restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

Ethiopia Prayer Itinerary: May-June, 2009

Becky Lynn Black  

Team Members to Alaba

Dave Black, Kevin & Katy Brown, Dale Jennings

             

Team Members to Burji:

BeckyLynn Black, Ed Johnson, Jason Evans, Danny Chambers, Amber Nichols

                                   

Thursday, May 21…early morning Dave departs for Ethiopia, flying via Frankfurt. 

He’s traveling most of the way on “standby” status.  Pray for connections, space available & no lost luggage.

Saturday, May 23…Dave arrives in Ethiopia at 2pm our time; he will immediately begin doing logistic work.  Pray for extra strength as he copes with jet lag & fatigue.  BeckyLynn and the Teams depart Raleigh-Durham Airport, flying via Washington D.C., direct to Addis Ababa.  We have 5 brand new people (from Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Wilkesboro, NC) and 3 veterans (from Bethel Hill Baptist Church in Roxboro, NC).  Pray for safe travel & going through customs, as well as ministry moments en route.

Sunday, May 24th…we arrive in Addis Ababa in the evening in Ethiopia (about 2am East Coast time), and will settle into a guesthouse after about 30 hours of travel.  Excitement is mingled with fatigue & home-sickness.  Pray for a good night’s sleep; it feel so wonderful to be prone!

Monday, May 25th…this is our only day in Addis before we head down-country for ministry. It is absolutely jam packed with logistical errands…shopping for plumbing supplies, lumber & plastic flooring for the clinic, shopping for electrical supplies for the Bible School dormitory, picking up commentaries for the Bible Conferences, exchanging money, buying bottled water for the countryside, etc.  Pray for the Lord to go before us & smooth our way; pray for good bargaining with the merchants; pray for Ed & Danny as they work through the needs in the plumbing & electrical supplies. The Mt Pleasant folk will visit the National Museum and Trinity Church as the final segment of their orientation to Ethiopia.  Pray for them as they begin the culture adjustment; the sights, sounds, pollution, and poverty can be overwhelming  After a last shower, it’s early to bed; pray for hot water & a good sleep…it’s greatly needed.  Also, pray for family members left behind in USA as they cope with our absence.  Pray for Jessie (our daughter) as her due date approaches.

Tuesday, May 26th…this is the day of moving down-country & we will split up our group.  The Burji Team will leave about 3:30am; the Alaba Team about 9am.  The Burji Team will arrive about 8pm; the Alaba Team about 4pm.  Pray for safe travel, good vehicle operation, driver alertness, safety thru Guji land.  Rejoice with us as we re-unite with our Ethiopia counterparts.  What precious gems God is allowing us to work with!!!

Burji Team:

Wed- Thurs- Fri, May 27-29…Jason will teach I Timothy to about 80 of the church leaders from the various Burji churches; Amber will assist the clinic nurses in managing patients; BeckyLynn will do administrative review & staff in servicing; Ed & Danny will place the plumbing in the clinic.  We will all be sleeping in Soyama Town at night.  Pray for spiritual harvest of discipleship, medical wisdom, plumbing wisdom, administrative discernment, logistical ease, health.  We’re trying something new for the bedbugs, and there is a yellow fever & malaria outbreak around the clinic.  We all need our Lord’s strength for our ministries!

Sat-Sun, May 30-31…we all travel to the Konso churches.   These churches are part of the Burji district, but they are located so far away, we have not been able to get to them on previous visits.  Pray for travel logistics…traversable roads in the rains, do-able bridge across the Sugen River, etc.  The trip is about 5-6 hours & we will travel in an open-bed “refugee” truck.  We will minister in different ways on Saturday afternoon, sleep in a church, and share their Sunday service.  Sunday afternoon after lunch we will return…again, pray for safety & successful travel.  We’ll arrive tired & dirty on Sunday night.

Mon-Tues, June 1-2…Amber & BeckyLynn will teach a Women’s Conference with about 70-90 women attending; BeckyLynn will teach the Scriptures while Amber does health/hygiene lessons. This is the first time (I think since the missionaries were here in the 1970s) that there has been a women’s Bible conference in Burji; the women are VERY excited; pray for us to be 100% controlled by the Spirit during this time, that His work be done according to His plan.

Ed & Danny will wire the electrical stuff for the Bible School dormitory rooms & library. Pray for wisdom & safety as they deal with electrical operations that are different than the USA.  Jason will visit 4 villages, teaching the Bible 3 hours in each village, as a sort of mini-Bible conference; pray for special blessing for him as he’s amongst the people.

Wed, June 3...Amber & BeckyLynn will return to the clinic.  Ed, Danny & Jason will visit the churches where we installed solar power/loudspeaker to check on operation.  Pray for all of us; we will likely be tired, but we want to finish well.  Also, Jason & BeckyLynn will be meeting with the leaders to discuss ministry issues; pray for wisdom for these meetings.

Alaba Team:

Wed- Thur- Fri, May 27-29…Kevin will teach Ephesians to the evangelists & the rural church leaders; these are intense all-day sessions; pray for supernatural strength & wisdom for Kevin & open, absorbent hearts for the leaders Katy will be traveling between villages, teaching the children; pray for grace, strength & wisdom as she impacts these young lives.  Dale will be teaching 1 John to the Christians in the prison; pray for good communication & spiritual fruit.  Dale will also be teaching the adults in the villages, alongside Katy.  Dave will be sharing the adult village teaching, and doing a Biblical Leadership Conference for the town church leaders; pray for a receptivity to doing “church” God’s way.  Pray for good digestive health as they adjust to eating Ethiopian food.  Also, pray for smooth operations, with everyone going in different directions.  And pray for good relationships with translators.  David is the Alaba leader who is largely responsible for the ministry operations; pray especially for him as he deals with things.  Also pray for Dave as he guides the Team in cultural issues.

Sat-, May 30…Kevin & Katy will stay in Alaba Town; Kevin will rest while Katy helps with the 275 children involved in the Compassion program of the Alaba church.  Pray for Katy to impact these children for the Lord & encourage the Compassion staff.  

Also, Katy will be speaking in several youth meetings these days; pray for her to challenge them towards God’s way at this critical time in their livesDale & Dave will go to Deda village, where they will be teaching non-stop.  This church has grown to over 600 in the past 4 years!  The leaders are picking 150 to attend Dale’s class on 1 John, and Dave will teach Biblical Leadership to the leaders.  Pray for the spiritual life of this church to be deepened; it is like many African churches…a mile wide & an inch deep.

Sun, May 31…All of the churches in Alaba Town are coming together for a big service.  While Dale & Katy rest, Dave & Kevin will both preach at the service.

Continue to pray for physical health & strength, good translators, and smooth operations.

Mon-Tues-Wed, June 1-3…continuing the Prison, village, evangelist/rural church leaders, and Biblical Leadership conferences of the previous week.  By this time, we’ll be getting tired & we need to stay focused to finish the work well.  Pray for coping with homesickness, fatigue, health, etc; pray that we keep our focus.

Thursday, June 4…Both teams will travel back to Addis.  The Burji Team will depart while it’s still dark and arrive when it’s dark, possibly stopping en route back to meet with the well-drilling company.  Pray for safety on the road, renewed physical strength, coping, blessed communications with the well people & the drivers.  We’ll arrive exhausted to the Guesthouse in Addis & get our first shower in 9 days; pray for hot water.

Friday, June 5…Dave & BeckyLynn have many meetings with various people about ministry things; pray for wisdom & for us to know the mind of the Lord in all of the issues at hand.  The Team will rest & shop a little & repack.  We’ll have one last meal together with our Ethiopian brothers & sisters in ministry.  Then we check into Bole Airport for the flight home.  Pray for smooth logistics and safe travel; if it is the Lord’s will, pray for space on the airplane to spread out & sleep (Dave will remain in Addis for a week of teaching.)

Saturday, June 6….the Teams will touch down, Lord willing, on North Carolina soil at 1:40pm & we’ll get to see our families again.  Maybe our grandbaby will have arrived already J   Pray for safety in landing.  And continue to pray for Dave, that he will get rested this day before a week of intense teaching.

Sunday, June 7…Dave will meet with people & rest.

Monday-Friday, June 8-12…Dave will be teaching about 5 hours/day the book of Philippians to a group from the Ethiopian Orthodox church.  Pray for the Lord’s blessing upon this time, that it will bear fruit that will remain for His glory.

Friday evening, June 12…Dave departs Addis.  Pray for safe travel.  As before, he’ll be traveling stand-by status.  Pray that he gets seats without undue delay.

Sunday, June 14…Dave arrives back in USA.  Pray for safe landing & quick recuperation.

The love of Christ compels us to go.  The love of Christ sustains us.  And the love of Christ gives us fruit for His glory.  To Him alone belongs all the glory & praise for what is accomplished on this trip.

May 20, 2009

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