Between peanut butter and tortillas for lunch, seeing the kiddos along the street yelling, “Ferenge! Ferenge!”, meaning “white people,” and the mystery dinners that are different recipes for the same meals each evening, this is one unbelievable experience. En route to a village on a rainy day, our van could go no further because of the mud, which left us with quite a hike ahead. As we began to walk through the sticky mud, the Lord divinely appointed three horse carriages for the remaining trek! Two carts almost tipped over, the girls were screaming and our horse obviously had a high fiber diet! Laughter is a good medicine.
Holly, Kathy, Lindsey and Troy, along with our Ethiopian crew, made up Team #3. On our first day, the girls played “lamb, lamb, chicken,” instead of “duck, duck, goose,” with the kids, while the guys played soccer with adults. After playing “futbol” for a while, our translator asked everyone to sit with us and hear the story of how Jesus Christ has changed our lives. All but two of the guys picked up their coats and simply walked away. Vicado and Abebe were the two stayed and listened. After Troy shared his testimony and the gospel using the Evangecube, Vicado paused, had a big smile and said, “This is marvelous! I recently had a dream that someone would come and explain what happens to us after we die. I can’t believe it.” We were stunned and thrilled simultaneously. Neither of them trusted Christ, but they both asked for bibles to see if what we said was true. What a “heart” lesson learned…the Father will go beyond our human means to share the glory and hope of His Son.
In our short 4 days, our team had the opportunity to share the gospel with 214 people & 56 confessed Christ as their Savior…how incredibly powerful is the gospel when we dare to declare it. Our hearts have been so dramatically stirred, hopefully to the point of carrying the gospel as a way of life with even greater boldness, intentionality and kindness with the lost, lonely and ‘least of these’ in Dallas. May we be more than just “bought-in” to the gospel, but entirely sold-out. What a blast and blessing this trip has been for all of us. (Story by Troy Dandrea)
Thursday has been our last full day of ministry. We will work a ½ day tomorrow & then head back to Addis Ababa. The entire team is feeling well but emotionally, spiritually & physically tired. Pray for safe travel on the long road back to Addis & rest for the North American team.

Picture is of a former Muslim young man who just accepted Christ & now is holding his first New Testament.


God has been moving in powerful ways! From seeing over 40 people come to Christ the first day to travelling by horse-cart to a remote village and seeing several people, including a local witchdoctor’s blind husband, saved (a church will now be meeting in their home)…this trip has been an adventure.
Today we hiked muddy roads to two villages even further away from where we had yet been. The first village was Muslim. We played soccer with the children until many adults approached us, curious about why we were there. While Leslie and I played the Ethiopian version of “Duck, Duck, Goose” with tons of smiling children, Jay and Jessica were able to share the gospel with the men and women. Many villagers began taking steps toward Jesus and they thanked us for bringing the good news and even prayed for us Americans. It is incredible how so many of the people here have never heard the name of Jesus.
The second village received us well and made fun of my trying to crack the farmers’ whip that even the little girls can work with ease. One thing that impacted us is how aware the people are of the fact that following Christ will cost them. Some wanted to accept God’s grace, but were afraid; one man would not because he feared his wife would leave him. Also, one of our gospel presentations was interrupted briefly when a witchdoctor found that his son had left his cattle duties to listen to our message. Still, the gospel moved forward today: my team saw many from these two villages receive the free gift of salvation available in Christ. And I finally learned how to crack that whip like a pro…sort of. (Story by Marcus Toussaint)
We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sadly our trip is almost over as we will work all day Thursday & then a half day Friday & head back to Addis. We will spend Saturday in Addis Ababa doing our debrief & relaxing & then early Sunday morning get on a plane to come home.

Tuesday's Update- Open hearts to the "Good News"

What an incredible opportunity today was. We were able to go to a village several miles off of the beaten path. After a couple of clown car instances of all the translators, disciple makers, and other men in the car getting out to push the van out of the mud we finally reached a beautiful area and stopped the car and walked another mile up to a small village. As we walked to our meeting place, we continued to gather a larger and larger crowd. In all we probably had over 100 people come to play soccer (futbol), Frisbee, have their fingernails painted (including the men J), kids playing duck, duck, goose and singing songs. But most importantly they all heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We had several really neat stories today. One of the best was with Kimberly Scheidegger who, through what started as one simple conversation, had the opportunity to share with the entire extended family of one of our disciple makers. Solomon one of our disciple makers lived in the village that we were in and had invited his sister to come and hear what we had to say. His sister invited Kim and one of our interpreters to come to her hut to meet her mother Mara. Mara had heard the story of Christ in the past and had been praying about her decision and today was the day that she was ready to make it. As Kimberly sat down she was ready to pray the prayer. They prayed and we welcomed a new sister into the kingdom and one that was the mother of our disciple maker Solomon, how cool is that? The cool part is that God was not finished. Mara invited Kimberly into her hut for traditional Ethiopian coffee and so that she could share with the rest of her family including Solomon’s sister, his father, grandmother, and eventually the husband of Solomon’s sister. After a good time of question and answer, the sister and husband both came to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior as well. Solomon had himself quite a day, and was beaming from ear to ear as we left today. The Lord moved in people’s hearts today in this village and this humble man now has over 30 people that he is going to have the chance to disciple. Just another amazing day in Ethiopia!!! Story by Dave Kimball
Here is what our typical day looks like:
7:00 am breakfast, 7:45 devotional, 8:15 leave in vans for mission site, build relationships & share Christ all morning, 12:00 lunch at the mission site, build relationships & share Christ all afternoon, 3:30 leave for hotel ( 1 ½ bumpy van drive), 6:00 dinner, 7:30 group share time & daily debrief
The team is healthy & everyone is excited about what God will do in us & through us tomorrow.

Monday's Experience- Building Relationships

Team 1 arrived home safely & Team 2 finished their first full day of ministry. Team 2 is working much further away from Assela than Team 1. We split the North Americans into 4 teams & drove almost 1 ½ bumpy hours to the new mission sites. One of the coolest parts of the trip was when we arrived this morning at the host church & we were greeted by a choir singing Africa worship songs. There we worshipped together & met our “disciple makers” for this trip who will be the ones who follow-up with the new believers in the villages.
Upon arriving at our mission site, we were greeted with curiosity when we got out of the van but that quickly changed when we got out soccer balls & starting playing with the men & young kids. Our focus this morning was to introduce ourselves & let them get comfortable with us. The people opened up very quickly & started showing us around the village. Several of the gals took the kids & did an impromptu VBS sharing the message of Jonah & the whale while I spent several hours with my new Muslim friend Ali. Ali is a farmer & since my family are farmers, we had a great conversation talking about the crops they grow like corn, wheat, & barley. I tried to engage in a spiritual conversation but Ali had to meet a friend so we will pick up the conversation more tomorrow.
This afternoon we had some AWESOME conversations with our new Muslim friends. I was speaking to the mayor of the village about our faith in Jesus Christ & even though he said he was not ready to believe, his 16 year old son asked some very good but tough questions. Here are some of the questions & responses we have been giving:
· How can God be 3 parts (God, Jesus Christ & Holy Spirit)? Although it is not entirely accurate since God is all 3 at the same time, I responded with the illustration of water since it can be a liquid, solid (ice) & vapor (steam) yet all 3 are still water.
· How can Jesus Christ be God’s Son yet have a mother & father? I responded that Jesus had an earthly mother but that He did not have an earthly father since Mary was a virgin. I explained that the Jesus gave up his place in heaven to come to earth to be an example of how we should live & to be a sacrifice for all our sins.
We spent several hours this afternoon talking with our Muslim friends, sharing our testimonies of life change & answering their questions. One 18 year old boy named Awel was very curious & asked many questions but said he was not ready to believe this message. Upon leaving to go back to the hotel in Assela we gave Awel a ride & our translator Seguitt continued talking with him. After 30 minutes in the van, Awel told Seguitt that he was ready to believe & prayed to receive Christ right in front of our team. I can’t imagine a better beginning to week two as there are many people who are interested in the message that Jesus Christ provides forgiveness of sins.
Team 2 is healthy & excited about what God is doing in us & through us. Please pray for continued good health, open hearts to the message of Christ & unity among the North American & Ethiopian team.

Team Pics

Team One Departing



Team Two Arriving

Week One Over, Week Two Beginning

Week 1 is over and Team 1 is on a plane headed to London as I type this. They will arrive back in Dallas late Sunday night after a very long journey and many of them will return to jobs on Monday morning. Pray that God would give them strength and that they might be a good witness in returning to their jobs, working as faithfully there as they did this past week.

Team 2 arrived early this morning and is just now waking up. We’ll head to Kaldi’s (Ethiopia’s version of Starbucks only 10 times better and 10 times cheaper) for lunch and then make the 3 hour drive to Asela to get ready for next week’s ministry.

The report from last week was overwhelming. Our team of 18 was able to share the gospel with approximately 2800 people, many of whom had never heard the gospel. When we would ask people if they knew Jesus, the most common response was, “We know of Jesus, but we don’t know anything about him.” Stories that many of us have been reading and re-reading since our early childhood were brand new to them and the concept that the God of heaven would send his only Son to be a ransom for their sins was revolutionary. 97 people professed faith in Christ last week as a result of the Spirit of God moving through our team.

From here, the disciple-makers we worked with all week will begin following up with these new believers, beginning Bible studies and even planting churches in these villages. It is likely that 4 new churches were planted this past week as a result of our ministry. To God be the glory.

And tomorrow we get to start it all over again as team 2 will enter into 4 new villages in the Asela region. We will meet our translators and new disciple makers for this week tonight and then we will work full days Monday through Thursday, engaging with men, women and children with a goal to introduce them to the One who has changed our hearts. As you pray, consider the following things.

Pray for:

• Safety for Team 1 as they travel home and strength for them as they return to the workplace this week.

• The ongoing processing of team 1 as they return and continue to think through all that they saw and did this past week.

• Adjustment for Team 2. We did have one team member who is missing a bag, so pray that she gets that soon. Also pray for good health as our team adjusts to life here in Ethiopia.

• Open hearts for the people of Asela and boldness for the believers already living there.

• Courage for our teams and the Christians as we face persecution of various kinds.

• Strength for Tim, Lori and Wes as we enter our second week of ministry (praise God, He has definitely been good to us and we are all 3 excited about a new week with a new team).

Thanks for checking in and we hope to have more for you tomorrow.

Thursdays update

Psalm 1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day & night. He is like a tree planted by rivers of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever he does prospers." The picture below is of a tree that used to be worshiped but will now be a place where people gather to worship the Living God.

Today our team visited the village of Kachiwa, which means “river”. It was our first day at this location, so like every day we faced the unknown as to who we would meet and what their reaction would be to us and our message. At the last village we had started out “guns blazing”, introducing ourselves and then jumping right into our stories and the Gospel message. Immediately, an official began to question us and asked for the papers authorizing our visit (which we were able to produce)!
This time around, we had discussed taking a slightly different road, perhaps introducing ourselves and then starting to play with the children and share our stories on a more individual level, saving the large-scale Gospel presentation for later in the day after we had established some rapport. After we stepped out of the van, our translator Demeka spoke with the gathered crowd for a few moments. Then he turned to me and said, “These people worship Satan. Get your EvangeCube and share the Gospel. Go!” So much for easing into things!
We were able to share the Gospel with these people and with many others throughout the day. After that initial Gospel presentation, most of my morning was spent playing with the kids, kicking a soccer ball, blowing bubbles, flying a kite, and dodging the ever-present cow patties. It really was a team effort, as the three others on my immediate team played with the kids and also were able to walk around the village and share the Gospel with many people in their homes.
One of the most amazing stories from today involved the village chairman, an elderly man named Abera Gezaw. He had become a Christian over 20 years ago, and as a result the largely Orthodox and Muslim village had effectively refused to interact with him in any capacity. He had been praying for more than 20 years for God to send people to witness to his village! What an incredible privilege to be a part of God’s answer to his prayers! With every person who accepted Christ, Abera’s smile grew larger.
As Abera showed us around his property, I noticed a particularly large and spectacular tree. He told us of how he and others used to worship the tree. “But not anymore,” he said, “because of Jesus.” Praise God for delivering people from bondage and the worship of false idols!
Abera’s neighbor was one of the people who accepted Christ today. After this, we saw him and Abera talking. They decided to donate some adjacent land to build a church! Not only did the population of believers increase exponentially today, but they will have a physical house of worship. God is good, and He is building his church!
Tomorrow is Friday, and we’ll have only the morning left to minister before piling back into the vans to Addis. Please pray that God uses this last time in a mighty way. Today we learned that as a result of our ministry over 2,800 people have heard the Gospel, and 97 put their trust in Christ. Amen! Pray that God would call more people to himself – to Him be the glory! Thank you so much for your prayers and support – we couldn’t do it without you. We can’t wait to share these stories in person and testify to God’s faithfulness and power. Story written by Luke Friesen (with a special shout-out to MH).

Wednesday's work, God is faithful!

DONT CALL THE SATELLITE PHONE, EMAIL timcoblentz@yahoo.com if there is an emergency & you need to reach our team.

Wednesday was another great day for our team. It was a rainy and chilly day, but we were still able to share the gospel and love on the people of Ethiopia. We are fortunate to have incredible translators and disciple makers who have a heart and passion to share God’s love with their people. Because of the rain and mud our car could not reach the village we had originally planned to go to so we spent the morning in the outskirts of that village. We tossed the Frisbee, threw the beach ball and played volleyball with the kids and men. Through those interactions, we were able gain their trust & to share the gospel and other stories of God’s love to many of the people there. It was fun to look around and see our team sharing the gospel with kids, teenagers, women and men. They were friendly and open to what we had to say and there were several who received Christ as their Savior. There were also many who said they wanted to believe but were scared to accept him due to the opposition and extreme persecution they would face from family and friends.
In the afternoon, we went back to the village we visited on Monday. We started the afternoon with authentic Ethiopian tea in a local store and then made our way to the open field where we played again with the kids and talked with the people that were there. Again, we were able to share the gospel to kids and adults. They are very welcoming and engaging. They had many questions and it’s fun to see the truth of the Word of God penetrate their hearts. Our prayer is that one day it would go from being simply knowledge of Jesus and what has done for us, to something that they can’t help but believe and receive into their lives.
There are local believers who are committed to following up with people who accept Christ into their lives or desire to know more about God and the Bible. One of the most encouraging stories for our team this week is a teenager named Gatu. He was one of the boys that accepted the Lord into his life on Monday and the very next day he was helping the local believers identify other young boys who were interested in learning more and growing in their new faith. Due to fear of persecution, Gatu and several other boys his age will be meeting regularly on the soccer field with the local disciple makers. Our hope is that one day he would be leading along with the disciple makers to help carry out the mission of the church in this area.
We’re looking forward to the next few days as we finish the week here. We are blessed to be here, to meet and work alongside the translators and disciple makers. We have learned so much from their faith and love of their Savior and we’re looking forward to sharing more of that with you. Story written by Lori Michael

Tuesdays work in Ethiopia

If you are wondering how we can update our blog from Ethiopia it is due to the technology of satellite communication. I brought my laptop on the trip & rented a satellite phone & router which enables me to update the blog from anywhere in the world. Due to problems with the satellite phone, IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, DON’T TRY TO REACH US ON THE SATELLITE PHONE BUT SEND AN EMAIL TO ME AT timcoblentz@yahoo.com as we are having problems with the satellite phone.
Tuesday was another amazing day of seed planting and seeing a harvest of our efforts from yesterday. At one our mission sites we traveled back to the same area where we worked yesterday. Even though this was quite a distance, we were overcome by the number of people who made the journey from the first village. Two stories really come to mind today. The first took place with one of the elders from our first village. We talked with him yesterday and shared the gospel. He had many questions and after we finished talking he thanked us, but said he wanted to keep his religion he knew from his youth (Ethiopian Orthodox with a works based view). Today, he brought seven other elders and their wives, their children, and some local residents. We were able to share with the entire group boldly. To God be all the glory, this time he walked away believing in Christ and thanking us for this revelation. The power of Christ is showing all around us. They are so hungry for God’s word they invited us to stay here permanently… they wanted to provide us land, teach us to farm, and have us teach the word of God. Another story from today came as a boy in the village pointed out to our team something that he observed. He said that before, in their village, they were very separate, with Muslims staying separate from the Orthodox and the Orthodox from the Protestant. Motioning to the crowd around us he said, “Look, you have brought unity to our village because of your message.” Through God’s grace and obedience to show Himself in mighty ways, we have seen two villages become believing communities. Though they will face persecution from within, they have selected a meeting place and will be discipled by the Ethiopian church leaders we are partnering with. I wish you could see their faces when they hear the gospel – Christ has risen and he is stronger than sin. Our team is so blessed to be working as one body, boldly growing, and being sharpened. To those reading this, know Jesus is present with us and we are reaching, saving, and healing hearts not by our power, but because he is a mighty warrior for his people. Story from Brad Novotny
Team is doing well & everyone is feeling great except for some minor stomach issues. The gal from yesterday who stayed behind is now feeling great & went out into the ministry sites today.
Thanks for your prayers. Please continue to pray for:
· Unity with North Americans & Ethiopian believers
· Open hearts for people to receive Christ
· Clear communication across cultures
· Courage for new believers who will experience persecution for their new faith

Amazing 1st day of work in Ethiopia

Photo is of "church service" under huge tree. Kids are in tree so they can hear the message.

We’ve just arrived back to the hotel in Asela from a full day of ministry. Our team was able to work today in 4 different villages within 30 km of Asela and the “Full Gospel Church” that we are partnering with here. With us, we have a translator and a “disciple-maker” (who are local men from the church) for every 2 or 3 of us, enabling us to have great conversations with people and to get to interact with the locals. We have been able to do stories and crafts with kids, played soccer with men and boys, and get to share our personal testimonies with multiple individuals throughout the day. We have also experienced the highs of this type of ministry as well as the lows.
In one of the villages, we shared why were there and explained to the people that we were there to share with them the good news of Jesus Christ. In the crowd there were several Muslim men who wanted to ask us questions they had and ways in which they did not understand our story about Christ and how he was the Son of God. One man, named Abu, asked how we could know that this is true. We pointed out that the Word of God tells us this is true and then shared how we have experienced his work in our lives. He approached us later, saying he was ready to accept Jesus as his personal Savior, and then shared with us that he first heard the gospel 4 years ago and how he has seen that it is a peaceful religion and that now he is ready to accept it. We were able to hand him off to one of the “disciple-makers” who just so happened to be his neighbor. It was such an encouraging thing to see.
On the other side, there is a great deal of persecution here, specifically from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In one village we visited today, there were men who asked why we were there, and when we answered, they told us that they already had one religion and that they didn’t need ours. They told us that we were not welcome there. We shared with them as much as possible, but left after only a short time. It was great for our teams to experience that type of persecution, something that the believers here in Ethiopia have to deal with on a regular basis.
The team is doing great. We did have one of our team members who had to remain back at the hotel today because of illness, and we have a few others experiencing upset stomachs, not too uncommon as we enter this different culture. Our accommodations are wonderful and we are blown away by the believers here, our translators, and the men from the church. We will be back in these villages tomorrow, so please continue to pray that hearts would be softened and that we would be faithful with our opportunities. Thanks for checking in and we’ll update more tomorrow.

Team arrives in Asela

Good Evening,

The team made it safely to Asela, roughtly 2:00 Dallas time which is 10:ooPM Asela time.

Everyone is doing well! They are very tired yet also very excited for their first day of getting out and about tomorrow to serve and love on the Asela people.

How can you pray for the team tonight?

- Praise God for bringing them to Asela safely!
- Pray for a good night's rest
- Praise God for our partners, Yoseph and Ribka who live in this area and their hearts to make the Lord's name famous and to bring more of their community into His grace.
- Pray for flexibility and patience tomorrow as the go out into the city, and as their expectations may not play out as anticipated.
- Please also pray for unity as a team, including working with the translators.
- Pray for open hearts and for the Lord to do a mighty work through, and to, the team.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6

Thank you for praying for our friends and loved ones,
Kelli Coblentz

Save in Ethiopia

Good Evening,

The team arrived safely in Ethiopia and all of their bags made it as well.

Everyone is doing well, though they were tired from the long journey and it was about 5:00AM in Ethiopia when they arrived, about 10:00PM Dallas time.

Thanks for checking in and praying for the team! We'll update you with more information when we receive it, or you'll get to hear directly from the team if all goes well with the internet connection over there.

Kelli Coblentz

Landed Safely in London

Quick update to let everyone know team 1 has landed safely in London. We had a very smooth flight and everyone caught at least a little sleep. We'll hang out here at Heathrow Airport for a few hours before catching our plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia around 2:45 p.m. (8:45 a.m. Dallas time). We'll arrive in Addis around 3:00 a.m. local time and hopefully be able to catch a quick cat nap at a hotel before heading off to Asela late Sunday morning.

Thanks so much for your prayers and we'll update you next from Ethiopia.

Meet the Team

Well, today is liftoff for team 1 and the one-week countdown for team 2. We're excited about the teams that God has put together and anxious to see how He works through us and in us during this time. One of the most amazing things about the body of Christ is the diversity of his children. On our teams we have teachers, health care professionals, full time ministry directors and support staff, construction managers, consultants, sales-people, marketers, and non-profit ministry staff. Our backgrounds are equally different, some growing up in Christian homes, others coming to faith in Christ later in life. We have all been forgiven much, as we represent a group of people who God has rescued from atheism, adultery, legalism, perfectionism, homosexuality, divorce, alcoholism, gambling addiction, violence, abuse, promiscuity, ignorance, and materialism, just to name a few. As I look at the gospels and the lot that Christ chose as his 12 to run with, I am encouraged by the list I just made, because Jesus demonstrated time and time again that these were the kinds of people he longed to rescue and then use to rescue others. Be astounded by that truth! While we each have unique roads that led us to today, we all share now the distiction of those saved by grace, through faith for good works that God preordained before time began that we would carry out (see Ephesians 2:8-10).

So, rather than continue to hear from me today, I want you to hear from some of them. I asked them what they were most anticipating, hoping for, praying for, etc. and here is what they said.

"I must confess I am a little nervous as this will be my first mission trip. However I am confident that God is in control and he will be magnified as he always is. I am also praying for the health of our team and the patience of each of us, especially being tired and so far from our comfort zone. Let this be a time we reflect how awe-inspiring our Father in heaven really is."
-- Jarid Ghaffari, Team 1

"It is my prayer that we KNOW GOD more. His love, His heart, His character, His purpose and mission....and that we adopt that as our own. It is my hope that the hearts of both the Africans and the Americans are completely rocked by His presence in a way that we could never even fathom imagining. It is my deep desire that hearts are not only moved, but that we are stretched beyond our own comfort....and in that stretching, that He grows us in big ways. I pray for relationships that will impact and shape who we are, both amongst our own team, and with the Africans. My hopes for this trip is that we will all come to the end of ourselves in a way that that we cannot help but be transformed, becoming wholly new and different. My hope....Love God, Love people."
-- Summer Belanger, Team 1

"I am so excited to be sharing the love of Christ with the Ethiopian children! I'm praying that God will completely overcome the effect of the language barrier and make Himself known through our speech, attitudes, and actions."
-- Luke Friesen, Team 1

"As we are getting closer to our departure and finishing up preparation for the children in Ethiopia, my heart is growing bigger for them, their families, and their lives. I LOVE to see children's faces light up when they learn something new, when they feel loved and when they are having so much fun that they can't do anything but smile! I am praying that the Lord will work through me and our team in a way that will change the lives of the children forever...and along with that, I feel that the Lord has a plan of how He will change my life forever from this experience!"
-- Bridget Horan, Team 2

"I am most looking forward to loving on people that in my normal world I would not come into contact with. I pray that I will get out of the way and not let fear control my words but that I will let God's word come through me in order to encourage and show them how important it is to have a RELATIONSHIP with our Heavenly FATHER! I am also looking forward to getting to know the 17 other people that I will be traveling with esp on the plane for 20+ hours!! Thanks to everyone who looks at the blog and prays while we are gone!!"
-- Kathy Johnson, Team 2

"I am hoping that the gospel invades the lives of many of the people that we interact with, and that national believers could be encouraged by their family from the other hemisphere. Also, I'm praying that this trip bears more fruit than can immediately be seen. It's an honor to be used by God no matter where we are, but I'm fired up to see what He does in Ethiopia!"
-- Marcus Toussaint, Team 2

So that you can be praying by name for our teams, here are the names of each of the teams.

Trip Leaders: Tim Coblentz, Lori Michael, & Wes Butler (we will be there for both trips)

Team 1: Summer Belanger, Stacey Fisher, Laura Fredrickson, Luke Friesen, Jarid Ghaffari, Lydia Jackson, Jennifer Kearney, David Kjeldgaard, Brad & Becca (Wahl) Novotny, Emily Schulhoff, Dawn Shaw, Laura Smith, Scott Stouder, and Jim Sullivan

Team 2: Angela Ardis, Kelli Coblentz, Troy Dandrea, Chad Ethridge, Kim Scheidegger, Holly Holmes, Bridget Horan, Kathy Johnson, Dave Kimball, Lindsey Lauderdale, Erica Penick, Jessica Ridout, Jay Thompson, Leslie Thurman, and Marcus Toussaint

Thanks in advance for praying. The next post should be from somewhere on the other side of the Atlantic.

Training and Team Building

One of the greatest things about trips like this is the opportunity to have an extended and concentrated time of discipleship and training for the trip. We do our best to set the expectation in that training that we are going to spend a ton of time together preparing for "this trip" but remind them that we are really engaged in discipleship that will hopefully last well beyond a one week trip to Ethiopia. Thought we'd share a few of the highlights from that training time.

One of the things we always do is what we affectionately call a "shots party." This is where we take about a half a day, have an organization called Corporate Health come out and administer all the vaccinations that we'll need for our trip, and do some training as we do so. Specifically, we try to spend that time learning about the culture of the country we're headed to so we don't go in blindly.

Another really fun event we do is a team building event at a place called Group Dynamix where we get to play games that involve problem solving, team work, etc. May sound like a cheesy "trust fall" type event, but they really do a great job and it is fun to see some of the personalities really come out, as well as get to see various leadership styles and giftedness of team members.

We also ask that our teams participate in a 5 week class called "Find Your Mission" where we discuss how to share your personal testimony, spiritual gifts, abilities, heart/passions, personality, and experiences and how all of these things are to be stewarded for the glory of God. We had a great time in a real concentrated way of seeing the various gifts, abilities, personalities, etc. of people and how the body of Christ is so diverse and beautiful in the way it works together. We were really encouraged by that.

One of the most intimidating things we do, but typically one of the most eye-opening and rewarding, is send our folks out in teams of 3 or 4 throughout Dallas to simply share the gospel with people. Many on our team had never done something like this and they were crazy-intimidated going in, but everyone seems to have the same reaction afterwards, surprised at how simple it is and how if we'd just take the time to see people, we'd be amazed at the opportunities around us. We don't want to send people half a world away to share their faith who won't walk across the street to do so. And the creativity of people in figuring out ways to engage with the lost is fun to see. We had people who hopped on the DART train and just rode up and down talking to people as they got on the train. There was another group that went to a blood bank to give blood and then shared the gospel with the technicians. We had people descend on malls, Starbucks, and a few other places, places you go every day, but this time slowing down long enough to see dying, hurting people. The best story of the day came from one of our guys who was sharing with someone else at a Starbucks when a guy walked up and threatened to beat him up for no reason. Rather than let it go, he engaged the guy in conversation and he ended up coming to the Porch with our team member a week later where he was able to share Christ with this guy. Awesome to see God at work.

All of this is done in hopes of preparing our hearts for Ethiopia, but with a greater vision of growing our hearts for the mission field God has us on every day. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to a few members of our team and let you hear from them.

Sharing the Gospel through Storying

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

God has been really gracious to us in our preparation for this trip. This is a new venture for Watermark and we really have very little idea of what to expect once we get on the ground in Asela. We began making plans several months ago for things we thought would be effective or helpful, but have prayed along the way for God to reveal ways we can be most effective for Him. He has been gracious in answering those prayers.

Our biggest turning point came in talking with a pastor in San Diego who has led several trips with E3 to this area of Ethiopia. He shared with us a technique that they have found to be the most beneficial in their outreach to the Oromo called storying.

Traditionally, E3 has encouraged their teams to use the Evangecube, a great tool with pictures that help tell the story of the gospel. However, as we learned, this tool can be offensive to a largely Muslim crowd because their tradition says that they should not have any images of any of their prophets, Jesus being one. So, E3 and members of their team have worked to help teams craft biblical stories to share orally. Again, this is part of their culture. Everything they teach or learn, they do through storytelling. They do not teach or learn the way we do through inductive reasoning, arguments, or three-point outlines. They also are less likely to argue with a story.

So, we've been working with our teams to share their own story of grace, but then to pair that with a "God story" that they internalize and share. Our kids teams are also using this same technique to teach kids, sharing stories of Jesus, and the evenings should allow for us to gather villagers under a tree somewhere and just share stories.

What this will do for our team is really cause us to rely on the truth of Hebrews 4:12 and the power of the Spirit to reveal himself through these stories. If you look at the stories Jesus told, he often ended with the phrase, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." That's exactly what we will do. We will share the story of Abraham and Isaac, for instance, ask if they'd like us to share it again, and then ask if one of them can repeat the story back to us. Then we'll ask about 5 questions (i.e. What did you like about the story? What didn't you like about the story? What did the story teach you about God? What did the story teach you about people? What did you learn in this story that you would like to put into practice?) and pray like crazy that people will hear the truth of God's Word.

This will be a great stretching experience for our Westernized minds and the temptation to present our argument will be there for sure. But as you pray for our team and for the Oromo people, pray that God would reveal himself to them through these stories, that we will be sensitive to the Spirit's leading as we share these stories, and that we would be patient to wait on the fruit of our time, realizing that we may be there merely to plant the seed and others will come along to reap the harvest.

Our Audience: The Oromo People

And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."

-- The Apostle Paul (Romans 15:20-21 ESV)

In following Paul's example, our trip will present us the opportunity to do just what he was charged to do, to share the gospel with those who have never been told. Imagine for a second that you have never heard the name of Jesus, or that perhaps you've heard his name, but only in the context of Islam's teachings, that he was a prophet, but certainly a secondary one to Mohammad. Not only that, but imagine that there is no access to anyone who HAS heard the name of Jesus, much less is a follower of Christ. There are no churches, no Christian radio stations, no Bibles, nothing. This is the reality for millions of people all over the world, and it is the reality of the Oromo people of Ethiopia who we will be ministering to over the next couple of weeks. E3 and its church partners are committed to planting churches among the Oromo people, and we get to help them in that effort as we reach out, evangelize and connect them with Ethiopian disciple-makers and church planters.

The Oromo people are a large and diverse group. According to http://www.joshuaproject.net/, there are over 30 million people belonging to the Oromo people cluster and within that there are 19 distinct people groups. On the whole, it is estimated that only 6% are Christians and the remaining 94% adhere to Islam primarily. To the best of our knowledge, we believe we'll be working with the Arsi Oromo people group which consists of 2.5 million people, 94% of whom have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and who adhere to some form of Islam.

Please join us in praying for the people we will have the chance to share with, that the Lord will open their eyes, that they will have ears to hear, and that the Spirit of God will go before us and be with us so that they might be saved. Check in tomorrow for information about one of the ways we are preparing to share the good news with them.

For more information about the Arsi Oromo people, visit http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rog3=ET&rop3=210581. JoshuaProject.net is committed to educating the church about the unreached people groups of our world and the HUGE need that still exists for the gospel to be taken to people who have never heard.

Watermark in Ethiopia 2009

Welcome friends! There has been radio silence on the blog for about a year, but we're ready to break that today, even as we're on the verge of sending another couple of Watermark teams to the beautiful continent of Africa. This year, we are privileged to get to travel to Asela, Ethiopia, a small city south of the capital city of Addis Ababa and the villages around Asela. Our teams have been preparing for the last couple of months, getting to know each other, learn what we can about Ethiopia and the people there, and develop tools that we can use while in Africa.

We have two teams of Single Adults going, each with about 20 people. The first team leaves, Friday, July 17th and the second team will take its place, leaving Dallas on Friday, July 24th. While in Asela, we are partnering with E3 Partners, an organization specializing in Equipping, Evangelizing, and Establishing churches around the world and in pairing North American churches with these works. We will be working with their team of nationals there in Ethiopia to evangelize through Vacation Bible School for kids, health training for women, sports ministry for men, and storytelling. Each team will have about 5 days of ministry in two different villages.

We will update the blog this week with various information about the trip and then will have access to the blog throughout our trip and will try to update it each day while we are there to keep you posted on what our team is doing. We should even be able to upload pictures from the trip.

In the meantime, please begin praying with us. Below is a link to our team prayer calendar if you don't already have one. Please take the time to print this out and then join us in praying that God would move in a tremendous way through our team and in our team during our time in Ethiopia. Check back tomorrow for information about the people we will be ministering to.

http://www.watermark.org/fileadmin/pdfs/PrayerCalendarAfricaSummer09.pdf