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April 24, 2008
Dear Brethren and Friends of the Gospel Outreach to Ethiopia,
The three Level One Schools of Preaching are now in session in Ethiopia. A total of 42 men are enrolled. It is interesting that 6 of the 10 students attending at Santariea and 6 of the 12 students attending at Nekemte were not members of the church when they came to the schools. Most of them were sent by preachers in their home areas who saw
a great potential in them. Within two weeks all 12 of these men had obeyed the gospel and were baptized into Christ. On the left, Brother Alemayehu is seen teaching at the school in Santariea. On the right, Brother Tesfaye Bogale is pictured baptizing the last of the six men attending the Santariea School. All these men have now dedicated themselves to return to their home areas to preach and establish churches.
 
On the left is the congregation at Guta, near the city of Nekemte. Brother Dagnatchew can be seen in this picture standing on the far right. Graduates of the Nekemte School of Preaching went to Guta and help establish this church two years ago. It is one of 29 congregations now in the Western Region of Ethiopia. On the right is a picture of the meeting place of the church in Waliso, Ethiopia. This is also a new congregation in the Western Region. We have many World Bible School students in the Waliso area and WBS teachers have asked many times for our preachers to go there and plant a new church. On the left in the picture is Brother Wakene. He is a Level Two graduate and was from Waliso. He returned there after his graduation and now there is a thriving congregation there. The brother pictured with Wakene is also a Preacher Training Graduate. We have another student attending in Nekemte at this time who is from the Waliso church. This church may one day be the largest congregation in that area.
 
Left, Brother Alemayehu, the minister of the congregation in Debre Ziet, Ethiopia is pictured with two new Christians he baptized on this day. The lady, second from left and her son, fourth from left, obeyed the gospel after having spent time with Alemayehu studying God’s word. The church in Debre Ziet has struggled in the past, but now with Alemayehu preaching and teaching, the church is flourishing. On the right are pictured members of the Kabena congregation in Addis Ababa. All but 2 of their members are refugees from Sudan. Many Sudanese members have been resettled back into their homeland and are now worshipping in new congregations in Eastern Sudan.
 Our Ethiopian crew completed drilling on the last 10 wells of the 33 well agreement we had with the government in the Southern Region. Curt King had returned to the states due to a family emergency so the crew took over and did an excellent job. This shows that Curt has been doing a good job training these men to do the work. Tens of thousands more people in new areas now have pure clean water to drink. We are now negotiating a new agreement and hope to be back in the drilling business very soon. There is plenty of time to drill many more wells before the rains come in June.
 A future preacher was born recently in Jimma. Brother Gutu and his wife gave birth to Joseph Gutu. Gutu is one of the ministers of the church in Jimma and also the director of the new Kindergarten there. Joseph will grow up on that compound at the feet of his father and will no doubt follow in his steps. We were excited to be there and share these wonderful moments with these new happy parents.
At the time of this writing Brothers Moges, Abebe and Bekele are traveling among the congregations in the Soro area holding gospel meetings. Reports indicate that thousands of members are coming from everywhere to attend the gatherings. This is a time of good old fashioned gospel preaching and many, many people will turn to Christ as they respond to the gospel message. Please pray for all the workers, all the men being trained, all the places where wells have been completed and our preachers who go there to share the “Water of Life” with them, for all the new congregations being established and for all the children attending our Christian schools. You are a part of some great works for God in Ethiopia.
John Ed Clark
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March 25, 2008
Dear Brethren and Friends of the Gospel Outreach to Ethiopia,
My son Kevin and I returned last week from a very successful trip to Ethiopia. In this report and in reports that will follow, I will share with you stories and pictures of the work being accomplished by our Ethiopian brothers and sisters.
We were deeply impressed by the spiritual quality and depth of the many preachers and church leaders who serve in that country. Over and over we heard from them the same request: “Please tell all our brethren how much we appreciate their faithfulness and let them know we are praying for them as they are for us.” We asked some of them to prepare a brief statement expressing to you their thoughts because as we were touched by what they had to say, we felt you would also be touched. We can’t include them all, but I believe you will better understand how much your faithfulness means to those on the front line of the gospel outreach to Ethiopia.
 Bro. Behailu Abebe: Please accept my sincere appreciation for your willingness to share and generous support of the Lord’s work in Ethiopia. God has certainly blessed this work because of all of you. Your commitment to evangelism and church growth, your support of training gospel preachers, your love to lift up poor children and your willingness to help provide good clean water to over one million thirsty people has inspired every member of the Lord’s Church in Ethiopia to a greater life of service in our Lord’s Kingdom. “Now, may He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.” 2 Cor. 9:10
 Bro. Moges Wolde: I would like to take this special moment to thank all of you who pray for and faithfully support the gospel outreach in Ethiopia. Great bible teachers come to teach us, you send support which allows us to train more than 100 gospel preachers each year, your assistance allows us to teach Jesus to 1000 children every day and with your help more than 200 fresh water wells are providing life saving water to about one million men, women and children. I am grateful to all of you who teach the gospel using WBS and WEI courses to people all over Ethiopia. Your faithfulness and involvement has made the impossible now possible. May God bless each of you.
 Bro. Abebe Haile Michael: I want to thank all of you deeply from the bottom of my heart for all you provide for the Lord’s work in Ethiopia. I am encouraged every day as I realize that so many of you have been a faithful supporter of this work for many years. I am inspired as I look to the future as we continue to serve together to preach the gospel to the lost souls in my country.
 Bro. Gutu Tesfaye: First, it is my daily prayer that the grace, peace and love of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit be with you all. Let the glory be to God because He is the one who binds us together through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. We are one in spirit and focus even while we live so far from each other. Even though the Lord’s work in Jimma was started recently, it has grown and progressed in a great way. This came because God is with us and because of your prayers and faithfulness in supporting the work. The church in Jimma and the families of the destitute children we serve send you their deep appreciation. May the good Lord continue blessing all of you.
 Bro. Demere Chernet: It has been 47 years since the truth of the gospel was brought to my country. Many thousands of people have been reached and their souls saved by through blood of Jesus as this gospel was preached. Hundreds of gospel preachers have been trained. More than 8000 under privileged hearing impaired children have attended our schools and have been taught the message of Jesus. Many of them have obeyed the gospel. More than 200 water wells have been drilled and are provided clean water to almost a million people and our preachers have been able to reach many of these same people with the gospel of Jesus. Hundreds of destitute children attend our kindergartens and so many of their parents have come to obey the gospel their children are being taught. All of these good works and many others have been made possible through God’s help, your prayers and your generous support. May our God continue to bless you as you share with us in this glorious work for our Lord Jesus Christ.
 Bro. Dagnatchew Olana: I came to the church after being led to the truth through World Bible School. Brother Norman Linam from Oklahoma was my teacher. I had been a preacher for a large denominational church group for many years. I studied with Brother Behailu for 3 months and was baptized into Christ and His Church 13 years ago. I serve as an evangelist for the Lord in Western Ethiopia. There are now 28 congregations in our area. This has been made possible first because God has blessed this work and second, because of the faithfulness of your prayers and financial support. All who serve the Lord in Ethiopia praise God every day for all of you.
 Bro. Alemayehu Deselegn: The Churches of Christ here in Ethiopia are growing in spirit and in numbers because of the dedication and support that you are rendering for more than four decades. It is your mutual love and the gospel of Christ that binds us together to work for the Lord's Kingdom. We appreciate you so much for your continual support that you give for this great work of the Lord in our country. Thousands of souls have been added to the Church, hundred's of preachers are trained in the Preachers Training Schools, destitute children & deaf students are able to get free education and a million people of Ethiopia are benefiting from the completed water wells that you have supported. We thank you and pray that will God bless you all while we together labor in this life saving work of the Lord.
Kevin and I join with these faithful gospel preachers and express our sincere appreciation to you. God is listening to your prayers and using your faithful support in a mighty way for His Cause in the land of Ethiopia.
John Ed Clark
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February 25, 2008
Dear Brethren and Friends of the Gospel Outreach to Ethiopia,
Twenty three new water wells have been drilled. Thousands of people will now have a source of pure fresh water to drink. The government has selected 10 more places where new wells will be drilled raising the total on this agreement to 33. These 33 wells will be completed in less than 60 days. A request has been submitted asking for 10 more sites and if this request is granted, then the total will be 43. This will provide good water for at least 150,000 more people who have not   had a source of clean water during their entire life. The rig and the support vehicles are pictured on the left at one of the drilling sites. Brother Solomon is shown at the controls of the rig while Curt King watches. Our Ethiopian brethren are engaged in on the job training and have drilled the majority of the 23 wells and will do all the drilling on the remainder of the wells. Curt has done a great work in providing these men with a skill that will allow them to serve their people for the rest of their lives. While the drilling goes on, the people  pray. It is probably impossible for us to feel the need for good water like they do. All of these people have been sick because they have had to drink water polluted with water borne diseases, including animal wastes. On the right is pictured three of our crew working together installing the well casing. Left to right is pictured Negusie, Bekele and Solomon. These men grew up in the church and all of them have been trained as gospel preachers. On the left, one of the local men enjoys a drink of  cool clean water from the new well near his home. Many times a comment made from the people when they drink clean water for the first time is they have never had water they could see through. Another comment is there is no taste to this water. Rightly so to both comments.
It is a happy time when the drilling results in finding a good plentiful source of water. It is a time to celebrate. And what is better than a good old fashion water fight. On the left the men  playfully throw buckets of water on each other at the end of a long hard day of drilling. The people in the background are enjoying this even more than the crew.
 My son, Kevin will be traveling with me to Ethiopia on February 29th. Kevin is pictured here with a group of our brethren from the church at Dinema as they gather around a new water well located very near their church building. This picture was taken on our last trip there together. Kevin, along with his wife, Tracy, is assuming some of the work I have been doing. I plan on being around for a long time to come, but the health problems of 2007 has taught me that I need to prepare others for the future. Kevin has been working in our “Change for Children” ministry that raises needed funds to operate the Kindergarten at Shinshicho as well as help provide the needs of many other children in Ethiopia. To read more about this program, go to our website: www.woodwardparkchurchofchrist or Church of Christ Mission Ethiopia. Click on “missions” and then on “Ethiopia”. Our five schools for the deaf are in full operation. Pictured here are several of our deaf students at our school in Santeriea. Kevin is pictured with them. We have about 800 students in all our schools and about one third of them are deaf. These deaf children compete very well with the hearing children. Everyone communicates in sign language and no one feels the effects of having a handicap in our schools. Many of you who read this report sponsor children in one of our schools. You should have recently received a new picture and a progress report on your child. If not, please let us know. This is a wonderful work and more than 5000 children, many of them deaf, have graduated from our schools since the first School for the Deaf opened in 1963.  The three Level One Schools of Preaching will start new sessions on Monday. A total of 40 men will be enrolled. They will come from churches in the Southern Region. In a letter from Behailu he said that some of the students would be from places where water wells have been completed and new congregations have been established. Pictured on the left is Brother Alemayehu teaching at the training school in Jajura.
 Brother Shimeles Tsige is pictured here with his son at their home in Awasa, Ethiopia. We ask for your prayers for Shimeles. He has been having problems with his heart and as of this time the cause has not yet been found. A heart doctor in Addis put him on a medication but it had to be discontinued because it was causing other complications. Shimeles has returned to Addis Abba for further testing. Shimeles is the director of the Awasa Computer School and serves as one of the leaders of the congregation there. He is a tireless worker for the Lord at the Awasa Church.We express to you our deep appreciation for your prayers and faithful support for the Lord’s Work in Ethiopia. It is a wonderful work and your help is very encouraging to our brethren there. Please continue to remember all of them.
John Ed Clark
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