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October 1999
Dear Friends,
Greetings of love to each of you. I trust that you are blessed
daily by our Lord who came to give us life abundantly. Last June
as I prepared to leave school a few weeks early, I felt excitement
and some apprehension over my upcoming furlough. Where would I
live? How could I manage without a car? Where would my travels
take me? What should I say to best convey the word of God's Spirit
in this land? But as always, God made the uncertainties clear.
And with deep gratitude, I found my dear 89-year-old mother doing
remarkably well living independently in her beautiful retirement
home. I spent brief but quality time with sisters, brothers and
their families. And I enjoyed to the fullest the festivities and
family fun which revolved around the wedding of a beloved niece.
Every minute was precious.
The same can be said about the numerous visits with congregations
scattered from South Carolina to Pennsylvania. Such warmth of
welcome, depth of friendship, acceptance, interest and concern
for another member of the Body of Christ are beyond measure. I
can only say a genuine word of thanks to everyone who had a part
in making the summer's itineration and interpretation happen.
The story of the Bethel Mekane Yesus Church and its related high
school, the Bethel Evangelical Secondary School (BESS), is a story
of God's creative and sustaining power. It is a story of Jesus
taking several loaves of bread and a few fish and feeding thousands.
It is a story that should be told, and I am privileged to be one
of the storytellers. Now I want to thank you for the opportunities
you gave me. The support given by you and many others enables
this school to provide an excellent academic program, as well
as vocational skills courses to some340 students each year. The
diligence with which they pursue their studies is worthy of praise.
The willing spirit they demonstrate in helping to maintain the
school's corn and sorghum fields as well as the thousands of coffee
tree is also noteworthy. And in the realm of the Spirit, it is
a twelfth-grader named Gemechu Zekarias who, for me, symbolizes
the many who quietly and consistently live out their faith in
Christ.
At the end of August I prepared to leave the United States and
return to Ethiopia. Again I felt excitement and some apprehension
anticipating another year at the same relentless pace. Committee
meetings with other staff members or students are a regular part
of the routine. Stacks of exercise books and writing assignments
are always on and around my desk. Clubs, labor education, Bible
studies, chapel talks, game nights, etc. all keep marching up
and passing by in a steady rhythm. And for me, living with a 104
boarding girls and boys, the knocks on my door seldom let up.
This, however, is the essence of "community" in which
we 15 staff members and dorm students are privileged to live.
The happiness, harmony and peace are what graduates remember after
they leave. It's what satisfies us adults, draws us back, keeps
us at our posts. None embodies this more that Obbo (Mr.) Asefa,
the director of BESS. His singleness of purpose, persistence against
great odds, and faith in action exemplify the life of Christ.
Humanly speaking, he is the cohesive force that binds this community
together and gives us direction. But as the sign at our gate says:
This is BESS, Where Christ Directs Learning.
Pray for us staff members—thirteen Ethiopian men and women
generally give their best to their students in their chosen fields,
two single women from the Finnish Lutheran Mission who provide
excellent instruction in biology and chemistry, and two Americans
with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who teach English, home
economics, serve as librarian, etc.
- Pray that we may be effective instruments in the hands of
Jesus to mold and shape young lives for His service.
- Pray for the students that they may go out into Ethiopian
society willing to address the problems there rather than seek
their own benefits.
- Pray for peaceful solution to the war between Ethiopia and
Eritrea.
- Pray for the Church as it seeks to be God's voice in the midst
of turmoil and strife.
Cordially,
Jo Ann Griffith
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