Exploring The North

As Noel, Krystina, Dawit and I boarded the bus at 6am this past Monday, we truly had no idea what the coming five days of exploring the northern part of Ethiopia would hold. The plan was to hit three of the major historical cities in five days: Bahir Dar, Gondar, and Lalibela. We knew it would be many hours on the road; about ten hours to the north, then on average between four to eight hours between cities.

My travel companions were ready.

traveled on "sky bus" for the big trek north, Addis to Bahir Dar

My travel mates: Noel, Dawit and Kristyna

We were immediately blown away by mile after mile of some of the prettiest countryside in the world. Three years ago, I had traveled to Bahir Dar and it had been the same. But it was still equally amazing to witness. Fields of every kind of green along with breathtaking mountains. Beautiful rivers and small villages. Fields of corn, wheat, tef, barley. Also- some interesting rock formations. So amazing!

In our first city- Bahir Dar- we would travel to Lake Tana.

Bahir Dar is about 578 km northwest of Addis. The city is distinctively known for it's wide avenues lined with palm trees and a variety of colorful flowers. Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia, 84 km long, 66 km wide. There are said to be 21 islands on the lake, 8 of which have monasteries on them. Remains of ancient Ethiopian emperors and treasures of the Ethiopian church are kept at the monasteries.

We took a boat ride on Lake Tana to visit one of the monasteries. An old priest took us around and he made us smile. We also saw the source of the Blue Nile River. The Blue Nile is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile River. The upper part of the river is considered to be holy and is believed by many to be the River Gihon mentioned as flowing out of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2. It's length is 900 miles long (500 of which is inside of Ethiopia). Sources say that 59% of the water that reaches Egypt originates from the Blue Nile River.

As we looked at the source of this and boated on the water, we were pretty quiet, almost reverent. It was a beautiful ride and I loved Dawit's expression of the view of the lake best and how it was affecting him: he said- “it swallows me.” Yep, it had that overwhelming awe effect- one that leaves you speechless.

On Lake Tana

Noel and Kristyna enjoying the boat ride

Something else later just outside of Bahir Dar would cause the same feeling- the Blue Nile Falls. We hiked to see these and it reminded me of what the Garden of Eden must have looked like. It “swallowed me.” What a sight! These falls consists of four streams and is 37 to 45 meters high. It's known as the “smoking water.” Truly magnificent!

hiking to the falls

Then it was on to Gondar. Gondar or Gonder is nicknamed the “Camelot of Africa” because of the presence of royal castles. Here we visited the most famous set known as the “royal enclosure.” This was a group of six castles behind one big wall. It felt like we were in medieval times. The main emperor (Emperor Fasilides) who had built the biggest castle seemed very impressive. He had thought of everything: a library, a sauna, lion cages, and even another big castle down the road that had a huge swimming area (in what looked like where the moat should be). He even had a house for his horse too, lol. This horse was a big deal I guess. Reminded me of the verse in Psalm 20:7- “some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” I never really understood why someone would trust in a horse enough for it to be noted, but I guess some did that much. :-)

After Gondar, it was on to Lalibela. On the road there, God made me smile big. I had been reflecting in my journal as we traveled along- from my morning quiet time, that talked about love and how we are to love others like God loves us. And I wrote down- “Father, what does real love, your love look like?” And just then, we came over a bend in the road and saw this:

I heard Him say, I AM love. And it looks like this: covenant. I smiled HUGE.

Wow- that a quick response. He's so great! :-)

We later arrived in Lalibela, the most famous historical city of the three on our route. This seemed confirmed by the large amount of tourist buses full of “forengies” (foreigners). That was great shocking. Most looked to be from Europe. We would learn that Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities and is the center of pilgrimage for most of the country. It is considered by many to be a symbolic representation of Jerusalem and was the capital of Ethiopia in the 12^th and 13^th centuries. The city is globally famous for many “rock-hewn” churches. And to be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what “rock-hewn” meant, lol. So I was curious. But I learned that “rock-hewn” simply meant something that was made from a single block of stone or rock. SO amazing the skill it took to carve these ancient churches from rock. Some were free standing, others were part of a main rock still. There are 13 churches, assembled in four groups. Stunning really.

We climbed through crevices in Lalibela and and through rocks. It felt like we were in the Holy Land. Yep. A highlight for us was passing through a completely dark passage-way that led from one church to another. We held onto each other and our guide led us through. He told us the passage-way symbolized what hell was supposed to feel like- dark and without light. We were thankful to come out the other side. :-)

Kristyna about to pass through one of the "crevices"

Dawit coming out of the "hell" passage :-)

Another long ride awaited us back to Bahir Dar. I believe it took about seven hours. We were all growing travel weary at this point.

Noel caught napping

Dawit too :-)

But we made it back to Bahir Dar on Thursday evening, in time for our 6am departure from there back to Addis on Friday morning.

On the road back to Addis, we mainly slept. But right before lunch, we ran into a road block that brought back memories from Haiti. An oil tanker had fallen over and traffic was backed up for miles in both directions. We were there about 3 ½ hours. It was interesting to see shepherds become sellers of small snacks- and I think the locals were blessed by all the visitors around. Maybe. Whew.

Finally, we were back on the road, and pulled into Addis around 6:30pm, twelve hours after we had started.

Our road trip of exploration, had been a success :-)

I believe God showed me several things on this trip. One, about the teammates who went with me. They are top notch. I'm so thankful God gives us global family! I believe God also blessed us with the opportunity to see the beauty of Ethiopia. It's truly a remarkable place full of untapped beauty and amazing history. God also showed me Himself, in big ways on the trip. I was reminded of His creativity, His bigness, His skill. What an artist! He made me chuckle too. What a truly big, wonderful God we serve!

Thank you so much for praying for us!

The next few days are busy as Kristyna finishes her month here and leaves Monday to go back to the Czech We will miss her!

Our -praises/prayers for the week ahead:

Praises:

-we give thanks for a safe trip north, also for good health- we are all great!

Prayers:

-for Kristyna- a good final few days for her and a safe trip home

-for Noel and I- as we gear up for another month- that God will lead on how we can best serve

-for Noel- as she works with the Czech (Exodus) – Hope in View partnership

-for me- for planning and interviewing different missionaries, ministries, NGOs on empowerment strategies, that those will be wrapped in wisdom, favor and divine connections

Thank you again so much for praying with us!!!

Hope you had a blessed week and weekend.

And may God continue to use each of us in our fields of service. And may we praise Him. For He truly is good.

Blessings and Love from Addis,

Holly with Noel, Kristyna