GOSPEL
OUTREACH TO ETHIOPIA
WOODWARD PARK CHURCH OF CHRIST
7886 NORTH MILLBROOK
FRESNO, CALIFORNIA
93720
Dear
Brethren and Friends of the Gospel Outreach to Ethiopia,
Enclosed
with this newsletter is a report from Brother Joe Boe concerning his
trip to Ethiopia
and the new Preacher Training
School in Nekemte.
You will be thrilled and encouraged as you read and understand
the importance of this new school in the Western Region.
Pictured here is the student body.
Fifteen of the men are from the country of Sudan.
They are living in Ethiopia
at this time, some live in refugee camps and others are students in
various technical schools. They all speak English very well. Joe taught them for a month. Two other American brethren, Roy Dunavin and
Jack Harriman are there now. Two
of our Ethiopian brethren, Behailu and Alemayehu are also teaching. A normal level one school lasts for three and
one half months in three one month sessions.
A week between each session is given for the men to return to
their home areas to be with their families and to teach at the church
that sent them to the school. However,
in this particular session, classes are being conducted seven days a
week, 8:30 am until bedtime with only short breaks in between
classes and for meals. There are no one week
breaks for home visits. It was
designed to fit into the normal schools “summer vacation” time.
The classes will be completed on September 9th. In Joe’s report he explains how important this
school is for evangelizing the Western Region of Ethiopia
and the nation of Sudan.
In
other news, Behailu is in final stages of discussions with the Southern
Region Government and UNICEF on a well drilling agreement. This will help us provide clean healthy water
to thousands of our members and their neighbors. Brother Shemelis will be moving to Awasa the
first week of September to open the new World
English Institute
Computer Center.
There is a lot of excitement among those who want to enroll in
the school where the gospel will be taught as students learn how to
use a computer. Dr. Jon Ashby
from Abilene Christian
University has been in Ethiopia
teaching our deaf teachers how to do their job better.
He also took many hearing aids for our deaf children.
Our appreciation goes out to Jon for his time and tireless efforts
in helping the deaf kids all over the world.
Thanks
to all of you for your prayers and faithful support.
John Ed Clark
TRIP
REPORT FROM JOE BOE:
My July/August trip was a unique journey
indeed. First, because it was in July and August,
this is the rainy season and we normally cannot travel outside of Addis Ababa during the wet season. However, Nekemte and the Western portion are
blessed with better roads than the South Central portions of Ethiopia and therefore travel is possible during the rainy season.
Second because of the
new preacher training school in Nekemte which had just been finished
prior to my arrival? Well, almost
finished I should say. Thirdly,
we were able to teach in English with out the use of a translator. And, finally, we were able to have this session
dedicated to training Sudanese refugees to preach the Gospel. Although there were 3 Ethiopians in the mix
of 18 students, the majority of the students were Sudanese.
It has been nearly seven years since
we started dreaming of establishing a preacher training school in the
Western Region of Ethiopia. Our
original intent was to train men for both Western
Ethiopia and Sudan. God, being rich
in mercy, has answered our prayers.
Many of you have helped with the work in Ethiopia for years and some of you may be new to this work but
please understand this; because you helped souls will be saved! Your financial help (planting) plus our work
and teaching (watering) God is glorified and gives the increase. Eighteen men made up the student body of the
first class and they are all bright men who have a desire to take the
Gospel to their own people. It
has not been easy but there is nothing worthwhile that is easy now is
there? This preacher training facility in Nekemte has
been well worth all the planning, prayers, giving and effort on all
our behalf’s. Now the school
is a reality and the first graduates will go forth from this place on
September 9, 2003.
Roy Dunavin and Jack Harriman, both
brothers from Fort
Smith, Arkansas, will finish up the teaching in the preacher training
school. We are eternally grateful
for those who sacrifice time and energy to go and equip the students
for the rigors of preaching the Gospel.
Also, we are thankful for the qualified brethren in Ethiopia who work so tirelessly and effectively to help train
their own people and even their neighbors in Sudan. Together, we
can all do a little more to reach the lost even in the remotest parts
of the earth. The more we train
men to preach the more people will have an opportunity to hear and obey
the gospel. What a wonderful work our Father has given us
to do – preaching the Gospel – train others to do the same, and when
it is all said and done we glorify His wisdom and providence for eternity. Sometimes I feel like Moses must have felt when
he told God’s people as they were trapped between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army, “Stand by and see the Salvation of the Lord…”
I was impressed with the depth of the
preacher student’s hunger to know truth and preach it. Each morning we would have a short chapel in
which one of the men would teach with a five minute limit. I was attempting to teach them personal discipline
in their studies, expecting all of them to exceed the time limit.
To my delight not one of them went over the time allotment.
All of them stayed between 4-5 minutes.
Try to get your local preacher to give a 5 minutes sermon! The student body in Nekemte, Ethiopia is a group of men determined to preach no matter what
type of restrictions are placed on them by a foreign teacher. I have no idea what the Lord will do with these
men but I do know we have some marvelous preachers being trained. It was not difficult to see the dedication in
their work, nor their tremendous desire to return home with their new
found abilities and preach the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
to their own people. When I left
Nekemte on the morning of August 8th all of the men made
me promise to thank you for helping them in their training, so – THANK
YOU from the student body of the Nekemte Preacher Training Facility!
In
Him
Joe
Boe
