We are the Living Stones that comprise the building called the Church, built around the cornerstone that is Jesus. The way we live our lives determine the quality of the Church. How, then, should we live it? We looked at the answer to this question (and others) this week.
There is immense power in the blood of Christ, but many among us don't have a complete understanding of the significance of this power and its application in our lives. We looked at this important subject this week at the HSI Communities. The prayer session that followed this was amazing.
Ezekiel 37 tells a powerful story of God breathing life into dry bones. We believe that God is doing the same thing today: in the world, in the Church, and in the people. Breathing Life into Dry Bones was the message of hope this week.
Spent some time with the HSI Lebanese Community this evening, marveling at the way that God works in the lives of his children. Every single person there is on fire for Jesus and it is awe inspiring to see.
They say there is no rest for the wicked. Doesn't seem to be much for the holy either! :) Despite arriving only this morning, I found myself giving a talk at the HSI Community in St. Francis of Assisi Church, Jebel Ali in the evening. And although I was quite tired, the talk, titled Harvest, turned out to be a pretty good one. Should get on Veritas TV soon.
Done in Africa, at least for this time, we were on a plane back home in the evening. I got upgraded once again, and this time I enjoyed what Business Class had to offer, rather than sleep it out as I had on the way in. As much as I love going on mission, spreading the word of God, I am never as happy as when I'm back home, and this time I was happier still because it was the end of my adventures for at least another three months.
Earlier in the day we went sightseeing, taking in one of the many Ethiopian Orthodox churches in the city. A large number of religions are traditionally practiced in Ethiopia, the most numerous today being Orthodox Christianity, followed by Islam. It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century.
Those who know their Bible would probably remember how Philip met an Ethiopian eunuch on the desert road that led from Jerusalem to Gaza and explained the Scriptures to him. Immediately after this, the eunuch asked to be baptized and took his faith with him to his country. This story is told in the eighth chapter of the book of Acts.
We set off at ten in the morning on the long road to Addis Ababa, avoiding donkeys, cows, camels and goats on the way, going through a sand storm, followed by a rain storm, finally arriving at the Comboni Sisters convent well past 6 in the evening.
We had stopped by for lunch at a country club, which was so posh, it seemed quite incongruous in the middle of its simpler surroundings. The lunch was good, however, as was the company. Fr. Joseph drove us the 10 hours it took us to reach Addis. You'd never say this was a 65 year old man!
In the night, we decided to go to a local restaurant and ended up at the Yod Abyssinia (Abyssinia was the old name for Ethiopia) where we, quite literally, dug into traditional Ethiopian food. That's assorted food items heaped over the local bread called Injera. Everybody eats from a common plate, breaking off bits of Injera and scooping up whatever is placed on top.
They presented dances from various tribes and one, in particular, was simply awesome with its energy. The dancers galloped like horses and the speed with which they moved may have put the horses to shame. The video here (this one isn't mine) would illustrate.
For my final talk, I preached at the home base of Dongora, in the Church right behind where we lived. Every place had some wonderful choirs, some two and three, but here there were four! The childen, who welcomed us with flowers, formed one. Elderly ladies formed another. And there were two others groups comprising young men and women. All were dressed, as usual, in colorful robes. The videos should provide an idea of how vibrant the celebrations are.
I gave my signature talk on love here, ending with everybody holding hands, and although we couldn't sing Let There Be Love, we sang an adapted version of Living Water, Flow On. For the "homily" I preached on the gospel reading for the day: The Road to Emmaus. It was a great end to a great mission and I think my father in heaven would have been well pleased.
Much closer to home than the previous locations, Cukko (prounounced Cucho) offered me a church to preach in. Again, it was packed to capacity, and although there were people from all age groups (they sit in age brackets!), I was pleased to see a lot of youth present. I spoke to them about getting out of the boat if they wanted to walk on water after the mass that followed my session.
One of the blessings of this particular has been to participate in mass twice a day! We'd attend mass at the "home" church in Dongora after we had finished the Divine Office, and then again after each session. On one occasion, we were blessed to have mass concelebrated in English by the three resident priests, with only the three of us in attendance, along with Sr. Christine.
The three priests were inspirational. They were all Italians who were resident in Ethiopia for much of their lives. Fr. Bruno, the oldest had been there for 65 years, Fr. Joseph for 45 and Fr. Paulos for 25. We were all so blessed to be with them, true missionaries!
If I felt like Jesus preaching the sermon on the mount at Gidiwo, here I felt like Jesus being welcomed into Jerusalem! Our hosts waited for us about a kilometer from the place I was supposed to preach, greeting us by strewing rose petals on the ground and presenting us with a bouquet, before leading us in dancing procession to our destination. Their love and warmth really touched our hearts.
Storm clouds threatened overhead as I preached, but just as it had happened in the days past, the rain fell only after we got back home. Today's rain's blew the Internet connection off, and I would be able to access it again only at Bolo Aiport in Addis Ababa as we were getting set to fly out.
One of the things that fascinates me about Africa is the patience the people there have. They can, quite literally, wait for hours for something to start, and as everything here started far later than scheduled, their had their waiting cut out for them.
The other thing that fascinated me was their hunger for the word of God. Many of these places were far from the beaten track, yet they hiked their way to it, some for miles! I couldn't help but think how comfortable many of us had become in our own lands!
The Soddo session was wonderful, especially as I was beginning to get into the flow of things, and I knew this mission was going to be one of my more memorable ones.
More people were present at Gidiwo than Wo'merera. So many, in fact, that we had to move from the little church the program was scheduled to be held in to the little hillside at the back, and I felt every bit like Jesus preaching his sermon on the mount.
I spoke on forgiveness here, and it made for a wonderfully anointed session, although my translator got a bit of a scolding because he was not being particularly faithful to my preaching! He must have figured: who would know? lol
We began the mission with a session at Wo'merera, a ninety minute drive from Dongora where we were staying. It was held in a tent that was overflowing.
As nobody spoke any English, beyond a smattering of it, I had to use a translator; an over enthusiastic local named Johannes, who would be with us right through the trip.
I didn't think I was my best, but as Fr. Paulo, an Italian missionary who had been in the country for over 25 years and had organized my missions, thought it was very good, who was I to complain?
In the evening I had another session with some youth and I think I succeeded in inspiring some of them to go out into the vineyard and do some harvesting!
Brother Manjula and myself at Bole International Airport
An upgrade to Business Class helped me to have a comfortable journey to Addis Ababa but it only added a couple of hours to my cumulative total of 4 hours sleep in three days! I figured I'd get some added shut eye on the 8 hour road trip to Dongora, where we would be staying, but the bumpy ride made for some very disturbed rest. Sr. Christine Bejjani, who arranged my visit to Ethiopia, was at the airport to welcome us, along with Sr. Azab, a native nun.
Immediately after the session at Chennai, I had a little dinner and then hopped onto a bus headed for Bangalore reaching there about six in the morning. I may have gotten another half an hour's sleep on the bus, which wasn't doing anything good for my sleep average! Spoke on prayer - personal prayer and leading group prayer - in what may be my last talk in the HSI Community in Bangalore for a while.
