Ethiopia here we come!!
I leave in less than 12 hours for Ethiopia!!! AHHHHH!!!
I only have a few minutes before I go to bed so this will be incredibly brief. I just want to give you a quick glimpse into the country where I will be living for the next three months.
Ethiopia is in eastern Africa, near the Red Sea. It does not border the Red Sea, but it is very close. There are 88,013,491 people in Ethiopia, the average age in Ethiopia is 17. This is mostly due in part to AIDS and famine. There are many different tribes and ethnic groups with in the country.
The country is very fertile and rich, but is often plagued with drought. Famine is normal in Ethiopia and is one of the biggest killers there. 65% of the world’s hungry live in only 7 countries, or which Ethiopia is a part of. There is a huge need for aid, although some say that people are relying too much on aid and are no longer farming. Still, if people are dying, there is a need.
Ethiopia has deep ties to Christianity. Some of you may recall Paul talking to the Ethiopian eunuch. There are many other times in the Bible where Ethiopia is mentioned. The majority (though a slight majority) are Christian, the other half is Muslim with a small percentage of animism and tribal beliefs.
Time magazine did an article on Ethiopia not long ago. Here is a link to their photo essay, Harvest of Hunger.
Much of the communications are owned by the government and are therefore hard to come by. Internet, cable, phone, radio it is all very limited. Hence my blogging dump, I do not know for sure when I will be abel to update you again. You may not hear from me for three months or it could be next week. Nothing is certain. Please be praying for me and my team of 6 as we leave tomorrow morning for Istanbul and from there to Addis Ababa!
Megan, I’m SO excited for you! Enjoy your time there and do as we always said on our DTS – “be blessed and be a blessing”! Katie
Hopefully it won’t be 3 months before we hear anything, but if so, just know that we’ll be praying. BTW, you’re doing a fantastic job with your blog 🙂
Rick
dear megan maury just called me a dork .i wanted totell you that i miss you and pray gods protection and guidance over you.this is the first time i have used this thing. i hope it is readible. the city is trying to boot us out of our house in order to build up the dike. it looks like we will have to go. i pray for gods guidance. i enjoy reading you blogs. your folks had no power for a day and the same for us. i hope you stay together as a group for safety.sara and misty say hi (woof woof] TO YOU Shazam shazam i am not doing so welll with my barltey boob or blog as you call it. i even lost my pay check at work and it has not showed itself up yet. i guess iam having a senior moment.What a wonderful opportunity you have to see other parts of the world. we americans have so much to be thankful for. i miss going to church with you. the house in sultan is not finished yet. 2 more months and I pray maury will be done..he is quite busy now…pray he will sleep better at night. the company across the street from us is closing up for good. They make tremendous loud noise starting at 5:30 a.m. it sounds like a WAR ZONE. I pray that you will finally get this boo boo and you will be healthy and sweet as you usually are God bless you and I love you much and I am proud of you. grandma irene. hi maury here hope things are going great for you!