A letter from Marie Lusted in Ethiopia
January 6, 2007
Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift.
2 Corinthians 9:15
Dear Family and Friends,
Tomorrow we will be celebrating our second Christmas with the Ethiopian people, who follow the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian, and it is also the day celebrated by most Eastern Orthodox churches. The Anuak congregation with which I am connected here in Addis Ababa will have the usual Sunday morning service. It’ll be followed in the afternoon by a big feast for which they have collected contributions from everyone to buy meat and vegetables and which they will cook into delicious stews. This is always a happy time, when everyone gets together, even many who do not attend the church services.
Unfortunately, again this year the celebration is somewhat dampened by news of further arrests and beatings of several educated Anuak men in Gambella, among whom is one of the church leaders. So far no accusations have been made. We would appreciate your prayers for these men and for all the Anuaks as they face this new threat, and who have no way of knowing what will follow.
Meanwhile, there are a number of groups in the States who are anxious to help in whatever way they can. One big need is for the care of orphan children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS or the massacre three years ago. One group has opened an orphanage for 20 children on the church compound in Gambella, having chosen these from around 100 children who have been identified as needing help. These children are truly destitute, having no known relatives. Until now, they have been cared for by kind neighbors or friends. Next month, another group will begin helping other orphans by giving support for them to continue to live with relatives, who sometimes have 10 to 15 extra children to feed, clothe, and shelter. They also want to begin helping widows to start their own businesses with help from a micro-finance program. These things can all be very good for the women and children, if they can be set up and managed well, and we are thankful for the concern of these groups. No doubt they will face many challenges and would appreciate your prayers.
Now I come to the good news from the Bible translation project. In the last week of December, we completed the revision of the last book of the New Testament. This is a big milestone. It has taken us about two years to make this revision, and we are thankful for those of you who have prayed for us faithfully, as the Lord has seen us through many "dangers, toils, and snares." Truly His grace is amazing! Now we must check the rest of the New Testament books with the reviewers committee, still 22 of the 27 books to go! We expect to check three of these in the next three weeks, for which the team and I will be going to Gambella. The revised plan for finishing everything calls for text checking throughout 2007, and then submitting the whole Bible to the Bible Society for publication in 2008. Please pray with us for the accomplishment of this goal.
Another special event took place here last April, which was the 50th anniversary of my arrival in Ethiopia. There was a nice celebration with the Anuak community in our neighborhood, and later on a reception at the Bethel Synod’s guest house across town. I am continually awed to think that I have really been here so long, and had no idea, back then, that I would spend 50 years here. The Lord has been very gracious to me, and I am thankful.
I should mention the two clinics in the Anuak area, even though I am not directly involved with them now. There are four men and one young woman in training here in Addis Ababa, three as nurses, one in laboratory, and one in pharmacy. We hope that they will staff these two clinics when they finish their training. Please pray for them, and also that a way be found to offer them salaries high enough to motivate them to stay with the church, rather than joining the government health system for better pay.
I have taken two trips away from Ethiopia this year. The first was in April when I met my long-time friends Jim and Ellie Jewell in Zambia for a most enjoyable week visiting the South Luangua Game Park. We saw many animals and enjoyed very nice accommodations.
The second was a visit to my family in the United States from mid-August to mid-October, an enjoyable time, but rather different from the usual due to an unforeseen event. My sister Ruth and I started out on a trip from her home in North Carolina, aiming to end up in Cleveland, but when we reached the home of our friends Lois and Janice Anderson in York, Pennsylvania, Ruth fell in their apartment and fractured her hip, so she spent some time in the hospital and rehab, and I spent the time with our friends, who were most gracious. From then on I was the driver of Ruth's car, and we were able eventually to get back to her home, and then down to Florida to spend some days with our other sister Anita and her daughter before I had to return to Ethiopia. Initially, Ruth recovered quickly, but she is now having a lot of pain in her hip and must use a walker. We trust that it will heal completely in time.
As we enter the New Year I wish you all a very happy and blessed year, and I remind us all of God's promise to us in Jeremiah 29:11 that "I know the plans I have for you … plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope."
With Christian love,
Breezy
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 329
