Ethiopia Trip Update #6
Today was less busy than the previous two days, which was a welcome change. A third day of teaching for more than four hours requires me to rest and prepare for finishing the week with the seminarians.
The morning session had the students sharing their discussions from Tuesday then we looked the Old Testament Law and History books. Some of the stories we discussed were the Ten Plagues in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, Manna, and the water from the rock. When we discussed the Ten Commandments, I enjoyed teaching the finger method for remembering them in order. After discussing the priests and rituals in the Tabernacle, we considered stories from Joshua and Judges. Before wrapping up to eat lunch, we thought about major stories in the life of David and the covenant God made with him.
When we came back together after lunch, our entire two-hour session was about the seven different types of Psalms and how we proclaim Christ from them.
Before taking off for the day, we shared the assignment we will have the students working on for the next few weeks. They will choose three passages from a list we provide them and write short Christ-centered devotions for them. We plan to edit and compile the assignments to share what the students are learning.
Tomorrow has us finishing up discussing the Psalms and other wisdom literature in the morning. Over the lunch break, we will go to the MKA Ministry’s Homeless Outreach again to see the housing units for the men in the program. When we return for the afternoon session, the topic of discussion will be the prophetic literature that concludes the Old Testament canon.
One of the enjoyable parts of the trip is discovering things that are common to me but when someone from here hears of it, the expression on their face makes it clear it isn’t as normal as I thought it was. Today, this happened at lunch. Samuel and I ordered fried fish, and when it came to the table, I discovered nothing to have with it. I asked Samuel if he thought they would have tartar sauce. Watching him ask the waitress in Amharic, I could tell they had none. Then, I tried to explain it to our two companions. Two days ago I discovered that they didn’t know what pickles were, so I had to be descriptive. The look on their faces as I told them it was a sauce with mayonnaise and chopped-up pickled cucumbers, was priceless.
