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       | 工場：埃塞俄比亞 事工：開荒佈道、訓練及文字事工
Last Update : 2008.09.02
Last Update : 2008.07.22
2008年4月—5月份事工報告
"What, then,
shall we say in response to this? If
God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave
him up for us all -- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us
all things?" (Rm 8:31-32) How fitting are these verses for this April
season, when the Ethiopian Easter fell upon the 27th after a 55 days Fasika
fasting. On the Orthodox Good Friday, innumerable men and women, juniors
included, were performing a rite called 'Segedet' -- when they stooped down then
rose with fingers flipping rapidly heavenward, a rotating action believed to be
able to reduce sins. 'Segedet' can be performed 7, 40, 90, 500, or 1000 times
over, depending on the magnitude of one's sins.
But can people find forgiveness of sins this way? Eternal life is not a
free gift injected from heaven by a loving God. It came to us because God did
not spare his own Son, sending him to die on the cross. Eternal life is
essentially the resurrected life from death and sin. No one, therefore, will be able to find eternal life when
bypassing the death of Christ. Without being first united with our Lord's death,
no matter how impressive were those supernatural signs and gifts (incidentally
very popular in many Ethiopian churches these days), salvation is simply
illusion and self-deception. On the contrary, through repentance every sinner, a
man or a woman or a youngster, will gain access into His death. And the sure
outcome, out of union with Christ's death, is eternal life -- no more and no
less than our Lord's very own resurrected life on that first Easter Sunday! Who
can be against us?
Looking back into the past year, the very precious times turned out to be
those days and months under trials. When dark clouds were hanging over us, we
could recall how we pleaded with our Lord, united and fervent in spirit, over
the first court case against 'Abyssinia Camping Ministry.' Almost every visit to
the attorney's office ended with the lawyer and Joseph kneeling side by side in
earnest prayer. Then we faced misunderstanding and opposition from within too.
Yet all these shouldn't surprise us because any ministry, dedicated to the
salvation of soul, will be on the forefront of Satanic attack. Therefore we must
be prepared for fiery trials in the days ahead as has been clearly layout by the
Apostle Peter. Yet in spite of all these, if God is for us, who can be against
us?
The
one-day camps in retrospect:
Many
stories could be told about the one-day boys' and girls' camps held on weekends.
Virtually after each camp we received new incentives, from our Lord, of the
potentials of running such camps all year round. And dividing them into boys and
girls did prove smoother to operate for all of us. We will stick to this
pattern, including the future over-night camps. Co-ed camps will come in the
future. Boys are generally more
outgoing and like rougher sports, whereas girls are more sensitive and
social-oriented. Parents will permit boys attending our camps quickly. But not
so with girls - the more cultured the family the more cautious the parents, the
father in particular, in sending their daughter to ACM.
Given the increasingly emphasis in English these days in Ethiopia, we
have received words from parents, from time to time, of the desirability of
English camps. They saw camps as a channel, not necessarily as ours in spiritual
input, but to polish English for their kids. We thus saw the great potentials in
the English camps outreach and are working on an 'English Camps Planning
Committee.' Moreover, short-term
volunteers from abroad, of a few
months to one or two years. can fit in our English camps program readily. You
will be surprised by the fluency of spoken English among many high-school teens
in today's Addis Ababa.
Does English camp exclude the Amharic speaking ones? By no means!
Experiences have told us of the equal importance of continuing camps for
boys and girls in their prided ancient national language.
Often we could tell the difference when a speaker, including a foreign
one, in conveying a message in Amharic. The responses were usually warmer and
more intimate. Boys and girls, even
months and years later, still could recall messages in Amharic by missionaries.
Also, kids, with lower English standard, are more from the general and
not from the wealthy section of society. Kids from these families are what ACM
cannot ignore. If they were from poorer homes, we will let them come for a day's
camp, with breakfast and lunch and snack plus transportation, at only half of
payment. When our Lord has already confirmed to us a direction, we must not fail
Him but to press on diligently to develop these camps, both in Amharic and in
English, to further fruitfulness! The
Genesis Clubs in progression:
As
always, at ACM, our heart's burden and great concern are people and rarely in
the physical things. Let me present a more detail report on these clubs which
have been going on all year round, week after week and month after month. First,
let us look into those youngsters who had already finished and no longer with
the clubs. They have grown rapidly into mid-teens. Take the instance of 3 boys,
who showed up one day at the gate of my former residential house wanting to
come, all three, after being immersed in the study of scriptures for well over
one year, are knowledgeable of the salvation of Christ. Yet they are not
saved because of the hindrance of strongholds in their lives, such as they often
went in unison, on St. Michael days, to their old neighborhood church praying to
the archangel. Quite a few other boys and girls have also been drawn into this
kind of religious practices, often under their seniors, so to confuse what they
have learned from the Bible and thus missing the
only way to God. This phenomenon has often saddened us deeply yet how could we
stop praying for each of them that, in our Lord's time, all these strongholds be
pulled down so to find the Son of God who is eternal life!
Our currents two clubs are going on quite encouragingly. I hope that you
can be present one day to hear these boys and girls reciting scriptures they
have memorized every week. Then the big brother will ask 10 questions, covering
the 14 chapters say 7 in Exodus and 7 in Mark, for each of the 5 boys and girls
in his club. If they were victorious in scriptures memorization, plus gleaning a
minimal of 6/10 in Bible Quiz, a chocolate coated roll be the prize for each of
them. Though a bit tempting for kid of 10 or 12 or 14, we have never stopped
these rewards. After the Bible Quiz, the big brother will choose a portion of
scriptures to study with them. After that, soccer, soft-ball practice,
badminton, hiking, fishing.,, or a short film in case of rain. All the past
lessons did help in witnessing the Genesis clubs more efficient these days. Pray
for the new clubs that we are working on - including the former kids who
wanted to return to study beyond the 10 books being completed in the past, and
the English clubs with English Bible and preferably with foreign leaders. Pray
for His sending the all-important laborers, who will make a one year commitment
to a club of no more than 5 kids, as either their big brother or their big
sister. He
who did not spare his own Son,:
Finally, how faithful our heavenly Father has been to ACM throughout the
past years. The expenses have been high and keep on increasing, in salaries. in
vehicles usage and fuel, in running camps, in new facilities, in stable
and horses.. Yet all of us could
offer praise in unison that our Lord has not failed ACM in his timely provision.
Sometimes our faith has grown weak and, in other times, we may envy other
Christian NGO with lots of funding. But
if this is the pattern, set from above, for ACM to grow -
little by little and humbly, we must accept it joyfully. After all, He
who did not spare his Son, but gave him up for us all, how will He not also,
along with him, graciously give us (including a camping ministry like ACM) all
things! Last Update : 2008.07.10
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