NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2009

Since our last newsletter we are delighted to let you know that EEA has been through a busy and exciting six months. We have moved forward in unexpected ways and thank God for the wonderful opportunity to return to Ethiopia again at Easter time and take a group of four people with us. EEA has also received Charity status, which means we can reclaim tax on many donations through gift-aid.

During our previous visits to Ethiopia, we’ve had the privilege of working with Pastor Yohannes on left-hand side of picture and other members of Emmanuel Baptist church, in Addis Ababa. However, during our October visit he asked us if we could return to Addis Ababa to deliver a three day teaching programme to his church workers, and to work with the Sunday School. This was a new opportunity for EEA, and following careful thought, prayer and discussion with our Church Leaders we agreed to return to Emmanuel Church!

It is amazing how it all came together….first we needed to find others to help us. We couldn’t have been more delighted that three members of our own church would join us…… Eileen Winter, Peter Dunn, Donna Matthews and friend Rona Barton from St Leonards Church, Exeter – now we had our team! We had much to prepare beforehand as well as taking with us Sunday school materials, and clothes - in fact a quarter of a ton in goods were taken to Ethiopia including a sewing machine!

We quickly became a family unit as we worked together to deliver training in Pastoral Care and Counselling to a group of church workers, to enable them to be effective in supporting their own church members. Peter was invited to preach on Sunday at Church.

Next we were almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of children who attended our Saturday children’s programme……so many children came. We were able to tell bible stories in drama and we had lots of fun with artwork and creativity. The children loved singing with Donna, who playing her guitar. Donna had learnt songs in Amharic, the local language.

Whilst visiting Emmanuel Church we met some of the “Emmanuel children”, which through EEA you are sponsoring. These children are delightful, but also destitute and living in very difficult circumstances due to AIDS and other sickness within their families. It is hard for us to imagine what life would be like without support during times of sickness and crisis. We hope to increase the number of destitute children we support in Addis Ababa at a cost of £10 per month.

Following a very busy week in Addis our group flew to Lalibela, to meet and encourage the young people EEA are sponsoring through education. Also we had some time to rest a while and enjoy the beauty of Lalibela, a world heritage site, famous for its rock-hewn churches and located in the mountains of Northern Ethiopia. We met lots of new people, some with medical problems, others seeking education and bible teaching. As always we faced difficult decisions with so many needing support.

One of the joys in Laliblela was meeting Pastor Zewdu Mamo and his wife Tsigie, who lead a small Evangelical Church. Pastor Zewdu shared with us the difficult early days of his Church when members were put in prison for their faith. Even today they face persecution! We would love to support this small church and will continue to meet them during future visits.

Our final leg of the journey took us to Bahir Dar to visit Yeshambel an orphan, aged 18. He is responsible for his brother and sister and they live in a mud and straw house. Yeshambel was 15 when we met him and he made his living on the streets cleaning shoes or helping on the market. Through your support EEA has helped Yeshambel return to full time education and given him hope for future employment.

Before returning to the UK we spent our final day with sponsored students Mulugeta, and Alene, both in further education in Addis Ababa. Mulugeta completes his Tourism Management course in October 2010 and will be EEA’s first graduate!

Not every story is happy! Meseret, age uncertain, probably 17 yrs lost her mother at birth, was brought up by an uncle, had a baby at 15 and lived on the street. Now she’s living with a family, trying hard to adapt to family life and having to deal with the pain of her past. However, she has returned to education and we warmly thank you for supporting EEA so we can help young people like Meseret.

Two weeks after returning home Maurice embarked on a major fund-raising journey from Lands End to John O’Groats! He cycled 971 miles in 17 days and raised nearly £5,000. We hope to support more young people. Well done Maurice!

As we look to the future……and our next visit in Jan/Feb, in the meantime, we plan to work on improving our website which can be found at www.ethiopiaeducationaid.org, and continue to raise funds through sales of second-hand books and plants. We have been invited to give presentations of our work with EEA, and are seeking more opportunities to share how God is leading us in this beautiful country to work with young people. Thank you everyone for making this possible – God bless you.

Maurice and Susan Clarke