April 27, 2007

Greetings,

We greet you with a late “happy Easter!” As we share our news and prayer requests, please know that we want to hear from you also! Send us a newsletter about what you, your school or your church is currently up to. What are your joys and struggles? How can our community pray for you? Many of you have told us that you are praying for Bethel Evangelical Secondary School and for us, so let us turn that in the other direction. Send us your questions, your news, and your prayer requests, and we will pass them on to the church here and our teachers’ Bible study for prayer. The Bible says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective,” and there are some very mature Christians here! Imagine someone in a Bible study group here in this rural and remote corner of Ethiopia, praying for the needs of your community or church. The body of Christ is not big, it is huge!

If you’re interested in hearing more about BESS (the secondary school where Janelle teaches) or BYES (the elementary school which we also try to serve) or about our day to day life, there are four ways to hear from us (1) this newsletter, which is mailed three times a year (2) request a copy of the BESS Bulletin and BYES Bulletin (once a year) (3) subscribe to our monthly newsletters, which are also posted on our home page (4) give us a call. Our phone number from the United States or Canada is: 011 251 57 555 1611.

We are beginning to plan for our interpretation assignment in the spring and summer of 2008. We would love to come and speak at your church about the work of BESS and our partner church, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, in Dembi Dollo and western Ethiopia. If you are interested, please let us know right away so we can begin to schedule our time and travel arrangements. We have a strong support area along the East Coast, particularly in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but we also want to establish relationships with churches on the West Coast, where we come from. If you can help us spread the word about our desire to speak in churches in your area, particularly in PC(USA) congregations, we would greatly appreciate it.

We celebrated Easter two weeks ago and enjoyed being part of the community’s joy in embracing our Lord’s resurrection. On Thursday, many dedicated students participated in a drama that Mike worked with the students at BESS to produce. It was similar to the Stations of the Cross which the Roman Catholic Church uses to prepare congregants for Easter. At each scene, different passages of the gospel leading to Christ’s death and resurrection were read. Then the narrator asked the audience an introspective question, such as: “Lord, as Pilate did, have I given in to the demands of the masses? Have I surrendered to what is right for what is popular? Have I handed you over in my life?” Working with the students on this was a great experience, and it was moving to hear an “ahh” in the audience upon the revelation of the empty tomb on the stage.

On Good Friday, our neighbors invited us for porridge, which is a traditional food for mourning (and a local reflection on the death of Jesus). Promptly at 5:00 a.m. on Easter Sunday, we were awakened by the blast of loudspeakers for the BESS sunrise service (the sun doesn’t rise until 6:30), which was celebrated on the basketball court in front of our house! The church service, which was held later, was packed, and over 20 babies were baptized, as well as three BESS students. During the afternoon we had a nice mix of our own Easter traditions (Carolee was very quick at finding the eggs in the backyard with her friends) and the traditions of our neighbors, which included a lot of visiting and eating. Wow, we were full at the end of that day! Even though Easter was only one day, the festivities continued. Later that week, the students celebrated the baptisms and the more than 40 first Communion recipients with singing, soft drinks, and cake.

Together with the Meshangir community and the staff in the Development Office, Mike has been planning for future work with the two Meshangir communities that the Western Wollega Bethel Synod (WWBS) works with. The Meshangir community in Ula-Wata now has enough experience in basic agriculture to learn livestock management and more involved resource budgeting and management skills. Thanks to a grant from the Presbyterian Hunger Program, WWMS is starting a three-year program with the Meshangir Community in Dali Sadi to do the basic agricultural skills training that the Synod did earlier with in Ula-Wata. Some of the more experienced Ula-Wata Meshangir residents will help do the training, a great sharing of skills from within!

Thank you for all your prayers and well-wishes. God provides for us daily! Carolee continues to grow smarter and taller every day. She is a joy for us, and we are amazed that she will soon be 3! We send our greetings from our family to yours.

Prayer requests

• God’s guidance in all areas of our life and actions.
• Students facing their national exams (June 20-29) as their future hangs in the balance.
• More freedom of speech and increased empowerment of the people.
• Peace in various strained relationships (border between Ethiopia and Somalia, Muslim and Christian relationships, and ethnic tensions).

Janelle and Mike McCarty

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 329