able to update the blog in a little more than 2 weeks. We have been traveling quite a bit, and, as you may know, when you are traveling, especially in Africa, you never know how available the Internet will be. Currently, we are in Ethiopia, and there is Internet (obviously), however it is quite slow, and we are not going to be able to upload pictures. When we get home Dec. 3rd, God willing, we will be able to
put more pictures up of what we have been doing. In these past 3 weeks, quite a lot has happened, including the end of our stay in Malawi, and a tour throughout the 3 major cities of South Africa.
Our stay in Malawi ended well. I preached the last Sunday, giving encouragement to the Kairos church through Colossians 1:9-14. Naty had her last day as the Sunday school teacher, and they had a nice party to finish up. We were also able to finish up with Ministry of Hope, having a very typical Malawian dinner with Kelvin Kalonga (Naty’s “boss”) and his wife.
The night before we flew out on Tuesday morning, the leaders from Kairos invited us to a farewell dinner at the house of some friends of ours, the Chumias. It was a sad time for us saying goodbye, but it was also very meaningful. They told us that they felt as if they were sending us out to be missionaries wherever we end up, and that we have their full prayer support.
Malawi was really an amazing experience, and Naty and I have started a list of lessons we have learned from this experience (we’re at around 30 so far). If we get time, we will try to post them. Once again, we want to thank you so much for your contribution to the trip-we could not have done it without you if God had not used you in this way!
South Africa is a country where the 3rd world and 1st world co-exist
together. The amazing beauty of the country contrasted with extreme poverty of the African population hit us hard as we saw the slums of Capetown with the beautiful Table Mountain in the background.
In the 12 days we were in South Africa, we got to see much of Johannesburg, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, and Capetown, thanks to our hosts and good friends Pastor Ronald and Rowena Joseph, and their 2 year old son, Ethan. In Johannesburg, we also were able to minister a little bit to the leaders of Pastor Ronald’s church, as well as to the youth of the church of our new friend, Pastor Martin.
We played with lion cubs in a Lion Park in Joburg, saw sharks feeding in the Ushaka Aquarium in Durban, drove through the beautiful Midlands Meander of the English countryside in Pietermaritzburg (Zulu-Natal), and saw whales, penguins, Table Mountain, and Cape Point (the Cape of Good Hope) in Capetown. It truly was an absolutely amazing trip-a gift from God given to us through our hosts!
Nov. 9th, we arrived in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia to await my dad, whom we
will be assisting here. He arrived Nov. 10th, and the following day, we flew
to Dire Dawa, and then drove to Harar, in east Ethiopia for the first SIM Pastors Bookset conference. Harar is an ancient city, founded in 700 A.D., and built up around 900 A.D. It is a walled city, and doesn’t seem to have changed much since those days. It is known as the 4th Holy city of Islam,
after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. One of the traditions is hyena feeding. Wild hyenas come into the town, and a certain man feeds them. Before, depending on how much the hyenas ate, it was an omen of how the year would be. Now, however, there is a man that feeds them every night, and Thursday night we were able to participate in the feeding! It was a great experience.
We will be in Ethiopia until Dec. 2nd, when we will fly back to the States for
a bit. Hopefully, we will get to put up more pictures, as well hang out with some of you before heading back to Costa Rica. Thanks again so much for your support, and God-willing, see you soon!
