February 1999

Dear Friends,

One of the passages in today's lectionary readings in the 1999 Mission Yearbook for Study & Prayer is Psalm 90. On the day that you receive this prayer/newsletter, will you take time to read this prayer of Moses? His request for a heart of wisdom, his plea to the Lord for pity, and his closing supplication that the work of his hands be established are all mine. Anyone living in Ethiopia today needs to drink deeply of the Living Water. The conflict with Eritrea is intensifying as both sides continue to issue vthreats and refuse to come to a peace agreement. From the political to the economic, our free market is surely benefitting the "haves," if expensive jackets and shoes on the youth of this land are any indication. But the "have nots" are just as poor as ever, and the number of outstretched hands is increasing rapidly, along with the population. Within the fast-growing Mekane Yesus Church that we Presbyterians partner with, the deep problem of dependence caused by the donations of huge sums of money from European churches continues. The effects of greed for material things touch our lives daily as they weaken the spiritual life of the Church.

I returned yesterday from a week of semester break in Addis Ababa. This is the only vacation in our ten months school year, the first since September 14 and the last until July 7. It came, therefore, as a wonderful respite for my colleagues and me here at Bethel Evangelical Secondary School (BESS). We were able to take care of personal business matters and worship in the beautiful International Church. But visiting with friends is what makes the trip special, and for a teacher it's talking with former students who are in the university or who are now established in their profession. Can you imagine the joy of sitting in a little tea and doughnut shop with tall, handsome Ares, now a pharmacist, and hearing him say, "Do you remember the day that you and I, just the two of us, walked to church together? I was just a little kid and you took my hand and told me things which I'm not going to tell you now. But someday I'm coming to visit you at BESS and then I'll tell you, and you are going to be amazed." What good laughs we had. Again and again our cups are filled by God's goodness to those who have been a part of the experience and training here at this school.

January 14 was a joy-filled day as some two thousand delegated members of the Bethel Synod and guests from other synods met to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the declaration of the gospel in this area of western Ethiopia. We sat in a large tent just outside the first place that Dr. Thomas Lembie worshiped in when he arrived in Dembi Dollo back in 1919. More than two-hundred women and youth from six choirs marched down the aisle, followed by the old and new pastors and all the dignitaries. Eighty of us were given candles to light from each other and give away out in the congregation of believers. Those who spoke wove a beautiful tapestry of God's love and care for the people of this region as they intertwined their stories of individuals and denominations who were used to bring the light of the gospel into the darkness. The Spirit touched our hearts as we heard again this wonderful account and felt the responsibility on us to carry on this witness today and tomorrow.

Second semester begins tomorrow. School fees must be received and text books reissued. Ninety-six boarding students will take up their much-sought-after places in the two dorms. By Tuesday, we'll be in full swing, and the relentless pace that I've mentioned before will have begun. The major event less than a month away is something called "An Exchange of Experience." Two-hundred school directors, teachers and other personnel from the secondary schools of this district will come for three days of observation. It's unusual for a private school to be chosen for this experience over a government school. They want to see what makes us tick. The answer is not difficult: God's graciousness and a lot of hard work. It's going to take just that to show them how we succeed, not with walls filled with graphs and black paint moving up and down but with demonstrations of teaching in the classrooms and labs, lesson plans duplicated and distributed, etc. And again, as with the recent anniversary program, God will enable us to do it.

By mid-March the matriculation week will be upon us and our 12th graders will file into the chapel, our testing hall, to take their Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate Exams. This event is always preceded by our traditional School Day Out and followed by the 11th graders feast for the graduates. In the busyness of these days, we dare not neglect the claims of Christ for discipleship. Please pray earnestly that my life will be effective in bringing others to Christ.

Cordially,

Jo Ann Griffith