News from the Ethiopia Short Term Mission Trip

888 Team Report
For those of you living in or near Canberra Australia the 888 Team would like to invite you to Brindabella Baptist on Sunday Morning 10AM, 25 February 2007 at MacKillop Catholic College
Drummond St Isabella Plains, to hear us report on the Ethiopian trip. We would really appreciate catching up with all the people who supported us so well throughout the trip. So if you can make it a long that would be great.

We are hoping those who attend this service will experience a little something of what we experienced when attending a Mursi church service. That you would gain a further understanding of how God answered all of our prayers while we where there. How the team was impacted along the journey and how we can stay connected with the Mursi church into the future. Most of all we want to thank you for participating in the 888 journey with us. We really appreciate all of your support.

Regards,
Steven Mogg

Last email from Addis
We have counted down to our last day in Ethiopia. We have had the last mission discussion in the guest house, been invited back to Ethiopia for the last time, had our last Ethiopian meal, and are just getting ready to head to the airport. It has been a fantastic time for all of us. Our drive back to Addis went very well. We were able to briefly see a number of other mission stations along the way and take a bit of time to catch our breath and absorb all the things God has been doing in and through us while we were in Makki. I don't think this will stop here. Arriving back in Addis it seems like it was years ago that we first arrived here. It has been good catching up with people here and sharing the stories of our adventure. There seems to be a lot of short term (1-6 month) people here at the moment. There is a real buz in the SIM Headquarters and guest house, as people from all around the world answer Gods call to server Him here.

From all reports the long term team in Makki were very appreciative of our visit. With the Geddes help we were able to settle in pretty quick and get some useful things achieve. Our presence alone has encouraged the local team and the Mursi Christians. Apparently our departure has caused some sadness amongst the people there. I think all of us felt a bit sad leaving also. This is offset a little for use with the excitment of heading home and catching up with our friends and family. We have really appreciated all the support we have had from across the world during our journey here. Your prayers and encouragement have been vital in God working through us in the lives of people here. Please continue to pray for the final phase of our travels.

Steven

Last morning in Makki - 8 January
Hi,

Early Monday morning 8 Jan 07 and the team is just about ready to leave Makki and head back to Australia. We will take about 4 days to get back to Addis, visiting some other mission stations along the way. Then we fly out of Addis late Monday night 15 Jan 07. The Geddes heading to India where they will spend about a week touring and visiting, and the others heading back to Australia with a one day stop over in Bangkok. We have all had an amazing time here in Makki over the last six weeks. We have done a lot of work and achieved a lot of the things we set out too and ticked off most of the jobs we had on our list. Which is a very amazing thing to achieve in Makki (those who have been will appreciate this) but there is still plenty needed here.

Most importantly, we have built many new relationships with the people here and gained a host of new friends among the Mursi and the long term team here in Makki. God has used this to encourage and build up all of us and extend His Kingdom here on earth. Many thanks from all of us here in Makki for your prayers. They have had an amazing impact here. We would ask you to continue praying for the Mursi people and their young growing church. The long term team members in Makki who do an awesome job serving the Mursi in the clinic, school, agriculture, and bible translation projects. And for us as we drive back to Addis and fly home to meet up with our family and friends. Thanks for being part of our team and supporting His work here in Mursi land.

Regards,
Steven

The Walk Diary Part 2 - by Steven
After we had eaten dinner, again sitting under the big tree with the calves, near a small fire. We shifted our cow hides over closer to where Komorukora was sitting. Olikoro said this was his chance, and with that, began talking to Komorukora about why we had come over to visit him. He shared the story of Jonah with him and explained the gospel. I wasn't able to follow the details as there wasn't time to translate everything without distracting from the conversation. My job was to sit and pray that the Holy Spirit would give Olikoro the words to use and Komorakora ears to hear God speak. As I did this I was looking up to the stars and it just seemed like God was up there reaching down through the stars with an outstretched arm wanting to scoop these Mursi people up with his hand. It seemed to me that for some reason God really wants to restore these people through a relationship with Him and protect their culture from being wiped from this earth.

After a lengthy discussion back and forth Komorukora retired for the night. He had a cold and couldn’t stay up any longer. After a short prayer time we also gathered our hides and belongings and walked into the corral area on the other side of the tree. The corrals are made from laying thorny branches down for a fence-like structure. Inside the corral were a couple of grass huts for sleeping in, holding your goats and sick animals. The cattle spend the night in the corral and a couple of thorny branches are pulled across the entrance to make sure they stay. Our hides were laid down next to one of the huts and that's where we slept four abreast on the ground. A nice view of the stars which I hope would stay there all night although lightning was flashing to the North of us already. The thing I like about sleeping on the ground (Jonathan and I had those short sleeping mats we had carried in our packs) is that you have to wake up every so often and roll over. Each time I performed this ritual I tracked the constellation Orion across the sky. I was able to keep track of the night’s progress and reassure myself that it wasn't about to pour down rain, which is a very regular occurrence in these parts from my experience. I was also aware that any water falling on me may not be from the sky with this many cows wandering around the yard.

In the morning discussions continued with Komorukora saying that, just as the the king of Nineveh heard God’s message and considered it amongst his people he would do the same. So at least he was going to consider it with his council and see how they should respond. Komorakora had been particularly concerned about why the snake had come so quickly into the camp after we had arrived. I am not sure what significance this had but apparently it was considered some kind of sign. The good thing about doing God's work is that you are not responsible for the outcome on your own. If God asks you to go and tell somebody something He is only interested in your obedience in doing what He has asked. That is a major theme in the story of Jonah. It isn't your problem what the other person does with the message, that is between them and God and God can stand up for Himself. Olikoro and Kalimedere had answered the call and done what they had been asked. They received a good reception and Komorukora was going to consider it further. I think that's a good day in the kingdom. So we headed off to our second destination around mid morning. As we walked, Kalimedere observed that just like the earth revolves around the sun, in God's purpose everything seems to revolve around Jesus. These guys may live in an extremely different culture to ours, (we’re talking really different here!) but don't think for a second they are not smart, thinking people who have a connection with God that is probably closer than anything we could have in our western world. It is just amazing.

After walking for about an hour we reached Maridoongka, the village where DogDog lives, Olisarali and Milisha's father. I got to meet Olisaralis and Melisha's mother's as we sat under the large tree in the middle of the village. Many of you who have been to Makki or followed the Geddes during their time here would know these two guys. There seemed to be a fairly large gathering there and we had some milk and conversation. Samaluw, who is one of the vet assistants Jonathan trained when he was here previously, lives here and he showed me through his photo album which he kept in a plastic bag. He had photos of when the Geddes where here earlier and I recognized Gordon Hunt from Werribee in one of the photos. Samaluw had also been recruited into the Ethiopian Army, and he had a few photos of his time in the army. Meanwhile Olikoro and Jonathan talked about more important things with Dogdog. They were well received , although Dogdog wasn't feeling well with a cold and spent most of the time lying on the ground. As far as I understand, things went pretty well and there certainly seemed to be interest among everybody present. In similar style to Komorukora we left with them saying they would think about it more.

It was just after midday and we now had a long walk back ahead of us. So far today we had only been offered milk. Not being all that fond of it I hadn't had much. I wasn't all that hungry but didn't feel all that well, which could have been caused by taking the morning Doxy (Malaria preventative medicine) tablet with no solid food. So when Jonathan handed out what was left of the seed mix we had brought it went down very well. You also go through a lot of water walking out here. It is always warm and gets hot after midday. Our 10 litre supply was only just going to get us home. As we walked along we came to another village, rather unexpectedly for me. This turned out to be a really interesting experience as it was quite different from the other two villages.

It looked the same but the people in it were quite different. They where much more aggressive and soon started demanding things from us. They knew Jonathan and wanted him to come back and treat their cattle. At least two of them appeared to be drunk and spent the whole time arguing with each other, which the others found very amusing. Jonathan commented to me that it would be a bit of a taste of hell, living here. But even so the others ended up having conversations about Jesus with a couple of the guys on the edge of the group while the two loud ones harassed me or chased the young kids around with a stick as everybody laughed at them. It was good to leave, after some more milk, it was a little crazy. Jonathan said that this is more what it was like when they first came to Mursiland. Since people had been following Jesus and looking to the Bible for guidance in how they lived their life things had certainly become more fulfilling for everybody. It is quite a stark indication of what Jesus can do in people's lives. It wasn't fun even visiting hell for an hour.

For Mursi, crossing a river on a walk is like driving down the M5 Motorway in Sydney with an ETag. You only have to slow down to 80km/hr and you're through. For us western guys, we need to stop at the booth, search for coins, and drop them out the window. It takes us forever to get across the river. You can understand why: if you’re Mursi you just hold your ruhm above your head, walk across the river in bare feet, throw the ruhm up on the far bank. Have a quick dip to cool off, walk up the bank, pick up the ruhm and wrap it around you. You're away again. The western guys however, take off their boots and socks. Wait to see how deep it is so they know if they need to take their shorts off. Get their gear ready to cross, then let the Mursi take their stuff across because they are much more stable and its less likely to get wet with them. Get across the river, having a swim along the way. Did I mention how strange it must look to Mursi with these two white hairballs bobbing in the river. Anyway finally the westerners get out of the river, then they have to be shown which bushes are best for drying yourself on so they can get their boots on. It makes me think about how people are so different and how intolerant of others I might have been some times. It takes all kinds in this World and I think I respect that a bit more now. As we walked on from the river crossing first Kalimedere turned off for his home and then when we where close enough that we couldn't get lost from here Olikoro turned off for his home. Jonathan and I walked on finally coming out at the far end of the airstrip and walked home from there arriving at about 5:30PM.

It certainly was a privilege being able to tag along with Olikoro and Kalimedere as they went to share what Jesus had done in their lives with their fellow Mursi. As they said, "they didn't need Jonathan to come along with them". But they hadn't done this in a while so maybe his encouragement to get out there and share their experience was what they needed. Since we are only here a short while it was good to know they didn't need Jonathan to do this, hopefully what happened and our continued prayers will inspire them to keep reaching out to their fellow Mursi. What I have seen and heard while I have been here, they certainly put me to shame with how boldly they share what they believe. It has been very encouraging for me while I have been here.

The Walk Diary Part 1 - by Steven
The Walk Diary Part 1

by Steven

We set off early Monday morning 18th December 2006 to walk to a Mursi village about five hours away. Both Jonathan and myself carried a small pack with the minimum we would need. We had a sleeping mat, spare shirt, a sheet, malaria medicine, toothbrush, torch, notepad, bible, spare socks. We also had two water bottles each and about a kilogram of roasted wheat to eat and/or give away as required. We dressed in long-sleeved shirt and shorts with knee high gaiters and boots. Top that off with a hat and rain coat over us as it was raining here as usual. Not even cool, same temperature, just wet. Our fellow Mursi travelers, Olikoro Komoru and Kalimedere Medereholi led the way wearing their ruhm (a blanket or, often colourful, strip of woven material about 2 by 1 metres) and carrying between them an umbrella, donga stick, sandals and 10 liters of water which they carried on our behalf. Talk about a contrast in needs. Why take a tooth brush when there is this neat stick you can get along the way and chew into a really good toothbrush. You can use your blanket for an amazing number of things. Change your dress style as you walk along and then as a blanket when you want to sleep. It left me wondering where the material world had gotten us to.

The aim of the journey was to take the gospel further out of Makki to some of the strategic people in the local area. Our over-night destination was a place called Kelai north-west of Makki where many Mursi live. We spent time with Komorukora, the ritual priest and religious leader of the northern Mursi people. On the second day we walked a little further West where we also visited Dogdog (Olisorali's father, who is an influential sorcerer) at Maridoongka. We know that many of you have been praying for these two men for many years. During this period we had prayer cover from the Christians in Makki and those on the 888 Team News list. My understanding is that Mursi can be rather direct with you at times. So they would certainly let you know if you were not welcome. Our welcome at both these places was very good. From my perspective what the guys talked about was listened to with respect. I am sure God's spirit was at work here and that His word will not go out in vain.

I have mentioned before how Ngatini (aka Christine) had become a popular figure in the Makki area. To my surprise after walking five hours I discovered that Ngatini was well known in Kelai also. And I was simply relegated to my normal position as Ngatini's husband even at this distance. Does news travel fast in Mursiland? Well, yes it does but also people travel from Kelai to Makki to go to school. How is that for commitment to education. While speaking with Dontori we discovered that he went to school and I figured he might know Ngatini. Of course he did and was excited to know that I was her husband. He sets off on Monday afternoon (sometimes Tuesday morning) to walk what is only a short three hours for him to school and then goes and stays with relatives closer to Makki(as it turned out Olikoro) through to Friday when he walks home. I got to catch up with Dontori at school later that week and got some of my own back tutoring him in English. He does very well for third grade English, they are very clever people. My Mursi skills where hammered on this journey and my brain was mush by the end of it.

In the "milk times" with some of the Mursi Christians here we have been studying the story of Jonah and were amazed at how, as Jonah went and took God's message to him, the king of Nineveh was turned around and all the people of Nineveh along with him. This was partly the inspiration for the journey I found myself witnessing. These guys certainly didn't want to be running in the other direction as Jonah had. Around here you might end up in a crocodiles' belly rather than a fish's belly. Milk times are discussions three times a week in the afternoon following a biblical passage or topical local issue. They have been going through Jonah recently and this has been the sermon topic at church on Sunday. They have also discussed the best way to get your wives to submit to your wishes. The normal method is a good beating with a cane. The bible puts a bit of a different perspective on the marriage relationship, which caused some interesting discussion. Certainly wives here are much more a possession for the man, brought with cattle and guns, than in our western culture. So the relationship started from a very different place. Not that we have it all right in the west, with divorce rates over 50% and abuse levels so very high. At least in Australia, even the government has marketed anti-abuse advertising in recognition of the seriousness of the problem. The Mursi Christians are very keen to discover how the values expressed in the bible can be translated into their own culture and help them live as the Mursi that God created them to be.

Along the way we found ourselves involved in an interesting discussion that resulted in us building a model of the solar system on the track using leaves and seeds. It all started at breakfast at Kalimedere's village with a discussion on relative size and population of Ethiopia and Australia. Fair enough as you set out on a journey across the land. This led to, "How far away is Australia... London, America". By then we had a bit of a world map appearing on the dirt beneath our feet. Well from here to America it depends which way you go around the earth. Which gets you to a discussion about the earth being round. About this point Jonathan, who is translating all this is starting to wonder why he brought me along. Some of those gathered Mursi say, "oh yes the earth is round and it spins", while others say, "Oh, I didn't realise it was round, that is very interesting". About two hours down the track we stopped by a very nice cool stream and had a break. As we sit in the shade next to the stream, Kalimedere, who must have been thinking about this as we walked, asks. "So if the earth is round the Sun must be going around it then". Well you can't just say, "Sure, whatever", and leave him thinking that. So I explained how the Sun and planets worked and built the model. Jonathan, who thought it was interesting that a year was actually the earth going around the sun once, translated the story and relayed questions. We explained that all the other planets seemed to be completely void of any life. That earth was in orbit exactly the right distance from the Sun to enable us to live here. They thought that was obvious since where else would God have put it.

When you arrive at a Mursi village you just quietly walk up and take a seat under a tree around the edge of the village. There you sit for a while and soon a couple of people come over and greet you. This is followed by more and more people coming over. You are offered a cow skin to sit on and discussions continue about where you have come from, why do you wear a hat, what are those gaiters for anyway. Are they to stop snakes biting you? No consideration that every second bush along the path has razor sharp thorns that would have cut our spindly white legs to pieces. That wouldn't cross their mind but they are very concerned about snakes. Anyway after a time the shade has moved so we move under a larger more central tree, normally the place where the men gather to sit and talk, and eat and talk some more. We also share this place with the calves as it is too hot for them to go out and eat just yet. We talk some more and then some food arrives, prepared by their wives.

You are able to travel without food as a Mursi because it is the custom to feed all visitors when they arrive. There seem to be three staple items. An extremely thick porridge, almost like bread, that you take with your fingers. Careful! It is hot and will burn them really easily. With this you will also get some milk. We are talking a tribal village in Africa so electricity is only found in the occasional torch. No refrigeration here. So the best plan is to make the milk go sour and then it will last a lot longer in the hot sun. The best way seems to be to wash the porridge down with a swig of sour milk. Carefully blowing the flies off the bowl before you have some. We are in the middle of a cattle yard now so there are plenty of flies around. We were also fortunate to get some cooked leaves, which were pretty nice. Jonathan thinks this is all really good food. From my perspective, I could eat the porridge no problems - it is pretty good and filling. The leaves are nice and go well with the porridge. I don't think I could ever get totally comfortable with the milk though. Jonathan says it is an acquired taste. On the second day of our journey milk was all that was on offer so you can get by on it. Olikoro and Kalimedere were a little surprised at how little I was eating. They could put an amazing amount of this food away.

In the late afternoon we went down to the river for a wash. As we walked through the village we gathered a large group of followers, mainly children. As we approached the river a very young Mursi boy coming back from the river looked up to see the most horrifying sight in his short life. A strange white hairy human looking beast wearing a hat, shirt, shorts and boots. He screamed "What is that, Arrh! Mummy Mummy", and ran off the track and around us back towards the village, as fast as he could. Everybody laughed; I didn't think Jonathan looked that scary. At least not until we got to the river and went for a swim in his undies. Now that drew a crowd, laughter and screams. Mursi don't have visible hair on their bodies. They say they have none, but if you look very closely you can see very fine short hairs on their body. They shave their heads, often with artistic patterns, and pluck any other hair that might grow. Sounds painful. So we are very hairy compared to them. And they are fascinated by it and keep on touching you and pulling on your hairs. As night fell we returned to the village and discovered a 2m Cobra had tried to enter the village near the big tree. By the time we saw it it had a very flat head but still looked impressive. Australia may have the world’s most dangerous snakes but as the Mursi say, we don't live in the bush with them like they do. They are really wary of snakes as there are a lot around and a bite is usually fatal because it is very difficult to get to medical assistance in time.

The Journey so far ... Josh's unique perspective!
The Journey so far... Josh's unique perspective!

From the freshly roasted and ground coffee to the sound of the rainforest in the morning this place is lovely. Unfortunately its beauty comes with a price. It seems as though life here has taken a time out and decided it would rather watch than play. Its funny really, I came here thinking about all the wonderful stuff I could DO for God... as it turns out its more about WHO I AM in the sight of God. You see everything takes longer to do here especially when it comes to fixing or making things (like the tractor, road, teaching English, learning Mursi, building drains, cleaning roofs etc.). I have come to realise however that it is our attitude that counts. Trust in God here in Makki can't simply be replaced by trust in technology... faith here is more life and death as it should be in the rest of the world. Let me explain how I discovered this for myself... about three weeks ago I had malaria! Yep it was painful but it wasn’t the physical pain that was getting to me. Every day I spent out of action I found myself more and more frustrated. I had no idea why so I prayed for release... nothing happened, I was still in pain, but hold on... I suddenly realised that I had come to deepest darkest Africa to show God how great a humble servant I was!!! What a joke! Talk about a wake up call though... I had been frustrated because I wasn’t being the big tough man I thought God required me to be. I was vulnerable, in pain and at a low point but that’s the beauty of it. At that point I knew that God cared more about my motivations and less about my pompous actions that attempted to impress him. When I got well enough to read I continued with 1 Corinthians 13 in my daily reading...

If I gave everything to the poor and even sacrificed my body... but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever 1 Corinthians 13:3

It was amazing reading these words I had read so many times before in such a new light! I have now chosen to teach, fix, paint, clean and create out of love for my father God and for the Mursi people. I know at home around this time of year I feel like the things I am doing 'for God' often just seem too hard. At home I know I have gotten frustrated because I don’t even live up to my standards, let alone God's but there is hope. I have found Love in action creates so much energy that you lose track of how tired you really should be. To end my story three weeks on after my malaria and a nasty sinus infection I have not quite recovered physically but I have to tell you my spirit is overflowing with energy... all because of a little love.

888 Team update by Steven - 31 December
31Dec06

888 Team Update by Steven

We have been very busy in Makki as 2006 draws to a close. We had a great Christmas. Some sad times as we remembered family back in Australia and what we would be missing out on. And some happy times as some of us got care packages from friends and family in Australia and all of us got a bunch of Christmas cards which were fantastic. Thanks for thoughts and prayers, it really made a positive impact on the team. So we had some goodies to eat and plenty of love to go around from the cards. We cooked up some great food to continue the Aussie Christmas eating tradition. We had some carolling and prayer times together and celebrated Jesus birthday together.

Much of this Christmas cheer was made possible by the plane arriving from Addis. The plane was delayed until the 26th, Boxing Day, which gave us an extra day to transition into Christmas mode. On Christmas day we had a roast dinner which we had been saving from the cow slaughtered just after we arrived. It was great. On Boxing Day we made one final check of the runway, as we had had a bit of rain over the last few days. Everything looked Ok and soon enough the plane flew down low over the houses and banked around to land on the strip. The plane touched down smoothly and rolled to a stop in front of us without any problem. It was gratifying to see our hard work paying off. The pilot, Solomon, jumped from the plane to greet his old friends, the Geddes, and then we started unloading as the other passengers got off also. Solomon thought the strip was really good and was glad Rohan was back on the job of keeping it in useable condition

Jonathan’s nephews, Tim and David, jumped off the plane. They had arrived in Addis a couple of days before and will be spending the rest of the trip with us here and travelling back to Addis. Also on the plane was Fred Van Gorkom from SIM in Addis, his Daughter and Niece who was visiting from the USA. They had about 4 hours here while the plane went off and did some other work returning in the afternoon to take them back to Addis. So the strip got a good work out that day and we had new house mates (it reminds me a little of Big Brother living here all together in one house and having new people move in is like when intruders come in). It has been really good having Tim and David move in and they have settled into the routine very well. They have been out working on the roads and enjoying a ride down the river.

On the 27th the plane flew over again ,so we jumped into the vehicle and headed off for the strip again to see what was up. When we got there the plane had already departed and left a pile of bags and six passengers standing at the end of the strip. These were Mike and Andrea Bryant there children and two friends on short term mission, who work for SIL in Addis translating the bible into Suri, which is a neighbouring tribe with similar language to the Mursi. Mike has been helping the Mursi translation effort and we had visited them for dinner in Addis and got some translation tools loaded onto a notebook we brought down with us. So out of all the people who could be dumped at the end of our strip here in Ethiopia it was amazing that we all knew them. They had been flying from Addis to Tulgit but it was clouded in so they suggested Solomon drop them here and then pick them up tomorrow and hop them over to their destination. So we got to spend the day with them and they slept in one of the empty houses here where the radio is.

On the 28th the plane arrived again, this time with the Lukins returning from 18 months home/study assignment in Australia. Well at least some of them anyway, Carol and three kids. Paul is driving down from Addis with their other daughter. We have just heard he has made it to Jinka, so this means that the Weyto bridge must be fixed. This bridge, which we crossed on the way here, fell into the river about a week before Christmas when somebody tried to take a bulldozer across it. This cut our route back to Addis but it sounds like it is fixed now. It is a larger, fast flowing river with croc's in it so you really need a bridge. We unloaded the Lukins stuff and loaded the Bryants gear and they headed off for Tulgit after a short stay with us. We got the Lukins settled into their house, which we have spent many hours cleaning up. Although it has been lived in occasionally while they where away the jungle quickly claims its own back in these parts. So there was a lot of cleaning and repair work to do. I had to repair the wiring for four lights that had been eaten through by rats and were infested with ants. Anyway it wasn't perfect when they got here, but it was much much better than it was when we arrived.

So the air strip has been very handy over the last few days. Before Christmas I went with Jonathan on an over night walk to talk with some Mursi leaders. Thanks for your prayers during that time. Olikoro and Kalimederey led us and shared the gospel with these leaders as we talked. It was a great experience made even better knowing that these Mursi Christians were out there sharing Jesus with their own people. I really sense God wants to save and protect the Mursi from the increasing pressures of this world by drawing them to Himself. They were excited to know people all over the world were praying for them right at that moment. I am almost finished a walk diary which will come out on the list soon and fill in many of the details for you.

When we got back we found out that Josh had been diagnosed with Malaria and had started a course of treatment. He didn't look very well at all but was in good spirits and remained very happy throughout the three day treatment. The treatment took only 32 hours to clear the fever and after this he quickly got back on deck although he had a bit of a sinus infection to follow it up with. Tristan was also having some chest which he was taking some medicine for. It seems like there is always somebody sick with something. You get a bit blasé about your health living in the west, but here it seems much more precious. You get an idea for how important the clinic is to the Mursi.

We are starting to count down to when we leave Makki now with only ten days to go. Tristan has inventoried the food and determined a menu that we use up all the perishables before we depart. We can easily leave non perishable with other people here. We have prioritized our job list and are aiming to complete the essential tasks before we go and get as many other things done as we can. We put in a pretty big week this week in spite of all the other activities that occurred. This included about six km of road work on the far side of the river. After some remedial work on the tractor hydraulic leak we got another couple of days work from it but the leak continues to grow and we may only get another day or two from it next week. In true Makki style the guys rigged a bucket to catch the oil leaking out so we can recycle it back into the system. You have to be creative here, that is for sure. We should get through the rest of the tasks with another effort next week.

But there will be plenty of tasks left not even started. You could be here for years I think, especially since every one job seems to need two jobs to get it started and one more to tidy up the damage caused doing it. Take mowing the lawn for example. First you need to fix the mower and sharpen the blades. Mowing the lawn goes fines but then breaks a water pipe which then needs to be fixed. So don't be thinking we have been over here and done it all. There are plenty of jobs for you to come and do. Plus just the encouragement of having people come over here and helping lifts the spirits of those who live and work here all year round.

Again, thanks for all your prayers. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and wishing you a great New Year. The 888 team from Makki Ethiopia.

Regards,
Steven

PreChristmas update - Lani's perspective
88 Team Update – Lani Perspective

Hey everyone!

How are you all? Has anything exciting been happening that side of the world?

Life over here is fun, though I keep thinking how much more fun it'd be if all my friends were here. I suppose everything over there is speeding up for Christmas. I'm so happy to be missing out on all those Christmas carols this year. Being over here, there's absolutely no indication that its Christmas at all unless you make it yourself (which means you can make it have the right meaning & the rest of the kafuffle can get left out) - it's awesome.=)

I haven’t been up to the school for the past few days, instead been helping out at the clinic a bit. Johanna & Thomas have been running a vaccination campaign for all of the Mursi areas. They've been vaccinating a 200 hundred a day for the past week, with 3 different vaccinations. It's crazy! What makes it worse is that Zerahun from the clinic who was keeping statistics is sick, he's now headed off to Ari land where he's from - about a 5 hour walk up a steep hill (while he's sick) because his little girl back home has malaria & he wanted to take her malaria medicine. Thomas & Johanna do an amazing job of using what little they have to treat people well but it's certainly not the easy route.

Anyways, moving on, Thomas also got really sick a few days ago also, he's had a temperature of 40. He seems to be getting over it now. Bezunesh, the other nurse is desperately trying to get to Addis so that she can get the right paper-work so that she can head to Awassa (south of Addis) so that she can buy more drugs so that they can keep the clinic down here open (they're running low on supplies). The bridge in Weyto (between Jinka & Arbaminch) has collapsed when a truck & bulldozer were trying to cross at the same time, it gave way & the bulldozer ended up in the river & the truck is hanging of the edge so no one can get from Jinka to Addis unless they fly & a lot are trying to do so. Marcos took Bezunesh to Jinka & last we heard is that Bezunesh is still trying to get on a flight coz a few have been cancelled.

So Johanna was pretty much left to vaccinate 1000 people on her own - talk about pressure. So yeah, Johanna, dad, Olisarali, Malisha & I were all on deck flat out. It was awesome fun, you would have loved it! I didn't get to inject anyone but it was still fun, I was trying to figure out the most efficient way of drawing up 5 syringes in 30 seconds while at the same time trying to keep track of how many babies/kids/women are being vaccinated, I wasn't to good at it - it's so confusing but good fun. The women & their children came in one door & Johanna treated all the kids under a certain age & over 6 months with measles vaccination (though most don't know their age) & all the women & girls over a certain age with TT (tetanus toxic). Some of them kick up such a fuss that you can't help laughing - a lot of them are surprised how little it hurts in the end. The Mursi voluntarily put themselves through so much pain but yet most are afraid of a needle. Anyways, after they've had those, we push them on through to the other room to get their Meningitis. The vaccines all have to be cold until they're injected so we have to draw them up then put them on ice blocks. We had trouble getting the women to come in one at a time with their children because many had come from hours & hours away & they were anxious to start walking back to get there before dark. Also they have no concept of a queue so they were all pushing through the door. Johanna was pretty tired of explaining to them that she could only do one family at a time, though she said that she was just glad so many people came (in the past they had to walk to them to do the vaccinations). Dad came up with a solution & drew croc pits either side of the door on the veranda with chalk so that they had to line up one at a time. They thought this was amusing but never the less accepted it, you just had to go out & remind them of the crocs every now & then. The guys went in the other door & dad treated everyone with Meningitis vaccine. The funniest thing is that the young men (the rora - who generally boast about how tough they are) always complained & whined, whereas most of the boys just sat there without a flinch, dad never missed a chance to tease the "tough guys" about this. Dad really liked doing the vaccinations coz a lot of Mursi came from all over so he saw a lot of old friends, he's amazing the way he can remember so many people "BARCELLA!, IS IT REALLY YOU?" "JONATHAN" "come on, bend over, I’m a cow doctor aren’t I?, I don't do it like those other doctor people." & everyone would laugh. The Mursi have a great sense of humour. The old grandmothers are the funniest - they're tougher than rocks, they don't need the TT but still insist on getting it "WELL COME ON!, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!, INJECT ME!” (but the word they use for prick me or whatever means stab me or kill me, it's quite funny how they sit down & say "kill me").

Anyways, at about 5:30, Johanna calls it a day (a break over the weekend & more vaccinations on Monday) & we put all the vaccines back in the fridge, after that Namargo, a TB patient comes crawling along. Namargo has TB in her leg, it's very impressive - it's hard to believe I had that in my ears!, it just proves that God was looking after me. Namargo's been on medication for only a month & already there's been a huge improvement (they’re right when you say that medicine can do amazing things). Johanna said that when she came, all the flesh around her ankle had been eaten away to the bone & there were about three different layers of infection from it being open, not just the TB. It's amazing what the body can do too, all that flesh has grown back, now her foot/ankle/leg is swollen to like almost twice the thickness it should be & is completely covered in ulcers (it's quite a sight) but it's made a HUGE improvement. It's hard to keep it clean because Namargo has to crawl along the ground. I got to clean and dress it the other day, it was fun. Anyways, I won't go into anymore detail about that.

... woops, a Colobus just fell out of the tree outside the window but I think he's ok....anyways,.... that probably sounds really funny. ...

It's so hard to believe that it's Christmas tomorrow. Tuesday the plane is coming & on it my cousins, Tim & Dave & hopefully some mail too =). The VanGorks are also coming down for the day which will be cool. The airstrip is looking good. I had a good go on the big tractor. That thing has a blinking lot of power! (though it's a bit slow for my liking). That day was crazy, we were at the airstrip doing some clearing & Rohan was cutting a tree down with a chain-saw. After that I was driving the tractor, trying to knock down a tree =). It's really hot in the tractor, we finally knocked over the tree & then I swapped with Rohan (who had been sitting behind me giving tips) anyways I got out of the tractor really dizzy & thirsty & then just passed out from dehydration & fell over. Next thing I knew, Josh was standing there telling me to move coz my foot was under the wheel. Anyways, some water remedied my dizziness but the headache lasted a little longer.

My favourite part of the day is late afternoon which usually involves a ride down to the river & a swim, sometime there's a bunch of little Mursi kids there, the other day I was teaching them how to skip stones, it took them about two minutes & they were better at it than me (not surprising) Teehee. After that I like to sit on the back step & watch the Colobus monkeys prance around in the trees. They're so amazing! I wish I could dive out of a tree like that & catch a branch on the way down, not fair! I wonder if we'll get tails when we get to heaven?. Anyways, after that the mosquitoes come out & it's time to go help with dinner. Dad figured out how to make Tamarind juice, crushed up tamarinds with water & sugar basically but it goes nice & fizzy, a bit too fizzy if you leave it too long though, it's nice though. Anyways... The mangoes are ripening now, they are so good. Another thing we get here is fresh milk, & the best grape-fruits in the world. Of corse there's also a lot of things you can't get here so it pays to be creative when you're cooking - living in Makki is all about improvising.

We haven’t had that many exotic animals come our way yet, Rohan found a teripin (like a little tortoise) on the road. Steven also found a chameleon which we kept for a bit. It was so good to hold one again. They're such mad animals, God's so creative =) I love their eyes, they can move them separately, imagine being able to look up & down at the same time, it's cool how they change colour.

The stars out here are awesome. One night I went outside & climbed the water tank & lay up there & watched the stars. They were so bright, I stayed up there till 2 in the morning I counted 9 shooting stars, 3 of them were so bright & close, I could literally hear them passing overhead (I mean it)

Hmm. Speaking of literature, I'm still teaching Lolabu English, we're becoming good friends, it's amazing how much you can have with someone from such a different culture - especially when you serve the same God.

HOPE ALL OF YOU HAVE AN AWESOME CHRISTMAS!!!.

God Bless!

Lani

Second part of Tractor Diary - now complete
Day3: The main advise I got from the guys at Murray's Tractors when I visited them was to put the clutch slave cylinder in first and check that the clutch is working before doing anything else once you have it back together. If the clutch doesn't work you will need to split it open again so it is best to check it first. So we started with that. This involved inserting the slave cylinder into the bell housing and getting the pin lined up. If it falls out you have to pull the tractor apart again. This went well and so we set about connecting the hydraulic line from the foot pedal, which was about 20cm long. This took over an hour to fit as we couldn't get the thread started on the slave cylinder. After an hour of trying I undid the master cylinder end and the slave end went straight in. You guessed it, we then couldn't get the master end back in. Man that made for a frustrating morning. Rohan and I had a big celebration when it finally went together. We then bled the line and got some help pushing the tractor back and forth to check that the clutch actually worked. Wahoo, it did.

Next we had to reconnect the steering hydraulics. Unfortunately it had been disconnected from the steering wheel assembly, which isn't necessary and made for another interesting time getting it reconnected under there. It went pretty well really. We then reconnected the brake lines and bled them through. We got the front diff lock control arm in and the throttle and kill cable connected. That left the fuel lines. The fuel smelt funny so we drained the tank and refilled it with fresh fuel and bled it through the filter and primed the injector pump. We then installed the exhaust system for the test run although we will have to take it off again to get the cowling on later. That just left us to find a battery, which we borrowed from one of the vehicles here and got it connected. Checked the engine oil and go over everything one more time. Looks like we are about ready to crank her up and see if she will go.

Final check that everything is in neutral and turn the key. Nothing. Hang on, check the wires and there is one off on the back of the key. Rohan turn the key again and it cranks over and chugs into life. It quickly revved up and then things got interesting. No response to the throttle control. OK, pull the kill switch. Oh no, it doesn't work either. The engine is screaming now at full speed (probably plus some) and we have no way to stop it. Quickly run around to the kill switch leaver and give it some encouragement. No, give it some percussive encouragement. Maybe that was a bit much it looks a bit broken now and still the engine screams. OK lets cut off the fuel. We opened the fuel line at the primer where we had bled it before and then opened the drain on the fuel filter. Now we just had to wait while the fuel drained off and see if this happened before the engine melted down. This engine is air cooled and we hadn't installed the cowlings for the initial test run. So we just held them in place while standing next to the screaming engine. We where very glad we had put the muffler back on or we would have been deaf by the end of it. Finally, after what seemed like 10 minutes but probable only took about a minute from start to stop, the fuel ran dry and silence again fell on the jungle. Rohan and I looked around and saw we had drawn quiet a crowd of Mursi onlookers. Well she goes alright, but still some work to do before we could drive her. Glad we had it out of gear or it would have been in the Omo river by now.

Day 4: After the heart pounding excitement of a diesel stuck at full revs and the kill switch not working we started day 4 in much quieter fashion. Not expecting to have a fuel problem I hadn't even looked at the fuel system. So I spent the night looking through the manual we had brought with us. This is a thick manual with a few colour fold outs of various systems and a bunch of details cutaway drawings. On the surface it looks very good but it is strong on gloss and thin on the details you might want to know if you need to fix something. Figuring from the table of contents that the governor section might be a potential cause of the over speed I started in that section. This is what I read, "... injection pump governor assembly is a system with very advanced design ..." I was thinking this was sounding very complicated but wait. "... both for its specific operating features and easy servicing." OK now that sounds better. Further, " it offers the advantage of a swift replacement or a temporary change.." Sounds like it is easy to get off. So easy in fact that they didn't mention how you remove it at all. I hope it is obvious then.

I also discovered that each injector has its own dedicated fuel pump and long control shaft runs from the governor at the rear of the engine forward past each pump to control the amount of fuel each pump delivers to the injector. This control bar is within the engine but each pump can be removed individually. We soon discovered that the control rode was indeed frozen and that whatever was freezing it was probably the cause of our problems. The governor was actually easy to remove with just two bolts. The control bar being still frozen with the governor removed we started on the injection pumps. We took out one and two and discovered that number one was the problem. Although inside the engine this pump was stuck solid and was holding the control rode full open to all pumps. From the manual we could see that there where lots of little parts inside so we didn't want to open it is we could avoid it. Enter our last can of WD40, a spray and wiggle and we soon had it working freely again. Thanks Lord.

The control rod now moving free we re-installed the pumps. Seems they are all individually shimmed to be exactly 80.4mm. Both had different shims so we just put it back the way it was and figured that would be OK. We then moved on to the governor. Although it didn't cause the problem yesterday we still needed to fix the kill switch arm that got broken when we tried to shut it down. The shaft was sheared so we drilled a hole through and taped another thread inside. Screwed a bolt in and epoxyed it in place. Then Marcos welded the head of the bolt to the actuator arm. A bit of filing to get it to fit back in the hole again. It would have been easy to get it all centred on my lath at home. But all we had was a vise and hand held drill, powered from the generator. By late afternoon we had it back together and installed back into the tractor.

Double check that the control arm moves OK and the kill switch works. Looks like it is time to start her up again. Get the spanner ready to open the fuel line if required. This time she just eased into a nice idle. We checked for fuel leaks and everything seemed to be OK. Lets see if it will move under its own power. Yes it drove out from under the tree that had shaded it for two years. A quick spin around the yard and back in with the chain block at the front ready to put the front box on tommorow. Wow it actually worked. The only issue seemed to be the number one cylinder exhaust manifold was much cooler than the other cylinders. Maybe not firing very well. It seemed to run OK in spite of this though. A full days work to get these last two issues sorted and the tractor moving. As we wrapped up the day, Rohan asked me if this was the biggest diesel I had ever worked on. I said, "yes it is the biggest, and its also the smallest". Same for him.

Day 5: Can this be the last day? We removed the number one injector. Heavy carbon build up on the end. Cleaned it off and then connected it up off the side of the engine. Started her up again and checked the spray pattern. Spray pattern seems OK so we put it back in. Still doesn't seem as hot but it is hotter coming out of number one than it was. We can check it later. Then got to work putting all the little bits on. Covers, lights, guards. The front box was pretty heavy but with lots of help we got it on finally. Did the final cleanup. Cleaned the windows. No need to get to fussy as we plan on using this thing now. After lunch we fuelled it up and headed for the airfield. We picked up the tree pusher from the yard, which had trees growing through it, and took it down there. Then changed to the bucket and started digging up some gravel/sand to fill the ruts down the middle of the strip. It was good to put this machine to work again and start getting the strip back to serviceable condition. We have two weeks before the plane is due in on Christmas day.

Day +++: Thanks to all of you who supported us on this project. I know we had a lot of encouragement from Brindabella Baptist Church before we left. Enough money was donated to by all the parts that we needed and pay the duty through the airport in Ethiopia. We have also very much needed your prayers throughout the work. I had asked Brindabellan's to specifically pray that we wouldn't have any hydraulic leaks as I figured this would be very hard to fix while we where here. We have only a small leak from one of the steering actuators. We haven't looked at it yet but hopefully we can fix it or at least identify the problem and get a part in. It won't stop it working in the short term anyway. We have also had a number of unexpected issues come up like the bent shaft and fuel problem which could have been show stoppers but with all the prayer support we where able to find a way through.

Together, we have all helped get the tractor in really good condition and hopefully ready to do a bunch of work around Makki over the next couple of years. So far we have done two days work filling on the airfields and a day on the road from the river to the houses, about 2km. We are running the tractor all day with the driver taking shifts as the work is pretty slow going. The road hasn't had a lot of work on it recently so there is plenty to fill in and repair. The tractor has been going really well. So far the biggest problem has been getting 50+ angry bee's in the cabin. Once you leap out of the cabin they chase you down the road stinging you as you go. We have taken to wearing bee hive hoods in the afternoon to keep going. Since then we have pretty much finished off the airfield and fixed up most of the road back to the river. The road is really transformed. We have about 30 hours of operation on the clock in the last five days. So it is working pretty hard and everybody has had a good time operating it. It is hot and demanding driving but with a bunch of drivers it seems to work pretty well.

Steven's tractor diary - resent missing pieces 22 December
Steven's Tractor Diary

This may not interest everybody. Hopefully it will give you an insight into what some of us have been doing here and what you have been praying for. Most of the work was done by Rohan and myself. We had plenty of help along the way at various stages and Markos joined in once he got back from Jinka. Our biggest help came from the rest of the team with there support , food and drink, and many other little things we needed. We also had a massive prayer support team which really helped. Shoving a couple of tonnes of tractor halves around the jungle is a dangerous activity which needs prayer covering. So does having to come up with ways to fix things that you just don't have the normal tools for or supplies. I also got some invaluable advice and pictures of how it should be done from the guys at Murray's Tractors in Robertson NSW Australia before I came over here. There help was very much appreciated and really made a big difference. Thanks for all your support. I hope the Tractor Diary is worth a read and a laugh along the way.

Day 0: Strangely enough the diary starts for me a couple of months before I had ever even thought of going to Ethiopia. In mid 2006 Paul Lukin spoke in Canberra about his experiences at Makki as a missionary. Christine and I both went along to this as we thought it would be interesting having heard a bit about Makki from the Geddes and knowing they had been there for many years. Paul mentioned that there was a tractor at Makki that had been pulled apart for clutch repairs but they had not been able to get anybody to come down there and put it back together. He expressed his frustration at not being able to use the tractor for so long now. Strange thoughts run through my head (far to often) and I thought, "that's a shame, I could fix that I reckon". Still with no thought of ever going there. Anyway in September Jonathan asked if we would want to go to Makki with them in November. The next thing I know I am getting an array of injections for things I have never heard of.

It wasn't long before I thought back to the tractor. I wonder if they would actually let me try and fix that tractor. Sure enough Jonathan asked me if I could try and have a look at it and I was soon emailing Paul to find out exactly what was wrong and what was needed. At this point I am thinking God has a plan here so I may as well just go along with it and see what He is up to. Once I had some details I got onto the Australia distributor, Murray's Tractors, which was about 2 hours drive away in Robertson. I called up and told them I had a SAME tractor in two halves and needed help getting it back together. Owe and it is in Ethiopia. "We don't cover that area", was the reply. But they offered for me to come up and they would talk me through the process and show me some tricks of the trade. A couple fo days later I arrived at the shop and said to Bob that I was the guy who called about the tractor in Ethiopia. He said," So you are for real, I thought somebody was joking with me". I then got about two hours talking through how you put these things back together, things you need to look for and avoid. I brought a copy of the manual and ordered the parts I would need. I also got some tools donated by M&G Industrial Supplies in Canberra which came in very handy. By the time I left for Ethiopia I had a little bit of an idea of what I was in for. Amazing really.

Day1: After a week of rain and settling, some illness on my part and a bit of trepidation the day came to start working on the tractor. The first day we removed the flywheel and pressure plate from inside the cabin and gave them a good clean up. There was corrosion marks on both surfaces from where the previous clutch plate had become bonded to the surface two years ago. We cleaned this off the surfaces and located the required bolts. Having put off for as long as possible the task of uncovering the tractor proper we dove into the waiting insect world. Wasps seemed like the most formidable enemy and the cabin harboured about 20 of these large buzzing beasties. Josh took them on with can and broom. Ants inhabited every surface, crack, and orifice. There was no hole that had not been converted into an insect home. It was a complete ecosystem in there. This would make assembly of each part just that more interesting as each thread had to be cleaned out and the bolt taken in and out several times before it could finally be tightened.

The canvas tarp that covered the tractor for the last two years disintegrated as we moved it back. Falling to the ground to reveal its own weight in ant lave, it pretty much carried itself off into the surrounding jungle. The wood that supported the rear of the tractor under the transmission had been feasted upon by termites but somehow still supported the two tonnes of weight. The overhead chain block was supported at one end by three metal poles and the other by a tree which appeared to be growing off on an angle due to the weight of the tractor motor it has been holding for the last two years. We added some chain to supplement the rope that held the tripod together, figuring that the rope may well be rotten anyway by now. After much sweeping, blowing, and spraying we had it clear. It didn't look as scary any more. Maybe we could actually get this thing working again one day. Just to finish off we decided to replace the thrust bearing with the new one we brought, as it would just slip on. Not so easily we soon discovered. We got the bearing apart but the inner ring was pressed onto the holder very tightly, with no obvious way to get a hold on it for removal. We thought we had better sleep on it as it was getting dark now.

Day2: By the second morning we decided to file two flats under the bearing so we could get the vise jaws under the face and then tap the holder through. We also heated the bearing ring on the kerosene stove and quenched the inside to try and force them loose. This was on tight for sure. With a prayer and massive blow from the sledge hammer Rohan moved it first hit. Things where looking up for the thrust bearing replacement. We devised a makeshift press using a bottle jack and the very impressive metal work bench here and had the new one pressed on in no time. The thrust bearing was easily reinstalled over the drive shaft. The drive shaft has two shafts on this tractor. An inside shaft mounts directly into the flywheel and runs through the inside of the motion gearbox to the rear of the tractor where it drives the PTO and hydraulic pump. The outside shaft engages the clutch spline and drives the motion gear box. When we first uncovered the tractor the inside shaft had been left extended out from the normal position. As we re-installed the thrust bearing I noticed something I didn't want to see. The inside shaft had been bent during initial opening of the tractor. The bend was sufficient to stop it spinning in the shaft. This wasn't on the work schedule.

This presented two new challenges. Firstly we had to get it out and secondly bend it back to straight. The shaft was pretty long but we didn't know how long and it happens to line up with the ton of engine and front wheels we have suspended from a some what listing tree. So we got our first taste of moving the weight of the tractor around our mud covered, ant infested work area. Every time something is moved about two million ants suddenly appear in protest. We managed to shift the motor off to the side and slide the shaft down the side and out of the gearbox. Already having some experience with bottle jacks we decided to make up a shaft straightening machine. This involved searching the station for suitably heavy steel and then welding this into a simple, yet effective bender. Again, using the metal work table as an integral part of the device. After a couple of hours we where happy with what we had and set about bending the shaft back to straight. After a couple of hours, with a bit of trial and error, we got it very close in the end.

Having re-installed the inner shaft we got back to what we had come here for. Installing the flywheel, new clutch plate, and pressure plate. I had made up a clutch centring tool at home of my lathe modelled after the one the guys at Murray's Tractor had shown me they used. The whole process seemed easy now and took just a few minutes in an otherwise long days work. As the sun slowly sank into the western jungle and the monkey watched on from high above the thought occurred to us. Its about ready to go back together. With the help of two local Mursi, Oli Regi and BarChuloi, a high lift jack, some head scratching, pushing, groaning and finally just a little turn of the fly wheel to get the spines lined up, we got the first bolt in place. A little more jacking and we had the second bolt in. That gave us one on each side and as we tightened them both up we saw the gap closing and the two became one after two years of separation. We put two more bolts in and called it a night. We now had one tractor to work on. In the morning

Lani's perspective - 20 December
Hello all =)

It's dusk here. It's been a really hot humid day so it's been pretty hard to get much done as the heat makes you feel kinda tired in the afternoon (though i suppose it's pretty hot over ther at the moment too), although now it's been raining & i got myself drenched in the rain to cool off =). Despite the heat, it has so far almost never failed to rain at least once a day since we've been here. Hopefuly it'll dry up a little before christmas when the plane has to land. There is mud everywhere & a creek is trying to make a home across the middle of the airstrip. We'd appreciate you're prayers for the airstrip because if it rains too much & we can't get it good enough for a plane to land on then it won't & that would mess up plans alot.

I'm sitting here listening to music as i type & also the sound of the massive tractor engine running outside the window. Rohan, Steven & Markos have been working on it flat out & it sounds like they've made alot of progress although they still have alot of work to go. Last time they got it going they realise they hadn't fixed the brakes yet!

A few of us have been teaching English at the school which is good fun. I have the job of drawing the pictures for the teaching resoursces which is also good fun allthough it's hard to get them all done because they learn the words so fast. Today is Monday (altough not by the time you read this) so there's no school today (they have Saturday, Sunday, Monday off) but iv'e still been teaching english for a good part of the day - there's a lot of people always asking for extra teaching. I've made friends with a girl called Lollabu. she's really shy & keen to learn english so i've been doing some extra with he during the afternoon. It's awesome how fast she learns. I never thought i'd enjoy teaching english much but it's worth it when you put in the effort of finding the right way to teach things to see how happy she is when she understasnds it. She's been helping me alittle with my Mursi too, which is heaps good coz i really need it =P.

Yesterday was fun. In the morning we went to church. A few different people gave a talk - Olikori, Uluma & Dad. They spoke on Jonah, it was heaps good. Some of the Christians here have so much wisdom, they're such awesome people & they go through so much. Please pray for you're brothers & sisters over here coz they're facing alot of temptation & discouragments. They would really love you to pray for them. Pray that God would strengthen & encourage the belivers here.

On Sunday afternoon a good friend of ours called Bargaha turned up at the door after walking from Jinka. He had been in jail for the past six years. This was a huge answer to prayer! He had been given twelve years but God halved his sentence! Bargahah was involved in the shooting of almost fourty Ari (a neighboring people group) about eight years ago, but after that became a Christian & has had a huge impact while in jail, he's also learnt Amharic as well as some English. Because of the unstable situation here they no longer had enough money to support all the prisioners so they released 319 of the 1319 prisoners held at the jail he was in (they chose the ones that had been well behaved). Pray that God will use Bargaha to strengthen the church here as they are in need of more leaders.

After talking a bit, some of us went up to the oro (camp) with him to see peoples' reactions. It's maybe a 15-20 minute walk up the hill nearby so you get an awesome view coz you come up out of the valley, even better at sunset=). When we got there we went & found Kashai. Kashai was so happy to see his friend that he started hugging him, sobbing & saying how awesome God is. Kashai prayed then we stayed at their oro for another hour or so. I went & hung out with the girls (women & children eat seperately from men) & we ate some tilla (kinda like thick porridge), Uro libsa (milk that's sour) & chinoy (cooked leaves). They sometimes have beef but tilla & milk are the Mursi staples. Their food is really nice but as you can imagine, they get tired of it. There is not much more awesome than sitting next to a fire under the stars, listening to jingling cow bells & mooing all aroung you & talking to mursi girls. Or maybe i'm just strange =P

All the little Mursi toddlers are funny, they just crawl up & sit on you =P. Anyways, after a while we headed back in the dark. When we got back we found Markos had gotten back from Jinka safely which was also an answer to prayer as he had gone a few days before & was planning to drive back but the roads were really bad. He only got stuck once on the way back & it was near a Mursi oro so he had people to help. Anyways, Markos brought injera (Ethiopian national food- you can't get it in Mursi land (Mursi are different to other Ethiopians, they don't eat it)) & mum made wat to go with the injera YUM. Anyways.

We had a really good trip to Makki (where we are now) dispte the fact there were 8 of us & one land cruiser & ALOT of miles. It was good to get out of Addis finally, we were there for a few days, spent a night at Babogya (a really nice place about an hour out of Addis … with a volcanic lake:) & went swimming & then hyeenah spotting than night which was fun. We set off down south on a Saturday morning - eight of us all squished into a landcruiser. We arrived that night about 12 hours later in Arbaminch where we spent Sunday. That was heaps of fun coz first we went to the springs & went swimming & talked with some locals, then we went out on one of the Arbaminch lakes on a boat just before dusk & saw lots of hippoes & crocs, the sunset was really pretty too. The next morning we drove for ..i think it was 7 & 1/2 hours to Jinka. You can imagine how boring it can get but there's some pretty awesome mountains along the way. During the trip to Jinka we got a flat but it just so happened that we were driving into a town at the time so it was only a few more metres untill we rolled up to the tyre changing place, God is awesome, his timing is so perfect. We waited for about 20 minutes while the tyre was being fixed & some of the teem had some good conversations with some of the locals hanging around (there's always curious locals hanging around) so we can only pray that maybe they were significant.

Jinka was nice, we stayhed the night & then the next morning we went to the market there & brought some fruit & veggies & 3 chickens. Then we had yet more wonderful Injera b'wat for lunch (the best food in the world) then started our drive for Makki early afternoon - this time with the chickens as well as th 8 of us. I sat in the back with a ll the luggage & two of the chickens & we tied the rooster to the roof along with out 3 jerrycans of kerosene coz we didn't have room anywhere else. We didnt tie it upsidedown by it's feet haning off the side of the roof-rack like everyone else in Ethiopia transporting their chickens but it still died - i don't think it liked the bumps (oops). The mud puddles.... well, there was alot of them - nice big ones too =P. It was fun to be sliding along in the mud in a 4w drive again. Steeve drove the whole way here from Jinka & he did a really good job too- we only got stuck once & we mannaged to get out in 45 minutes. We met up with Thomas & Johana (nurses that run a clinic here) in Jinka & they drove back with us which was a good thing coz we needed the winch. Anyways, we got here =).

It was AWESOME to see everyone again! I'v heard alot of "Elana! Is that really you? I used to hold you then you were "this" big & now".....(yeah you know what i mean) in my life time, but it was odd to hear it coming from our Mursi friends =P. A few days after we came, Kasha said the the Mursi Christians had bought us a chicken as a thankyou gift. It turned out it was steer & the next day there was a huge barbeque with all the locals. They killed it & cut it up then built a huge fire & we all sat around & ate, it was good. They don't waste much but you can choose how adventurous you want to be as far as what you eat =P

Now it's Tuesday night. It hasn't rained today, the tractor has been running & the airstrip is so far looking good. Wow! Isn't God amazing? you don't even have to send the prayer points before he begins to act! I suppose time isn't quite as relevant to God as it is to us. Please pray for the Mursi christians because they really need encouragment. You can also pray for the Mursi in general. At the moment they are in clearing season but many are putting it off because they are expecting there to be a war with one of the neighboring tribes, which can't be good (obviously). Thankyou for your prayers.

We just had dinner. Rice & custard & bananas... the bananas here are soooo good, though alot of the trees here have gotten a disease so alot of the bananas turn out hard =( Waaaah! We have been eating alot of good food. The bread here is good =), someone has to make it every morning though which is good fun but it takes a while coz you have to mix it up then leave it, then add flour then let it rise, then put it in tins, then let it rise, then cook it. We have cut a path up stream a few times & floated down =). Rohan managed to fix both motorbikes, good fun in the mud =D. Anyways, i'm sure i've made you all quite bored enough, i better go.


Have agood holiday.

GOD BLESS!!!

~~Lani

Steven's Tractor Diary
Steven's Tractor Diary

This may not interest everybody. Hopefully it will give you an insight into what some of us have been doing here and what you have been prhe fuel drained off and see if this happened before the engine melted down. This engine is air cooled and we hadn't installed the cowlings for the initial test run. So we just held them in place while standing next to the screaming engine. We where very glad we had put the muffler back on or we would have been deaf by the end of it. Finally, after what seemed like 10 minutes but probable only took about a minute from start to stop, the fuel ran dry and silence again fell on the jungle. Rohan and I looked around and saw we had drawn quiet a crowd of Mursi onlookers. Well she goes alright, but still some work to do before we could drive her. Glad we had it out of gear or it would have been in the Omo river by now.

Day 4: After the heart pounding excitement of a diesel stuck at full revs and the kill switch not working we started day 4 in much quieter fashion. Not expecting to have a fuel problem I hadn't even looked at the fuel system. So I spent the night looking through the manual we had brought with us. This is a thick manual with a few colour fold outs of various systems and a bunch of details cutaway drawings. On the surface it looks very good but it is strong on gloss and thin on the details you might want to know if you need to fix something. Figuring from the table of contents that the governor section might be a potential cause of the over speed I started in that section. This is what I read, "... injection pump governor assembly is a system with very advanced design ..." I was thinking this was sounding very complicated but wait. "... both for its specific operating features and easy servicing." OK now that sounds better. Further, " it offers the advantage of a swift replacement or a temporary change.." Sounds like it is easy to get off. So easy in fact that they didn't mention how you remove it at all. I hope it is obvious then.

I also discovered that each injector has its own dedicated fuel pump and long control shaft runs from the governor at the rear of the engine forward past each pump to control the amount of fuel each pump delivers to the injector. This control bar is within the engine but each pump can be removed individually. We soon discovered that the control rode was indeed frozen and that whatever was freezing it was probably the cause of our problems. The governor was actually easy to remove with just two bolts. The control bar being still frozen with the governor removed we started on the injection pumps. We took out one and two and discovered that number one was the problem. Although inside the engine this pump was stuck solid and was holding the control rode full open to all pumps. From the manual we could see that there where lots of little parts inside so we didn't want to open it is we could avoid it. Enter our last can of WD40, a spray and wiggle and we soon had it working freely again. Thanks Lord.

The control rod now moving free we re-installed the pumps. Seems they are all individually shimmed to be exactly 80.4mm. Both had different shims so we just put it back the way it was and figured that would be OK. We then moved on to the governor. Although it didn't cause the problem yesterday we still needed to fix the kill switch arm that got broken when we tried to shut it down. The shaft was sheared so we drilled a hole through and taped another thread inside. Screwed a bolt in and epoxyed it in place. Then Marcos welded the head of the bolt to the actuator arm. A bit of filing to get it to fit back in the hole again. It would have been easy to get it all centred on my lath at home. But all we had was a vise and hand held drill, powered from the generator. By late afternoon we had it back together and installed back into the tractor.

Double check that the control arm moves OK and the kill switch works. Looks like it is time to start her up again. Get the spanner ready to open the fuel line if required. This time she just eased into a nice idle. We checked for fuel leaks and everything seemed to be OK. Lets see if it will move under its own power. Yes it drove out from under the tree that had shaded it for two years. A quick spin around the yard and back in with the chain block at the front ready to put the front box on tommorow. Wow it actually worked. The only issue seemed to be the number one cylinder exhaust manifold was much cooler than the other cylinders. Maybe not firing very well. It seemed to run OK in spite of this though. A full days work to get these last two issues sorted and the tractor moving. As we wrapped up the day, Rohan asked me if this was the biggest diesel I had ever worked on. I said, "yes it is the biggest, and its also the smallest". Same for him.

Day 5: Can this be the last day? We removed the number one injector. Heavy carbon build up on the end. Cleaned it off and then connected it up off the side of the engine. Started her up again and checked the spray pattern. Spray pattern seems OK so we put it back in. Still doesn't seem as hot but it is hotter coming out of number one than it was. We can check it later. Then got to work putting all the little bits on. Covers, lights, guards. The front box was pretty heavy but with lots of help we got it on finally. Did the final cleanup. Cleaned the windows. No need to get to fussy as we plan on using this thing now. After lunch we fuelled it up and headed for the airfield. We picked up the tree pusher from the yard, which had trees growing through it, and took it down there. Then changed to the bucket and started digging up some gravel/sand to fill the ruts down the middle of the strip. It was good to put this machine to work again and start getting the strip back to serviceable condition. We have two weeks before the plane is due in on Christmas day.

Day +++: Thanks to all of you who supported us on this project. I know we had a lot of encouragement from Brindabella Baptist Church before we left. Enough money was donated to by all the parts that we needed and pay the duty through the airport in Ethiopia. We have also very much needed your prayers throughout the work. I had asked Brindabellan's to specifically pray that we wouldn't have any hydraulic leaks as I figured this would be very hard to fix while we where here. We have only a small leak from one of the steering actuators. We haven’t looked at it yet but hopefully we can fix it or at least identify the problem and get a part in. It won’t stop it working in the short term anyway. We have also had a number of unexpected issues come up like the bent shaft and fuel problem which could have been show stoppers but with all the prayer support we where able to find a way through.

Together, we have all helped get the tractor in really good condition and hopefully ready to do a bunch of work around Makki over the next couple of years. So far we have done two days work filling on the airfields and a day on the road from the river to the houses, about 2km. We are running the tractor all day with the driver taking shifts as the work is pretty slow going. The road hasn't had a lot of work on it recently so there is plenty to fill in and repair. The tractor has been going really well. So far the biggest problem has been getting 50+ angry bee's in the cabin. Once you leap out of the cabin they chase you down the road stinging you as you go. We have taken to wearing bee hive hoods in the afternoon to keep going. Since then we have pretty much finished off the airfield and fixed up most of the road back to the river. The road is really transformed. We have about 30 hours of operation on the clock in the last five days. So it is working pretty hard and everybody has had a good time operating it. It is hot and demanding driving but with a bunch of drivers it seems to work pretty well.

Barb's perspective on the trip - 19 December
Barb's Perspective on the trip.

I hope you have been getting emails from everyone via Ruth at BBC. You hopefully know more than I could have ever written. In fact, I don't know what they have sent! I'll write about a few things that stand out to me.

It was so easy getting away from Addis with plenty of people to head out and do jobs/buy things and pack the car. Jonathan, Steven and I had all managed to get licences (mine took the longest as losing your licence makes things more complcated than getting a new one). That meant that we didn't have to drive long stretches - especially as we needed to get out and swap positions regularly. With four across the back and one in the very back on the unsprung seat, it meant bottoms got pretty numb. We were also not caught up from the jet lag by the time we left. It took us a long time to get to Arba Minch because of it got dark (therefore very slow) and because of the stops. We also were looking for cheese for the Weigands on the way out of Addis. Anything else we didn't have, we didn't worry about. It is easy to cope without things for such a short length of time. Thomas and Johanna had already bought most of the non-perishable things plus flour so we didn't have to fit too much food. Just as well for the person in the back - a frame contraption was made to hold back the icka/aha/stuff.

We had Sunday in Arba Minch and had a leisurely lunch down at the springs (the name means "40 springs" but there are apparently over 200 of them) and then went out in a boat on the southern lake to see the hippos (who weren't impressed but one liked doing dolphin impressions and made a few graceful leaps) and the crocodiles. It was nice to be out of the car on the lake with the mountains (sides of the Rift Valley) on each side. (All those years we lived here we never seemed to get the chance to go!)

The next day was easy to Jinka and we even had a puncture just as we reached Konso and the inevitable tyre-repair place. Christine and I joined the wave of people moving to the market and bought some bananas.

It was good to see Thomas and Johanna when we got to Jinka. They had made it up from Makki. We all walked up to a little wot bet and had dinner. We all stayed at the Norwegian Compound near the hopital. The next morning some of us went to the market and got fuel while others went to the Health Dept and dealt with Mursi patients who had been brought up to the hospital. Jonathan was keen to get going as there were storms around.

The trip down to Makki was fairly uneventful but Steven had planty to keep him interested in the driving department. Jonathan was very pleased not to drive. We slipped off the road in a spot and it took a bit of a pull from Thomas' winch and we had traction again. It certainly is inconvenient if the car isn't set up properly with points for attatchment or jacking. I don't know why they don't set up all 4WDs properly - they aren't really options if you go off-road.

It has been surprisingly cool and tsetse-free so far. The rain has been so regular, it has held up work and it took ages to get all the washing dry. Getting into bed at night is like getting into water. The rain is starting to slow a bit and the sunshine is starting to make the air like water as well. Now the damp clothes get wetter in the afternoon when we are wearing them. But it is still relatively pleasant. Thomas said last January was dreadfully hot so I hope it doesn't get that bad before we go.

Once the guys managed to get a bit of clear weather to get to the tractor, things started moving pretty quickly. It is basically one big ant and wasp nest - an ecosystem, Steven says. They have the clutch plate in and the tractor in one piece, despite a bent drive shaft which needed straightening, and are working on connecting all the systems back up again. A lot of things are blocked but so far they have the clutch working and the front brakes. They are working on the fuel system.

The teaching seems to be going OK. I got a copy of the first and second student texts written for pastoralists so that is a good guide as to the content - fairly similar to what I had planned. I am only teaching grade 2 and 3 - grade 1 doesn't do English although they come and join in with grade 2 when they finish their class. There are about 30 in each class at the moment. Josh, Christine and Elana have been helping which saves my voice and we can all go around checking people individually which is good.

14/12
It has started to get a little hot and Josh was feeling it yesterday. This morning a few of us went for a walk early up the hill and along to Kirinomeri's cattle camp. It was good for Steven to get away from the compound for a change. It was difficult to convince a couple of people that Jonathan didn't have any cattle medicine. Today he was getting details of a disease that has killed quite a lot of catttle the last couple of years.

The tractor actually did some work yesterday and has been busy on the airstrip today. Steven and Rohan (mostly) got the clutch in and the two halves together after a day's work and then had to solve the throttle problem - it started traight away and then wouldn't stop. The revs were way too high so they were buzzing very fast trying to disconnect the fuel line and stop it. The governer was OK and it turned out there is a bar which moves across and adjusts pumps on each of the injectors and that was jammed to one side. Steven was amazed that that particular part rusted and wouldn't move.

Well I'd better finish this and leave it to get sent.

Lots of love to everyone from all of us,
Barb

Urgent prayer request from Makki - 17 December
Sunday December 17th, 2006
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Dear friends praying for us while we're in Mursiland,

This is Jonathan here with some important things I'd like you to pray about. Thanks so much for your prayers for us all so far. We are now halfway through our 41 days in Mursiland and our eight weeks in Ethiopia. The time has gone quickly and a lot has been accomplished but please pray that we can all learn lots more and fulfil God's purposes for all our being and doing in the time which remains.

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The most urgent thing we'd like you to pray about is a trip that I will be heading off on with Steven on Monday morning Dec 18th (we are 8 hours behind Eastern Australian Summer Time). We will be walking about four hours to a place called Kela north-west of Makki where many Mursi live. We will spend time with Komorakora, the ritual priest and religious leader of the northern Mursi people. In our "milk times" with some of the Mursi Christians here we have been studying the story of Jonah and were amazed at how, as Jonah went and took God's message to him, the king of Nineveh was turned around and all the people of Nineveh along with him. Please pray for wisdom for us and for Olikoro Komoru and Kalimedere Medereholi, whom we will accompany, that God will give us the right words to speak to the people there. Pray that they will be impacted by the gospel and especially that Komorukora will come closer to the Lord as a result of this visit. We will also be visiting Dogdog (Olisorali's father, who is an influential sorceror) at Maridungka. We know that many of you have been praying for these two men for many years so please pray now that the Holy Spirit will open their ears and hearts to God's message at this time. While we are there on Monday evening, many other Mursi Christians will be here in Makki, praying. Please pray that this will be an encouraging experience for them all, seeing yet again the power of the gospel and of prayer.

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Praise God for the opportunities that Barb, Christine, Josh and Elana have had to teach English to second and third grade each morning in the Mursi Education Project. It is really exciting to see so many keen young Mursi willing to learn and develop their skills. Pray that they will learn well and that the team can leave some useful guidelines for future visiting English teachers. Pray for Barb as she conducts interviews and collects data for future study, that it will yield results useful to the education project. Pray for the education project to maintain its unique emphases as a non-formal, bilingual education project appropriate to the Mursi context despite pressures from other quarters.

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Give thanks for health and safety for our team, especially from snakes and accidents, and that everyone is getting on so well. Give thanks for the various skills that people are contributing here that have resulted in so much being accomplished such as getting the tractor going again and repairing many broken things, carpentry, cooking and road repairs, teaching English, regular radio schedules, Bible teaching, cleaning and building relationships. Give thanks that we have had an opportunity to encourage the Ethiopian members of the team here and for an especially fun night of fellowship together eating and playing games. (We had an interesting guessing game in which they guessed my age at 69!!) Pray for the Lukins, who have now arrived in Addis from Australia, that they can get all they need to do, done, and arrive here safely in God's time.

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Give thanks for the opportunities Jonathan has had to meet with many Mursi folk to listen, discuss, encourage and pray. Also for opportunities Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons between two and five to participate in the milk times. Pray for great wisdom for the church leaders as they work through some very tricky issues regarding some members, even leaders, who have been involved with inappropriate behaviour. Pray that God will help them to know how to handle this so that these people can be properly restored and God's Kingdom advanced here.

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Give thanks for the release of Bargaha last week after nearly six years in prison. Pray that God will use all that he has learnt in prison including his new Amharic language skills for the advancement of his kingdom here in Mursiland. Pray especially that he might be able to assist in the translation of the Mursi Bible which is probably the most pressing need of the Mursi church. Give thanks that we have a great translation office facility and some very intelligent and skilled Mursi staff and pray that God will provide someone to replace Pat and Aimee to facilitate the work. It has been great to catch up with Olisarali again. He has kept very busy over the past three years despite limited supervision and assistance during much of that time, working successfully to represent the Mursi interests at a time when some other neighbouring ethnic groups have had their lands taken over by the National Park. Please pray for God's wisdom for him and for Olisarali's faith journey, that he will grow through these difficult times into the man God wants him to be.

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Pray that God will rekindle the passion among the Mursi for reaching others who haven't heard the good news about Jesus. Praise God for the great things happening here in Makki with the education and health projects but pray that Mursi Christians will make opportunities to go to places further away where there is yet no church. Pray that the trip we are making this week will be a good kick-start to encourage Mursi Christians in this direction, and that God's family will grow in strength and numbers here in Mursiland.

Thanks so much for being part of our team over these past weeks, and especially for your prayers for us and the Mursi people. Jonathan for Team 888.

Christine's perspective - 13 December
Christine 1
Dec 13 9.30pm

Hi Everyone

Life here is going along quite fast although it's definitely a different pace, it doesn't feel like the speed of light like back home. I guess by now everyone is gearing up and in full swing for Christmas. I am looking forward to just spending the day with whoever is here on the day, even now we are not sure who that might be.

The guys have got the tractor together and working, they are enjoying (at least I think they seem to be enjoying) using it to get the runway cleared away in time for an arriving flight on Christmas Day. And I know some people are really looking forward to this arrival as there have been hints of plenty of goodies arriving that day.

For me, I have enjoyed and am interested in the cultural differences. I think I mentioned earlier how important names are. I was given a Mursi name early on in the piece and the Mursi love to test me with it. The greetings consist of someone saying your name and you should be able to respond with their name. Whenever I go outside and anyone else is around I hear someone calling my name, my challenge is trying to remenber who it is. It is such a reward to see the reaction when you can actually remember a name. And in turn the relationships grow. The longer I am here the more things people keep adding to the greeting, someone will ask how you slept and there is a certain response to that, then someone else will ask where have you come from, again a response, then someone else will ask where are you going. It's great because the Mursi are so willing to teach me, although I have trouble with a couple of the sounds. And then there's my memory, it seems like the words go in one ear and out the other. My goal has been to try and remember at least one name per day, sometimes like during church (not that I'm not listening I just can't understand most of what is said - despite praying for the gift of interpretation) I manage to remember quite a few more - I think it was 5 last sunday.

Teaching at the school is getting better every day. Sometimes I come home a little frustrated as I would love to be able to know and remember more names, fortunately one of the English phrases they are learning is "What is your name", so I can always fall back on that. It is easy to make school fun as the Mursi have such a sense of humour and you can play on that a bit. So far we are basically learning about ourselves and the phrases to be able to tell about yourself. The challenge with teaching is making it culturally relevant. Asking "how old are you" may seem like an important thing to us in the West but it doesn't have much bearing and isn't importing in Mursi culture.

We seem to be managing as a team, the biggest challenge for me personally (apart from the obvious fact of sharing a house with 6 other people I don't know really well and don't have a long history with) is recognising and accepting that everyone has different gifts and interests. I think this will be one of the bigger lessons I am learning.

I have heard via the grape vine that everyone from Brindabella Baptist has been doing a wonderful job of caring for Haylee and Melissa back home. Thanks so much for taking them into your hearts and being there for them when Steven and I can't be.

Your prayers for continuing good health and safety for all of us, for opportunities to build relationships and share God's love with anyone in whatever way we are able are appreciated.

Love
Christine

More news from Makki - 6 December
On Saturday 2 Dec 06 the Mursi believers decided to give us a gift in appreciation of the Geddes returning here with the team. Initially we were expecting a chicken but they had in mind a young steer so we would have some meat. This is very special as cattle are very valuable here. We gathered in a clearing and they offered Jonathan the gift. He then selected a stone, as is the custom, which was used by one of the Mursi men to stun the steer prior to slaughtering it. About half the beast was used there to provide a BBQ for the gathered Mursi and our selves. We all sat around and feasted on
the meat roasted in the coals of the fire. It was pretty good. They
gave us three legs and the rump to take and use. Everything else was cooked up and consumed. It was pretty good but the intestine wasn't my favorite part. Jonathan liked it though. The whole process took most of the day and was a really good time to get along side the people and share in their culture.

Sunday we went to church, which is held under the verandah of the clinic. There was a good lot of singing and a sermon based on David slaying Goliath. We all had to get up and introduce our selves and face a few questions. They wanted to know why we had come. We said that we had wanted to support Jonathan and Barb in returning to Mursi land. That we wanted to encourage the church here in Mursi land. To help with maintenance on the mission and also to learn lessons from them that would help us back in our homes. We had a great time of fellowship with them.
>
Jonathan has been spending a lot of time talking with the Mursi church leaders. It seems that they have been waiting for him to get here to get some help with many of the difficult questions they have as church leaders.
Please be praying for Jonathan that he will have a spirit of wisdom
that can only come from the Lord as he works and prays with the church leaders and encourages them to look to God and his Word for guidance in these matters.
Pray that he would have the faith of David as he faces these issues
with them, that sometimes seem to be Goliath-sized.

The guys have been getting stuck into the maintenance tasks around the place. In between the rain showers. It has been raining every afternoon and some days all day. Tristan has been working on a table for Thomas and Johanna which is coming along very well. Josh and Elana worked on the Cruiser and got it looking as good as new.Josh and Rohan, have cleaned off all the buildings and repaired roofing. They have cleaned solar panels. It finally got dry enough to get down to the air field yesterday afternoon.
So that has been mowed and the track is mostly cleared. Still some work to do but the rain came back heavy late in the evening. There needs to be some washouts filled along the strip before it is useable again. I have been sick the last few days with a fever so I couldn't get started on the tractor repair. We are still hoping it will be a bit dryer so we can get into that.
>
Barb, Christine and Elana did the first English lessons at school Tuesday. They are down doing the second one today with Josh helping also. It sounded like it went very well. Tonight we have invited all the staff here for dinner at our place. The staff work at the clinic and school.We are hoping this will be a good chance to get to know them and encourage them in their work. It must be difficult working down here in such isolated conditions.
Working among the Mursi is very much a cross cultural experience for the Highland Ethiopians who work here. Be praying for them as they do such important work here.
>
> Regards,
> Steven

News from Makki - Christine's perspective - December 6 (backtracking a little)
Christine's perspective: Things are fairly different over here as you
can imagine. I was fine till we got to Makki and then I think the
culture thing hit me, but knowing people are praying from back home and their prayers are being answered is great. I spent the first day basically in the house, and following Barb around like a shadow. The next day wasn't so hard and then it has been getting easier every day. I'm sure by the time it comes to leaving I will have made some wonderful connections with the Mursi's and it will be sad to leave. Already a few things have happened and it has
started building bonds with them, in fact mine is the only name they remember (mind you I have been given a mursi name). Christine was too hard for them to say so we decided to call me Tina which was much easier, then when I went to the village with Jonathan they decided it was close to the Mursi name of 'nga-tini' (which basically means small in stature) so all in all it worked out. Also when I was at the village the older girls wanted me to have a go at grinding the sorgum, so I knelt down on the ground and had a go rubbing
a smaller stone on top of a bigger one, after a little while they
inspected what I had done and apparently I did a reasonable job. I'm not sure how long I could do it for as it's quite back breaking, and I don't know how long they do it for either but I'm sure it's much
longer than I could.
Barb and I will start some teaching on Tuesday so that should be good. The other thing I have been doing is radio communications which happens twice a day at 8am and 6.15pm. This is the way you send and recieve messages with SIM headquarters or pass messages around to other missionaries.
I imagine this gets to be a chore so being able to give Thomas and
Johanna a break is a good thing.
>
We are enjoying making bread from scratch and Josh is getting really good at it, meal times take quite a while as there is nothing much instant available, but most of us certainly aren't starving, and with 8 of us the washing up takes a while also.
>
It's been hard trying to catch up with washing, well mostly the drying
as I'm sure you've heard that it rains a lot, the clothes stay wet
because the air already has enough moisture in it, so sometimes it's just as easy to put on clothes that are sligthly damp and dry them with your body heat. I am sure I will be looking forward to the sensation of dry clothes at sometime in the future.
>
> Love
> Christine
>

Latest from Makki - December 11
Rohan Here,
Just a quick update...
Steve is feeling much better and we have been working on the tractor since thursday. Got it going yesterday... but had trouble stoping it due to a fulty fuel pump and engine govenor. Got the heart rate going, and our ears ringing! Had to cut the fuel line to stop it. But at least it goes.... just a bit tooo well. I think steve will fill u in in more detail soon.

The rest of the team are all well. Sometimes we find it a bit fustrating we cant get more done... because the heat and humidity takes alot of energy out of you. But we are all happy. It makes a huge difference when we hear news from home!

From Rohan in Makki - Monday 4 December
I am doin fine. Its nice being back again, although a lot has changed. = Everyday is challenging, and hard... even the heat and humidity leaves u = feelin energyless. But we are gettin stuff done.. even if its not as = fast as we would like. Its fun seing ppl again, although its hard = remembering language, and i feel like talking with and encouraging them = isnt my biggest gift. But i do what i can, seeing as i already know the = language. Its so hard tho when everyone expects you to have brought = something for them. They all want to be your best friend, and want stuf = from u. But at the same time, they are mostly loving, and its fun doing = jobs with them and mucking around. Its hard to, to make sure we do what = others think is important, and not just myself. After living here for = so long, i have a good idea of everything that needs doing, and just the = general gyst of things. But i need to remember we are here to help = Thomas and the other workers here.. even if they have only been here a = few years. Things change in 3 years. Wow... its amazing looking back = at the person i was here 3 years ago... and who i am now. In a way its = like nothin has changed. On the other hand... i am a totally different = person. Its interesting. I wonder where i will be in another 3 years. = It doesnt seem like that long... but i guess God doesnt need long if u = ask him.

I cant wait till the day we get back. The day is getting nearer, but = there is still alot to do. I think God is teaching me that there is a = time and a place for everythin. And that 2 months is not much in the =
scheme of things. I hope God matures me more, so i can follow him =
closer, and can relie on his strength in me.

Well this is gettin long, so i better finish up and have a shower before = dinner. I still dont believe this e-mail thing! its amazing!!! so = cool! Missing ya SOOO much! Thanks for all your prayers and supportive = e-mails... they are all soooo encouraging. Cant wait to hear from you = again. Love ya Heaps! Lotsa Ethiopian Huggs, ROHAN. XOX

Latest from Makki - Monday 4 December
We have had rain this morning. Washing cloths is the biggest problem I think. it takes hours doing stuff by hand. We have had some local help which is good but it is just slow and we had a back log from the trip down. Food is literally from scratch here. Josh, is our baker and is enjoying making two loaves of bread a day. The chickens haven't laid an egg since they have been here so unless they get there act together they could be our first meal that has meat in it.

I think we are all starting to recover from the drive in and are settling into a routine. Yesterday was pretty hard on us all I think but we seem to be coming through it. Settling down to living, working and playing together has its stresses. Put that with a vastly different cultural setting, language and just about everything is different and has to be worked through. We are doing pretty well.

We have a list of jobs to work on and have even completed a couple of things. It can take a lot of time to get some simple things done. For example it has taken me three days to get a printer powered up because every house has a different power outlet requiring different adapters and leads. On the other hand we had a valve break late yesterday evening on the water tank to our house as we where filling the tank. We got that fixed just on dark which was amazing. It was good fun to with everybody getting pretty wet as we removed the valve from the main line.

Jonathan went to the milk time yesterday afternoon, which is a meeting three times a week of the local Christians. Barbara is down at the school this morning getting setup for the English teaching. The boys got the generator going and started drilling a few holes to complete the projects they have been working on but the rain may have delayed this a bit. Christine has become the Makki radio operator, SIM Ethiopia stations communicate twice a day across the HF network. I have spent the morning getting the emails in. There was a problem with the system in Addis and it took about 3 hours this morning over the radio, working with other stations to get the emails here. I have been trying since yesterday afternoon. Gives you a new appreciation for the simplicity of our Western life and the things we take for granted. Using a 300 baud ( that's right there is no K in there at all) HF radio link for emails takes you back about 20 years in IT technology. So thanks for passing everything back to Ruth at BBC, otherwise we would jam this system up and really impact everybody here who depends on having access to this system.

Thanks again for your prayers

888 Team Makki
Steven

News from Makki, Ethiopia - Friday 1 December
We made it to Makki at about 7:30PM Tuesday night. So that was 4 and a half hours from Jinka down the mountain and around to Makki. they have been having rain on and off for days now. Makki had rain earlier that day and it was very wet but the river was not up too high when we got to it. Jonathan let me drive all the way which was great and he enjoyed not having to do the track one more time. Which also gave him time to catch up with Mursi friends we met along the track. there was a lot of excitement when they discovered who was in the car. A few stops and conversations where enjoyed by all of us.

We had chains on the front wheels of an extremely heavily loaded Land Cruiser. Eight people inside plus luggage plus food, 180 litre of diesel, 60 litre kero, two chooks and rooster(who road on the roof with the kero).
Jonathan, said the road had been remade and was in good condition in the first 20km section. All of it was very slippery, not really steep which was good though. Lots of bog holes and mud that is very very sticky, especially if you have to get out of the car. We got stuck once at Cliff's Hill about 10km out from Makki, sliding off the road as we started the climb. We where traveling with Thomas who had a winch and we used that to get us back on the road in about 45 minutes, having dug the car out a bit and all being pretty much covered in mud. We haven't thought about how we are going to clean the inside of the car out yet. It got dark soon after this so the last 10km was in the dark with a few washouts to negotiate and then long grass which meant I couldn't see the road surface anyway. We just followed Thomas' tracks. The river crossing went OK and we found ourselves at Makki, shaken, rattled and rolled but safe and happy.

A good friend of mine has a saying, "He who travels fastest, travels alone"
Any body who has traveled with children knows what he means. Well with 8 of us in the vehicle you don't travel fast. We got packed in Addis by about 9AM which was really good, and set off from SIM HQ. By the time we had picked up the few remaining items it was noon. It took at least an hour and half to find some cheese. Ahead was the quoted 8 hour drive to Arba Minch. Well that took about 12 hours with a few stops. You just had to stop and let people out and change seating around or we would have all died in there. Four across the back seat of a cruiser is tight. Three across the front isn't much better. That leaves the one person in the back on the side bench seat.
We installed a luggage wall next to the seat so you couldn't put you feet on the floor but you had the width of the seat to fit your self in as best you could. The guys rigged up in-flight movies so all 5 in the back could watch a DVD as we went. For me there was too much to look at outside the window.
Driving through Africa is amazing. It was good at night though as we didn't arrive until midnight. The road was tar all the way accept for the massive pot holes and washouts. Really hard driving at night.

We spent Sunday looking around Arba Minch, went swimming at the springs that also supply the town water. One town where the water is good to drink. Had some really good conversations with some local students who where keen to practice their English. Most where Christian and we discussed various aspects of our faith and differences between our countries. I really enjoyed this. Jonathan has a great time talking with all the local people, he is amazing. We also saw hippo and crocodiles when we went on a boat trip around the lower lake. Very good, we all had a great day and enjoyed the break from the car.

Set off for Jinka on Monday morning. Again got away in good time but just getting those last few things took about two hours. Christine got to call her mum for the last time in a few weeks to which was really good. An answer to prayer just to get through to her from here. We made good time and arrived in Jinka just on dusk having had only one problem along the way. The road is gravel all the way. Actually much better than tar with pot holes. We got a flat in the rear right tire through a large rut which we heard going down but we where only about 500m from a town so we easily drove in and pulled up at a tire service place. We changed to the spare and had the tire fixed on the spot. Probably not up to Australian standards for tire repair but they certainly knew what they where doing as they must get a lot of work. One big river crossing that was fast flowing and about half a metre deep. The whole road is subject to flash flooding if it rains in the mountains and then comes rushing down across the road and into the valley.
While there where plenty of clouds around we didn't have any problem. Again just amazing driving through this area, the people you see. We drove past thousands of people along the road. Many of the children yelling out wanting something from us. Mostly empty water bottles which they call "High Land"
after the brand of bottled water. Imaging having "high land, high land"
yelled at you ten thousand times. Some interesting dances to get your attention, at least the first 50 times you see them. The most memorable was a young man standing on his head beside the road in the middle of know where completely naked. Certainly got your attention.

Met up with Thomas and Johanna at the Norwegian guest house in Jinka. They had made it up from Makki that afternoon with patients to go to the Jinka hospital. So Tuesday morning we set about getting the final things to stuff into the Cruiser. There was a bit of rain in the morning but our prayers where answered and it seemed to clear by the time we where ready to leave.
The plane we would have flown in on did arrive on Saturday inspite of the rain which was a concern for us traveling by air. however, no tourist cars had been down into the valley since then and probable wouldn't be going down until Thursday if the rain held off. So our alternate flying down to Jinka from Addis plan would have has us stranded in Jinka until later this week.
The drive down has been a real blessing for the team. We have really bonded, as a team and physically just from being pressed together for so long. We went to the markets and got vegetables and two chickens and a roaster. By 3PM both Thomas and us had everything finished. We set off on the final leg to Makki. By the time we got there we had two more eggs.

Thanks for your prayers, they have been appreciated and answered at every step along the way.

Regards,
Steven and the 888 Team

Ethiopia Team - Just about to leave for Makki - Saturday 25 November
We head off this morning for Makki. We won't get there until Tuesday. Been a lot of rain down south so we may not get there then either as the roads are blocked. We have visited lots of eople here and had meals with lots oif missionary's. Couple of other Aussies here plus a lot of other countries.

We are packing an amazing amount of stuff into the vehicle. We have 8 people which would be fine but also 8 weeks of food (almost we prepositioned the bulky food at Makki already) plus luggage, tools, parts, battery, and we need to add kerosine along the way as they are running out down there. It is going to be heavy and then we can see how it goes through the mud.

Anyway got to run and start packing it all in.

Steven and the 888 Team

Still in Addis - Preparing to leave for Makki - Friday 24 November
Plans are changing here all the time. We spent Thursday night an hour south of Addis in a mission guest house by a lake. Back in Addis today (Friday). Heading for Makki, most likely on Saturday. Meeting Thomas (Makki nurse) on Monday night in Jinka and heading down to Makki Tuesday morning for the 60km journey. There has been a lot of rain so we are expecting to need two cars to have any hope of getting through. Some real life 4 Wheel Driving!

We are making progress, Steven got his licence yesterday, Jonathan got his the day beforeand Barb should get hers today. Got lots of shopping to do and pack it all into two vehicles plus 8 people. Then for some real off road driving.

Weather is Addis is very mild, so it is pretty easy to live here from that point of view. Food is good but times are crazy. We had lunch at 4:30PM, Dinner at 6:30 and another dinner at 8:30PM. Not your typical day. We spent all day at the licence place so lunch was late. Then over to some missionaries for dinner then visited an Ethiopian family for coffee (Bunna). Which ment a traditional meal of Engera Wot (yum). They roasted the coffee from green beans in the lounge room, ground them in the front yard and then made the coffee. We are talking a very nice coffee.

Please pray for the journey.

Touch down in Ethiopia - 22 November
Hi from Ethiopia

We arrived early this morning. Had a good trip. Long time in the air about 18 hours. 2 hour stop in Bangkok in the middle of the morning. Bangkoks new airport was nice, some what bland but functional. Worked well and us and luggage got through OK. Nice temperature here in Addis Ababa, cloudy, smokey. Geddes arrived just ahead of us, they had a good trip with a couple of near misses. They almost didn't make it on the last leg as it was ver booked but after lots of prayer they ended up on the flight and in Business Class. Spent the day meeting people and getting paper work done for drivers licence. Should finish that tomorrow. We have the car her and plan to drive south on thursday morning.

Lots of people here at SIM HQ. Missionaries coming and going all the time. Locals are very friendly. We have a young guy taking us around the place to get the licence work done. One ride in a cab who was taking his daughter home from school as well. He wanted her to talk to us in English, she was a bit shy but had very good English.

Jonathan has us pretty busy already :) The Geddes are enjoying meeting all their friends and catching up with people. Jonathan speaks to all Ethiopians in Amharic, they love it.

Hope things are going well back in Australia.

Regards,
the 888 Ethiopia Team

Welcome to the 888 Team News List
Welcome to the 888 Team trip to Ethiopia. We are headed to Mursi country in southern Ethiopia to the Makki mission station. We leave Australia on 20 November and return around 18 Jan 2007. We are expecting to spend close to seven weeks at Makki involved in English teaching, maintenance, clinic, and what ever else we can help with.

There are eight of us on the team. The Geddes family (Jonathan, Barb, Rohan, Elana) are returning to their home of 13 years to visit with friends and encourage the local Mursi church. Josh Crowther did a short term mission trip to India last year with Rohan, so he is backing up for another trip. Tristan McGrath, and Steven & Christine Mogg are on there first mission trip. We are all very much putting everything in God’s hands on this trip.

We are almost ready to go. There are over 400 people on this list so you are part of a large community receiving these updates. We all arrive in Addis Ababa early Tuesday morning 21 November. I think we will need a rest as we have all been very busy these last few weeks. We will spend the first week getting oriented and sorting out transport to head south to Makki. We also need to visit the Fistula Hospital as we have a number of quilts to deliver.

If you want more information about the trip or know anybody else who would like to be on the list they can join via our 888 Team Website, so let them know. More information is available on the web site.

We all very much appreciate your support and look forward to seeing your prayers answered as we journey with the Mursi people.

888 Team
http://webcaddy.com.au/ethiopia/