Category: Mission

August 14th, 2007

Dear Peter,

By the time you are reading this, it will be near the end of the year 2007.  This was written by yourself to remind you to keep the flame going about what God has shown you in Ethiopia.

You’ve met wonderful people, both missionaries and locals, who love Christ with all their lives.  You met Mike and Janelle, who have a daughter together coming up on their end of 3 year commitment as missionaries.  They shared on just great things that God has been doing in Gambela.  You met Rachel and Mike who have strongly encouraged long-term commitments.  Rachel is a second-generation missionary serving as a nurse.  She also wanted to connect with the Korean hospital in the area (Myungsung Christian Medical Center) as they will be raising a nurse school soon.  Rachel also showed you a new light onto the mission field by breaking the typical mission field perspective with an awesome news: as China has been sending lots of construction workers to Africa to build roads and buildings, those that come down to countries like Kenya and others learn about Christ through other African Christians, accept Christ, and return to China as missionaries!  That is such a crazy idea that it can only be God to work in such amazing and unexpected way!  God is truly awesome!

You also met up with Dr. Rob Weingartner, the CEO of The Outreach Foundation.  He and his wife shared about seeing how God works in Ethiopia.  The local Evangelicals are beyond our levels of excitement.  When they plant a new church, almost simultaneously, they create at least two “preaching points”.  These are places at least an hour’s walk away from the new church where they start preaching.  This Evangelical church (aka. Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Mekane Yesus) movement that started with about 5000 members back in the ‘50s are now flourishing at over 5 million!  They are getting so much bigger now that they started a missions organization.  You see, 4 out of 5 neighboring countries are Muslim countries (Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, and Djibouti).  These people started the outreach with two models in mind:  education and health.  They would go out and teach the locals how to read, and give health treatments.  After establishing great relationship, they would request the local government to build a church.  Most likely, the request would be turned down.  However, the locals usually end up standing on their behalf and the cause for their argument is, “You (government) haven’t done anything for us.  These (Christians) people have come to help us read and make us get better.  Leave them be and let them build their church.”  Praise God indeed.

Ethiopia is becoming a great country of Christ and becoming the “new Korea” in terms of spiritual inheritance.  As we saw God’s working, we also got our first-hand look at how HIV is tearing this country apart.  Even though Ethiopia is #2 in deaths and orphans due to AIDS/HIV, there’s still very much heavy stigma in the country.  However, there are people like Rev. Ayano (preacher against HIV/AIDS stigma), Meskerem (a beautiful sister who had lost both parents and several siblings to AIDS), Tesfa the Public Health Nurse, Mr. Teferi, Pastor Solomon (who lost his family to AIDS, is HIV positive, married a HIV positive woman, had a God-given gift HIV negative 1-year-old daughter), and many of Zion Pilgrims Association members.  With them, we also had visited some of the worst living condition areas like Jaja where socially outcast HIV-positive families (even if they are negative themselves, they are outcast if their family members are positive) live in less than $1/day income without even clean water or latrines!  However, when I saw them, I felt their hearts not asking for pity, but just acceptance.  These wonderful people were trying to make a “positive living” in Christ.  Though their lives are nothing of grandeur, because Christ loves them, they have hope.  I felt compelled to stop feeling pity for them, but just to encourage them, that we don’t consider them as outcast, but rather as a brother and sister in Christ, accepting them as one of our own.  That “take pity” attitude quickly subsided in all of us, and we only wanted to encourage them in their battle against their society, and in their positive living.  In our visit to ZPA’s Wednesday service, we felt the people’s hope in Christ, budding inside of them.  To them, just the fact that we “the Americans” came to share Christ’s word and love meant the world of encouragement to them.

There were several others like Samson who had wonderful ideas of caring for the poor and forgotten elderly people.  MCM also had the right ideas of empowering the local people for long-term support by educating the local medical people.  Elder Moon, the director, had given us a generous talk and time to share his vision of MCM with us.  Though they have been doing well greatly, he also pointed out how they need to work together with other Korean-Americans who are able to speak Korean and English well to communicate better as the Korean missionaries and medicine personnel were feeling the language barriers.  He wanted us to convey that message and challenge our bilingual people to help out in administrative as well as medical side of the operations.

Though it was the American tourists that had ruined the locals to ask and beg for money, I found the Ethiopians in general to be very polite and kind people.  People we were introduced to treated us so kindly that I felt uncomfortable many times as if they were putting us on a pedestal.

I never want to forget that these are “the least of my brethrens” that Christ spoke of.  There are millions of orphans in Ethiopia due to AIDS.  God has spoken always in support of the orphans, the widows, the poor, the aliens, the forgotten.  If I ever become too complacent or too hardened in light of all this that God has shown me, I want to disown myself.  We can always do something.  And even if it seems small at times, we are not God in that we know the outcome already nor can we say it’s all for naught.  Just like a good soldier, I must simply obey what Christ has told me and keep on…. keep on loving and sharing that love.  If it means supporting one young woman’s (Meskerem) education, if it means supporting one school of Mekane Yesus School (an all-girls’ Christian school as women are considered “lower” in the culture and society), so be it.  God has infinite ability to multiply everything a hundred times, even a thousand times!

I just don’t want myself to be left out in these great things that God is doing around the world!  May I live not to disappoint Him, the One who has accepted me for who I am, despite all my iniquities and short comings.  To Him be all the glory.  Amen.

Your brother in Christ,

Peter

Some pics… from my flickr account…

The good ol’ “after-effect of Jolly Ranchers”

Day #12 & #13 & #14

So who ever said that travel is easy?
As we headed for the airport that Thursday night, Pastor Shawn realized that he had misplaced or lost his paper ticket. When we got to the airport, things were even worse. We had forgotten (OK, I had since I had flowin internationally before where it was required) that we had to confirm our flights a couple of days before the departure day. However, it shouldn’t have resulted in all of our names from being dropped from the list! So due to this confirmation thing, we ended up waiting 7 hours at the airport waiting away on Jade’s birthday.

To tell the Send team, Joanna and I purchased a calling card (25 birr = $3) and after 2 minutes, the call was over. At least we had told them that our flight was delayed. However, Joanna and Jade really stepped up to keep at asking here and there but Ethiopian Airline’s “Be back in 10 minutes” turned out to be an hour here and hour there. But thank God that they eventually got us a hotel to stay nearby! Much prop and love also go out to Rosa who went above and beyond for our sake to get the travel agent’s buttocks running! Since we didn’t have anything to eat since lunch (that’s 12 hours folks) along with signs of dehydration, we decided to eat “late” dinner at 2 am or so. And then we all passed out on our own beds.

When we had come to, we were somewhat being “promised” to be on the next flight out that Friday night. Since everyone was rather disillusioned at the gloomy situation, we decided to have a prayer meeting after breakfast to remind ourselves that this is still God’s mission trip, that nothing happens without reason and that despite the situations, we still need to remind ourselves of our brothers who are able to To take a break and to send an e-mail update, we decided to walk out to that area (only about 10 minute walk). However, the poorly English-speaking receptionist insisted on what sounded like a “free taxi” ride so all of us including Christine went. After much needed break at Kaldi’s cafe and sending e-mails out, we headed back only to find out that our “courteous” taxi driver wanted us to pay $35 for the freakin’ ride!! It was 5 minutes each way!! We were all so mad and our front gunner and “tank”, Jade began complaining and asking back and forth between the receptionist and the driver. We have our own theories but in the end, John just negotiated and paid him 50 birr ($5.50). Though that sounds cheap, the however-far-you-wannna-go taxi ride arrangements are 30 birr! So having been ripped off, times were tough for our team.

But God had pulled through for us and we were confirmed on the Friday’s flight. John and Jade headed out to pickup the paper tickets only to be told that there won’t any. But PS and Jade proceeded to the airport to get their paper work done. Mr. Teferi came to give us all the support he could (he had brought his brother-in-law who worked at the airline) and went with us to the airport. We were just so glad and thankful that we could make the flight! While waiting for the flight, we got a chance to see kids from Save the Children as they practiced their tour routines for all the waiting people. After the long flight, we were finally on Dulles Airport!! We arrived at 9:30 am EST but found out that there was almost an 8 hour layover!! We endured the waiting by eating some good ol’ burgers at “Five Guys” and playing games like Twenty Questions and such. We were all very exhausted by the time we landed in Houston… but very glad and thankful to be back!!

Please continue to pray for Christine’s health as her sight is not back yet and that she would be able to find better treatment as the current one seems rather ineffective. Also, pray for PS as he played tennis yesterday afternoon in the heat! Between that and his family being sick with fever, he got sick badly last night. Peter is still fighting 42 itches from the fleas. We all appreciate your prayerful support! Thank you!

Final update before we head back!

So today was the last full day we had here in Addis. After the last classes of teaching, and lunch, we gathered to leave for a service at Zion Pilgrims Association. It is the same group that also supports HIV-positive people in Jaja that I had mentioned previously. The people were just wonderful. You could definitely sense from Pastor Solomon who greeted us so warmly that though stricken with AIDS, they definitely wanted AND chose to live in “positive living”. It was hard to imagine that these people were stricken with the virus because there wasn’t a sense of defeat or sadness. In fact, there was a young man short but stout from Gambella who is a leader of such community out in that area, and he had such conviction of God and determination about him. His words of energy truly moved all of us. Pastor Shawn and brother Peter gave a message and short words of encouragement to the people. We were reminded again that there was joy in these people and such great sense of desperation of clinging to Christ.
After that, we had a brief stop/break at a coffee place called Kardi’s, a Starbucks imitation place. Though drinks and ice cream (yes, ice cream) were great, things were a bit… chaotic in terms of service. Oh well, c’est la vie.  Or as the locals say, TIA (This is Africa)!

Upon return, after dinner, we had a service with our great hostess sister, Dorothy. We had communion together and shared how we all have been touched and moved, as well as getting lots of insights into how God has awesomely been moving here in Ethiopia and beyond. Afterwards, we prayed for her as well as she leaves tonight back to the States to speak to several churches to spur others to see God’s work. Dorothy has been just simply been a godsend to us. She has introduced us to so many great people and to see her heart and dedication alone has been a tremendous source of encouragement. Many here refer to her as their “mother” in spiritual sense as well as having done so much for the people of Ethiopia on behalf of Christ.

After that, we had a time to talk and hear more of the young missionary couple, Mike and Janelle, to just get more personal inputs. Peter also got a chance to be helpful practically by helping them with some computer issues. As expected, they do need some special skills in Addis as well as in countryside, including computer skills to be taught as well as consulting and accounting. It also turns out that Mike’s family live our in League City area so that has brought some unexpected welcome to Peter.

In wrapping up our trip, God has shown us a tremendous amount and we pray that He will help us narrow down our priorities as well as sharing what we have seen to other churches and peple near and far to spur each other and to become a part in God’s great work.

After lunch, we had an appointment to go and see two of the future sites for Bethel Mekane Yesus School sites. First one was nearby the current location but right next to an upcoming major highway. I could just imagine all the noise that the students would have to endure as all the trucks and vehicles passed by. Then we headed towards second site that was in the south. Well, one thing that Ato (Mr.) Tefari, the principal, forgot to mention is that there is a LOT of construction going. Oh and he forgot to mention that the roads about mile out of the site is not developed. What did this mean? The poor 20-year-old Toyota minivan had to drive through the treacherous mud road! We got stuck once even on one of the turns! The local kids helped us get out eventually. We still had to park the van somewhere down the mountains and walk up the muddy roads. After some mud incidents, 5 of us (PS, Joy, Jade, John, and Peter) along with Dorothy and Ato Tefari made it to the future site. Though still undeveloped, the land was donated by the government but with all the development and staffing issues to be picked up by the school, it will be a daunting task. It was also a beautiful site to see all the countryside of Ethiopia. The whole thing reminded me of undeveloped Korea from the ’50s and ’60s time. We can only pray that the development will be beneficial to the entire country.

Once we came back and went out to dinner, we came back for a surprise b-day party for Jade along with the girls at the hostel. They had prepared a cake along with a cultural necklace as a gift. After that, they also gave each of us a gift of a shawl. After just simple time of hanging out together, we came back for prayer time.

Water and power go in and out very frequently. We haven’t had full running water for shower for several days now. Peter has 42 flea/bug bites on his legs and neck. EVERYONE is having gas issues. Many are having diarrhea as well. Christine just got off her steroids and is making her very agitated. So please pray for all of us