"Who did it?". The Mechanic scowled as he looked at my back wheel. "I did!", I replied. At that he broke out in laughter. It really was no laughing matter, however, when we were on a dirt road, over 2 days way from our destination - Addis, and we saw the sickening sight of our wheel passing us and felt the car coming to a crashing halt. It all started when we had a flat tire. No big deal- we changed the tire and continued. We weren't too far down the trail however, when the wheel fell off. Absent mindedly I had failed to tighten the lug nuts after lowering the jack. Here we were in the middle of nowhere, nearly three days journey from Addis, 
no phone coverage and our wheel sitting in the middle of a field. Extensive damage had been done to the back wheel and bits and pieces of brake and shrapnel were everywhere. Miraculously within 15 minutes a trucker came along and stopped to help. He disassembled all the broken bits and pieces and somehow was able to secure the wheel minus brakes, drum, and other parts. We were able to make the trip to Addis through mountainous terrain (complete with storms, mud and fog!) with brakes working on three wheels and no emergency brake. Needless to say, we were very thankful to God for the many ways He protected and provided for us throughout the entire experience.
My sister Beth, and a group from Canada that included Susan Black (my nephew's wife who brought the "Sue Black" count up to two!) had come to Ethiopia to assist with some survey work and project planning for our work here. The first part of the trip involved returning to the Gumuz area where we had first looked at a possible agro-forestry project among the Gumuz. Jocelyn Green, one of the survey group members, remarked that this was as close to the end of the world as she had been. The landscape had an eerie surreal appearance as the Gumuz burn the land every year to clear undergrowth and hunt animals.
The Gumuz have so many destructive cultural practices that keep them in chronic poverty and poor health not to mention the environmental
disaster they are creating. The good news is that through the Kale Hewet Church over the past three years efforts have been made to contact this group. They have established good relationships and an openness to learning in several villages and one of the towns in the area. Now is the time for the church to reach out to 14 of the villages in the area. Unfortunately there are no roads to most of these villages. The survey team had to walk up to three or four hours in searing heat to visit some of the villages. Even though they took as much water as they could carry, they ran out long before they returned. Some were so parched they could hardly talk.
Water is a major problem for the Gumuz. Finding adequate clean water will be one of the major challenges.
In addition to the agro-forestry project among the Gumuz, the multi-function centre continues to develop in Bahir Dar. In addition to the multiple programs from the centre including English, computers and sports, there are two projects we would like to help launch. One is working with local burial associations and community leaders to develop a program for
People Living with AIDS in the community. The second program is for Orphans and Street Kids. We currently have a list of 150 kids we would like to enroll in this program.
This is Sue here. Bob asked me say a little something about a Bible study I'm involved in. A number of months ago I felt a real desire to try to start an Amharic Bible study in our home. So with much prayer, and an Ethiopian friend's language help, we started. After the first study, one woman said to me that she had appreciated it when I gave her the Bible last year because she thought it was good for warding off evil spirits,
but she had never thought to read it! She said that she was now very excited and happy to be apart of this study group. She said she didn't realize that God loved all people - she said she was going home to read more. Most people here follow a lot of religious traditions and have many superstitions and fears. Many acknowledge the Bible and Christ, but people usually either don't have access to a Bible and/or they aren't allowed to read the Bible, and especially not the New Testament , and as a result they don't know what 
the significance of Christ's death and resurrection is. They've responded with such love and gratitude towards God as we've studied the book of Romans together and they've started to discover for themselves what God has done for them through Jesus. It has been an incredible blessing for me to get to be a part of this.
Next year we plan to continue as affiliates of SIM but our donations and receipting will be handled through Devxchange. We will be mailing a written letter shortly with details concerning this.
no phone coverage and our wheel sitting in the middle of a field. Extensive damage had been done to the back wheel and bits and pieces of brake and shrapnel were everywhere. Miraculously within 15 minutes a trucker came along and stopped to help. He disassembled all the broken bits and pieces and somehow was able to secure the wheel minus brakes, drum, and other parts. We were able to make the trip to Addis through mountainous terrain (complete with storms, mud and fog!) with brakes working on three wheels and no emergency brake. Needless to say, we were very thankful to God for the many ways He protected and provided for us throughout the entire experience.
My sister Beth, and a group from Canada that included Susan Black (my nephew's wife who brought the "Sue Black" count up to two!) had come to Ethiopia to assist with some survey work and project planning for our work here. The first part of the trip involved returning to the Gumuz area where we had first looked at a possible agro-forestry project among the Gumuz. Jocelyn Green, one of the survey group members, remarked that this was as close to the end of the world as she had been. The landscape had an eerie surreal appearance as the Gumuz burn the land every year to clear undergrowth and hunt animals.The Gumuz have so many destructive cultural practices that keep them in chronic poverty and poor health not to mention the environmental
disaster they are creating. The good news is that through the Kale Hewet Church over the past three years efforts have been made to contact this group. They have established good relationships and an openness to learning in several villages and one of the towns in the area. Now is the time for the church to reach out to 14 of the villages in the area. Unfortunately there are no roads to most of these villages. The survey team had to walk up to three or four hours in searing heat to visit some of the villages. Even though they took as much water as they could carry, they ran out long before they returned. Some were so parched they could hardly talk.
Water is a major problem for the Gumuz. Finding adequate clean water will be one of the major challenges.In addition to the agro-forestry project among the Gumuz, the multi-function centre continues to develop in Bahir Dar. In addition to the multiple programs from the centre including English, computers and sports, there are two projects we would like to help launch. One is working with local burial associations and community leaders to develop a program for
People Living with AIDS in the community. The second program is for Orphans and Street Kids. We currently have a list of 150 kids we would like to enroll in this program.This is Sue here. Bob asked me say a little something about a Bible study I'm involved in. A number of months ago I felt a real desire to try to start an Amharic Bible study in our home. So with much prayer, and an Ethiopian friend's language help, we started. After the first study, one woman said to me that she had appreciated it when I gave her the Bible last year because she thought it was good for warding off evil spirits,
but she had never thought to read it! She said that she was now very excited and happy to be apart of this study group. She said she didn't realize that God loved all people - she said she was going home to read more. Most people here follow a lot of religious traditions and have many superstitions and fears. Many acknowledge the Bible and Christ, but people usually either don't have access to a Bible and/or they aren't allowed to read the Bible, and especially not the New Testament , and as a result they don't know what 
the significance of Christ's death and resurrection is. They've responded with such love and gratitude towards God as we've studied the book of Romans together and they've started to discover for themselves what God has done for them through Jesus. It has been an incredible blessing for me to get to be a part of this.Next year we plan to continue as affiliates of SIM but our donations and receipting will be handled through Devxchange. We will be mailing a written letter shortly with details concerning this.
