Written by Woihwan Kim (김의환)

June 8, 2013
And here we go...
What a day it has been. Started off from Louisville to Charlotte, to Washington Dulles to Addis Ababa.
By rough calculations it is around 18 hours of flight. Flight from USA to Ethiopia had what it seemed
to me many passengers who were related to missions in Africa. What an encouraging sight it was to see
these people obeying God's call to the harvest. There's some tendency to look down on the church of
America these days, but this created in me a new respect—they are doing it right in missions. Young
and old, people of all ages were on board to reach out to Africa. The second generation Korean church
must follow suit and not miss out.
Arrival and hiccup(s)
The moment I stepped out of the plane, I noticed that the air was fresh—maybe it seemed such because
I was inside the stuffy plane for hours. The temperature was cool and I felt my body becoming lighter.
Getting the visa was no problem. The only minor thing was that I didn't have the address of Mr. Park's
residence. I also answered the questions a bit doubtfully. But I was being honest. Here's an example:
“Is your friend [Mr. Park] South Korean also?”
“I think so.” <--(ooops. I was thinking she was asking about his citizenship)
“You are visiting a friend, and you think he's Korean?”
“I don't know if he's a U.S. Citizen or Korean. I'm pretty sure he's Korean. Yes. He is Korean”
That wasn't so bad though. The main problem was my one luggage bag not coming out on the carousel.
I felt the stress as I worried about meeting the man named Caleb on time (“I will send Caleb to meet
you at the airport” was all Mr. Park told me) and gradually suspecting that my bag was not on my
flight. I suspected correctly. Not seeing my bag come out, I went to the baggage claim desk, worrying
at the same time if Caleb would have the patience and faith to continue to wait for me when all
passengers from Washington had ceased to stroll out. Caleb happened to leave (not unreasonably,
considering how long I waited to inquire about my bag). I got a hold of another man named Sholae who
picked me up.
My first Addis Ababa experience with Sholae
Everything was new. I felt for the first time my displacement away from the Western world. We found a
taxi and went to the city center named Mexico square. Weird huh? I was confused too, wondering why
Sholae and the taxi driver kept mentioning Mexico. The name is nominal and the area has nothing to do
with Mexico. We took a pit stop at a cafe where I ordered a bottle of water and Sholae had a cup of
macchiato (7 birr; $1 = 18.59 birr). I was dying of thirst at that time because all the fluid I got was from
the itty bitty cups they gave me on the airplane (Oh, how I drank each precious cup so greedily). Sholae
came off as a kind fellow. He is a 3rd year public health student and part time church server as worship
leader. He is 32 and not married. He says his lifestyle and economic situation hinders him.
We arrived at Mr. Park's place at Gabriel area (named after the archangel). I was given a key to a small
room in the back of Mr. Park's house. Mr. Park is in Korea right now and will be back in two weeks.
There are other families living across from my room and we all share a single toilet/shower. It's a squat
toilet. Yes, it smells. Yes it's kind of gross, but you gotta adapt. Not so bad here compared to
Kazakhstan because the weather here is cooler. Meaning, hardly any flies in the toilet. Caleb came and
met us because he had the key to the room. I apologized for having him wait such a long time for what
happened back at the airport.
At this point, I am extremely tired. It was around 3AM in the states, while here it was a bit before
lunchtime. I had much more to go. I needed to go to the bank to exchange some dollars to birr, and
Sholae was kind to take me there. He has been kind to take me everywhere. We checked out the SIM
headquarters where I had a brief conversation with a lovely college student. I'll be honest. Although not
having spent even a day in Addis, it was so refreshing to enter into an environment that was familiar to
me and not having to speak dumbed-down English (which I had to do with Sholae). By now, I was
severly feeling the effects of jetlag. I was struggling to stay awake and alert against the aches and
tiredness of my body that was yearning for sleep according to the day rhythms of home. But we had to
move on. Sholae took me to Addis Ababa University where I struggled to listen to Sholae's tour guide
of the museum (30 birr) and library. After, he asked me if I wanted to go see lions with an expression
on his face that suggested that I have never seen lions. I agreed to go to the zoo (20 birr). For future
reference, anyone planning to visit Addis should take his/her student id. Students here gain free
admission to places such as these. It took us about 30 minutes to see the whole place. We walked
through Piazza and found a taxi back to Mexico. From Mexico we went back to Gabriel where I am
staying.
The whole time while walking along the streets, breathing was genuinely difficult because of all the car
fumes and dust. My eyes burnt and my nose began to get stuffy. Beggars and crippled every corner we
turned. In the streets, you find people of all socioeconomic levels together in the same place. It's weird
seeing the disparity of wealth among so many people; ones dressed better than me juxtaposed to others
that are in total rags.
From what I've seen so far, Ethiopian women are generally very beautiful. There is a certain beauty of
dignity, sophistication, and a kind of simpleness that marks the face of many women here. The children
are all adorable, even the poor ones selling gum. The young men are handsome, sharp looking, and
possess a sort of playful air. Of course I am generally speaking.
I ate a vegetable/fruit dish and mango juice for lunch with Sholae. I was a bit fearful for possible harm
it could do to my body but I feel fine as I write right now before I go to sleep.
Coffee at Senah's
My highlight of the day was at the conclusion of the evening at Senah's, a friend of Sholae. I found out
that he had a primary role in awakening Senah of her spiritual slumber and into the life of power and
Spirit she lives in now. A godly woman of prayer, she serves full time in the church, praying and
reading the bible when not serving. Her home was impressive. It was definitely the higher end, with
nice furnishings and a clean environment. Senah takes care of her niece and nephew while her sister
works abroad in Dubai. Her other sister works in Germany. It can be seen that God had blessed her
family. She is single and her name is the translation of “Sinai” like the mountain. Senah possessed the
Ethiopian beauty I mentioned earlier. She was very hospitable and served coffee in the ceremonial
tradition. It was one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had (and more to come in the future). Grounded
on the spot and boiled in the traditional coffee pot over glowing coal, it was definitely the authentic
taste of Ethiopian coffee. During the coffee preparation, I was exhausted and dozed off for 50 minutes
while Sholae and Senah conversed. After waking up recharged, I joined them in their conversation on
God's work and in Africa and Ethiopia. God's glory is upon Ethiopia and its people. We talked about
the old and new generation of believers and those of other nations. All in all, during the different
conversations I felt God's presence and His voice through His two faithful servants Sholae and Senah.
It was so strongly obvious to me that these two were real, die-hard, followers of Christ, and this gave
me so much encouragement. From our conversations it was noticeable that they each had an intimate
relationship with Christ. They asked me to pray for them and the household (an Ethiopian tradition).
The Spirit moved me to tears of gratitude as I witnessed first-hand His sustenance and care for His
children even here in Addis Ababa.
Money Spent ($1 = 18.59 birr)
30 @ museum
20 @ zoo
55 @ vegetarian lunch
45 @ food stock up (bread, water, banana)
13 @ transportation
Amharic Vocab
Tenasdaleh – how are you
Wund – man
Seti – woman
Wuha – water
Amesegenale – thank you
Tata – to drink
Blah – to eat
Bunha – coffee
Shai – tea
Yesus Gitano – Jesus I Lord
Iwe dehalo – I love you
Coochebel – sit down
Khume – stand up
Grah – left
K'ain – right
T' ru – good
Metfo – bad
Hissan – child
Wutat – young person
Golemassah – middle aged person
Shimageleh – old person
Injerah – thin and moist pancake-like food. Tastes something like unleavened grain bread with some
sourness. You rip off a piece and use it to grab sidedishes such as ground meat, meat chunks, mashed
beans, etc.
Bet – home
Ensale – pray
Mesafk'doos – bible
Mezemoor – song
Exabiher – God
Yesus – Jesus
Menfask'doos – Holy Spirit
Makina – car
Menged – road
I'bakhen – please
sit'ain – give me (to male)
si' tchin – give me (to female)
Foke – building
Zaf – tree
Ifakim bet – hospital, clinic
Bashitanya – hospital patient
Madehanit – medecine
Ifaligalo – I need/like (no separate words for need and like)
Matenyat – Sleep
Libs – clothes
Yet? - where?
Ahlakem – I don't know
Isetalo – I give you
Ish – OK
Bukain – enough
Warajale – stop
Izzi – here (Izzi warajale)