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 Gambella's Laundromat  Gambella's ...  ...Beautiful  ...Children PRAYER CONCERNS: For Alternate Water Sources Wells for Gambella Centre and churches For Alternate Energy Sources Biogas, Solar For Alternative Agricultural Options Living Wall/vertical gardening model at Centre and for Gambella Churches Development of Training in natural resource utilization ( e.g. brick making) For Mother's Union Training Program training in bible, prayer, child care and community health For New Church Buildings For Nininyang, Itang, and for St Barnabas, GAC For funding for all of the above!! |
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
December Newsletter
Christmas Night and Day:
Night this week:
My bare toes felt suddenly very vulnerable. The snake, far from being dead, was coiled 3 coils high, with arched neck and flashing fangs, obviously furious at the din that Peter, (helpfully?) banging at the snake’s wheelbarrow hiding place, was making. But thankfully things would be OK now - Bishop was here! Grant and I looked at each other. They didn’t teach you this in bishop school! Peter (helpful again!) threw the wheelbarrow off the snake and leapt out of the way. I shone my flashlight on the snake, leaving Grant, armed with rubber boots and a few nearby boulders, to take on the night battle. It was a large puff adder - it’s penetrating bite quickly fatal. David took one stone to kill Goliath. Grant took five large boulders - but bragging rights have been pretty good all the same.
My bare toes felt suddenly very vulnerable. The snake, far from being dead, was coiled 3 coils high, with arched neck and flashing fangs, obviously furious at the din that Peter, (helpfully?) banging at the snake’s wheelbarrow hiding place, was making. But thankfully things would be OK now - Bishop was here! Grant and I looked at each other. They didn’t teach you this in bishop school! Peter (helpful again!) threw the wheelbarrow off the snake and leapt out of the way. I shone my flashlight on the snake, leaving Grant, armed with rubber boots and a few nearby boulders, to take on the night battle. It was a large puff adder - it’s penetrating bite quickly fatal. David took one stone to kill Goliath. Grant took five large boulders - but bragging rights have been pretty good all the same.
Night Last week:
It was the night before Christmas Eve. A canopy of stars filled the African sky. 600 heads bent forward in delighted intensity, as the Opo, sitting on mats crowded around a 10-inch screen, watched the Christmas story. For the first time, they could see the drama that had been filmed 2 years earlier. It was their own re-enactment of the story of Jesus’ birth, performed by their children, in their own language!
There is a fascinating brand of realism in these dramas - I’d been told of an earlier play about becoming fishers of men where the fish/men that were caught were then clubbed on the head, as is (apparently) the thing to do with fish. A delightful realism shone through our Christmas play as well. Herod had his regal splendor emphasized with a close-up of his huge tummy, patted regally - (whoops the stuffing fell out - quickly replaced). Joseph, after stomping around yelling furiously and then going to the bar and getting drunk, was able, after the angel’s instruction, to accept Mary as his betrothed.
Day Last Week:
It was Christmas day. Christmas hymns (we think), a Christmas feast, and Opo friendship and hospitality! Now it was time for the baptisms. “Are you sure there are no crocodiles?” Grant asked, half-joking. “Oh no!” replied the priest! ( “Oh yes!”, nodded the people). “Oh well!”, we decided. I was glad I didn’t have to get into the water - that was until I suddenly needed to help hold up those coming under the power of the Holy Spirit
Day 2 weeks ago (Egypt):
With quiet, melodic chanting the monks at St Mecarius monastery were worshiping. Privileged to be allowed to enter at all, I knelt to pray in a beautiful ancient chapel steeped in 16 centuries of daily prayer. The golden light of pre-sunset lit up the ancient icons and the scent of incense filled the air. I felt like I had taken a plunge into a cool refreshing fountain.
Grant’s turn
This month has been filled with baptisms and confirmations and meetings: in the Gambella area and in Addis, in Egypt (dodging various demonstrations), and in Uganda to represent the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East at the enthronement of the new Archbishop of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, where I literally “got the t-shirt” - good thing too, because my luggage was lost somewhere between Cairo, Addis and Entebbe.
My most poignant meeting was in Uganda with a young couple. He was a Christian, she had been a Muslim. When she fell in love with her husband to be, she also came to know and love Jesus. Then the trouble started. Beaten with iron repeatedly by her brothers and sisters, she was covered in scars. The small cross she had tattooed on her wrist was burned off by her brothers with battery acid. She was then imprisoned, but in a dream was told to bend the iron bars of her cell and walk to freedom. Awake, she took hold of the thick steel; it melted in her hands as if made of butter, and out she walked. Dreams of Jesus and Christian leaders encouraged her. Her husband, also beaten on several occasions, had to leave his law practice and flee his country, no longer employable, as his picture had been published in the press as someone attempting to corrupt a Muslim girl - by radical opinion someone who should be eliminated.
Together they fled to Juba in South Sudan, but could find neither work nor a place to stay. They headed south and in Kampala, Christians began to help them. They have refugee status in Uganda at the moment. He is looking for work, but his English is poor and hers non-existent. Their story, of course, is not unique. Christians are intimidated, persecuted and, yes, martyred on a regular basis in today’s world - there have been more martyrdoms in the modern period than at any other time in history. Please pray for this couple as they build a new life in a safe place - and for many like them, still in danger.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!!Together they fled to Juba in South Sudan, but could find neither work nor a place to stay. They headed south and in Kampala, Christians began to help them. They have refugee status in Uganda at the moment. He is looking for work, but his English is poor and hers non-existent. Their story, of course, is not unique. Christians are intimidated, persecuted and, yes, martyred on a regular basis in today’s world - there have been more martyrdoms in the modern period than at any other time in history. Please pray for this couple as they build a new life in a safe place - and for many like them, still in danger.
xxx Grant and Wendy
The Rt Rev Dr Grant and Dr Wendy LeMarquand are missionaries ofSAMS ( Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders)
Grant is area bishop for the Horn of Africa, one of two assistant bishops for the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, under the Most Rev Mouneer Anis
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Thursday, December 6, 2012
November Newsletter
Of Cows and Considerations...
Once upon a time there was a man who had 10 cows and 100 children.
All his children needed cows.
“Give me a cow so I can feed my many children”, said one.
“Give me, for I am your newest child and I have nothing”.
Another said - “Give me a cow for I have lost my house and crops to flooding”
“My friends are leaving me for others who are richer”, said another.
There were school fees, hospital bills, repairs; - many needs. Few cows.
What to do?
The man thought.
I could take all my cows and prepare a big feast for my children - but they would be hungry again tomorrow.
If I say “yes” to one, then I must say “no” to another, for there is not enough to go around.
Then he had an idea!
Instead of taking from the cows, his children could give to them.
Some had grass they could give. One had wood, another had rope- they could build an enclosure to protect them at night.
Some had knowledge of how to help the sick and the weak ones.
Some could be with them to watch over them.
At first his children were unhappy.
But little as they had, they gave what they could, and the herd began to grow.
The cows became healthy and sleek. Their milk was good and nourishing.
Before long, their cows became the ones that everyone wanted to buy.
They kept some and sold some, and the herd kept increasing.
Now I can be in peace, thought the old man - if my children learn how to give what little they can, and to share what they have, and to take care of what they have, then there will always be enough.
This parable came to mind as we prayed for wisdom in the sweltering heat of the night in Niniyang. “We are poor and powerless - You must give to us a church building, a clinic, a preschool, teachers, supplies. Then we will be a church that will attract people.”
“What are your strengths? Your gifts? Your ministries?”, we ask. “We need money - then our ministry will be to have a church that can give education, health care and worship,” was the reply. How to bless and empower without discouragement and without continuing to foster an unhealthy dependency? How to build a fully African church in its support, propagation, liturgy and government?
The Confirmation service the next morning was held under a tree - the church had been destroyed by recent flooding (not the only one to have been lost to the floods in Gambella this rainy season). Grant preached on Matthew 28:16-20, the so-called Great Commission: a story about eleven disciples, some of them doubting, sent to change the world. They had no church buildings (or clinics, or schools) - nothing but the power and the Presence of Jesus - with them always: the same Jesus who had died on the cross at the hands of the religious and political authorities of his day, now claims to have all authority. Grant then laid hands on about forty Confirmands (most of them named Martha, it seemed) and commissioned them to go into the world with the message of God’s love in the power of the Spirit.
The first weeks in Gambella have been intense. After a beautiful service of Installation in Addis, with Ethiopian church leaders, international visitors and members of the diplomatic community as witnesses, we then headed to Part II. At the Gambella Installation there were a few more religious and political leaders - but mostly members of the churches from all around the Gambella region - some had travelled for two days to get there. Grant spoke to them about his hopes for this Diocesan Area - that they would be self-expanding (well, they do this already), self-governing (their next bishop should be an African!), self-supporting (they need to move away on depending on outsiders for everything) and self-theologizing (they need to be able to discern God’s will for God’s mission in this place). Not everyone liked these ideas, Grant soon discovered - especially the self-governing part: a small ethnic group worried that this would mean that the next bishop would be from a different ethnic group. Their fears may or may not be well-founded, but they are fears nonetheless. So they must be taken seriously - but they must also be healed by the perfect love of Jesus who casts out all fear. The self-supporting bit, well it just seemed to them to be impossible.
In the meantime, we will continue with the self-expanding part (they can plant churches, these folks), and begin work on the self-theologizing - every month when they come to be paid, they will receive two days of theological education, something they have had little of, but which they yearn for.
Come Holy Spirit - guide and empower us!
Wendy & Grant LeMarquand
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| Addis Installation Oct 27, 2012 |
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| Gambella installation |
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| Gambella kids |
September newsletter
Amharic for beginners
Language learning is about sharing and relationship. Our Amharic class, is self- dubbed, ‘The Ferenge Show’ because of the particular giftedness we Ferenge (‘foreigners’) seem to have for causing our Ethiopian friends to weep with laughter. In fact, we love nothing better than to share stories of our latest spectacular failures in communication. One classmate left her egg seller bewildered when she asked for, “One dozen frogs, please”, and gave the man who grabbed her arm on the street a totally wrong impression when she responded, “Ow!” - which is the Amharic word for “Yes!” Together we are discovering, in language, an interwoven tapestry of communication and culture, meaning and relationship.
It was the story of the Afar that brought this home most vividly to me. Imagine with me that you are in the tribal court of the Afar, listening with the elders gathered to hear a case. Arguments and counter arguments are put forth. Then everyone is quiet. In poetry, the elder designate stands and sings the two sides of the case. Only now is it legitimate. Only now the arguments, presented in song, poetry and metaphor, are ready to be decided upon.
The Afar dictionary is a fraction of the thickness of those of other languages. But one sentence in metaphor, conveys the essence of an entire story, culturally nuanced to convey much more than the spoken word. Leaders must undergo years of training in eloquence before being given the honour and responsibility of judging the words of another. When we learn a language, we get to learn a people.
Wendy
Meskel
Imagine an event which has elements of the Rose Bowl Parade, followed by a victory celebration on the street after your team has won the Stanley Cup or the Super Bowl, combined with elements of Good Friday and Ash Wednesday all rolled into one. It may be hard to imagine, but such is the annual celebration of ‘Meskel’ (Amharic for ‘cross’), the feast of the finding of the true cross.
The feast is a public holiday. In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, close to 300,000 people gather at Meskel Square every Sept 27 to watch marching bands, mass choirs and floats on which the story of the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine (his vision of a glowing cross in the sky and a voice declaring “in this sign is victory”) is portrayed. His mother, Queen Helena searching through Jerusalem for the true cross, is directed by the smoke from incense offered with her prayers, to the correct place to dig for the relic. The climax of the festivities comes as the sun sets. As thousands of candles are lit, the Patriarch lights the Meskel fire - a huge Christmas tree-looking pyre called a “Demera.” As the night goes on thousands of smaller Demera bonfires are lit all over the city (and all over the rest of the country for that matter).
But events in the square are not over. Just as it was believed that the wood of the cross had miraculous healing power, so the Orthodox believe that the ashes of the Demera, blessed and lit by the Patriarch, will bring a blessing. And so, as the fire of the Demera dies down, thousands of people run to gather the ashes and mark their foreheads. We escaped the crush, but only just.
Meskel is a fascinating combination of religious, cultural and political ideas. The church in this country is ancient (at least 1,600 years) and it has shaped many cultural realities. The church and the state have also been closely linked (perhaps, at times, too closely linked). A confusion between the cross as a sign of victory (over evil) and the cross as an imperial weapon for victory betrays this close, and not always healthy, connection. I worry about the message of the cross as a weapon, and the obvious connections between political and religious power also worry me.
At the same time, the devotion and piety of the ordinary people cannot be denied or ignored. They know that the cross has some kind of power. The desire to retrieve the Demera ashes and just the sheer numbers of people at this event reveal a love for the story of the cross.
And, thankfully, another reading of the message of the cross was delivered on this day by Abune Nathaniel, the acting Patriarch (Abune Paulos died just before we arrived in Ethiopia). His short message was that the cross brings peace. Jesus’ death for us achieved reconciliation with God and pointed to reconciliation between people and people groups. It was a message much needed in a country still recovering from years of totalitarian rule under the Marxist Derg which only came to an end in 1991, as well as massive poverty, and recurrent famine. Ethiopia is an island surrounded by unstable and often war-torn neighbours. Internal issues and external pressures seem to conspire against the poor. In a country with 80 distinct ethnic groups each with their own languages and cultures, it is tempting to blame the people down the road or the people in the capital city, or the people in the next district, or country. But the cross, said the Patriarch, brings peace, a peace not yet fully realized, but promised none the less, and seen in many and various ways as God works in this amazing place.
He is the head of his body the church.
He is the beginning,the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross.
(Colossians 1:18-20)
Grant
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| Images of Meskel |
Monday, October 22, 2012
September 2012
Gentle Giants....Past and Present
It’s funny how past memories can “ backlight” present perceptions. The Great Pyrenees is a huge dog, bred to guard and protect the sheep under his care. The memory of our “gentle giant”, Caleb - a lean 175 lb Great ‘Pyr’ - keeps coming to mind lately. “Don’t get this dog if you beat your children”, our breeder warned us. We laughed and thought nothing of it. Then one day, while wrestling with a stubborn winter boot that had become stuck on our daughter’s foot - with Chara lying on the floor squealing with laughter and Grant tugging valiantly at the recalcitrant boot - Caleb got up from where he had been quietly watching, and, smiling graciously, placed his huge doggy self between Grant and Chara, gently but emphatically separating the two. Grant was not allowed to come near her for the rest of the day. Chara’s amusement at this was surpassed several years later when once again, Caleb intervened - this time in a mock wrestling match between our son, David, and Grant. David’s laughter turned to sheer delight as, in one fluid motion, Caleb rose and effortlessly, in a split second, pinned Grant to the floor, and held him there with his huge, heavy paw, while serenely smiling down at his beloved Grant.
This memory kept coming to mind as we met today with Bishop Mouneer, a gentle giant of another sort - and also a guardian of beloved “sheep”. This holy and humble shepherd manages to combine a wicked sense of humour with a depth of compassion and wisdom that few possess. In times of crisis he is able to go to Muslim leaders and ask, “How can we work together for peace?” He is able, with a twinkle in his eye and genuine friendship in his heart, to speak the truth in love without compromise, because of the relationships he has built by grace with care and respect. Pray that we too will have the gift of building ‘relationships of honour’ in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa.
Bishop Mouneer Anis is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa; the Primate of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East; and our boss, our friend, and our mentor.
Pray for him as the Diocese continues to grow as a place of Anglican teaching and discipleship throughout the region.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Twinkle Toes...
Twinkle-toes...
and beautiful feet!!!
My father, Michael, who could neither carry a tune, nor dance, none the less would happily prance and leap about our childhood home, regaling us with stories of how Michael the Mag-snif-icant, aka ‘Twinkle Toes’, would sing and dance before the crowned heads of Europe - much to their (and frankly our) amazement.
As we get ready to leave with full hearts and full suitcases, and perhaps not exactly twinkling toes, the scripture, “ How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” comes to mind. I feel as if Jesus is kneeling and washing my feet with your prayers and with your love mingling with His.
We are truly blessed to be sent out with your ongoing prayers and support, and we will carry you in our hearts and prayers as we journey.
Special thanks to our partners who have pledged financial support - we are now at 80% of goal! What a joy to partner with each other and with Jesus in His love for Africa!
Please pray
- for peace in the midst of all the myriad details of moving
- for full financial support
- for listening and loving hearts
- and for feet shining and prepared with the gospel of peace!
with our love and prayer xx Wendy + Grant
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Thursday, May 10, 2012
Miracle in Cairo
I had awakened the day before, with these words clearly and inexplicably in my mind, “Operation Ruin”. I figured maybe this could be a nudge, a warning to pray for protection! You think?!!!
Later that day Anna, our David’s dear girlfriend, suffered a dangerous fall from which, miraculously, she was unhurt apart from being both bruised and shaken up. Shortly after that, Grant suffered the excruciating pain of a torn leg muscle. As the Presence of God came upon Grant at his consecration, all pain disappeared, and he was completely healed.
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