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restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations
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What’s Happening in Ethiopia?
Clinic Provisions: Praise God for His help in supplying the clinic!!! On Tuesday, Oct 7, we loaded up 2,059 pounds of goods! This included medical supplies, solar power equipment, wheelchair/crutches/walkers, teaching tools for the chaplain, an EKG machine, etc. All of this was put onto 3 pallet crates, and started on their journey to Ethiopia. After stops & layovers in 3 airports, the crates will land in Addis Ababa on Monday evening, Oct 20 (next week). Please pray for safety, and that nothing gets lost along the way in these airports.
Then comes the laborious task of getting the crates out of customs. Please pray that God will give us grace and the supplies will be released to the Burji church without a huge customs fee. This process will be done Tuesday, Oct. 21 (& possibly a few days after that).
Then the crates will be loaded onto a truck and driven slowly over narrow/rough roads for about 15 hours to Soyama; this involved traveling about 2 hours on a gravel road thru Guji territory. Please pray for safe travel for both the equipment and the people traveling with the truck.
Ministry Items Purchased: The Burji church leaders are collecting in Addis other items needed for our ministry in November. Two days ago I wired $4,750 to the International Bible Society to pay for 1,280 Bibles! What a glorious ministry this is! Each person receiving one of these Bibles has memorized 9 passages (which we have selected). It will be a great joy for us to personally give these Bibles when we are there in November.
Also, we are purchasing 800 wash basins and 800 bars of soap. These will be given to each woman who attending our hygiene class, learns a Handwashing Catechism, and memorizes 1 John 1:5-9 about the spiritual cleansing that comes from the Lord Jesus.
As we have purchased 35 copies of a commentary (in the Amharic language) on 1 Corinthians. The commentaries will be given to each rural church, the clinic & the Bible school. The rural churches are sending their men into Soyama Town for attend a 4-day Bible Conference on the book of 1 Corinthians; these men will walk many hours on country paths to get to the conference. To qualify for this conference, each man must do the following:
1) read 1 Corinthians twice
2) memorize 1 Cor. 1:18-31 & recite it to a rural church leader
3) memorize the books of the Bible & be able to easily find Scripture passages
4) commit to teach 8 lessons from 1 Corinthians to their congregations within 3 months of the Conference
Wells being dug: The well has been place for the clinic! Praise God!! We hit water at 75 feet and are now putting a hand pump in place. We have identified 5 more rural church sites for continuing this ministry. Our vision is to have a well with continuous Gospel presentation (thru loving word & deed) to the villages in Burji. In November, we will place the solar power for this ministry in 3 of these churches (and already plans are being made to return in May for additional churches).
Ministry Items still needed: As you can see, things are moving fast & furious toward our departure on November 22. All of Burji is a-buzz, all of Rosewood Farm is a-buzz, all of Roxboro, NC is a-buzz…..are you joining us?
We have received funds to pay for many of these things, but we still need to buy the food for the widows and the Bible Conference; we will buy these items when we arrive. We’ve had many supplies donated, but we still need some specialized medical equipment (otoscope, laryngescope, & fetal doplar). A couple churches have hosted a bandage rolling “party” and flannel graph cutting “party.” Everyone on the Team is finalizing their personal ministry preparations. The Burji churches are fasting & praying for the ministry. We’re all before the Throne to ask for His work to be done in the Guji tribe. But we need more prayer…consistent, faithful prayer coming from people who are pure before God.
WHAT A PARTNERSHIP GOD HAS ALLOWED! You…us…Burji church…Alaba church…Gondar church……all for the advancement of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus! May His Cause be realized! May His Name be glorified!
October 13, 2008