A letter from Marie Lusted in Ethiopia
February 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Last weekend we took part in the Jubilee Celebration of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, of which we are a part here in Ethiopia. This marks the 50th anniversary of the constituting of the EECMY as a national church body, and at the same time they celebrated the 110th anniversary of the proclamation of the gospel in the west of Ethiopia, starting with the Swedish Evangelical Mission.
Ann Reimer, "Breezy" Lusted, Didumo, Pastor Akway, and Niles Reimer during the two-day celebration at Millennium Hall celebrating older couples in the church and other important milestones.
There were two days of celebration, with a worship service on Sunday held in the huge Millennium Hall, where the highlight was the recognition of a number of couples who had been married for 50 years or more. The oldest Anuak pastor, Pastor Akway Ochudho, and his wife Didumo were among these. At a gala dinner in the evening, three men were awarded honorary doctoral degrees in language development, of which my colleague Niles Reimer was one. During the Saturday program quite a number of missionaries and Ethiopians were recognized for service to the church and awarded medals, and I was honored to be one of them. We praise the Lord for this milestone in the life of this Church, which now counts over five million members, and pray it will continue to be a light in this country.
Anuak Bible translation
The Anuak Bible translation work continues to progress towards completion. As I mentioned in my letter of January 2007, the actual revision of the New Testament was completed in December 2006. In 2007 and 2008 we had three more sessions with the reviewers committee in Gambella and finished that stage in January last year.
It was a bitter-sweet moment to wind up that session with farewells, as well as thanksgiving to God for his help and thanks to the reviewers who had stuck with us for so many years, and who have been a great help to the project. After that, we still had a number of the books to go through the Bible Society's consultant checking, and because he is so busy, it was not easy to work in times when that could be done. It is now nearly finished, as are many other checks that to ensure consistency in spelling, use of names, and parallel passages. Our target date for finishing it all seems to keep getting pushed back, but we are hopeful that in the next couple of months the whole Bible will really be completed and ready to submit to the Bible Society for publishing. Please do remember us in your prayers to that end.
Medical clinics
The two clinics are presently on hold. The young people who were in training as nurses, lab tech, and pharmacist, have finished their training, and are working on a kind of internship in various government facilities, gaining good experience until our clinics can be opened again. That depends on getting the clinics licensed and restocked. Rachel Weller, who was supervising all of this, has had to return to the United States for further education, as she has only an RN, and the government requires a degree for a person to be a clinic coordinator. Please pray also for these clinics to obtain their licenses.
Other activities during the year included singing again with the Motley Singers, a community choir in Addis Ababa, in both the spring and fall (Christmas) concerts. Our director who had led the choir for the last seven years, left in June last year, and so we were not sure if another person would come forward to take her place. But at the last minute, someone volunteered, and we had a successful season, giving four major concerts, one in each of the English-speaking churches and in the German church.
In July, even though we did not have any translation checking to do in Gambella, I did go there for about 10 days to help teach the Bible course that Niles Reimer was giving for women leaders in the different presbyteries of the Anuak Church there. In my class we studied the first three chapters of Ephesians, and it was thrilling to see how some of the women were blessed by the thought that as God's children, we have been “chosen before the foundation of the world.” It was also a time for trying to improve their reading skills, so that they are better able to read the Bible for themselves.
Following the time in Gambella, I took two months of leave to go to the United States to visit family and friends. Thankfully, there were no “surprises” this time (like two years ago when my sister Ruth broke her hip). It was a busy time of traveling, but relaxing as well, with no particular responsibilities, and the joy of seeing all my relatives and many friends.
May this New Year be a blessed and joyful one for you, in whatever it may hold. God has promised that “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). May we all experience that this year!
With Christian love,
Marie/Breezy Lusted
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 35
