June Newsletter - Hooray for Big News!

June 2011

Update - Volume #6

Greetings from Arba Minch, Ethiopia;

We have tremendous good news to share with you.....the Water Project Proposal that Tom has labored over for so long was approved yesterday! Hallelujah!

You may recall back at the end of March when Tom and Belay (one of the church leaders from KHC) first made the 9 hr. trip to Dimeka. This is the district office for the area where we want to begin the project. At that time, they presented the proposal to three young men who were the officials from the Health, Financial and Water Boards. Tom told me that one guy in particular was not interested at all in the project and what it could do for the area people (they had not grown up there, but rather, were from up north) They had not even bothered to read the entire proposal and only skipped to the last page where the budget was itemized. They then made several demands for changes in the wording and structure  of the proposal.

Tom and Belay left the meeting being very discouraged. Tom re-wrote the proposal, working many late hours on it-and feeling not sure if this was what God wanted for us to pursue. Getting involved with the government in a proposal like this and with the types of men who were sitting in control of it, seemed like a big headache that Tom was not looking forward to....indeed, was not even sure at this point if it was the right thing to do.

Tom laid his misgivings out in a prayer to God- and asked God to give him a 'lightning bolt' type of sign. He told God that since he (Tom) is a little thick-headed he really needed it to be obvious what the Lord wanted. If the proposal was approved that was God's sign to us to continue in this direction. If it wasn't, then we would look in other directions for ways to minister to the people...

Tom and Belay went to Dimeka  on Tuesday to submit the proposal again. Along the way, they had quite a frightening experience! Tom was driving the truck (rented from KHC)  near a town called Konso when suddenly a donkey veered left instead of right and Tom struck the donkey and killed it. Immediately a large mob of people started running for the truck! In Ethiopia if you hit and kill an animal, it is very likely that the angry people will try to beat you up. If you kill a person you must flee for your life to the nearest police station and turn yourself in. It is an automatic 20 yr. prison sentence if you kill someone. No appeals. No trial.  So these stories we have heard since we came to Ethiopia were running through Tom's mind as the mob rushed toward him. They quickly locked all the doors and called for 'backup' on the phone. The KHC sent another truck out to them and they took Tom and Belay to the police station. The donkey owner was located and he demanded 6000 birr ($448.00) for his 'very fine best donkey'. After much negotiating it was decided that 2 local men and 2 KHC men would sit down and work out a settlement. They finally did, arriving at the sum of 4,000 bier (including 200 birr for the negotiating team and 30 birr to bury the donkey!) Tom had exactly 4000 bier in his pocket. After 4 hours they were back on the road, breathing a sigh of relief and thanks to God!

When they arrived at Dimeka they had another surprise! The man that had been so negative to the proposal before had been fired and replaced! The new man in charge was very complimentary about the proposal, saying that this was a wonderful thing for the people and would benefit them so much. He pledged his support and cooperation in any way that we needed. Then he immediately went and got the two other men and made them sit down and sign and stamp the proposal right then! (Normally you would have to come back in another week or so just to get it signed and stamped.) The turnaround in spirit and cooperation was amazing!  It was an obvious 'bolt of lightening' for Tom and he rejoiced at the turn of events orchestrated by God.
We are rejoicing at the 'green light' that this gives us. The project will officially begin in Sept 2011 and continue for 2 years. If any of you would like to read the proposal to understand more of what the mission all involves, just let us know. We will email you a copy. It basically is a "Training of Trainers" type of program- 'teaching a man to fish, instead of just handing him a fish.'  Sustainability is the key to any long-term success in Africa, we have been told. So that is what we want to do while we are here.

We invite any of you who want to come see it first hand for yourselves to come stay with us. You can fly direct now from WashDC to Arba Minch via Ethiopian Airlines.  We will continue to send emails and photos to keep you all in the loop.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Now the real work begins!!