Partner Updates

Dear friends and supporters,

Yes, it’s been too long! We've been to the States and back, maybe a couple times since we wrote last. We were there briefly a year ago for the wedding of our son, Thomas, and to meet our newest grandson (Brian's third). And then we were there in the summer for about three months for Interpretation Assignment.

Politically, a lot has happened in Ethiopia in the past two years. The good news is that a new Prime Minister was appointed in March. Dr. Abiy Ahmed is a committed Christian, having learned the faith through the witness of his mother, a member of our partner church, EECMY. His father is a Muslim. Dr. Abiy is the first Oromo Prime Minister, though the Oromo are the largest single ethnic group in Ethiopia. Most importantly, Dr. Abiy is a man of peace and unity. He spent his first months visiting each region and pointing out how each ethnic group in the country is a part of Ethiopia. He asked people to forgive each other and to work towards building peace.

Dear friends,

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve written. Truth: We’ve been arguing about who is going to write this one. Since February, Michael has been officially “only a teacher.” I think that means he has time to write a newsletter. He doesn’t think he has anything to say! So, we argue (silently) instead of write.

We’ve been mostly together since February, a significant life-change for us. A good change. Michael spent the winter and spring months (northern hemisphere – we don’t have those seasons here) “just teaching” at the two EECMY Bible Schools in Gambella. He learned a lot in those months. Neither school is functioning at top quality. Most of the students are not prepared to be studying at the level in which they are studying. He was teaching in English; many of the students cannot understand simple English. He learned that he speaks “difficult English.” He also learned that people do a lot of comparing of the two of us – especially in our ability to communicate. He hasn’t been living in Gambella as much as I have and so hears a lot less Nuer than I do and speaks it less than I do. Africans have no taboo against saying, “She is much better than you are.” Being “just a teacher” has proven to be more difficult than he imagined.