Into Abyssinia

Carl E. Hansen

Description

A young missionary family finds their determined selfless efforts to bring about transformation in Ethiopia's feudal society stymied by forces of political turmoil and revolution, forcing them to withdraw in defeat, leaving the results to God. Decades later, they realize God has transformed their "seeds" into a "mighty forest."

In this autobiographical book, the author gives an informative and lively account of the first eight years of his and his family's living and serving in pre-revolutionary feudal Ethiopia. It is a story of adventure as a novice missionary couple learns and adapts to a vastly different culture while raising a family in the less developed hinterlands.

The events take place from 1967 to 1975, a pivotal time in Ethiopia’s history; a time marked by growing discontent with feudalism and the ancient imperial regime that supported it. It was a time of growing turmoil that, in the midst of drought and famine, spilled over into an armed revolution; a time when ignorant men with guns over-powered the best minds and forced a tradition-bound society to join in a bloody experiment with radical socialism.

It was a time when the slow and difficult years of missionary effort in planting the seeds of the Christian gospel began to sprout and take root and grow into what would become a mighty movement of transformation in that society.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Ministry
• Philosophie et théologie
• Etiopía
• Meserete Kristos Church
• Ethiopia
• Adult
• Missionary
• Oromo

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 29 mars 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664290693
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Into Abyssinia
THE ODYSSEY OF A FAMILY
 
 
 
 
 
CARL E. HANSEN
 
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2023 Carl E. Hansen.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
 
Scripture quotations are taken from the JERUSALEM BIBLE Copyright© 1966, 1967, 1968 by Darton, Longmand & Todd LTD and Doubleday and Co. Inc. All rights reserved.
 
Cover designed by Destiny Joy Gomez-Kreider of “Destiny Designs,” a granddaughter of the author, using a photo of daughter, Karen, age six, standing beside the Toyota Landcruiser on the “Bedeno road.”
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9068-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9070-9 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9069-3 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023901631
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 03/25/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God.”
– Psalms 68:31 Jerusalem Bible
CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Acronyms
Preface
Chapter 1Ten Thousand Miles and Three Thousand Years in Three Days
Chapter 2A Home in Abyssinia
Chapter 3A New Career
Chapter 4Adjustments
Chapter 5Understanding Ethiopia
Chapter 6Recreational Activities
Chapter 7A New School Year
Chapter 8A Harar Vacation
Chapter 9Church Growth
Chapter 10Vacation Ecstasy and Agony
Chapter 11The Metamorphosis of a Development Worker
Chapter 12Home Interlude
Chapter 13Living with Language Learning
Chapter 14Narrowing the Focus
Chapter 15A Home at Bedeno
Chapter 16The Development Program
Chapter 17Community Relationships
Chapter 18Missionary Travels and Travails
Chapter 19The Famine
Chapter 20The Revolution
Chapter 21Retreat From Bokay Teffe
Chapter 22Unfinished Business
Chapter 23Journey’s End
Epilogue
DEDICATION
To my beloved wife and constant companion, Vera Dorothy (King) Hansen, who faithfully shared the challenges, failures, and triumphs of our odyssey over the past fifty-eight years.
In reflecting back, I am amazed at her courage and the self-giving support she gave through those difficult years. Coming into Abyssinia as inexperienced “missionary associates” straight from college, we were absolutely “green,” without any cultural or language orientation. Vera especially, being very pregnant in the midst of unpacking and setting up housekeeping and giving birth to our second daughter only two weeks after our arrival, did not complain or draw back. In the busy routine of homemaking with a growing family in a totally new environment, she bravely adjusted to the unfamiliar culture with its expectations and taboos and economic restrictions. Lesser women, suffering post-partum depression, would have taken the first flight available heading “home”!
Vera’s virtues of strength and courage and self-giving devotion were put to the test later as we entered our “Bedeno years.” For three years we lived in the remote eastern province of Harar, directing a rural development project among the peasant population of then feudal Ethiopia. While I engaged in a lot of interesting and exciting activities which included frequent travel that often kept me away from home for periods varying from a few days up to two weeks, Vera was “stuck at home” with our four small children.
There she endured an indescribable loneliness, cut off from contact with people familiar with her own culture, struggling with an enormous language barrier, and geographically isolated by the only semi-accessible “Bedeno road.” Alone, she bore responsibility for our small children without reliable security and without convenience of accessible phone or postal service. (There were no cell phones, email, nor internet communications in those days.)
Countless long dark nights she lay awake alone, vainly listening for the distant sound of an engine on the deserted, silent, empty Bedeno road, sleep-depriving questions rotating in her anxious mind, wondering where her husband and father of her four little ones might be. Perhaps tonight he might come? Perhaps there was a breakdown, or a delay, or, God forbid, an accident? There was no way of knowing.
Then, as the seeming-eternal darkness finally gave way to the dawning of a new day, as she prepared breakfast for her little ones, the persistent lingering questions continued rotating, tormenting her sleep-deprived mind: “Perhaps today?”
In reflecting back, to put it mildly, the most amazing thing is the realization that Vera has stuck with me all these years and is still with me today!
Thank you, Vera, for your steadfast love and devotion and faith! May God reward you! And may your children rise up and call you “blessed” (cf. Proverbs 31:28)!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I must give credit to God who shaped me from my mother’s womb, called me, and preserved me through the many experiences and circumstances of life, forgave me for my many blunders, both intentional and unintentional. He has granted me good health and long years in which to reflect on and put into writing some of those experiences. I have always felt invulnerable, safe, somehow protected, especially in those tense situations when it would have been understandable had I felt fear.
Next to God, I owe a debt of gratitude to my mother, Elizabeth Winifred (Friesen) Hansen, whose prayers for our safety and success were obviously heard. She wisely kept our letters all those years while we were “away” doing the things recorded in this book. Then, at the proper time, she returned the stash of correspondence which became the basis upon which this book took shape.
Also, I was encouraged by my dear wife, Vera, who sacrificed so much in living out the stories in this book. Then later, she continued with a lesser sacrifice, enduring many quiet evenings as I returned to my keyboard, leaving her alone in the empty living room.
Further, I must express gratitude to my daughter, Karen Hansen, for contributing her skills as a middle school English teacher in reading my manuscript and editing and correcting my careless spelling and grammar. She gave many days of her time in this labor of love while recuperating from a broken foot she suffered while exploring the ancient rock hewn churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia.
Finally, I am deeply grateful for the comradery and cooperation of my granddaughter, Destiny Joy Gomez-Kreider of “Destiny Designs” in designing the cover of this my third book as she has done so well in my first two books, Pilgrims Searching for a Home and Shaping of a Ser vant.
ACRONYMS
AMBS
Associated Mennonite Biblical Semi nary
EPID
Extension Project Implementation Divi sion
E MBMC
Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Chari ties
EMM
Eastern Mennonite Miss ions
MAF
Missionary Aviation Fellow ship
MCC
Mennonite Central Commi ttee
MEDA
Mennonite Economic Development Associ ates
MKC
Meserete Kristos Ch urch
SIDA
Swedish International Development Assist ance
SIM
Society of International Missions, formerly known as “Sudan Interior Mis sion”
SMO
Swiss Mennonite Organiza tion
PREFACE
In deciding on a title for this book I have chosen to use the ancient name “ Abyssinia ” rather than “ Ethiopia ” for a reason. Earliest references in the biblical Old Testament times spoke of the land south of Egypt as “ Kush .” That broad term included the land south of the first cataract on the Nile, including Nubia, a power between 540 B.C. and 339 A.D. and the land east all the way to the Red Sea.
The New Testament spoke of the “Ethiopian eunuch.” In Greek, the term “ Aithiopia ” is used broadly to include the land of those with dark complexions, “burnt faces,” in other words, all the lands of sub-Saharan Africa. The “eunuch” mentioned in Acts 8:26–40 was the chief treasurer of Candace, the “queen of Ethiopia.” It is likely Candace ruled from her capital, Meroe, in what is now Sudan.
The term “ Abyssinia ” derives from the more ethnically specific “ Hab