What was church like in Ethiopia?

Hot, loud, crowded, fun, loud, athletic, stinky, very loud, interactive, alive, passionate, and loud.

That pretty much describes the majority of churches in Ethiopia. We attended an international church on Sunday mornings and a true Ethiopian church on Sunday and Friday nights.

How we got connected to the Ethiopian church is kinda funny. On Ruslan’s birthday, Marichka took him to the center and they went walking around. They heard some loud music and thought they would check it out. They walked into a church, listened for a little bit and left thinking they would have to come back next week. When we did come back the church was so welcoming, they sat us up in the front, gave us a translator, met with us after the service and asked if they could take us out to dinner the next day. This was all before they really knew our names.

Once we got to know them, we found out the went evangelizing on Fridays before church. We joined with them in this and continued to get to know them. The people there became some of our closest friends in Ethiopia.

Marichka loves her coffee, and me... not so much.

Lounging for a coffee ceremony

We had coffee ceremony with them, they helped celebrate my birthday, they did hair for some, and we went to a lot of cafes together. They were so happy to have us there, they had never had any foreigners come to their church before.

Our last week in Ethiopia we invited them to our place for dinner. We made Ukrainian food, Moldovan food, and I made fried chicken!

It was a fun experience for everyone. We played some games afterwards and spent a lot of time fellowshipping. We always had fun with our friends!