Baruch teaching and Director Dereje translating for the class.

We arrived in Addis Ababa yesterday afternoon.  It is a city of 3.4 million people as of 2007.  It is really a dream come true for me to be here, as I’ve wanted to come to Africa since I was a little girl.

Once we arrived, it only took a few minutes to get through immigration.  I was able to apply for and receive our visas over the internet.  We then headed to our hotel, where we had a meeting with the leaders of Ezra Rural Ministry.  Dereje and Solomon are committed to educating people in ministry in the countryside who have limited opportunities and resources.  They also administer the Bible College where Baruch is teaching during this trip.

Today we were picked up at 9:00 am and went to the meeting place for the first day of class.  The room was very full and the students took a copious amount of notes.

We broke for a lovely, traditional lunch and then returned for more teaching.

A few interesting things to note:  Ethiopia is 60% Christian and 40% Muslim.  We need to pray, as the Muslim population is gaining in percentage.  Also, over the years, many Jewish Ethiopians have immigrated to Israel.  The current population is around 130,000 Ethiopians in Israel.  Ashdod has the third largest Ethiopian population in Israel.

The office of Ezra Rural Ministry; Baruch with Solomon.