Update from Mekele

Greetings from Ethiopia!

We have finally arrived. Currently we are staying at SIM Headquarters in the capital Addis Ababa. We met a few others joining us in Mekele, Leah who is from London, and Nikki who is from Tennessee. The staff here are very warm and kind. There are also numerous other missionaries staying here from all over the world, some are temporary like us and some are more long term. So far we have gone through orientation which involved immigration, medical, treasury, etc. Nothing too exciting yet. Medical took forever because (ironically) most of us knew only half our vaccination dates which you would think we would all know by now. Let me just say we got a lecture.

Yesterday we were able to tour a bit of Addis. The streets are very hazy and smell mostly of gasoline, and are crowded with people. After we went to the grocery stored we headed on to a “spritzer“ or juice bar where we tasted a delicious concoction of avocado, mango, and banana (highly recommended). Today we went out for lunch and ordered pizza, except today was Wednesday so we got the “fasting pizza” (Wednesday and Friday are fasting days in Ethiopia). Thus far our fast growing vocabulary consists of three words salah (hello), ciao (bye), and amesygnala (thank you). At least we think that is how they are pronounced. Anyway that is all for now, don’t forget to pray for us.


Jason, Amber, Justin, & Alyssa