Holy Week 2004

Dear Friends,

Where in the world are the Wheeler-Waddells?! There have been sightings in Pasadena, California, Menlo Park, Houston, Louisville. Soon and very soon may it be said of them, "We have seen the Wheeler-Waddells in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!"

While that still is a future hope, and God alone knows the future, it is a real hope. We have the paperwork from Worldwide Ministries Division of PC(USA) in Louisville in hand and word that the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in Addis Ababa is applying for work permits, and our plane reservations are in the works. Dr. Debela Birri, the Director of the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST) in Addis Ababa, has worked tirelessly to keep things moving on that end and writes encouraging emails of the expectation of our coming soon to join the staff of EGST.

Started in 1997, EGST is the first graduate theological school in Ethiopia offering masters-level training in systematic theology, biblical studies, and church history. The school is a collaborative effort of the various evangelical churches in Ethiopia and is owned by the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, and the Ethiopian Evangelical Churches Fellowship. The staff come from the supporting churches and there is currently a student body of 60. With many of the students working and involved in ministry, most of the classes are taught at night.

Our plans, Lord willing, are to travel the end of May. We want to arrive back in Ethiopia in time to take the short "refresher" Amharic course offered at the language school in Addis Ababa during June and July. The new school year at EGST gets underway in August or September. So in the midst of language study and preparing for the fall teaching, we will be looking for a place to live and getting settled once again.

We hope to keep our current email address: annejohnet@earthlink.net

From the end of May our mailing address will once again be:

P.O. Box 1111
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

As we have expressed before, we continue to be grateful to God for this unexpected length of time back here in the United States. It has enabled us to come near to completing our doctor of ministry degrees. (We are in the throes of writing our final projects as we begin to pack.) Our extended time here has provided the opportunity to visit with many of our supporting churches. (We regret we didn't make it to the Northeast. We haven't forgotten them.) We also are grateful for the year and a half we spent in Louisville as missionaries in residence with the mission personnel office. We gained an understanding of the workings of the offices there and a deeper appreciation of our colleagues living and working around the world. This has been an important time to be near family with the passing of Anne's mother, the welcoming of our first grandnephew, and other transitions of family life.

We are so grateful to those of you who have stood with us in support and prayer as we have waited for God's timing in our return to Ethiopia. We have such a tremendous sense of God's loving care. We return more convinced than ever of our need to be joined in prayer with others as we live out God's calling.

May God's love surround you and uphold you as well,

Anne & John Wheeler-Waddell
In transition once again

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 51