Praying for Sustained Holy Unity

A Letter from Michael and Rachel Weller, serving in Ethiopia

December 2018

Africa is full of centuries-old ethnic rivalries. Our corner of Ethiopia, the Gambella Region, is no different. The land of Ethiopia nestles up against small rivers that mark the very porous national borders separating it from South Sudan. The borders were drawn on paper in Europe by people who had no intention of setting foot on that harsh grassland abuzz with mosquitos or floating down any of the rivers infested with crocodiles.

The tall, dark people of the Gambella region take these things in stride; they have done so for thousands of years. Life is harsh; it is not guaranteed. Rituals mark important stages of life, including manhood. Revenge is important and may be incorporated into coming-of-age rituals. The Murle people live along the border, mostly in South Sudan. According to their tradition, when God created the earth he created cattle and gave them to the Murle people. To mark the occasion of a Murle male youth becoming a man, he may be required to retrieve cattle from neighboring tribes, which were obviously stolen, since God gave the cattle to the Murle. They may also be required to steal children; any adult in the way is expendable.

Murle visitors receive hospitality in Gnigwo’s home.

To be clear, there is a very strong and active Murle Christian community in South Sudan. The church leaders are not happy with this activity that continues to cause strife between the Murle and their neighbors, the Anywaa and Nuer. They work tirelessly towards changing the culture, but not all accept their teaching.

Two years ago, in the southwestern border region of Jor in Ethiopia, Murle youth swept through a small Anywaa village grabbing up children, killing adults, and burning houses. The village was devastated. Some of the children were eventually returned, but many are still missing. Some were too young to know their own names.

Every year, the Anywaa women of our partner church, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), organize a “spiritual conference” somewhere in the area covered by the East Gambella Bethel Synod. Two years ago, they had chosen the Jor region, but they changed the location because of the trauma experienced by the community. The next year, however, they defiantly said, “Now is the time to show everyone that we are not afraid, and that God will protect and bless us.” And they held the conference near one of the villages that had been devastated. Anyaak was the president of the women’s group in the Jor area. Her son, Gnigwo Omod, is a leader in the East Gambella Bethel Synod of the EECMY. Earlier this year, he was commissioned by the EECMY as a missionary to serve the Murle people living in refugee camps in a far corner of the Gambella Region.

Gnigwo and his family.

Gnigwo works in the town of Diima near a refugee camp that houses many Murle who have fled the politically-fueled violence of South Sudan. He is the husband of one wife and the father of their four young children. He had intended to take his family with him to this difficult post. Some misunderstandings with the mission agency prevented that, and then forced him to return to Gambella prematurely. In the short time he was there, however, he made good contacts and began to develop fellowship groups to study the Bible and learn the ways of Jesus. He did experience opposition; some asked him if he was a spy seeking out a path of revenge. It was a difficult place to live — different people, different language, different food, different culture. He returned to Gambella, bringing with him a couple of the Murle young men. Gnigwo and his family welcomed them into his home, served them food — an important welcome ritual — and showed them how to live in Gambella. His neighbors were surprised to find that their Murle brothers were men of peace and unity.

While Gnigwo was back home in Gambella, another ethnic conflict sprang up. Traditional tensions between the Anywaa and Nuer erupted in violence. Many people were killed. Gnigwo’s response was to call his friend, Appay Ojullu, also commissioned as a missionary (serving people in a different area), to discuss together and pray about a solution to the ethnic tensions and violence. God gave the men the idea to form a prayer group in Gambella town made up of people from the five or six tribes living there. Our names, Rachel and Qes Michael, kept coming to his mind, and so he wrote a message to us while we were getting ready to return to Ethiopia from the US this past summer. Would we join him and Appay in creating a cross-cultural, inter-ethnic prayer group to pray for sustained Holy Unity in the Gambella Region?

Appay (left), Gnigwo (second from left) and members of Iley Congregation in Gambella collect goods for refugees.

We didn’t have to mull over our response! The first chance we got after we finally reached Gambella, we contacted the two men and began to organize a time of prayer. Our first meeting was at our house on the Nuer side of town — Gnigwo and Appay walked confidently past many people who might have considered them enemies. As tensions are still high, finding a “neutral” place is difficult. For now, our house is the meeting place. People from the Anywaa, Nuer, and Majangir tribes have come together there for prayer. There are other people groups — Cuomo, Po, Amhara, Oromo, Tigray, and more — and we pray for God’s urging to bring us all together.

Gnigwo and Appay are fearless, faithful men desperate for God’s peace.

We thank you for joining us in praying for them and their families. We thank you for your prayers and support for us.

Rachel & Michael Weller

Please read this important message from José Luis Casal, Director, Presbyterian World Mission

Dear partners in God’s mission,

We near the close of 2018 inspired by the hope of Christ. God is transforming the world, and you are helping to make it happen.

Thank you very much for your support of our mission co-workers. The prayers and financial gifts of people like you enable them to work alongside global partners to address poverty, hopelessness, violence and other pressing problems in the name of Jesus Christ.

Every day, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers are blessed to be able to walk alongside their brothers and sisters across the globe. Listening to each other in faith and in friendship, they learn from each other how to work towards a world in which everyone flourishes. Acting upon what they discover together, PC(USA) mission co-workers and our global partners strengthen the body of Christ.

Because you are an integral part of God’s mission, I invite you to become more deeply committed to Presbyterian World Mission. First, would you make a year-end gift for the sending and support of our mission co-workers? The needs in the world are great, and World Mission is poised to answer God’s call to serve others.

I also invite you to ask your session to add our mission co-workers to your congregation’s prayer list and mission budget for 2019 and beyond. Your multi-year commitment will make a great difference in our involvement with our partners. The majority of our mission co-workers’ funding comes from the special gifts of individuals and congregations like yours, for God’s mission is a responsibility of the whole church, not a particular area of the church. Now more than ever, we need your financial support!

In faith, our mission co-workers accept a call to mission service. In faith, World Mission, representing the whole church and you, sends them to work with our global partners. In faith, will you also commit to support this work with your prayers and financial gifts? With hope and faith, I await your positive response!

At God’s service and at your service!

José Luis Casal
Director

P.S. Your gift will help meet critical needs of our global partners. Thank you!