Kevin & Erica Kipfer

SERVING IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

N o v e m b e r Ki p f e r U p d a t e
We have arrived!
We can’t express how much we appreciate your prayers
and words of encouragement that have helped bring us to
this place! After many months of preparation and antici-
pation, we finally arrived on the ground in Addis Ababa
on the evening of October 27. The previous 27 hours had
been a blend of waiting 3 hours for our Ft. Wayne flight to
take off, rushing frantically through Detroit airport to get
our next connection, carrying way-too-big carry-ons,
sleeping in Amsterdam on reclining chairs, sitting in the
plane in Sudan, and finally, arriving in Addis Ababa to be
greeted by Gary and Peggy Ifft, who have helped tremen-
dously in our transition.

Since our arrival, no day is quite like the other. We’ve
experienced the Ethiopian culture through a wedding, cof-
fee ceremonies, language lessons, and dinners with new
friends that include plenty of wonderful traditional food
like injera, tibs, wot and the like. Just like with any move,
we have shopped for things for our home, got internet set-
up, began orienting ourselves in the city, etc. To get all
this accomplished, we’ve had to utilize a number of differ-
ent modes of transportation: horse drawn carts called ga-
res, taxis, mini-buses, city buses, and plenty of walking.
Even in the midst of all this, we’re slowly settling and Ad-
dis is feeling a bit more like home. (we even have a post
office box so feel free to send us mail :)
Laying the groundwork
Much of our time so far has been spent “getting settled;”
however, we have been able to start laying some ground-
work for the future Home of Hope for girls. We have had
the opportunity to meet with three different organizations
working in Addis Ababa with the population of girls and
women that we hope to work with. Each organization’s
work is slightly different yet with a similar purpose and
mission—to rescue women from exploitation, restore
hope through Christ, and equip them for a new life. Each
organization has been very helpful and supportive. We
hope to learn from and connect further with these organi-
zations as we move forward. An Ethiopian counselor
that we met who has over 13 years of experience working
with exploited women encouraged us, “God did not call
you to this work based on what you can do alone, but on
His own power and capacity to work through you!”
Left to Right: Lydia, Ruth, Moses, Joseph, Deborah, Daniel
and Hanna pose with their new toys they just inflated.
Home of Hope
LSM currently has one Home of Hope for orphans in Ad-
dis. Eshetu and Tsion parent seven beautiful children who
have been orphaned due to the AIDS crisis. We have had
the opportunity to see them at their home and hear them
recite Bible verses and pray. It has been great to have these
kids as friends at church as they seek us out to say hello and
give us plenty of smiles and hugs.
You might be surprised to know...
• We are more often cold than hot.
• A box of Cheerios costs as much as a steak dinner
(both about $5).
• The current year in Ethiopia is 2002
• Ethiopian time starts at 6am, meaning when our watch
says 10am, Ethiopians will call it 4:00.
• When walking on the city sidewalk, we commonly
have to dodge donkeys, sheep, and goats (and what
they leave behind)
• We can read this:
It says, “Full Moon
Café.” This café is
very close to our
home so we stop by
there often!

Kevin’s Email: kevin@loving-shepherd.org Erica’s Email: erica@loving-shepherd.org

Blog: kevinanderica.blogspot.com
Field Address: PO Box 16245, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Closing thoughts
• Prayer Cards—Hopefully most of you have re-
ceived a prayer card through the mail or in person. If
not, please contact April Isch at isch@adamswells.com
and she’ll get one sent to you.
• Weekly Prayer Updates—To receive prayer re-
quests more often, just reply to this email with ‘prayer
update’ in the subject line and we’ll add you to that
email list.
• Financial Support— You can donate to our work
by visiting www.loving-shepherd.org and clicking the
‘Donate’ tab. Note your gift for ‘Ethiopia Projects’. Or
visit our blog for a printable form.
Praises and Prayers
• THANK YOU ALL WHO PRAYED FOR OUR TRAV-
ELS AND TRANSITION TO ETHIOPIA!!! God has
been faithful in answering those prayers.
• Pray that we can be incarnational as we adapt to this new
culture
• Pray for the relationships that we are establishing with
those we are ministering with and ministering to
• Pray for connections with other ministries that will help in
establishing the Home of Hope for girls
• Pray for the current Home of Hope; Eshetu, Tsion and all
the children.

Left: Our
first
glimpse of
the
African sun
from the
airplane.

Right:
Kevin helps
Ruth blow
up her
punch ball.
These
horse-drawn
carts,
“garees,”
are com-
monly seen
on our road.

A coffee
break during
one of our
busy errand-
running days.
We are
seated next
to Genet
(Paulos’s
wife), our
taxi driver,
and Paulos
At a coffee ceremony. The coffee beans have
(in the red
been roasted and ground and now are brewing
shirt—our
in the decorative pot over hot coals until the
“right-hand-
host determines the coffee is ready.
man”).