“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” Psalm 2:8
We never even thought of Ethiopia as a place to establish a Rafiki Village. Then one time when we were visiting Tanzania, Bishop Kweka (the person who inspired us to start Rafiki) told me that Rafiki must put one of our Villages in Ethiopia. He said that there were four million Lutherans there in the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) church and millions of orphans. The average annual per capita income at that time was $90 with a population of 90 million (today there are an estimated 107 million and people there are starving). Bob and I had visited Ethiopia when we were missionaries in Tanzania in the 1960’s when Haile Selassie was Emperor and found Ethiopia a fascinating place. The Ethiopian people are beautiful—tall, slim, and fine-boned. Our Bibles tell us of the Ethiopian eunuch who was converted on the road by Philip. The Queen of Sheba came from Ethiopia, the Blue Nile River and the Great Rift Valley bisect Ethiopia. Places of interest include the city where coffee was first discovered. The name of the city is Kafa. That’s why we call it “coffee.” A fascinating place and so much ancient history.
But back to the establishment of Rafiki in Ethiopia! In 2004 a small group of us visited Ethiopia. Bishop Kweka put us in touch with an American Nazarene missionary, Dan Miller, who in turn introduced us to Anbessu Tolla, a Muslim turned Christian. I love his story. When he heard (and believed) that Jesus Christ died for his sins and then rose from the dead Anbessu himself came to life. He went everywhere saying “He’s alive! He’s alive!!” He was so excited to tell everybody that Jesus was alive! However, because of the strong Muslim influence in Ethiopia Anbessu (who directed a small NGO dealing with AIDS) did not declare himself a Christian for fear of losing his status with government officials. Instead, he introduced us to Dr. Mesheshe Shewarega in the office of the President of the Oromia Region. That’s where we met Demissie Legesse, Deputy Commissioner of the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission. Demissie was a Christian and member of the EECMY, and an immediate bond formed between us. To this day, we communicate regularly.
Mesheshe and Anbessu found land for Rafiki in Mojo (about an hour’s drive south of Addis Ababa) and with the help of Demissie, a project agreement was finalized with the Oromia regional government, the mayor of Mojo, and Rafiki. The mayor was delightful and eager to make sure that all the orphans that we took in would come from Mojo! He sent us good employees and encouraged us in many ways.
We asked Rafiki missionaries in Ghana, Ken and Lori Dulany, to move to Ethiopia so that Ken could be the Village Administrator and Lori the Child Care Director. Ken’s first job was to formulate construction plans on the lovely sloping hillside property and enclose it with a security fence.
From 2004 on we took many trips to Ethiopia and had the privilege of meeting the President, Girma Wolde-Giorgis who was in office from 2001 to 2013. Girma was so kind. He was even willing to have his picture taken hugging two of my grandchildren who were on one trip with us. And he showed us the real live lions in his garden! But he insisted that we really could not know Ethiopia until we visited the north where so much history of the ancient world took place. I’m sorry to say that we never got the chance to visit the northern part of Ethiopia.
Finally, the Rafiki project was completed, it was dedicated on February 23, 2008, by Ethiopia’s President Girma Wolde-Giorgis. What a privilege to have the President of Ethiopia travel to Mojo to make the dedication speech!
Soon after, missionaries Mike and Sherri Ritter arrived to work as Plant Manager and Education Director. The Mayor of Mojo recommended staff, and the first children arrived in September 2009 and started to school the very next month!
Sometimes establishing a Rafiki Village requires much time and a lot of effort. Ethiopia took from the first visit in 2004 to the first children in 2009. But in my mind, Ethiopia was, and still is, the most difficult place for Rafiki to operate in Africa. Why?
One reason is the language barrier. There are several languages in Ethiopia the primary one being Amharic. English is the national language, so all higher education is taught in English. However, children are not taught English until the 8th grade! Although all Rafiki curriculum is taught in English, we teach some courses in Amharic to accommodate the law. That means that our teachers must be fluent in Amharic and in English. That makes getting teachers more difficult.
Another difficulty is that the socialistic-style government enforced a land reform stating that all land is owned by the government with individual farmers able to own only an acre or two of land, making it impossible for them to raise enough food to survive. This government land ownership is still in effect and impoverishes those in rural areas.
Of all the difficulties, I think poverty is the worst. Even in Addis Ababa which is a huge commercial city, poverty was evident. Shopping, for “rich Americans” was great. Silver jewelry was beautiful and inexpensive. Demissie took us to the market where we found amazing bargains—hand-made wool rugs for a few dollars, and embroidered cotton dresses and men’s tucked shirts for very little.
But beggars were everywhere. In no country have I seen so many crippled beggars on the street or people sleeping on the sidewalks. To this day the image of these people is still in my mind, and it breaks my heart.
Yes, Ethiopia was, and is, the most difficult place for Rafiki, but it is also the place where Rafiki is most needed.
I’ve learned that God does not always send us to the easiest places, but to the neediest. I have also learned that God will go with us wherever he sends us and that he will accomplish his purpose for that place in his own time.
No comments:
Post a Comment