A letter from Marie Lusted in Ethiopia
January 19 (finished March 9, 2004)
Dear Friends,
Since the Christmas season is well past (for you who are in the West anyway), this letter will bring good wishes for a blessed and happy New Year, and hope that you have enjoyed your Christmas celebrations. This year I spent the holidays with family and friends in the United States, as I just was longing for more time with them, and incidentally had some frequent flyer miles that I didn’t want to let expire! I was in the States from mid-December until mid-January and covered a lot of ground, chauffered by my sister Ruth, who lives in Waxhaw North Carolina. We drove to Florida, then to Virginia, and to Cleveland Ohio, and back thru Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and to Waxhaw again.
This year has again been a busy one and held a couple of surprises. Early in the year I began having some bouts of what I now know were gall bladder attacks, but (like most nurses!) I didn’t do anything about it. My life went on about as usual, with translation work here in Addis, and the quarterly visits to the clinics in January, April and July. In June I again welcomed the Reimers for their four-month visit, and I also joined them after they had gone to Gambela for the summer Bible courses. That was a triple-header visit: first, checking on the clinics; second, having a checking session with the Bible translation reviewers committee for about 10 days, during which we checked the last half of Ezekiel; and third, teaching a class to Niles Reimer’s classes on 1 and 2 Samuel, the most recent book that we have published in Anuak. While there I had a couple more gall bladder attacks, and I thought, “When I get back to Addis I really need to look into this.”
I returned from Addis in August, arrived on a Wednesday, and on Thursday was taken sick again, and by Saturday ended up in a hospital here in Addis, for what turned out to be an intestinal obstruction, and removal of the gall bladder. My greatest cause for thanksgiving at that point was that it hadn’t happened in Gambela, as the facilities there are minimal, to say the least! The Lord took care of me, and so many friends rallied around, so that my recovery was fast and uncomplicated. I got back to driving the car after a month, and life continued as usual. Of course I was especially happy to welcome the Reimers back from Gambela soon after I got out of the hospital, and they were here for about another month before returning to the United States. Their being here took a lot of the domestic load off of me.
"On December 13 we were shocked and dismayed to hear that there was what seemed like a full-scale massacre of Anuaks going on in Gambela, with educated young and older men being the targets."
— Marie Lusted
The big highlight of the year for us was the premiere showing of the Jesus film in Anuak in Gambela over the Ethiopian Easter weekend. The two translators and I went to Gambela for the occasion and were very happy to see the good turnout for the showing which was held outside the church.
My last visit to the clinics didn’t take place until November, delayed because of recovering from my surgery. But I finally decided to go, purchased the medicines I needed here in Addis, packed them for travelling by Land Cruiser, and went myself to Gambela by plane. The clinics are not doing very well, the health assistant at Pokwo quit in February (2003), and the nurse that was supplied by the Health Bureau was not happy there.
At Gilo Clinic the nurse Kiro who just finished the upgrading course earlier in the year also quit (both of them went to work in the government health care system for higher pay), which left only the one health assistant. My trip to Pokwo was interesting, being made by outboard motor boat, as the road was not yet open after the rainy season. This is the time of year when it is always hard to travel to Pokwo—the river is falling rapidly, and there are many sandbars that block progress. There is a channel, but it is not always easy to find (no channel-marking buoys here). But we did make it OK with our load of medicines. Again, I did not find the nurse there, and understood that he too had quit. I wondered about the future for these two clinics. I didn’t have long to wait.
Back in Addis again, we began hearing reports of Anuak people being abducted and killed in several different locations, but on December 13 we were shocked and dismayed to hear that there was what seemed like a full-scale massacre of Anuaks going on in Gambela, with educated young and older men being the targets. This went on for three days until the Federal Police were dispatched from Addis Ababa to quiet things down. Besides the killings, houses were looted and many burned all over the town, and the frightened survivors fled to take refuge in our church compound, until there were about five thousand sheltering there. Others fled to the compound of the Catholic Church and found shelter there. These folks were without food for those three days—mercifully, there is a well on our compound, so at least they had water. Similar attacks took place in the other towns in the area, Abobo and Pinyudo, as well as some villages down river from Gambela, including Pokwo, where they looted the clinic of medicines and money and beat up one of the clinic workers. At some villages young girls were raped also. At Pinyudo the clinic was looted and all medicines and equipment was taken. None of the workers were harmed, however. The total number of those who perished is not really known, as many died out in the bush, and all those who died in the towns were buried in mass graves. But the list of names of those known dead reaches to over four hundred.
In the aftermath of all this, there are attempts at giving aid to those who survived, and here in Addis we are daily listening to the stories related by survivors who have come here for a little respite. I have sent a small supply of medicines to be used by the clinics if they are able to operate. We need wisdom to know how to proceed and how to help. Many people have fled to the Sudan or to Kenya. The crisis is not over yet, and many feel that if given a chance there could be a repeat which could be even worse than the first wave.
But as we meet for worship with the Anuak group each Sunday and some other times as well, I am overwhelmed by their trust in the mighty power of the Lord to help them and to bring help to their people. In simple faith, their attitude is, God is in control of everything that happens to us, so we have to praise Him, and He will save us. Truly that is their only hope, as they are not armed and they are not many.
In the midst of this turmoil, we are trying to make progress on the last book of the Old Testament, which happens to be Job, and I have to commend the translators for being able to keep on concentrating (though with much difficulty I am sure). The Lord willing, we hope to finish up the book in the next couple of months, which will mean that the whole Old Testament is complete. Then will come the rechecking of all the books for consistency and any updated expressions. When that is finished, perhaps next year, we need also to do a minor revision of the New Testament, and then will be the publishing of the complete Bible. That goal has been before us for many years, but now it seems to be just about within our grasp. We depend on you, our prayer partners, to continue to uphold this project in your prayers until the end.
At the end of June my present term of service is to end, and I have decided to officially retire, and then, hopefully, return as a volunteer with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be here till the Bible is completed. Pray also that those plans will be guided by the Lord.
I plan to be in the States during July, August, and September, and will be available for speaking in churches during that time. If you would like me to come to speak in your church, you may contact me at the above address, either by email or snail mail, until June. I look forward to visiting as many as possible of the churches who have supported me and the Anuak Translation Project through the years.
One of the Anuak hymns we sang this morning says, in part: “The ground of my life is You, O Lord,” and another one: “He does not sleep, and He does not doze off.” That is a wonderful assurance for them and for all of us, whatever our circumstances.
Yours in Christ’s service,
Marie Lusted
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 51
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