Ethiopia, continued
Lora and Bruce Whearty are the newest PC(USA) mission workers in Ethiopia.
Lora and Bruce Whearty served as PC(USA) mission co-workers for five years in Vanuatu, a remote island nation in the South Pacific. They served as missionaries-in-residence in the PC(USA) World Mission offices from 2005 through June 2008 while their daughters, Kinsey and Emily, finished high school and Bruce worked on a Ph.D. in education. While Bruce and Lora serve in Ethiopia, Kinsey and Emily attend college in the United States.
The Wheartys live and work in Addis Ababa on the campus of a girls’ school run by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church MekaneYesus (EECMY), the long-time partner church of PC(USA). Lora teaches English and Bruce works with mentoring and training teachers.
Lora and Bruce are thrilled to teach young women in Africa because girls have fewer educational opportunities than boys. Girls’ education is often seen as less important than for boys, and they are more likely to be kept home from school to look after younger children and help with housework. The literacy rate for girls in Ethiopia is only 20 percent, less than half that of boys, and fewer than 1 percent of college teachers are female. The joint effort of the PC(USA) and the EECMY to lift the educational levels of women is an outreach to the marginalized, mirroring the compassion that Jesus showed for women in his ministry.
Education as a whole in Ethiopia is also a challenge. Only about one-fourth of school-aged children in attend school. The overall literacy for the nation is only about 30 percent and the average student/teacher ratio is 42:1. We rejoice that the EECMY has asked PC(USA) to help educate new teachers, especially for the women of the nation.
Partners/Ministries
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY): Rev. Iteffa Gobena, president, Rev. Dr. Wakeseyoum Idossa, general secretary
Illubabor Bethel Synod: Rev. Yadeta Kirita, president
Eastern Gambella Bethel Synod: Ato Adak Ujulu, president
Southwest Bethel Synod: Rev. Ato Petros Tsanu, president
Western Gambella Bethel Synod: Rev. Matthew Doleak, president
Western Wollega Bethel Synod: Rev. Worati Galacha, president
Bethel Mekane Yesus School: Rev. Ato Teferi Teressa, director
Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology: Dr. Desta Heliso, president
Bethel Synod Coordination Office: Rev. Teferi Berkessa, coordinator
Bethel Evangelical Secondary School: Ato Abebe Muse, director
Berhane Yesus Elementary School: Ato Amanuel Tesfaye, president
Presbytery Partnerships
Presbytery of Shenandoah, Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley, and Washington Presbytery with the EECMY
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Keith Brooks, GAC
Analise Brown, GAC
Anita Brown, GAC
Dear God, thank you for the EECMY’s commitment to honor the needs of Ethiopian girls and women. We ask that you would continually refresh and empower the EECMY and the Wheartys as they serve you. Amen.
Ps. 96, 147:1–11 Ps. 132, 134
Isa. 52:13–53:12
Gal. 4:21–31; Mark 8:11–26
|
