September 11, 2005

Happy New Year!

It is Sunday. I’m sitting at my dining room table in a house that I’ll probably call home for the next three years. Outside, my neighborhood, called the “Bole-Homes” area, and the greater city of Addis Ababa is coming alive with the celebratory sounds of New Year’s Day. Yes, in Ethiopia, which follows the Gregorian calendar rather then our own Julian, I am fortunate enough to celebrate two New Year’s. And, depending on my desire to be older, or younger, I choose which calendar to go by. In our own calendar system, I am 33. However, today, for all those celebrating Ethiopian New Year, it is 1998, and I’m pretending to be 26.

The year 1998 holds some significance to me aside from my having been a few years younger. Although not the first time I traveled to Ethiopia, 1998 was the year that my formal service with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) began, as a volunteer in mission. Early that year I became a social work advisor to the Gore Bethel Home for Children. I remained in that position for five years. Over the course of these years, what my eyes observed, ears heard, and heart felt, left me with many difficult and persisting questions.

At the same time, why was the government mobilizing and strengthening its military to be sent off to the northern border with Eritrea for war? A war, which by its declared end, cost the lives of an estimated 100,000 men and women, led to the displacement of half a million, and resulted in another wave of physically scarred and emotionally and psychologically traumatized human beings.

In the midst of this, the rise of ethnic nationalism further fractured an already polarized society. This increased the difficulty for the peoples of Ethiopia to come together and genuinely address the multiplicity of social, economic, and political concerns. I don’t recount all this in order to paint a bleak image of a marvelous country. It is simply to explain the impetus for a change in my own thinking. My frustration came, when I saw my work wrapped in a responsive or reactionary model. While I recognize the need of responding appropriately to immediate problems afflicting individuals and communities, response models are insufficient to address core or root causes. I was wearing down emotionally and spiritually. I came to believe that my contribution, though not insignificant was insufficient.

With these questions in my heart, in December 2002, I returned to the Shenandoah Valley of the United States and began a graduate program at Eastern Mennonite University. For more than the past two years, I have studied and wrestled with the concepts of conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and restorative justice. I did so with colleagues from all over the globe, representing the diversity in culture, language, faith, and worldviews found amongst us in this remarkable creation. The learning and community-building process was facilitated by a knowledgeable, personable, and highly committed faculty and staff. Being theorists and practitioners, the faculty gave the learning process breath and made it come to life. It was truly an academic as well as a personally nurturing community.

So now, having first arrived in 1998 in our own Julian calendar, I find myself once again joyfully residing in Ethiopia. This time, the year is 1998 according to the Gregorian calendar. I am still thirty-three, but offered another start and another opportunity to learn, develop and contribute. I am deeply grateful to the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and its Peace Commission Office for inviting me to join them at the EECMY denominational headquarters in Addis Ababa. I am thankful to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Worldwide Ministries Division for believing in this call and embracing me back into their community of mission co-worker personnel. My heart and soul cry out in praise to God for showing me this path and providing the necessary people and systems of support along the way in my time of preparation and waiting for this new chapter to begin.

Please visit my Web page at the Mission Connections Web site where you will find my periodic newsletters and reflections. On my Web page this month, I have included a brief report detailing the 2005 International Day of Prayer for Peace.

In service,

Brian C. Gilchrest