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by Rita Bennett
Why would I, a comfortable American middle-class Northwest widow in her sixties, fly 16,730 miles round-trip August 2-10 this year on a mission trip and tour to Ethiopia? I had traveled with my late pastor husband, Dennis, to many countries such as England, Scotland, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, and Jamaica on speaking engagements but never to a third world country.
Before this I had not paid much attention to where Ethiopia was on the world map. I now know it is in east central Africa and is flanked clockwise starting at about nine o'clock with: Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, and Uganda. Ethiopia is the poorest of the African countries and has a population of about 65 million people (in 2001). It also has one of the world's largest "leprosy villages" which I'll tell you more about later.
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Rita and a precious little boy look at his gift of a child's Bible storybook |
Ethiopia is one of the oldest kingdoms on earth. Its Solomonic dynasty claims descent from King Menelik I, believed to have been the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon (I Kings 10:1-13 - 910 BC Mt. 12:42) Also Scripture shows Phillip the Evangelist in Gaza, Israel witnessing to an Ethiopian eunuch, who was Queen Candace of Ethiopia's treasurer (Acts 8:25,32AD). These are the country's historical connections with the nation of Israel.
Another famous name you'll connect with this land is a former emperor, Haile Selassie whose palace, now a museum, in Addis can still be visited.
Ethiopia has been war torn until in December of 2000 when a peace treaty was signed. The country is still in recovery from the 16-year communist rule under Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam ending in 1990.
Jesus proclaimed to His followers, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
What then is "the Gospel?" The Anglo-Saxon term gospel means "god-message," and in Greek euaggelion means "a good message."1
What is this Good News? It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ as proclaimed by our Lord and preached by His disciples. This has two phases: "Christ died for me" (John 3:16, Acts 16:30-31), and for believers - "I died in Christ" (Romans 6:2-10).2
The Gospel of God's Grace the apostle Paul calls "my gospel." This aspect is looking at our faith and trust in Christ's atoning work for us being sufficient for our salvation.3
Writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are called evangelists. Their accounts are "gospels" because they recite the events of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord with the predicted bestowment of the Holy Spirit which makes "the gospel" possible.4
The final form of the gospel is "The Gospel of the Kingdom" which means God's purpose to establish an earthly mediatorial Kingdom to fulfill the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:16). Two aspects of this gospel are: one past, beginning with John the Baptist, taught by our Lord and His followers; and the other, yet future, that of heralding the second advent and reign of our King and Messiah. There will then at last be "Peace on earth good will to men."5
All of this is contained in the word "gospel." It is the story of the greatest love, the greatest mercy, the greatest gift, and the greatest future.
Our main purpose for this journey was to give away 25,000 Bibles translated into Amharic, the lingua franca of the people, though Ethiopians speak 83 languages with 200 dialects. This was truly spreading the "gospel." Though other larger groups come to bring food to help with physical starvation, we came to meet spiritual needs with the eternal food of God's Word.
During my preparation time I talked to my staff at Christian Renewal, Patty and Gigi, about what personal gifts to carry with me for the people. We hit on the idea of 300 multiple-flavored lollipops sold at Costco.
I spent quite a bit of time on the old-fashioned, homey bus and everywhere we stopped people would gather around, hands outstretched eyes pleading for gifts from our tour group. At times I would throw a hand handful of lollipops out the window or when I was leaving a meeting at a childcare center, prison, or church, I would hand them out. A couple I invited on this trip, Armando and Alice Rivas, helped me give out the lollipops. We couldn't give Bibles to everyone we met so these treats helped to say "I care" and "I love you."
To me the most fruitful and memorable day was when we rode our bus to the Mekanissa Leper's Village. After driving several hours, we rode down a very bumpy dirt road to our destination. Our tour guide said, "There are two places you can go, one is the Leper's Village which houses 10,000 adults and children, and the other is a Refugee Village with people who have never recovered after the communist rule." I looked out of the window and saw the little houses made out of wooden branches, and clay, with roofs from sheets of corrugated iron. The roads were muddy from the rain and I wondered how I would be able to walk without slipping. A new friend, Dee Ebmaier, said to me "Come with me. Together we'll make it. You don't want to miss this." I smiled and got off the bus which was a challenge each time as the step is so tall and I'm 5 foot 3-1/2 inches. I was helped by many Ethiopian young men when I got off or on the bus.
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Rita speaking at a Full Gospel Baptist Church about delivering Bibles and witnessing to people at the Mekanissa Leper's Village |
Dee, plus Pastor Noboru Anryo who spoke mostly Japanese, and I headed down a path of homes praying about which door to knock on. A number of young people followed us out of curiosity. When we felt led to stop, we knocked on the door and peered in. There was an attractive Ethiopian woman, probably in her thirties, sitting in a chair with her white shawl wrapped around her head. She invited us to sit down. An Ethiopian pastor joined us as translator.
Dee said we were visiting to give her a copy of the Bible in Amharic. She let us know she already had one. Dee offered to give her one for a friend but the lady indicated that could be dangerous for her to do.
The two major religions are: Ethiopian Orthodox which has been dominant for 17 centuries, and Muslim.
She said "I'm not quite a Christian."
When I asked if she'd like to be, she said, "Yes." So I led her in prayer to accept the "Good News" of God's grace and love.
Her teenage son had now joined us in the living room. Dee asked him if he wanted a Bible and he said, "Yes." When we asked if he'd like to be born again like his mother, he said, "Yes." I led him in prayer to make this commitment to God's Son.
A little five-year-old sister was also sitting there next to her brother. We found that she had had no schooling and so I asked her brother if he would read the Gospel of John and particularly the verse John 3:16 and then lead his little sister to the Lord. He answered, "Yes."
Meanwhile the small living room with its cement floor was getting full of young people. Dee, Noboru, and I realized we needed to move on.
The translator gave the woman, probably in early stages of leprosy, an Ethiopian hug which is done, left to right, on both sides of the head. I felt free to follow suit and it was much like Bible times when Jesus laid hands on the sick. I had never met or touched a person with leprosy before so this was a brand new experience.
We went to the next house where two young men in their mid-twenties lived. After visiting with them a short while and giving them Bibles, we prayed for them to accept the Lord Jesus, and for their healing with the laying-on-of-hands. Their faces were filled with joy and hope as we parted.
As we left, teenagers gathered around us wanting and almost demanding Bibles. We realized that we needed to go to a Full Gospel Baptist Church and couldn't visit more homes so we gave them the remaining Bibles we were carrying.
Holding on to the pastor's arm, I walked through thick mud a half mile to the church. The mud had to be cut off the bottom of my boots with a knife before I could walk into the church! I was able to give witness to the group of what God had done that day. I jokingly said, "I had been baptized in mud to get there." Other team members shared and we all sang together songs of praise.
Again the pastor held me up for my muddy walk back to the bus. When we got back to our Hotel, I had to ask for a knife to cut the mud off my boots before I could go in. Room service helped me by sending a man to get my boots and shine them for me. These were the only shoes I brought with me!
Driving through many small towns we always saw a line-up of shoe shine stands by the side of the road. People are constantly fighting the battle to keep their shoes clean--that is, those who can afford shoes. I thought to myself, "A person out of work could always make money shining shoes."
I was quite a bit late for the lovely dinner gathering of the tour group that night but while there, my thoughts were still at the Mekanissa Leper's Village and the beautiful people I met there--now brothers and sisters for eternity.
Several other teams from our group had gone to still different homes in the Village. The pastors shortly thereafter gave us the results that 30 lepers had accepted Jesus as savior that day!
On August 13th after our return to The Jerusalem Center, Dr. Talargie gave us another thrill when he sent this e-mail to those who ministered that day.
"It was such a joy, blessing and special privilege for me to have you in this land of Ethiopia to pray with us, distribute the WORD, and share your life with our people. Only Heaven knows how impacting and powerful your presence was. Many testimonies are flowing to me after the 'Out of Zion' programs.
"For instance, last Saturday in Mekanissa Village 23 young gangsters jumped into the church premise and swarmed it, and to our amazement, they asked to be registered at the church to receive our Bible class! They all have received Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Among these 23 youngsters I do not know to whom you personally gave the Bibles. We will know it in Heaven. The team sowed by faith and it has started growing. Each and every one of you were so special and a spice to the program. Thank you many times over!"
The cause of leprosy is now known to be a bacillus similar to the one that causes tuberculosis. It is not contracted easily by persons in normal health.6 After returning home I researched and found that today leprosy can be completely cured with multidrug therapy (MDT) developed in 1970 on the island of Malta. Treatment takes from six months to a year or more. This is why it was not dangerous to visit homes of these isolated people.
There are two kinds of leprosy. One is more severe than the other. The lepromatous form is marked by lack of skin pigment and numbness, then knoblike swellings occur and ulcerate. Ulcers affect the bones, and limbs swell, gangrene may occur. Shoes should be worn to protect leprosy insensitive feet from crippling damage, yet many cannot afford even one pair of shoes.
Dr. Talargie e-mailed me saying, "Ethiopia has 7,764 cases of leprosy. It is among the ten most leprosy-endemic countries of the world. The average cost to rehabilitate one person with leprosy is $240." That's not very much for us in America, is it? So here is an opportunity to help cure some lepers in our day Let me know if you want more information.7 It is now possible to rid the earth from leprosy!
Isn't it dangerous to go to such a country? Why not stay home where it's safe?
True that there are dangers in third world countries, but there are dangers at home too. When an opportunity presents itself to go on a mission trip, it does need to be preceded with prayer. You must have confidence that you've been called to go because you will be challenged.
When God called Moses to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, He assured Moses, "I will be with you" (Exodus 3:12). God's presence is the most important gift for one on a mission.
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Shoes being shined at an Ethiopian village - a perpetual job |
Immunization for yellow fever was recommended by the Ethiopian Embassy as well as my Health Department so I submitted, even though the nurse said the shot could be fatal to some over sixty. After I prayed on the phone with my friend Betty, I decided to have the shot and then the nurse felt free to tell me that she was glad I did it! I also took Malaria pills. The reason I took these precautions was that I did not want to be worried about mosquitos biting me when I needed to be concentrating on helping the people. I took three other shots in addition. The bottom line is that you have to be ready to die when you go on a mission; in fact, we need to be ready to meet our Maker any day of our lives.
It was worth these challenges to be able to bring the Bible, a smile, prayers, soap for prisoners, lollipops, songs, testimonies, and the gift of hope to the gentle Ethiopian people. I will never regret going.
[Thanks to everyone who prays and gives to this work. My salary helped me afford to go to Ethiopia. I'll tell you in our next newsletter about the second part of my trip and what I learned when I spent a month in Jerusalem.]
Notes: (1) The New Unger's Bible Dictionary by Merrill F. Unger, Published by Moody Press, Chicago, 1988, p.493-494, (2) Ibid, (3) Ibid, (4) Ibid, (5) Ibid, (6) Ibid, p 307, (7) For more information be sure to e-mail me at: ritabennett.cra@gte.net.
