It's Sunday-FUNday and day 23 of my month-long blogging challenge!! Guys this means we've almost completed this challenge, and I don't know about you but that is so so very EXCITING to me!!! I only have 12 days left until I launch (even more exciting) and today we have the honor of being able to talk about the country where my squad and I will serve for the month of June... let's talk about ETHIOPIA!!
GEOGRAPHY & POPULATION:
Ethiopia is a country in the "Horn of Africa," also known as North East Africa, which is a peninsula in East Africa. Ethiopia has a population of 102.4 Million people.
LANGUAGE:
There are 90 different languages spoken within Ethiopia. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semiticbranches. Some of the other languages spoken in Ethiopia include Oromiffa, Somali, Amahric, Tigrinya, Sidimo, Afar, Hadiyaa, and Agaw languages.
RELIGION:
Ethiopia has close historical ties with all three of the world's major Abrahamic religions. Ethiopian Orthodox- 43.5%, Islam- 33.9%, P'ent'ay- 18.6%, Traditional Faiths- 2.6%, Catholicism- 0.7%, "Other"- 0.7%
LIFE EXPECTANCY:
Male- 63.7, Female- 67.3, Total Life Expectancy- 65.5
FOOD:
Ethiopian cuisine characteristically consists of vegetables and often very spicy meat dishes. Some staples of Ethiopian cuisine that you should undoubtedly give a try include injera, tibs, shiro be kibbe, berbere, kitfo, and fir-fir.
FUN FACTS:
*The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months and it is 7 or 8 years behind the Western calendar, so as of 2015 it was only 2008 in Ethiopia. The 13th month has only five days, or six in a leap year.
*Coffee was first discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi in the Kaffa region, from which the word "coffee" is thought to have derived, when he noticed his goats "dancing" after eating the berries off of the coffee plant.
*In Ethiopia time is counted differently. Six o'clock is said to be 12 o'clock, and 16:00 hours is 10 o'clock. Ethiopians rationalize that the clock should start when the day does.
*Raw meat is considered a delicacy in Ethiopia.
PRAYER POINTS:
*PRAY for supporting nations to be wise in their programs and to not cause diminished work ethic among Ethiopians.
*PRAY for a resurgence of the deep Christian beliefs held by this nation from the earliest church history.
*PRAY for militant Muslims to know the truth of Jesus Christ and to stop their persecution of believers.
*PRAY for revival and growth to be sustained within Ethiopia, and for divisions and carnality to be avoided.
*PRAY for effective means for generating income to support Kingdom workers within Ethiopia.
-Meagan
