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July 31, 2008
Hello! This is our last letter from Louisville!
Lora and I are in the middle of a chaos of boxes and trunks, repeatedly stuffing things into suitcases, weighing them, and then re-sorting and re-stuffing. We’ve only lived here for three and one-half years; how did we accumulate so much stuff? U.S. culture is very addictive, we think, and we are lucky to have a chance for some strenuous de-tox treatment.
In June we were commissioned at General Assembly in San Jose, California. It was wonderful to feel the support of the GA, on behalf of the entire church, as they sent us off with prayer. Our daughter Bridget and her partner Nickie timed their marriage so that we could attend, and it was a special privilege and joy to see them finally able to publicly celebrate their love, jointly own property, and freely visit each other in the hospital should it be necessary. Bridget says that they can now celebrate two anniversaries: one for their first, private ceremony of commitment three years ago, and another for this new, official version of the same ceremony.
Bruce in the Beartooth Mountains, Montana. Lora and I then drove a couple thousand miles through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. We said goodbye to all four of our parents, all five of our siblings, and various friends along the way. We enjoyed visits to Oregon’s Crater Lake and the Beartooth Mountains of Montana. It will be a long time before we visit this corner of creation again, and it was like a pilgrimage to visit the people and the wilderness that birthed in us our sense of worship and reverence.
Lora by Lake Michigan, Chicago, We spent most of July in Chicago for orientation. It was like a retreat in a monastery. We had a regular schedule of meals and devotions and study, with subjects ranging from modern mission to security training. We also got to share a lot of time (and walks and ice cream!) with our fellow PC(USA) missionaries who are scattering to the four directions. We are grateful to the World Mission staff for their patience and their care in helping us all feel prepared for new challenges. We will watch the news more carefully now and pray more intentionally for Lithuania, Mexico, Malawi, Poland, Zambia, Korea, Egypt, and Pakistan. Please join us in prayer for our friends (and all mission workers) around the world during this time of travel and transition.
We will fly from Louisville on the morning of August 5 and arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the evening of the sixth. We are thrilled to have the chance to re-experience the bewilderment of entry into a new culture, where we know practically no one and nothing. It’s like being reborn: we will be vulnerable and naïve and totally reliant on our hosts to take care of us.
Let’s take care of some business, OK?
- For information on all things concerning Vanuatu, including needs for donations, updates on current events such as earthquakes or hurricanes, and possibilities for future mission trips, please contact dpwalter@yahoo.com, as regional liaison for the Pacific, continues to nurture the ties that are so precious to us—and to some of you, as well.
- To send us personal letters or church newsletters, please use our new mailing address:
Lora and Bruce Whearty
PO Box 1111
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Please do not send us packages until we find out what the limits are for weight, size, and customs fees; your gift might cost us more than we can afford!
- To contact us by email, please use this address: blwhearty@gmail.com. Please do not send attachments or photos until we find out what our Internet system will handle. We remember a beautiful photo of Montana spring wildflowers, sent by one of our friends who knew that we were homesick, which crashed Vanuatu’s entire Web access for three days!
- To contact Kinsey and Emily, who are living together in an apartment just off the University of Louisville campus, use this address: 1800 South Third Street, Louisville, KY 40208. This coming year will be a big transition for them, too, and they could use your prayer support.
Our favorite Ethiopian children’s story
Once upon a time, in Addis Ababa, there was a rich man. One windy, winter evening he called out, “Servant! Come light a fire!” As the servant arranged the kindling in the fireplace, the rich man muttered, “It’s so cold here in this room! It’s got to be even colder outside, especially up on Mount Entoto above the city. I wonder if anyone could survive staying outside on a night like this. Servant! What do you think?”
The servant shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I suppose a man could survive, even on top of the mountain, but it would be very hard. He’d have to have a good reason to try.”
“So you think you could survive?” the rich man asked. “OK, here’s my challenge: you spend tomorrow night on top of Mount Entoto, with no blanket or coat, without even any clothes at all to protect you, and I’ll release you from my service. I’ll buy you a farm of your very own, and a house, and animals, and everything you’ll need. Do you accept the bet?”
“Well, I guess so,” the servant replied hesitantly, but he didn’t sleep very well that night.
The next morning the servant went to the market place and found an old man, one of the elders of his village, and explained the bet to him. The old man responded, “This is something that you must do by yourself, my son. I cannot climb the mountain with you. But there is one way that I can help. This afternoon I will carry a load of firewood up the little hill across the city from Mount Entoto, and when the sun sets I will light a fire. You will be able to see it, and know that I am watching through the night with you.”
So that evening, the servant climbed Mount Entoto. As the sun set, he took off his clothes and the cold wind swirled around him. Shivering, he looked across the valley, and saw the tiny gleam of the old man’s fire. The servant kept his eyes on the distant fire through the whole night, while the wind whistled and the stars circled around him. When the sun rose, the rich man, sheltered down below, was amazed to see that the servant was still alive. But the servant knew the secret: he hadn’t been alone.
Lora and I thank all of you for being among our supporters, for keeping the light of faith burning in your lives where we can see it. We will rely on your light through the coming dark times of feeling vulnerable and exposed. Perhaps the tiny light of our own fire might encourage you in your ministry as well, since the call to mission is something that we all share, whether on the mountain or in the city, whether in North America or in Africa.
Please hold us in prayer as we enter this new phase of our lives in an attempt to faithfully live out God’s call.
Thank you again for coming alongside us in PC(USA) World Mission.
Love and peace,
Bruce and Lora Whearty
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer &
Study, p. 223 |
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