For several years the West Gambella Bethel Synod President, Rev. James Gadet Tang, has requested help from donor partners to raise funds to replace their aging vehicle. Their vehicle was purchased in 2006 and has completed nearly 500,000 kilometers (more than 300,000 miles).
Read MoreThe Outreach Foundation works closely with the Pastoral and Outreach Ministries Council of the Synod of the Nile in Egypt (POMC). Rev. Manassa Nesem serves as the Executive Manager of POMC and shared the following information about how refugees in Sudan are being aided by brothers and sisters in Egypt:
Political conflicts erupted over the reigns of power in northern Sudan between two leaders of the Sudanese army, which led to an increase in the frequency of skirmishes and resulted in a fierce internal war. These conflicts started on April 15 and continue. The repercussions of these events have created problems in all aspects of life in northern Sudan. As a result, there is a lack of food, water, and means of communication; moreover, several reports have included a large number of civilian deaths.
Read MoreIn June, I met an incredible doctor by the name of Thomas Donguande in Juba, South Sudan. Dr. Donguande was born in Africa and has spent a great deal of life in Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda. For the last several years he has served as a general practice medical doctor in South Sudan.
Read MoreNearly 400,000 people live in six United Nations Refugee Camps in western Ethiopia near the border with Sudan and South Sudan. People have been in the camps since the 2013 civil war in Sudan, UN average stay is 20 years.
The Outreach Foundation has worked in the camps for years. Most recently, with the help of our donors, we provided 20,000 Bibles in the Nuer language for people in the camps.
Read MoreThe Nuer Christian Youth Network for Peace and Development (NCYNPD) is a church-affiliated youth association formed in 2008 by a group of young Christians in Gambella, Ethiopia. It was formed to revitalize the faith of young Nuer Christians, encourage them to live a life of Christ-likeness and be able to transform others to live in peace and harmony with one another as good disciples of the Lord Jesus. The organization has conducted several spiritual conferences across the Nuer community in Ethiopia and South Sudan. This year, the NCYNPD conducted its 15th annual conference in Akobo, South Sudan with the theme “Peace and Restoration for the Akobo Community.” It is with deep gratitude that we acknowledge the gift of The Outreach Foundation, which made this significant conference possible.
Read MoreDear friends,
Praise God!
Our order of 5,000 Bibles in the Nuer language which were printed in South Korea and delivered to Gambella, Ethiopia has now been distributed to South Sudanese refugees throughout the region. You may recall that an appeal was made in 2019 and 2020 to raise funds for this project as a priority of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, an Outreach Foundation Partner. Despite the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic, $35,000 was raised from faithful supporters on 3 continents to procure and ship the 5,000 Bibles in the Nuer Language for distribution among the 400,000+ refugees in camps in Ethiopia. And the Bible Society of Ethiopia gave a gift of an additional 600 Bibles. There were delays in the shipping process and travel that heightened the anticipation and excitement around the delivery. During my visit in June, I had the joy of celebrating the delivery in Presbyterian congregations in three refugee camps. The Christians were so thankful to all who gave to this project. This Nuer Bible appeal, together with an earlier distribution of 7,500 Nuer Bibles in 2017, is a blessing to so many. They are eager to receive more Bibles for new believers and The Outreach Foundation will maintain the account for contributions. The cost of one Bible (for orders of 5,000 or more), and distribution is approximately $7.50.
Read MoreDear friends,
It is September, and I have been back from my trip to Kenya/Ethiopia/South Sudan since the middle of July! In that time, we have welcomed two new grandchildren and navigated through six family members getting the Coronavirus. Nancy was with them, to help out, and experienced a breakthrough COVID infection herself. She stayed in Illinois under quarantine. All are now out of quarantine, recovering and we are so thankful for God’s mercy. NOW, I am able to tell you about the trip, which you made possible through your prayers and support!
As you know, we were all concerned about the risks of travel this summer, but the Lord confirmed the “rightness” of the trip and the timing, over and over again. Yes, it was tricky and stressful, trying to time COVID tests (and their results) to meet various border crossing requirements. But, even so, I was able to navigate through (sometimes at the 11th hour, or through the grace of an airport manager) and keep to the closely timed schedule. Truly amazing!
Read MoreIn this broken world, 1 out of every 95 people has been forced to flee their home---and many cannot go back. Let that sink in….
In round numbers, lives displaced by manmade disasters (like war) or natural ones (like volcanoes) are 82.4 million: that is slightly less than the entire population of Germany…. or more than 4 times the population of the Netherlands. Need to bring that a bit closer to home? Think the citizens of California + Texas + Ohio running for their lives.
Some flee to other parts of their own country---we call them “displaced.” If they cross borders, they become “refugees.” Within both groups, 50% are children.
Read MoreDear friends and supporters,
One of the great things about reading Scripture is that you may have read a passage many times before, but in reading it again, there is a word or a phrase or a thought that takes on new meaning. Just this week, I was reading Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
For some reason, these words jumped off the page at me. The knowledge that He is present with us, He is “mighty to save,” that he delights and quiets and rejoices over us, is really overwhelming. Unconditional love. No strings attached. How can our response be anything but obedience and love for Him by loving others? These thoughts made me so appreciative of The Outreach Foundation, a vehicle for that obedience and love for others, and for you, our friends and supporters. Thank you for letting me be a part of this good and godly work with you.
Our partners in Africa continue to be faithful in their efforts to feed, clothe and disciple their congregants, and others in their spheres of influence, even with the challenges of pandemic restrictions.
Read MoreDear friends and supporters,
John Jock Gatwech is the coordinator for education in the South Sudanese refugee camps in western Ethiopia. Using public transport and the bicycle provided by Outreach, he supervises 20 preschools in the six camps in the Gambella region. Four of the camps are within about 30 miles of Gambella Town. The other two are about 70 miles in the opposite direction! During his monthly visits, he supervises teachers, encourages students, and assists the trauma healing groups (established and supported by The Outreach Foundation since 2017). John has also helped establish 43 centers for adult learning in the camps – teaching basic literacy and the Bible.
Read MoreDear friends,
I trust that you and your loved ones are healthy and that the Outreach staff has adjusted to the challenges and limitations of promoting global mission during this season of life with COVID-19. Rachel and I are living in Norfolk, VA with our daughter.
We continue as mission co-workers for the Presbyterian Mission Agency. We participate in weekly meetings with our fellow mission co-workers. One of the conversation points that came up was how will PCUSA decide when to redeploy us. Africa is at the beginning point of this pandemic and World Mission will need to interpret the situation and develop the criteria for sending mission staff back.
Read MoreIn October I had the privilege of delivering the World Communion Sunday message at my ‘home church’ North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. It provided a great opportunity to share about Outreach’s ministry with refugees from South Sudan. I also joined Nancy Fox, Juan Sarmiento and Jeff Ritchie at the Connecting Mission Leaders Conference in Minneapolis. The conference was hosted by The Outreach Foundation and Frontier Fellowship and was an occasion for networking with mission leaders and sister organizations. I traveled to Kenya and Ethiopia during November. It was exciting to collect the initial printing of 200 trauma healing books printed in the Nuer language. I carried 50 with me to Gambella, Ethiopia, to distribute among those trained and actively involved in trauma healing
Read MoreDear 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.
Read MoreDuring a recent trip to Africa, I was thankful for the opportunity to visit Jimma, Ethiopia, to get caught up on progress with the Ginjo Guduru Bethel Mekane Yesus Church, or, as it is often called, the Jimma University Church.
Work on the physical structure has proceeded gradually, moving forward when the congregation has had funds for construction, see photo at top of page. They have continued to prioritize their outreach efforts or “prayer houses,” and funds that they might otherwise have used on their own building they have used to help newly formed congregations purchase land. I love their passion for reaching out.
Read MoreWaqtola Cheneke Gebisa, pictured here, has served as the vice chair for Jimma Ginjo Guduru Bethel Mekane Yesus Church for the past two years, and he continues to serve as an elder. Currently, he is also serving as the vice chair for Jimma Presbytery. He is an assistant professor at the School of Medical Laboratory Sciences at Jimma University. Waqtola recently sent this update on his congregation’s ministry and building program.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Peace and grace be to you!! I thank you very much for your email and concern about our church. I know that you are always praying for us, thank you very much. On Sundays there are usually more than 2,500 people gathering for worship in our congregation, which is still using our old church building.
Read MoreBackground of the Ministry
The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) launched University Student Ministry in the early 1960s. Since the beginning, the focus of the ministry has been on making students disciples of Christ regardless of their denominational affiliation. After the fall of the communist regime in Ethiopia, the Church established her own University Student Ministry at the national level under the Department for Mission and Theology of the Church.
A Brief Activity Report
Even though Ethiopia has been under a state of emergency for the past two years, USM has tried hard to reach students at their various campuses. Many campuses are now centers of political instability. However, the unrest hasn’t stopped the students from holding their spiritual gatherings.
The project, “Rebuilding Hope in South Sudan,” has a number of on-the-ground partners. This project update comes from Mr. John Jock Gatwech, Coordinator for the Education Ministries of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan in the refugee camps in Ethiopia. Thank you, brother John Jock, for this report and for all the work you do.
Jeff Ritchie, Mission Advocate, The Outreach Foundation
From November 22-24 of last year, I accompanied Dr. Frank Dimmock, The Outreach Foundation’s Mission Specialist for Africa, the Rev. Stephen Pal Kun, Coordinator of Ministries for the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan (PCOSS) in the refugee camps in Ethiopia, and the Rev. James Gatdet Tang, President of the Western Gambella Bethel Synod of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, on a visit to PCOSS Schools in the refugee camps in the Gambella Region of Ethiopia. Over a three-day period we covered the six camps – Kule, Tierkidi, Nguenyiel, Jewi, Pugnido One and Pugnido Two. In each place we were received with great joy and enthusiastic singing by the children of the preschools we visited.
Read MoreDear 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.
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