First day in Addis Ababa

 After we picked up Gabrielle Weber early Saturday morning we headed out to see a new Visitor's Center that is right in the heart of the City and beautiful!  

We need beautiful things in the midst of all the suffering but the question everyone asks when they see this very expensive park is why so much money was spent here when people are dying from disease and hunger just outside the gate?  Luke 16:19-21  

Following our time at the Visitor's Center we drove over to see the "Mercado"- it is the largest public market in Africa where 1000's of people live and work and promote every kind of  hustle you can imagine.  Our dear brother Dagim, Ahudu's brother, didn't want to take us there- he said it is very dangerous and dirty...he was right. But we felt like the Lord was leading us there and almost every growly face and suspicious look turned to joy, big white smiles and expressions of 'you're beautiful' and 'I love you' when we would walk over with a smile and offer our hands and bless them!  It is the same miracle every where we go that is filled with dispare, hate and fear...the Spirit of Jesus just shows up and melds our hearts together- we discover we are just people in different circumstances but on the same journey...    

Speaking of miracles (I hope you are not getting tired of hearing about them!), the day before we left Kenya, August 25th, Enos thought we should stop by the Ethiopian Embassy, which was our next destination the following day.  We had understood from their website and our past experience, that we could just purchase our Visas when we arrived at the airport in Addis Ababa. But the consulate in Nairobi told us absolutely not!!  "You must apply on line, and it takes 3 days, period"  You'll have to change your plane tickets and wait and see whether your Visa request will be granted next week or not!  O Lord, we only have 5 days in Ethiopia as it is, what do You want us to do!?  So we prayed, God said call our dear lawyer friend in Addis, Ahadu, and "Trust Me..."  

Ahadu, was unaware of the rule change as well- but he said he would pray and see if their is any way to help. In the meantime, we were celebrating the pizza party with the preschoolers in the Kibera slum, but still thinking about not being able to meet Gabrielle in Addis and what to do with our return tickets to the U.S. because our return trip started from Addis!   An hour later Ahadu called and said he had talked to his mother-in-law,  who is the Ethiopian ambassador to Germany.  She told us to fill out our Visa stuff on line, make our payment and we will see what is possible...5 hours later, that very same day, we had our Visa acceptance in hand, and we were on our way!  Nobody but God can do the impossible over and over and over again...!!  Praise the wonderful Name of Jesus!!! 

 At the end of our first day in Addis, Ahadu  bought Gabrielle, Juan Carlos and I dinner as we were reunited for the first time in three years with our long time ministry partners including Caleb and Konjit Berhanu.