About a year ago a new Ethiopian Restaurant called Messob Work opened about two miles from my home. Over that period of time the family who owns this place, The Abete’s, have become good friends as I’ve stopped in periodically to get a taste of what I’m going to be experiencing. They are really sweet family who love the Lord and also love ministry and make extremely tasty Ethiopian dishes, so it’s kind of a win-win all around. The last time I was in there, Samson Abete invited me to his church’s inaugural worship service and official ribbon cutting ceremony that was held on July 16. The details I had were to show up at 11:30am, that lunch would be included, that there would be worship of some kind, that his church was Ethiopian, that I could bring a friend and that the location was an old GM dealership. After some amount of googling these things, I found his church online and got directions to the place which was only about a 10 min drive from my house.
I showed up at 11:30 sharp, marveling at the two lanes I could choose from on my drive in- one for “guest services” and one for “service dept”. I went out on a limb and picked the guest side. I walked up to the wide glass window doors, and Samson was standing just inside, super excited to give me a tour. My friend showed up soon after, and as he showed us around I quickly made the connection about why a showroom actually makes an excellent space for a sanctuary, if you think about it. During the tour people kept warmly greeting us and there were women everywhere dressed in authentic Ethiopian dress. Samson apparently has been involved in this church for quite a while and they all knew about his restaurant, so we were definitely with the right person.
After the tour, lunch was in the service department, which was so awesome, and the lunch line was in the parts department. It did have a great open space for chairs and everyone was gathered together sharing in the meal. I was 100% gearing up for some injera and tibs or whatever else Ethiopian delicacies we might be having, but actually what they were serving was American style sub sandwiches. I was down with that.
At about 1:30 we walked over to the red carpet which started at an outdoor tent with about 30 chairs underneath it, and led up to the main entrance of the new sanctuary. Red ropes lined the edges with women singing praises in Amharic, and waving palm branches. Samson told us that we were honored guests and should sit with the other dignified-looking people under the tent. We felt pretty awkward doing that, because these people looked way more important than us. However, once the ceremony started and the people under the tent got up to walk the red carpet, Samson insisted that we join them. As we walked everyone watching us was cheering, singing, and taking video and pictures. Somewhere we had to have ended up on someone’s website somewhere. At the ribbon, the procession stopped. A few words were given, and doves were released. Then the cheering started again and we were ushered inside.
We lasted about 1 ½ more hours of the worship service that ensued before our ears needed a break from the Amharic listening. I think my favorite part was just listening and watching these beautiful Ethiopian people sing, dance and praise God. In my experience African cultures really outwardly praise God unabashedly, and it’s quite admirable to me. The whole experience was very touching, and I was humbled to be a part of this church and their culture.
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