ET02TLW

I was part of a team holding a "True Love Waits" camp. During a two day camp, a medical professional informed the young people about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. We then shared and discussed in small groups.

Our young translators, Mimi and Bethlehem, were wonderful. They are university students. I was very impressed with their personal and spiritual maturity. Here they are with team members, Pat & Faith.

We sang some silly songs, played some games and enjoyed sitting in the warm sun during lunch visiting and eating of course......ENJERA !!

Enjera is the Ethiopian native food they have at every meal. It is a soft, rather sour cold bread which you tear off and use as a scoop to shovel in Hamburger Helper/Sloppy Joe like 'stuff' !! It was really best to not ask what you were scooping !
The good news is that because of the many Embassies in Addis, there is a nice variety of ethnic foods and the fare is very reasonable.

A very special part of the trip for me was reuniting with Rahel....a student from the ESL camp in 2000. I also met Saba, with whom I had been corresponding. Saba won the Visa Lottery and she will be coming to live in the United States this November. It is a very coveted privilege and thousands of applications are considered. Saba is a very strong Christian and I know God has some very special plans for her life.
I look forward to her coming to visit after she gets settled.The cold Chicago weather will be one of the major adjustments she will have to make!

Our missionaries who have been serving in Addis for three years were VERY EXCITED when after our camp one of the large denominations was ready to begin the TLW program. They had been praying for this breakthrough for about one and a half years !!
So though we felt pretty inadequate presenting the program, God took our weaknesses and brought from it what He intended !

Asrat is a humble. dedicated young man who plans to take TLW to the Ethiopian countryside ! He is a law student and has been running the "English as a Second Language" program for the past few years.
Reuniting with him and seeing how much he has grown personally and spiritually in two years was another huge blessing !

See, I told you God planned this trip just for me !!

Saturday we had a large TLW rally. It was originally to be in conjunction with a UN effort.
However, the UN canceled at the last moment. This set our missionaries scurrying to find a new location.
We held the rally in a Full Gospel church that holds 10,000 people!
They had a great choir, the attendance was excellent, and the response almost one hundred per cent !
I was amazed at the attention the audience gave. No one blinked, turned or talked.....
and it lasted four hours !!
From that rally, the door has opened for yet other denominations
to take the program to their people.
God was still in control !!

This dear seventy nine year old physical therapist, Joyce, put in long, very hard hours with these people. God used her hands and her experience to bring about modern day miracles.

She said, "They want me to come back....they have 6,000 people they need me to see !"

Her weariness soon faded as she worshiped and fellowshiped with the pastors our last Sunday there.