* Churches hewn out of
rock at Lalibela (World Heritage Site) * Portuguese-style
castles in medieval * Stele at
And learn about
Trinity’s ministry there! We will visit the South We will fly in to visit the
Suri people. We will tour Tulegit and
pray for the ministry there.* The Blue Nile Falls –
second largest waterfall in 
A group of 8-9 people will journey to
Approximate Cost: $3,500
The Vacation with a Purpose trip still has room for a couple or two. It
will take place from July 9-23. It will be much more of a sightseeing trip than
our usual trips.
We will first take time to tour Addis Ababa, visit the Ethnological Museum,
the Merkato (Africa's largest outdoor marketplace), and do a little shopping.
We will then fly out to Mizan Teferi, where the Synod headquarters are
located. We will lunch with them and tour the compound and one of their churches.
On Friday, we will visit the town and another church and perhaps do a little
work at the guesthouse. Saturday, we will fly out to Tulegit on a chartered plane and see the Suri people. We will take a prayer walk around Tulegit, visiting Gwen's clinic, the church and translation center. We will also worship with Suri Christians before hopping back on the plane to return to Addis. On Sunday, we will walk down the street to worship at a Mekane Yesus church (in
Amharic).
Monday we will fly off on our historic tour. First stop will be Bahir Dar
on Lake Tana. We will take a little hike out to the Blue Nile Falls, the
second largest waterfall in Africa. We will also take a boat out to the ancient
orthodox Christian monasteries on islands on Lake Tana to see their colorful
murals. Moving on to Gondor, we will see the influence of the Portuguese in
the medieval castles and bath built by the kings of Ethiopia. We will also
visit the famous orthodox church with its ceiling filled with Ethiopian cherubs.
Next stop is Lalibela, where nine churches were carved out of mountaintop
volcanic rock around 900 AD. Although this is a World Heritage site, the
churches are still in use. We have been going back in time and now we reach
Axum, the capital of Ethiopia when it became officially Christian in 340 AD.
This is the spiritual capital of Ethiopia for the Orthodox. We will see the
chapel where they say the Ark of the Covenant is kept safe. Axum is the home of famous monoliths of granite and we plan to be there on market day, so we will see their colorful baskets, camels, etc. We will then fly back to Addis and
depart for the US the next day.
Meanwhile, we will be studying together about God's concern for the poor and
the lost. Once the team is established we will also work together to figure
out how we can be a blessing to the Synod and what we can do to make the guest house more usable. Since this will be our largest team ever, we will be
able to carry over some books for the Bible School, etc. Even though this is
not exactly a mission trip, we will be doing a few little things to help.
The cost will be approximately $3500. This includes all transportation,
tour guides and admissions in the historic part, all lodging, and all breakfasts.
We will be buying our own meals otherwise, which will be around $2 each.
We will maintain a supply of bottled water. Sodas cost about 12 cents and
are another safe option -- is the famous Ethiopian tea and coffee.
Please let me know right away if you are interested in going. Our other
Ethiopia teams are going through orientation on February 11 and I would like to
have an informational get-together around then for our trip, too.
Below, I have printed the tentative schedule.
Because God loves the Suri,
Giny
Schedule for Vacation with a Purpose Trip
7/9 Sunday Leave LA
7/10 Monday En route
7/11 Tuesday Arrive Museums, Merkato
7/12 Wednesday Visit Wycliffe base and Bryants, shop
7/13 Thursday Fly to Mizan/Guesthouse
7/14 Friday Tour Gatcheb and Synod
7/15 Saturday Fly to Tulegit and Addis
7/16 Sunday Church, Natl Mus
7/17 Monday Fly to Bahir Dar
7/18 Tuesday
7/19 Wednesday Fly to Gondar
7/20 Thursday Fly to Lalibela
7/21 Friday Fly to Axum
7/22 Saturday Fly to Addis
7/23 Sunday Fly home
