Last day, Having some church

We got up and got ready for church at 8ish. I am feeling a bit depressed. I feel heavy hearted about leaving the other family. I feel sad because we didn’t have our embassy appointment. I feel scared because Derara and I are making an international flight alone. I feel guilty because I am angry that the cooks didn’t fix breakfast yet. Yep, I am ugly.
We are told it is a short walk to Beza International church. I quickly realize it is not so short. These Ethiopians walk everywhere. We finally arrive at the church and can’t go in yet. We are a little early. We meet a missionary family from the US and their children (one adopted from here) and talk a while. They open the door and we file in. It is kind of like a warehouse turned into a church. We take our seats a few rows from the front and shortly the service starts. The place is packed. We start with a word from one of the pastors about his walk with the Lord. He says we are all children of Abraham. However, we not only received the inspiration of Abraham we also received the condition of Abraham. This is why our actions and our beliefs don’t always agree. This is why our thought lives are so difficult for us to manage. I wonder does he know how this “condition” has left me in such a funk this morning?
The worship pastor comes out and says “If there is breath in you today, you owe God a praise.” The music starts for “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” We in American churchs can learn so much from the Church in Africa. They know how to praise. They understand the bible in ways we don’t. They know what it means to be the “good shepherd” when the daily see shepherd boys with their sheep on the main streets. They know what it means to be “The bread of life” when people around them are hungry. They know what is means to be the “Living water” when their drinking water is contaminated. They understand the phrase “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” when they have have lived under a King. They know what CS Lewis says in Chronicles of Narnia “He is not a tame Lion, but HE is good.” The Jesus they worship is not the one you can beat up. He is Holy AND Good. I think of in scripture when God told Moses to take of his feet he was walking on Holy ground. I read somewhere that God wanted to be skin to skin with Moses. I am in the presence of brothers and sisters in Christ who are worshipping skin to skin and I feel overdressed. The pastor gets up and we do corporate scripture reading. It is nothing like corporate scripture reading here in the states. It is loud and joyful and people cheer. The pastor talks about people facing mountains in their live and that mountains melt in the presence of our God. He asks if anyone wants to come up for prayer and many go forward including Ryan and I. We are prayed over by an African man and I am feeling more and more free.
We go back to our seats and the sermon begins. It is about giving. It is a sermon about giving like none I’ve ever heard. It clearly in the beginning is not the prosperity gospel. It is about how our giving is about obedience and it is also our opportunity to participate in the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross. It is an amazing sermon and I hope I can find them online and participate from a distance in what is going on in this place.
We have a lazy day until the wee hours when Derara and I check in at the airport. We say our goodbyes. I fight off tears. I know it is a short goodbye. I no longer feel scared. I thank God for being the melter of mountains.

More from me after our first Christmas together. Thank all of you who prayed for us, donated money or offered us encouragement. You are valuable.