Meserete Kristos Church

Sunday, 6 January 2008

Today, our main agenda was to attend a service of one of the 27 Meserete Kristos churches here in Addis. We had received an invitation from Mekonnen, one of the Ethiopian workers with Mennonite Central Committee. We found a taxi to take us to the area, and once on our way we called Mekonnen to give the driver directions. The trip took about 20 minutes, mostly along the ring road and another wide, good paved road.

The church is a good-sized, well-established congregation. Although it is only three years old, most of the members have come from other MK churches and are fairly well off, making it a stable congregation. It is in a new part of Addis, where many new houses are being built, mostly by middle-class Ethiopians who can afford to own a nice home on a small plot of land. The church building is a fairly rough structure, as it is on rented land and the landlord will not allow them to build a permanent building. They are hoping to find a plot to buy and build on, but for now this is sufficient.

The service lasted about three hours, with singing, prayer, and a sermon that lasted over an hour. As it was all in Amharic we did not understand, but one of the congregational members sat behind us and gave us the occasional English summary of what was being said. The singing was lively and many people clapped and half danced in the pews. (Mekonnen later told us this was not as lively as some of the churches!)

After about two hours, I took Giggles and Poppet into the courtyard where many other children were standing or playing. They had done well so far with the markers and paper, and some magnetic toys, we'd brought along, but by that point it was getting hard to keep quiet and sit still.

After the service, Mekonnen took us to his house for lunch. It was a new house not far from the church.

The compound was very small, but the house very lovely. The living room was furnished much like a Canadian living room would be, but the kitchen next door was small and rather bare-bones by our standards. Mekonnen lived here with his wife and a nephew, the son of his brother from the country whom they were helping to put through school, as their own five children were grown - two daughters in Addis and three sons in the States. One daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren joined us for lunch. It was a traditional Ethiopian meal, with injera and a variety of wat - cooked not too spicy, Mekonnen said, in light of our western palates.

After eating and a bit of visiting, Mekonnen drove us home. It was mid-afternoon, so we walked down to our usual haunt for an afternoon ice cream, followed by some play and supper at home.

While playing, Giggles noticed that a sheep had taken up very temporary residence in the landlord's courtyard - tomorrow's Ethiopian Christmas dinner. She and Poppet took a good look, but did not pet as it was a ram and could kick - or so Giggles told me.

(Continue to 7January: Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday - A challenging Day)