SAMS-USA Ministry In

Ethiopia

Interested in Ministry to Ethiopia?

SAMS-USA missionaries partner with Anglican/Episcopal churches in this region to grow the Kingdom of God. We hope you will be encouraged or inspired by these stories and reports from current and former missionaries in the field. We also encourage you to consider becoming a sender to this part of the world.

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Bishop Grant and Doctor Wendy 2016-08-22 07:46:00

by | Aug 22, 2016 |

Gambella Moments

Peter’s Story:
“I came to Jesus through a dream,” Peter said. I leaned forward to listen, thankful for the privilege of hearing the life stories of those who had come to our Discernment Conference. Peter Ojulu is a lay pastor from Akobo, seeking to discern a call to ordained ministry.This is his story:
“Someone came to me in a dream, and told me to go to church,” he said. “I woke up. It was Sunday morning. I went to church and found that they were having a conference. At the conference they read Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all who labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.”  I felt like God was talking to me. The words entered into my heart like dew. I decided to follow Jesus. Later I had another dream. In my dream, I saw God giving me medicine. When I decided to follow Jesus, I gave up going to witch doctors. For eight years I had been going to witch doctors, trying to get help for the pain in my legs [knees]. Nothing had helped. After my dream, the pain stopped. Not all at once, but slowly by slowly.”

Discernment Conference Gambella, June 30th-July 2nd
Here’s another story I heard that week, not from a perspective ordinand, but from one of those interviewing:
“We were having an amazing time of healing prayer during the service. All of a sudden a scream tore through the worship. The depth and the agony was unlike anything I had heard before. It seemed to come from something deeper than the woman herself. She went completely rigid and still. I went over thinking, ‘I’d better pray for deliverance.’ On my way, to my surprise, these words came to mind with quiet clarity, ‘This is the cry of the ancestor’s blood.’ Since the beginning of the ethnic violence in Gambella we had been teaching from the book of Hebrews, “The blood of Jesus speaks a louder word than the blood of Abel.” [Hebrews 12:24]  In a culture where blood and honour cry out for revenge, there is a better word. The cry of anguish and pain that once gave rise to a cry for revenge, was now taken up into the compassion and forgiving love of a Saviour. So as I went up to the woman, I just quietly prayed that the blood of Jesus would cover her and bless her. Peace came. Later in the service I saw her dancing. Her face was radiant.”
This past Sunday [August 14th] we set out for the village of Abari. With Darash, our Anuak priest and Regional Dean, we were going to visit the first church of the Mezhenger people, planted by the Anuak congregation of Abobo.  The road presented us with a few challenges. About half way there, we were challenged by a young male lion who stood determinedly in the middle of the road. He was not going to yield his territory! We stopped to take a photo while he stood there in majestic defiance. It was only as we restarted the car, as the engine roared back to life, and we began to move towards him, that he must have decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and loped away ahead of us until disappearing into the impenetrable grass growing alongside the road.

You…shall…NOT…Pass!
I think the lion thought our car roared at him when we restarted our engines

Here and there baboons sauntered lazily off the road, birds flashed by – scarlet, blue, yellow, glossy black. We drove by a couple of crowned cranes, their crowns glinting golden in the sun. It was a very African drive. The road grew narrower and narrower. Finally we were snaking along in the mud, brushing through eight foot high elephant grass on either side of us, the raindrops on the grass glistening in the early morning sun, until it was as if we were driving through some sort of eco car wash.

Eventually, the mud got the better of us, and the car, sinking down to its axels, became stuck fast. When efforts at digging us out seemed to fail, we decided to continue on foot. After all, the church ‘was only five minutes away’. Of course, it was an Anuak five minutes. Walking along, enjoying the wild beauty of our surroundings, I began to feel very African. Half an hour later, we came upon the incongruous sight of a cell tower. Undaunted, I continued on in my African safari mode, senses stretched out and attuned to the sights and sounds of what now seemed a sun-drenched  jungle. Ahead, Darash  stopped. “The vehicle is coming!” he said. He had heard it. Alas, my finely-tuned senses not withstanding, I didn’t hear a thing. Apparently my hearing was not as African as I had fondly imagined.  Muddy but triumphant, our car pulled up, and once back inside, we drove the rest of the (let’s face it, a lot more than) five minute journey to the Mezhenger church. 

Mezhenger church and home-made pulpit
Quickly learning the Mezhenger greeting, “Digoya bongeh!” we greeted the people. Malchias, our Mezhenger lay pastor, took out a lute-like stringed instrument, and, and for the first time, we joined the Mezhenger in worship.  Their beautiful lilting melodies, sung in the African five tone scale, were truly delightful. They were just as delighted at the deeper, more rhythmic Anuak hymns sung by Darash and Omot (the lay pastor of Abobo who had joined us on the way).

Mezhenger Worship

After a simple service, we drove back through swirling clouds of butterflies and stopped and briefly joined in the worship at the Anuak church of Tiersiru, one of the satellite churches of the Abobo Mission Centre. There is was Grant’s privilege to give the church a name, “St Mark’s Anglican Church” of Tiersiru.  After questioning the St Frumentius’ students about the apostle Mark during their examinations for the African Early Church History intensive, St Mark seemed an appropriate name!

Our final stop of the morning was in Abobo town, and there a lunch of freshly caught nile perch, roasted over charcoal, awaited us, lovingly prepared by Awilli, one of our Mothers’ Union leaders, together with the women of Bethlehem Church, Abobo. It was a good morning!

                                                                                   First day in Addis.

We are delighted to welcome theologians Chris and Suzy Wilson as our newest faculty members of St Frumentius’ ATC, together with their children Abigail and Matthew. Please join us in praying for God’s blessing on their settling into life in Gambella.


 ~ Please Pray with us ~

Please pray for the first year and second year students of St Frumentius’ Anglican Theological College.
Please pray for Johann Vanderbijl, our beloved dean, and for Louise, our librarian.
Please pray for continuing peace and unity among the peoples of the Gambella region.

Please  pray for peace and unity among the Amhara, Oroma and Tigray peoples of Ethiopia.
Thank you to all who responded to the needs generated by the recent crisis of ethnic violence in Gambella. Those who wish to contribute to these ongoing needs, please see donate now link above.
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Bishop Grant and Doctor Wendy 2014-03-19 05:49:00

by | Mar 19, 2014 |

We do not grieve…

…as those without hope 1 Thess 4:13-14
Tukal: A Gambellan home

As we all sat in the tukal, -sisters, brothers-in-law, father, mother, grandchildren, friends and relatives, the sunlight streamed in the door, glancing off the feathers of inquisitive baby chicks, and falling softly on the faces of those who had gathered to share their grief. War had a face. It was the suffering face of our friends and colleagues in Gambella as family after family heard of this son killed, that brother gone missing, that dear friend no longer alive. I was struck that there was no denial of grief as parents and relatives shared their hope in Jesus. Death had taken the one they loved from them, and Jesus had taken their loved one from death. Both hope and grief had equal place. And we were privileged to share in this with them.
I’ll let Grant share more with you about Gambella and the nearness of war.

Running Away

Next door to us, South Sudan is at war. The trouble started, it seems, as a dispute between two groups of soldiers in Juba – one group backing the President, the other backing his ousted Vice-President. Within days the whole country was involved in a conflict which has killed thousands, and displaced hundreds of thousands. Despite the newly signed peace treaty, many,  in the colloquial English of this region, are still “running away.” When I was a kid to “run away” was a sign of cowardice; here it simply means survival – you run or you die.
The conflict, part political, part ethnic is, for us, very personal. We have many South Sudanese friends, and many here in the Gambella region of Ethiopia with roots (and family) in South Sudan. Almost every day we hear from our priests, staff members and parishioners that they have had a family member killed in South Sudan. Many, many tell me that they have not heard from family members – some reported to have fled, one reported to have been imprisoned. Soon after the fighting started it became clear that it was unsafe in Gambella for one of our priests. Michael was serving a Nuer congregation, although he is himself is a Dinka. We have had to send him and his brother-in-law (who is part of his extended family) to Addis Ababa for their safety, at least for now.
The Gambella region is surrounded on three sides (south, west and north) by South Sudan and Sudan. Some of the towns where we have churches near the border have been overrun with large numbers of people fleeing the fighting in South Sudan. The UNHCR and the World Food Program are working hard to meet people’s needs, but there is always a delay, so people turn to the churches to help. For example, in Matar, where I went a couple of weeks ago with a truckload of food and other essentials, there were about 4,000 refugees waiting for their new camp to be built just outside another town called Nininyang. It is now ready and they are being moved there, but  more refugees are arriving daily. I am told the camp will have 17,000 people soon.
This past week I visited another new refugee camp, this one near the town of Dimma. The landscape was bleak – not much soil, just rocks and barren trees, devoid of any foliage in the heat and dust of dry season. I met on Saturday afternoon  (under a tree, not that that helped cool anyone off…) with leaders of the new Anglican Church in the camp. They are receiving adequate food and shelter from the UN and the WFP. They have tukals (huts) to sleep in, but no place for a community shelter for worship, or  other meetings (such as a place to teach their children – it will be some time before a school is set up). They also need clothes. They had to leave their homes in Sudan in a hurry and many literally had to flee with the clothes on their back. I had about $150 with me and spent it all in the Dimma market buying what clothes I could. More will be sent this week with Wilson, our priest from Dimma. Hopefully we can also get the church some shelter.
They asked me for bibles in various languages, to license their lay readers, and to baptize about 70 people. Their last request: they wanted me to name their church. Because Jesus, Mary and Joseph also had to “run away”, and were themselves refugees in Egypt, the new refugee church took the name, ‘Holy Family’. Interestingly, the people in Holy Family Anglican Church put their own twist on the name: they saw themselves as a holy family, a family transcending ethnicity, drawn together to worship the one God and Father because of what the Lord Jesus and his Holy Spirit have done for them.
On Monday morning I led worship at the camp. I was told that there were about 600 members but 800 turned up. We started at 7.30 am, so that we could worship in the coolest part of the day. We kept it really short (2 and a half hours) since we had a lot of baptisms. We also had the Eucharist which many had not had in a while. Amazingly, I caught a glimpse of the kingdom at this service — although a large part of the fighting in South Sudan is ethnically-based violence, this church had made a decision. They would worship together in spite of ethnic and language differences – so we sang and prayed in Anuak, Nuer, Dinka and Murle (my ten minute sermon had to be translated into three of those languages which made it at least 45 minutes…). I was so grateful to be able to experience this inter-ethnic worship – kind of an ‘in your face’ to the devil, I think.
Arriving back in Gambella town I received news of more refugees arriving at already established camps in Sherkole and Pinyudu, and even more people being kept at the border in the Tiergol / Akobo region and in Lare. We have also housed a few refugees here in the Gambella Anglican Centre, as they transitioned to new areas.
I am very proud of our churches and our staff. We have worked hard in the last year and a half to see our ethnic diversity here as a strength of our church: Dinka, Nuer, Anuak, Opo, Mabaan, Jum-Jum (and now Murle) are in one church and pray and work together. In this new, rather tense, situation, our church members have supported and protected one another. “Ethnicity,” culture and language are not unimportant, but they are secondary to membership in Christ’s body. 

Some reports in the press characterize the South Sudan conflict as “tribal.” Two things are important here I think. First, the conflict is much more about political power than ethnicity, although obviously ethnicity comes into it and a conflict like this gives opportunity for old (even ancient) scores to be settled. In the present conflict, Dinkas have been fighting against Dinkas and Nuer against Nuer, as well as Nuer against Dinka (with a lot of other groups caught in the middle). Second, I believe we need to be sensitive to the derogatory overtones that words such as “tribalism” can convey. Our Canadian history of dispute between French and English, is one of many examples of ethnic tension in the West (think of the legacy of two World Wars, the Holocaust, Stalin-era Communism, Yugoslavia). Why are are our Western conflicts not called “tribal”? Is it because we think of ourselves as “civilized” and of others (Africans, for example) as “primitive”? Gandhi was once asked what he thought of “Western civilization”; he said he thought it would be a good idea.

I want to close this newsletter with a note of thanks. So many people have written to assure us of prayer. Mission agencies and churches have offered financial help. We are very grateful and we are doing what we can to use what is given wisely. Please pray for those who are still fighting, for those who are grieving losses, and for those who are ‘running away’.
 
+Grant

Clothed with Inner beauty
 

~ Please Pray with us ~

For those caught in the crossfire in South Sudan
For those who have lost their homes
For those who have lost loved ones
For our churches  as they minister to new refugees
For wisdom in the use of funds given to help refugees
For the Mothers’ Union teaching event Feb 5th &6th: “Nutrition: part 2”
For Johann & Louise Vanderbijl as they seek to raise funds to join us in our work in Gambella


Refugees at New Pinyadu before the newest influx from South Sudan


Showing off our new uniforms  (After School Sports Program)


Small, bright and beautiful

 
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Bishop Grant and Doctor Wendy 2014-01-09 09:07:00

by | Jan 9, 2014 |

Christmas 2013
*
“He is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14) 

As Christmas approaches, we are meeting the Prince of Peace in unexpected ways.
  
Three weeks ago, Anuak refugees, driven across the South Sudan / Ethiopia border by some Nuer cattle raiders, ended up in our congregation in Tiergol, where they were housed, fed and welcomed by – Nuer Christians! 
Last week, our Dinka priest (who was serving that Nuer congregation in Tiergol) was in Gambella town for our clergy training days when fighting broke out in South Sudan. Although the dispute in South Sudan is political, it also has ethnic overtones. It became dangerous for our priest to return to Tiergol – or to remain in Gambella town where Dinka men are being threatened. Surrounded by the love and support of his fellow Nuer(!) clergy – he has been given transport and enough money to spend a couple of months with a Nuer family in Addis. 
Also last week, it was with great joy that we watched as our Mothers’ Union representatives from Opo, surrounded by their sisters from other language groups sang a worship song, the whole group clapping and dancing, some joining in the singing despite language differences. And during the prayer practicum at the same Mothers’ Union gathering, it was a joy to see two translator / facilitators, whose people are traditional enemies, praying together.
This week, we’ve had two South Sudanese refugees staying on the compound, as they wait for papers which would allow them to travel to Addis Ababa. They had walked together through the night escaping fighting in a South Sudan border town and finally arriving at the Gambella Centre (which they were told would be the safest place). One was Nuer, one was Dinka.
Even as war looms, the Prince of Peace is present among His children here in Gambella. Peace, not as the world gives. Fighting evil, not as the world fights. Welcome, Lord Jesus. Welcome this Christmas.
                            Praying together
As Christmas approaches the events of the first Christmas seem to be echoed in life around us – Herods (more than one) slaughtering the innocents next door in South Sudan seems the most obvious example. 
But we’ve also had visits from wise men (and women) recently, these ones coming from the west. A group from the UK (including Grant’s predecessor Andrew Proud and his wife Janice), together with a group from the US (including Johann and Louise Vanderbijl, SAMS USA missionaries who we hope will join us permanently here in Gambella). Both groups brought great gifts (no frankincense and myrrh) as they taught the clergy and the Mothers’ Union, did some repairs around the compound (thanks Pat) and (very importantly) as they shared life with and learned from our African sisters and brothers.
Protection
Not surprisingly, Grant did not wear his glasses into the shower (this omission being rather a habit with him). So when he looked down and saw the little lizard enjoying the tiny shower space with him, it was, well, share and share alike, and he left the little guy to bask in the cool water. It was only later, glasses once again in use, that he realized his ‘lizard’ buddy was actually a large scorpion. Uncanny, unexpected protection – as usual! 
More Protection
It is the beginning of dry season. In Gambella, that also means that it is time to burn the grass and the bush that have grown during the rains. Last week it was time for the neighbours to set fire to the bush adjacent to our Centre. It quickly got out of control and threatened to set fire to our compound. Thankfully we had cleared a fire break next to our (fairly useless) wire fence, but this fire was big. Grant and one of our guards spent several hours making sure the fire didn’t destroy our gardens and buildings. The heat was intense and our little garden hose and hand tools weren’t much of a match for the flames, but “somehow” our property wasn’t damaged- can’t wait for a wall to keep out thieves, hyenas, feral dogs – and fire!

We are constantly aware that we have friends all over the world holding us in prayer. Thanks for that. Your love and prayers are certainly appreciated.
May the Peace of Jesus fill you all this Christmas season.
Grant & Wendy


*Nativity icon by Johann Vanderbijl
 

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Bishop Grant and Doctor Wendy 2013-11-24 01:54:00

by | Nov 24, 2013 |

What does Love Look Like?

What does love look like? This question has been quietly simmering in the back of my mind lately. It popped up as I lost my shoe to the grasping mud for the second time. I felt around for it with my foot, hoping to find it and nothing else in the muddy water. I was half supporting, half carrying our oldest worker to her home to recover from combined pneumonia and malaria. Although she is nearly 10 years younger than I am, she looks nearly 20 years older; my generations of good nutrition contrasting with her heritage of deprivation. 

“What does love look like?”, I wondered, stopping myself from running out to protect the precious 2 inches of rainwater left in our last rain barrel. I was watching the community children as they laughed and chatted while letting the water run unused. After all, they didn’t want to rush taking turns to wash their feet! This is sharing life with the poor. It is sharing in the lack of running water and understanding the lack of foresight to conserve it when the means of conserving water are so often unavailable, and even unimaginable.

What does love look like?I am struck by the sheer power of goodness shining through the midst of difficult circumstances. God is unfailingly good. And the challenge to look for, to see and to express His goodness in every aspect of life – surely this is what love looks like.

Horn of Africa Area Assembly:

The audience hushed as ‘Jesus’ walked in, resplendent in wig and re-purposed Mothers’ Union uniform. It was the 3rd bible study drama of the Area Assembly. This one, presented by the Opo, was bound to be good! In quiet solemnity, the crowd followed Jesus, holding wounded heads bound in cloth, walking with shortened and twisted limbs, and otherwise looking generally woe-begone. With quiet majesty, Jesus healed all.  As all sat down, one of the disciples approached the Lord, clearly explaining in Opo that the crowd needed to eat. A regal gesture from Jesus sent him back to the crowd, where 5 small loaves and 2 real fish were produced in hushed reverence. As Jesus lifted the basket high in mute thanksgiving, the plastic bag under the loaves and fish was ripped away, revealing the hidden bounty of bread rolls underneath. Electrifyingly, the crowd leapt to their feet, their cries of joy erupting from the absolute silence like a foretaste of resurrection! As one man, they dove in a free for all scrum, loaves of bread flying everywhere, mouths full of laughter and food – real joy… and really funny!

Area Assembly: 200 gathered for 2 days of business, worship and teaching. See attached “Bishop’s Charge”
http://gallery.mailchimp.com/9c9acb225d20d4c20ad4369dd/files/bishop_s_charge_2013_PDF.pdf


Clergy and Lay vote at Area Assembly

Definitely NOT boring!  Just a couple of years ago, life was fairly predictable. Most days I could be found in my office, in front of my computer screen doing professorial preparation or in the classroom teaching. But now, a kaleidoscope of travel has kept life, well, let’s say ‘interesting’! 

South Sudan: Speaking at the retreat for students graduating from Bishop Gwynne College and then at the graduation itself combined joy (finally a chance to go to the college where Wendy and I were to have gone almost 30 years ago but were prevented by war), and frustration (preaching at Emmanuel Jieng Church, the wonderful worship interrupted by an hour long campaign speech by the country’s Vice President as he ‘greeted’ the people).

Addis: learning Amharic; jumping through residency permit hoops; filling in at our English congregation while the rector was away; leading and preaching at the Remembrance Day service organized by the British Embassy with 40 ambassadors and their ‘Military Attaches’; introducing a famous Baptist preacher at theSunday evening service at St Matthew’s. 
During one of our trips to Addis, a couple of terrorists blew themselves up while trying to assemble a bomb that they had intended to detonate at a large football match between Ethiopia and Nigeria. The devastation would have been horrific. The country is now on heightened alert. Nothing boring about life here.

Gambella: Life has been no less varied. Reports, repairs, preparation, Area Assembly (like a church ‘Convention’ or ‘Synod’ for the Episcopal Area of the Horn of Africa), and of course, interruptions – the stuff of ministry here. Wonderful visitors from the Mothers’ Union (one from London, one from Juba, one from Addis) to train local literacy facilitators in how to teach the women in our Gambella churches how to read their own language; great visit from St Matthew’s Church representatives to the Area Assembly. Much less helpful visit from a (now) former priest (deposed for neglect of duty, deception, violence and threatening behaviour among other things). Not much that is ‘routine’ here either.

I have often told people that nothing is mediocre in Africa – it is either spectacularly wonderful or truly awful.  I recently read the Old Testament story of the spies going to check out Canaan. Most of them (10 out of 12) came back with the report, “The people were like giants; we seemed like grasshoppers next to them.” A couple of days after reading the passage, I realized that I had caught a case of that exotic disease, ‘grasshopper syndrome’. I was having a tough time trusting that God would give the resources (material and spiritual) that are needed for this work. The ‘cares and occupations’ were taking a toll. I began to long for that 9-5 routine at the desk and in the classroom. A bit of boredom sounded kind of nice. A series of people and events have helped. Bishop Mouneer in Egypt has provided great wisdom; countless encouraging emails seem to arrive just when I need them; and (of course!) Wendy is always there to pray and support. God is good – I may be a grasshopper, but our God sure isn’t. 

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September 2013

by | Sep 28, 2013 |

Hope in practice

Rev Deng Mark Khor, installation Sept 8th

The beauty of the drive was only surpassed by the frustration of its ending. We had almost made it to Opo land. Nearly 400 people were waiting for us to come to be with them in this, the first time ever, that a believer had actually died since the Opo people, nearly all 3000 of them, had come to faith in Jesus Christ six years earlier. 

But there we were, blocked by the treacherous mud sinkholes hidden beneath the brown surface of the river. It was impassable by car. I stood in the rain, watching Grant, Isaac and Cherinet trying to sound out a passage through the river, astonished by the muted beauty of the water birds and lilies hiding the potential danger of crocodiles, snakes and mosquitos. “Let me go on”, begged Isaac, our Nuer priest – “it should only be a few hours walk now!” Actually, it turned out to be 7 hours of sliding through the sharp rocks hidden by the grasping mud. Isaac, cold, wet, and only 2 days into his course of medication for one of the many tropical diseases that are a part of life here, was able to connect heart to heart with these people, as he talked of the hope of those who had died in Christ, held the memorial service, and then sat under a tree all the next day and answered their many questions. We thank God for Isaac and for the beautiful Opo people.
On September 4th and 5th, we hosted 34 women representing 20 distinct Mothers’ Union groups functioning out of our 14 Mission Centres spread throughout the Gambella region. It was wonderful to see how intently the women listened to the introductory story dealing with issues of how we learn and how we can work together to help take care of problems in the community. And it was a delight to see how much they enjoyed using pictures and story-telling as they later practiced teaching this to one another! They had lots of fun looking through magnifying glasses and binoculars in the session on how we are able to see things that contaminate water, and they were amazed (and quite horrified!) at the pictures of microorganisms shown to them on my computer!
Our practice sessions on solar water purification, water filter construction, clean water dispensers and dish drying racks were full of laughter, good questions and good discussion. When each of the representatives left to return to their Mission Centres, they carried the materials to make their own clean water dispensers, carrying these simple, inexpensive and locally available items as if they were carrying costly treasure.
These ‘water dispensers’ that our representatives will make during their own community demonstration/teaching sessions will replace the common open (and never washed) communal pot of water (which is usually kept inside the mud-walled, thatched roof church office, in the dark), and into which one unwashed cup is passed from one coughing adult to one feverish child, to another with diarrhea, etc.
Our pre-project survey showed a horrifying average of 2 to 4 surviving children per an average of 9 to 11 children born into the family, most dying under age 5 from communicable disease and malaria. Some were moved to tears to think that what they are learning may save the lives of their precious children. To think that the occurrence and re-occurrence of diarrhea is something that can be taken care of and prevented was a new concept to many. To communicate these important truths in a way that is fun, non-judgmental and memorable is one of the main goals of the program. Our Mothers’ Union representatives will return to teach what they have learned by holding a teaching day for all of our 1500 Mothers’ Union members at the Mission Centres, and then by holding a second teaching day at our 70 local churches where each Mothers’ Union member is encouraged to invite and teach at least one community guest. We’ve gotten off to a great start!
Please pray with us for Sarah Nyamuouch Kuel, daughter of our priest Peter Kuel. She was crouching down to avoid the gun fire from the cattle raiders who were attacking her village, when her life was changed in an instant by a bullet shattering her right femur. This was last December. Finally, we have the connections in place to have a surgical correction of an 9 cm loss in bone height (it would end up being about a 12-13 cm difference by the time her growth spurt ended). The marked rotational deformity and likely complete loss of nerve function to the quadriceps will make the surgical correction very complex and also a very long process. Thankfully, the Canadian orthopedic surgeon who has offered to provide this care at the lowest possible fee, is working hard with us to make Sarah’s recovery a reality. Please look to God with us for His provision for this little girl. 
Please pray for connections to cardiac care for little Kwess, the 4 year old son of Ariet, one of our staff at the Gambella Anglican Centre. He is the size of a two year old. Suffering from a congenital heart problem, he has great difficulty breathing when he eats, and suffers from incessant recurrent respiratory infections. This type of heart defect is only correctable by surgery – an impossible dream right now for Ariet, who would have to give at least 10 year’s salary for this procedure. Our priest, Michael Lual, also has a beautiful little girl, 6 years old, needing this same care. 
Bishop’s Schedule during the Aug/Sept, the later half of Ethiopian rainy season (appropriately named “Krempt”) 
On the (12+48)th day of Krempt, the schedule summary:
12 Preachers Preaching: GAC*–Aug, Sept: training days for 16 clergy (*GAC = Gambella Anglican Centre)
11 Lay Readers Reading: GAC-Aug 27-30: Lay Readers Training –  90 present
10 Drummers Drumming: GAC-Aug 30-Sept 4: Making of new drums for Anuak congregations 
9 Ladies Learning: GAC-Sept 4-5: Mothers’ Union Community Education&Development training
8 Meetings meted: Addis-Aug 10, 12-13: S* Believers; Aug 13: Area committee mtg
7 Bibles bringing: 200 Nuer bibles purchased, to be brought from South Sudan
6 Groups a-gathering: Pre-Project community survey & community visitation by Mothers Union Coordinators & GAC staff throughout Gambella region
5 Other things: Isaac Pur & David Anuk appointed to translate Gospel of Mark from Nuer to Opo; Addis-Sept 12- 27: Amharic language school; Aug 4 & 22: church visitations Bonga & Ilea; Sept 15,22,29: Services St Matthew’s Church; Sept 12-28: Addis – mountain (of red tape) climbing.
4 Confirmands: GAC- Sept 1: St Barnabas Church 20-30 confirmations & baptisms
3 Ordinands: Pilwal: Peter Gak (priesthood), Peter Tot (deaconate); Gambella: Darash Thatha (priesthood)
2 Installations: Gambella – Sept 8: Rev Deng Mark & Deacon Peter Tot installed St Luke’s
And a Party apparen-t-ly Addis: Sept 27-28 Meskel – celebration of the finding of the true cross, marking the completion of one full year of service in our amazing Ethiopia!

                                            Mothers’ Union Community
Education and Development
Program: Training session 1
Achum Chum
Mothers’ Union Representative, Dimma
Practice Teaching sessions 
Small Group session

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Bishop Grant and Doctor Wendy 2013-08-25 07:47:00

by | Aug 25, 2013 |

Joy... 

Dedicating Nininyang’s new church

 Roller-coaster! 
The thought sprung unbidden to mind as we turned off the main road and deliberately nose-dived into the ditch. Just how deep the ditch was, was hidden by the tall grass. I was reassured by the encouraging smiles and waving hands of our guides, mostly hidden in the head-high grass, as they directed us away from the thorny acacia bushes, and in between fields of maize, towards Nininyang’s new church – the roof just visible in the distance. We had arrived!! We were to spend the night resting and preparing for tomorrow’s service – the dedication of the new church! We had plans, after leading an impromptu welcome service, for a quiet night in our tent, in the church. The congregation had other plans. We could not possibly really want to be left alone – they could all spend the night with us!!! Party time!!! We can cook tomorrow’s feast, shout, laugh, sing (of course AT the top of our lungs), and beat the drum enthusiastically with ALL our might!! We emerged from our tent in the pre-dawn dark in some haste when the noise reached a new crescendo. “Were they calling us to get up?” we wondered. Peter Kuel, priest in charge of Nininyang mission centre, met us with his gentle smile, “Why are you up so early?” No matter, we could sit with the ladies as they prepared the feast on the ground in front of the church. I never realized just how grey cow intestines were, but perhaps they had blanched under the doleful eye of the cow’s head, sitting together with the tail, seeming to observe all the preparations with less than an enthusiastic air. A feast of Kop (mixed maize and wheat flour) was prepared by two delightful but unfortunately incessantly coughing ladies. Too late we learned that it was mixed with unboiled water, much to our later intestinal regret. The dedication service was a mixture of joy and sorrow. Merle raiders had attacked the village next to us, killing some, kidnapping others. Peter Kuel’s niece was one of the children killed. A dear lady who had walked from a nearby village bringing with her the gift of a goat, was prevented from attending the service. She arrested that morning on the charge of having, by witchcraft, killed someone who had been bitten by a snake. Peter and a member of the congregation who was a policeman obtained temporary release for her, pending trial the next day. We prayed with her. “It is impossible! She is a Christian!” declared Peter. We all gathered round and prayed. It was clergy training days as we returned home from Nininyang. I’ll let Grant tell of this. …And Sorrow Every month the clergy of the Gambella region in western Ethiopia come for two to three days of training. We are reading through 1 Corinthians, reading a book on the 39 Articles of Religion, and talking about pastoral issues in the area. At a recent gathering one of the clergy came to me during a break. “Bishop, I have a problem. I need help to understand something”. David Onuk is the priest for the Opo people a small language group two hours into the bush from Gambella town. Although the Ethiopian census number only 1,700, there are probably closer to 5,000 Opo people in the world (it is hard to count people who are so isolated). In the last few years many of them have become (Anglican) Christians. David’s problem took me by surprise, so I brought the story to the assembled clergy to discuss. A 19-year old nephew, James, who lived with David and his family, had gone off with a group of other young men to hunt for honey in the forest. They found a nest in a tree and James climbed the tree to retrieve the honey. The bees attacked and James fell from the tree impaling himself in the chest as he landed. By the time David reached the scene James was dead. Then David explained his dilemma. James is the first Opo Christian who has ever died. Some of the people are confused. Are Christians supposed to die? What happens to a Christian when he dies? David explained that the Opo have no view of an afterlife (at this point Grant the pastor was supplanted by Grant the student of African religion: really? I’ve never heard of a group of Africans with no view of an afterlife? Almost all Africans have some way of understanding the ancestors and their continued , usually shadowy, existence after death). After relating the details of the story, and after receiving comfort and assurances of prayers from the other pastors, we turned to an attempt to help David to communicate the meaning of this event to his people. The passage which, in the end, seemed most helpful was 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, but especially the first two verses: “We do not want you to be uninformed brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve as those who have no hope. For, since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.” Paul, it seems, had encountered a problem in Thessalonica which was similar to the problem that the Opo were having. Didn’t Jesus defeat death? Doesn’t John 3:16 say that those who believe in Jesus “will not perish”? So what does it mean that Christians die? We talked for quite a while about that fact that Jesus himself faced death. We talked about the resurrection of Jesus and how Jesus’ resurrection is the “first fruits” of our future resurrection. We talked about how we do not have to grieve as if facing death means facing total loss and emptiness, but how our grief is intermingled with true hope – because Jesus rose, we have the assurance of being raised with him. James, even now, is truly in Christ. 

 ~ Please Pray with us ~ 

~ For the preparation for the Mothers’ Union project as each Mission Centre community is visited, and as each community elects its project representative 
~ For ongoing ministry in Addis among Christians from a nearby country 
~ For the peace of the countries of this area of the world. 
~ For water for the Gambella Anglican Centre (more than 3 months without running water, the water tank rusted and now broken beyond repair) 
~ Thanksgiving for the life of deacon Ayano Chule, and for his ministry to religious leaders living with HIV/AIDs who passed away July 2013


 Mothers’ Union Coordinator, Achua, teaches at Ilea about the coming “Community Education and Development Project”. 


Nininyang:

Nininyang Houses: Only the rooftops are visible during rainy season


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