October 26

Life continues going very well here in Ethiopia. This last Sunday I
got my first opportunity to speak. I was asked by the youth leader for
the division, pastor Ljellum (pronounced like flagellum with an "l"),
to speak at a youth conference small village not to far away. I agreed
and so the date was set. Sunday morning came, but with rain. Because
of this we were not going to be able to ride a motorcycle out there
like previously planned. So we rode in a truck out of town. About 10
kilometers out of Gimibie we turned off the paved road. What we turned
onto didn't look much like a road to me, put in from the US I guess.
Ljellum got out to check the "road" condition and found that it hadn't
rained there yet. So up we went in the truck. After about twenty
minutes of rough riding, the road got to bad to continue by truck, so
we started walking. We arrived at our destination after about fifteen
minutes. This "youth" conference turned out really to be for all ages,
but considering many people die here before age 50 it was a decently
young crowd.

When we walked up the first man had already started to preach, so we
just walked up and sat on the stage. The stage meaning a slightly
raised leveled off section of dirt with a cloth hung for a back drop,
a tarp for a sun shade and two benches set behind what looked like a
dresser that had been converted to a pulpit. After the first pastor
finished it was then my turn. I spoke about the love God has for each
one of us and how he desperately wants to be in a relationship with
us. To illustrate this had a volunteer to a whole bunch of push-ups
and squat jumps to receive a soccer jersey that I had bought in town.
I drew the connection that just as the Mankale (the volunteer) did
many things to get the jersey; God has done many things to be with us,
including dying for us. After I was done there were a few special
music features then Ljellum spoke. When he was finished it was time to
head back out. While we were leaving Mankale ran up to me with the
biggest smile his face. He told me that he now knew how much God loved
him and he wanted to share God's love to everyone. It was very
encouraging to here that the point I made was clear to the people.

As soon as we left it started pouring rain, so we knew we were going
to have to walk all the way back out to the road. It wasn't too bad
though, It took just over forty minutes of fast paced walking to reach
the paved road. After arriving back at the hospital I found out that
there was a patient in desperate need of blood. She had just had a
baby and had lost a lot of blood complications. It just so happened
that my blood type was the same type, so I went down to give. Let me
tell you, giving blood in Africa is nothing like giving for the Red
Cross. They stuck the biggest needle I've ever seen into my arm then
set the bag on a scale so they would know how much blood I was giving.
There was no stress ball to squeeze either so it was a bit more
difficult than usual.

Here's a fact, blood=life here in Gimbie. There is no such thing as a
blood bank, no extra units of blood anywhere to be found, mostly
because Ethiopians are afraid of giving blood. Because of this if
someone is in need, a donor immediately found and it goes from one
patient to the next, still warm and everything. I guess life is just a
little bit crazier here in Africa, and I'm getting used to it.