It was a beautiful Sunday morning with the bright Ethiopian sun and the huge African sky greeting us for a new day. This would be our day for worship, relaxation and recreation. The morning included a sleep-in breakfast at 7:30, a two hour worship service at 10 and walking some of the Project Mercy orphans home after church.

After an Ethiopian lunch of injira, lamb, beef and vegetables, we headed off to see the local crater-lake. At the top of the dormant volcano we could look straight down into a glistening blue lake. It was quite spectacular. But what was even more dramatic was the mountain-top view of the Great Rift Valley. It was a beautiful mix of colors from its deserts, scrubbed terrain, lakes, volcanoes and meadows. It slices through the center (North-South) of all of Ethiopia and travels one country north (Eritrea), and three countries to the south (Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique).

We continue to be awed by God’s beauty in both the country and people of Ethiopia.