Trip dates: Jan 6 - Jan 21
Here is a bit of info on the trip - this page will be regularly updated as we can regarding the trip. Below is a letter from Nic regarding the Trip and a short bio from Sam and links to follow along with their flights.
From Nic:
Beloved,
Sam:
Hello! My name is Sam Baker and I live here locally in Vacaville with my wife Dominique. The Lord saved me in 2019 during my last year of college at UC Davis where I was studying secular psychology. Now, the Lord has developed in me a growing biblical worldview and a heart transformed by the gospel. In going to Ethiopia I seek to help others by the counsel of His Word and encourage biblical discipleship.
Follow the flights - you can track via a map following the links below!
From SFO to Frankfurt: Flight LH9127 Landed!
From Frankfurt to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Flight LH9694 Landed
From Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Frankfurt Germany: Lh9595 Landing soon
From Frankfurt to SFO LH454 - Arrives at SFO 12:30 Jan 21
An overview of the timeline of the trip:
Land 1/8
Fly to Harer 1/10 and teach 1/11-13
Fly to Addis 1/14
Nic preaching 1/15 at Kibru's church
Teach in Addis 1/16-20
Fly home 1/21
Notes from Nic:
Jan 9:
Well, we are on day two of being in Addis! Yesterday we were able to spend some time with Kibru and we were greatly encouraged by how excited everyone is that we are back to continue the training and Kibru was greatly encouraged to see us back! We are still adapting to the time change, and all the other changes that come with being in Ethiopia but things are going well and we look forward to flying out to Harer tomorrow in beginning the training there on Wednesday. Please continue to pray for traveling, mercies, strength, energy, and the ability to communicate the truth of God’s word, graciously, and truthfully.
Jan 10:
Just a bit of an update on what’s going on out here in Ethiopia. On Tuesday we flew out to Harer and got settled into our hotel in the evening. It was a great time to be able to see a few of our friends here and we are looking forward to beginning teaching through the materials here over the next three days.
Our friends have been wonderful hosts and treat us very well. Please pray for our time teaching, that the material would be well received and seen as springing forth from God‘s word. Pray that our relationships with our brothers and sisters here would continue to grow, and that our hearts would be knit together in love.
As always thank you for the support and prayers as seek to help build the up the church!
Jan 11:
Well, we just wrapped up our first day of teaching in Harer and it went very well! All of the trainees were happy to see us back again, and welcomed us very warmly. Today we cover the topics of biblical decision making , biblical forgiveness, and how to deal with fear, worry and anxiety. The feedback that we received was overwhelmingly, encouraging, and everyone is excited to see what God has planned over the next two days! After our training, we got a chance to go to a restaurant and try out a few local pastries, as well as a local special tea. Please pray we continue to be effective in our communication and that they would see Gods Word as our guide for all of our life and the help God offers us by His Spirit!
Jan 13:
Well, we have finished up our training in Harer where we spent the past three days, teaching 70 trainees on how to counsel biblically through issues like the role of the husband and the wife in marriage, communication in marriage, domestic violence, sexual abuse, pornography, biblical decision, biblical forgiveness, and suffering, as well as a few other topics.
The training was overwhelmingly well received, and everybody was encouraged! Including me and Sam. It was great to not only teach the materials, but to reconnect with old friends and continue to build friendships with them. Today is Saturday and we fly back to Addis to prepare to teach there Monday through Wednesday.
Please keep us in prayer as there is still much traveling and teaching left to do!
Jan 17:
Well, I know it’s been a couple days since I’ve given an update, but things are going well and we appreciate the prayers! We have finished our first two days of training in Addis and for the most part, everything has gone very smoothly. Everybody has been very encouraged and the material has also been challenging. We ran into a big issue today regarding the role of women pastors in the church. In Ethiopia, it’s very common to have women serve as pastors and elders in the church. I was asked, this question directly and responded with the position that the role is reserved only for men. Needless to say it caused a huge discussion and took a lot of time. But it also provided a great opportunity for us to think biblically rather than on our own feelings. So we got to apply some of the biblical counseling material we’ve been teaching in real life!
As we wrap up the teaching with this group tomorrow, please keep us in prayer that our time together would go well, that God would be glorified, and that we would all be encouraged in the faith, when applying God’s sufficient Word to the many problems, we face in life
Jan 20:
Well, it’s our last day here, and we are excited to come home! After teaching nine out of the last 10 days, we are very tired, but very glad that the Lord gave us the opportunity to come and serve here. Both groups of trainees received the training well, and are excited to continue on in the next set of module training. Pray that we are able to travel safely back home and that the time we spent here makes a lasting change in the lives of us all.