A letter from John and Gwen Haspels in Ethiopia
June 15, 2008
Dear Prayer Warriors,
“Nganda a chagi. Nganda a holi. Nganda a gidangi. Our young man who had a cataract removed in one eye is telling us the colors of the cars — blue, white and brown. “Nganda a motor. Garchu a bilaycho. Coti a golongyi.” There is a motor cycle. His hat is yellow and his shirt is red. This young man has never been out of Suri land. Imagine opening your eyes for the first time and being in a huge city with cars all over. Yesterday he was watching the TV. What he got out of an Oroma program no one knows, but he was glued to it. The gift of sight is enormous. They could only do one of his eyes, but now he can go anywhere and take care of his own needs. He told me, “I’m going to go back to Tulegit and work for you. I don’t have any work for him, but I’m glad he wants to do something for himself.
The annual hunger time is almost over. We still need high-protein food for a month or two to get children back up to par after the seasons of malnourishment. There is very little protein in their diet, so when their health gets compromised, it’s very hard to build their bodies back up. On top of the hunger, we had some kind of pneumonia or bronchitis going around and lost several new babies and two older children.
One woman was the mother of six children, and she now has only two left, though only one died in this crisis. She was a faithful mother and sat with the child for over a month as he slowly died. The church helped her by paying people to weed her garden. Now she can keep watch over it herself until the harvest I prayed fervently for that child to live and asked the Lord what He wanted me to do. “Keep visiting and supporting the mother so she can know my love.” That is harder than passing out medicine. God gives the strength when He gives the assignment. We had two of these dying children at one time. Thank you for all your prayers that help us cope with situations. The corn is almost ready now, to everyone’s relief.
I am now out of electricity, so I’ll cut this letter short. Pray for Ethiopians whose living expenses have sky-rocketed. Pray for us to be faithful in helping when possible and always pointing the way to Jesus. He is our sustainer. God be with you all and lift you up in all your crises. God is eternal, ancient of days.
In His timelessness He has already seen you come out of whatever situation you are in.
Love,
John and Gwen
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 12
