Follow Up To The Ethiopian Highlands

The excursion into the Ethiopian Highlands was rather overwhelming in some ways. A night of sleep has provided an opportunity for some additional reflection before heading out West to Ambo.


Near the Ethiopian Orthodox monastery we stopped along the side of the road to pick up a couple of marble crosses.



I should have mentioned regarding the Blue Nile River that some scholars believe it to be the river Gihon mentioned in Genesis 2 as the river that circled the land of Cush (Ethiopia) and fed into the Garden of Eden.


When we visited Fiche, where the coffee ceremony was held... A few more things ought to be mentioned. Over 200 children attend programs at the EECMY's center. The EECMY approaches people in a wholistic way -- body and soul, not unlike the LCMS' Witness, Mercy, and Life Together that seeks to do works of mercy in close proximity to the Gospel. The mission statement for the Fiche project is "We work along with the Church Centering Christ to fully invest our efforts in releasing project children from Spiritual, cognitive, social, and physical bondages and create fulfilled, self reliant, and responsible Christian adults!!" I mention this because the young woman who prepared the coffee ceremony for us was once like one of the children pictured above. She attended the Fiche center as a child, learned some life skills, attended university, and now works for the church with the very children she once was.



Although there is much to admire about the EECMY, it should be noted that the LCMS and the EECMY are not in altar and pulpit fellowship. There are differences between our churches. At the same time, there are a number of commonalities including the high regard for the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God. The current agreement between the EECMY and the LCMS focuses on cooperation in external matters and in the exchange of information. This visit gives us the opportunity to become better aquatinted with one another and to see where more commonalities (as well as potential differences) exist.

Off to Ambo...

- Posted on 5 September 2012 by Rev. Dr. Albert Collver, LCMS Director of Church Relations.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Dejazmach Belay Zeleke St,,Ethiopia