Day 1 – Leaving for Ethiopia
My friend Danny (“learning…“) and I will be joining Dave and BeckLynn Black in Ethiopia for two weeks. I will not be able to post updates while I’m in Ethiopia, so I’m publishing these posts to keep you updated on our plans. We would appreciate your prayers.
Today is the first day of our trip. We leave from Raleigh-Durham airport (RDU) for the short flight to Dulles in Washington, DC. Then, we fly Ethiopian Airlines to Addis. That will be a long flight.
If you want a complete itinerary, you can find it here.
Blogging Hiatus
Well, not really a hiatus… But, this afternoon, I leave for a two week trip to Ethiopia. I will have very little (or no) internet access during this time. So, I will not be able to write and publish new blog posts during the next two weeks or so.
However, I have prepared some short posts that explain what we plan to be doing in Ethiopia each day. If you are interested, then you can follow those posts. The first post will be published later today.
I appreciate my readers and commenters very much. I look forward to “seeing” you again in a couple of weeks.
Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant
Last Friday evening, seventeen of us drove down from the Youngsville / Wake Forest area to the Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant in Raleigh. Danny (from “learning…“) and I wanted our friends to get a taste of the food that we would be eating during our two weeks in Ethiopia.
The food was excellent! We ordered in groups of 2 to 5, so our food was served together. We had different types of wats (stews) – chicken, beef, and lamb – and other forms of beef and lamb dishes. Everything decided the lamb was the best, and the doro wat (chicken stew) was the spiciest. The food is eaten by tearing off a piece of spongy flat bread called injera, and using the bread to scoop up some food. If you haven’t eaten Ethiopian food before, you should definitely try it.
If you’re interested, I have posted more pics on facebook, and Danny has posted some pics in his post “Ethiopia Food and Fellowship.”
Leaving for Ethiopia in 1 Week
So, Danny (from “learning…“) and I leave for Ethiopia in one week. We’re continuing to prepare, both gathering items that we’ll need to take with us (like mosquito netting) and studying for our teaching sessions (1 Timothy for Danny and 1 Corinthians for me).
On Friday, we’re going to the Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant in Raleigh with some family and friends. We’re hoping to give them a little taste of the food that we’ll be eating while we’re in Ethiopia.
I know that a friend of ours is planning a special prayer time for us Sunday. And, Margaret has something up her sleeve, because she sent out an email but told Danny and me not to read it. So… there are exciting times coming up even before we board the plane next Wednesday.
We would appreciate your continuing prayer.
Oops!
So, I generally write blog posts ahead of time, and schedule them to publish. Somehow, I scheduled two blog posts to publish yesterday morning. That means that I do not have a post to publish this morning. But, if you didn’t see one or both of the posts yesterday morning, then I invite you to read them:
I would love to have your feedback on those two posts. Thanks!
Ethiopia Trip Starts Today for Some
As most of my readers know, I am going to Ethiopia with Dave and BeckyLynn Black in July. Actually, the Ethiopia trip started yesterday for Dave Black, and it starts today for the largest part of the group going to Ethiopia.
Dave left yesterday because he could get a better rate on airfare. Over twenty people leave today. They are all meeting up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, then traveling over sixteen hours by bus to the southern part of the country. Once they get there, they will split up into four or five teams and travel to different villages and areas.
If you are interested in following their itinerary, the Black’s have put together a special prayer itinerary for this trip: “July 2010 Prayer Itinerary.”
Meanwhile, Danny (from “learning…“) and I will not begin our part of the trip until July 14. (By the way, Danny and I are the two young, good looking guys right in the middle of the picture. Danny’s wearing an orange scarf, and I’m to his left – your right.)
I know that the people traveling to south Ethiopia would appreciate your prayers. It is the rainy season in Ethiopia, and the rains have been heavier than usual. This may make some of the roads they will be taking impassable. Then, if things go well, they will also have an opportunity to visit two warring tribes.
Once Danny and I leave on July 14, and for the next 2 weeks, I will not have internet access. So, I have prepared a short post for each day, giving a brief – very brief – glimpse into what we plan to do that day while in Ethiopia. I will not be able to moderate comments (for those who have not commented before), and I will not be able to reply to comments.
For now, please pray for my friends who are already traveling toward Ethiopia.
Gathering with the Church
We meet with the church at various times throughout the week: some planned, some unplanned. But, we have decided to get together every week on Sunday mornings at 10:30. What happens when we get together? Well, it’s different from week to week, but yesterday would be a good example of a “normal” Sunday morning gathering with the church.
As a group, we’ve decided to rent a place to meet, and we begin our Sunday meeting there are 10:30. We are very much relational driven, not event driven, so we will rarely “start” at 10:30 – whatever start means. But, people will begin gathering just before 10:30, and people will generally continue arriving until 11:00, sometimes later.
Around 10:45, my friend Danny began to play guitar and lead us in a few songs. Between songs, someone would ask about someone else, that person would share about what was going on with their family – usually because of travel or sickness or something like that.
We generally read one chapter of Scripture together each week. This week we started reading the Gospel of John, and three people took turns reading portions of that chapter.
My friend Jim led our study in Genesis. This week, we were studying chapter 10-11. We had a great time discussing those chapters and talking about pride and humility and God’s plan and the seed… etc.
We continued our meeting by praying for one another and for various specific requests that people may have. For example, we prayed for Danny and me as we’re preparing to go to Ethiopia, and we prayed for us as a church for opportunities to proclaim the gospel and disciple others. There were other prayer requests and other times of prayer as well.
At this point, we generally take a break. We have time to talk to one another more intimately and in smaller groups. For example, I was able to talk to a friend who had just broken up with his girlfriend. I hope I was able to comfort him a little, but I do know that I now know how to pray for him better and how to encourage him during the week.
It was encouraging to hear a couple of ladies talking more about our discussion of Genesis. They were talking about how it applies to them and how they can help one another in a certain area.
Eventually, some people left because they had lunch plans elsewhere. Others left to buy something to eat at local restaurants. Others of us began to get our food ready and set up tables.
Soon, as people began returning with their food, we started eating together. We sat around the tables eating and talking for a long time. This can last for some time – an hour or two.
Just as a couple of friends began to get their guitars out, I left to take Miranda to a friend’s house. I can imagine the fun that our brothers and sisters had playing music, singing, and listening. Others made plans to watch a movie together that afternoon.
I don’t know what happened after that, because I wasn’t there. But, that’s a small glimpse into one morning/afternoon with the church in our life. It’s a small part of our life together, and it’s all the more special because of the other time that we spend with one another.
We’re certainly not perfect. But, we’re learning to love one another and care for one another – even when we meet together.
Audio Player Fixed
Today I noticed that the audio player was not working on my Resources pages. I don’t know if this happened when I updated my template, or if something happened before that. But, I’ve updated my audio player, so it should be working now.
This also reminded me that some of my newer readers may not know about my Resources page. On that page, I have documents and audio files from Lectures and Seminars that I’ve had the opportunity to give over the last few years. So, now you know.
Web Development
For the last year or so, I’ve been one of the partners and developers of Full Throttle Development. All five of us have been good friends for a long time. However, we’ve decided to no longer continue the partnership. We remain good friends, though!
So, I’ve decided to continue doing web development on my own. You can find my new website here: Alan Knox Web Development. I also have a facebook page and a twitter account setup to track my web development activities and projects. Please follow one or both of those if you’re interested in web development. I can also be reached via email at alan@knoxwebdev.com.
Primarily, I hope to help individuals, non-profit groups, and small- to medium-sized companies develop or improve their web presence. I will help my clients incorporate social media tools in their web sites. I think that my strength lies in customer service, that is, listening to my clients and helping them implement a web site that demonstrates who they are as an individual, a non-profit, or a company.
If you know someone who may need web help, please send them my information.
Home Alone
Earlier this year, Margaret and Miranda planned a “girl’s week” in Tennessee with Margaret’s mother, sister, and sister-in-law. This week, the doctor released Margaret, and said that she could go on her trip. So, Saturday morning, I’m driving them to Hickory, NC, where we will meet Margaret’s sister, and I will drive back home alone.
It’s going to be a strange week, to say the least. Believe it or not, Margaret and I rarely spend time away from one another. There have only been a few times in our 21 year marriage that we’ve spent a week apart. Of course, we’ll spend two weeks apart next month when I go to Ethiopia. I think this will be the longest we’ve been apart.
I have a feeling that our family – the church – will not give me a chance to get too lonely!