March 2005
Dear Friend,
Language study is progressing but is challenging and at times
exhausting. Please continue to pray for me, the student of Amharic,
which is the official language of Ethiopia. Experiences to immerse
myself in the language and the culture include:
- Talking with children.
- Talking with my house-helper, Fantanish, who cares for my
food, clothes and home.
- Assisting with serving meals for six nights to the 400 General
Assembly delegates.
- Attending choir rehearsal and weddings with my new friends
from the dining room.
- Attending church services where the sermon and the music are
in Amharic.
- Shopping and talking with the merchants on the main road near
my apartment.
- Riding the local mini-bus.
- Meeting friends and engaging in conversations using the words
learned to date.
The gospel entered western Ethiopia in 1919, when Dr. Tom Lambie
responded to an invitation from Ras Tefere (who had not yet become
Emperor Haile Selassie). My parents followed in 1921. A young
blind man, Gidada, could be seen begging (the only means of support
for a blind person) every day near the mission. Gidada was invited
to Bible study. When he arrived, he sat down outside the door—beggars
have no status, so he simply took his place. In Gidada Solon’s
autobiography he says, “If there was a god who caused this
man to invite me into his house and then invite me to sit on a
chair, (both first experiences for this blind beggar), then I
want to know more about this God.” He did learn about God
and became the first evangelist for western Ethiopia. He spread
the gospel in the face of witch doctors, the Italians who invaded
Ethiopia, and the Orthodox church which for three years prohibited
Christian worship. He served time in prison, stood trial, and
always answered his accusers with Scripture (he read Braille and
memorized the entire Bible). He was the first missionary to other
tribes who did not speak his own language. His son, Dr. Negaso
Gidada, was president of Ethiopia and remains politically active,
against great odds, today. What if my father, Fred Russell, had
ignored this blind beggar? Is there someone you can invite to
Bible study today?
The anti-AIDS club at the church in Dembi Dollo is made up of
12 people, “just like the disciples,” except there
are four women in this group! Together for about three years,
they perform, teach, and worship together. The drama they presented
was powerful. Here’s what I wrote in my journal:
Two young people plan to marry. He invites her to go to Addis
Ababa to purchase things for the wedding. She refuses. On return
they decide (he reluctantly) to have HIV testing before marriage.
His family is excitedly planning the wedding. Two adult children
(his brother and sister) return from America and Kenya for the
wedding. The parents are so glad to see them and yet scold them
for leaving the country and not sending money back. There is
counseling before and after the HIV test. She is negative and
he is positive. When he shows the results to his family, there
are mixed reactions—the young people cry and wail. The
father says, “no problem, I have money and we will take
him to the hospital and get him cured.” When his sons
tell him there is no cure and his son will die, he faints and
they carry him out. In the final scene the young man is reading
a letter from his fiancé. Her voice over the PA system
says, “You’ve caused a great deal of trouble and
expense but, I promise to love you as a sister, ‘as if
we came from the same womb,’ and I will never marry someone
else while you are alive. I will be your friend, supporting
you at all times. It is a long letter filled with her Christian
response to his dilemma—setting an example for how the
church must respond.
I wept as did my friend and many others in the large chapel.
I followed the young people out and was able to meet them and
pray with them—wow!
Contributions to our ministry may be sent to:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Individual Remittance Processing
PO Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.
Write the title (AIDS Consultant, East Africa) and the ECO number
on the subject line (ECO # 051770) of the check and put it on
your cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter to the
International Health Ministries Office at 100 Witherspoon St.
Louisville, KY 40202-1396.
To give online, click the "give" button below.
Peace!
Dorothy
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
330
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