CARING FOR THE LOST ONES OF GONDAR
When you think of Ethiopia, you might not picture the city of Gondar. A Westerner 
expecting sun-blasted flatlands finds instead a medium-sized city of rolling hills, trees, and the ruins of past wars. But for the Beta Israel — the ancient tribe of lost Israelites we came to serve — Gondar is a place of unrelieved hardship and suffering . . . at least, on most days of the year.
Imagine living as an outcast and a persecuted foreigner, despite the fact that your people have lived here for thousands of years. Imagine being hated by nearly every stranger you meet — carrying the label of felasha, which is virtually a curse word in the local dialect. No matter how long you live, how friendly and helpful you are to your fellow countrymen, the rejection and discrimination never eases.
Imagine one morning, your impoverished neighborhood wakes up to change, and hope. Tents on a vacant site. Visitors in medical scrubs, offering words of compassion and healing and most of all — help. Medical care you’ve suffered without for months or even years.
You learn something even more shocking. These are Westerners who have traveled thousands of miles just to serve and love you, the resented one. You have a hard time believing your ears. A modern, medical mission has come to serve the outcasts, the hated minority? For me? For us? Why? How on earth?
Then you learn — it’s coming to you in the name of Yeshua (Jesus), God Himself.
That’s exactly what happened when the Jewish Voice medical team arrived for its 2014 medical outreach in Gondar. We brought our strongest-ever contingent of doctors, nurses, dentists, and volunteers to share the love of Yeshua with these forgotten members of God’s Chosen People.
Like 70 year-old Teyeku Emuhay. This dear woman’s last name is actually an honorary title given to members of the Beta Israel who, in late middle age, become celibate, wear a special headband, and give themselves to serve the congregation. But don’t let the special status fool you.
Like many of her brothers and sisters, Teyeku must beg on the streets to support a son and grandson she has also raised. She suffers from eye problems and an ear disorder she shares with her nine-year-old grandson. It’s a parasite called enkush: an insect that nests inside the ear, lays eggs, and can live for years inside the auditory canal.
Teyeku saw a medicine man who removed 80 insects from her ear and 40 from her grandson’s. She paid 350 Birr for this procedure, nearly $18.00 — an average month’s income for a member of the Beta Israel. Despite its cost, and the medicine man taking 11 excruciating hours to complete the procedure, it failed to heal her. Today, in mere minutes, her suffering is ended and her usual bright smile returned to her face.
Or Enyish, the middle-aged wife of an unemployed construction worker. She brought her eight-year-old boy from over 40 miles away after hearing about the Jewish Voice outreach from representatives of Beit Halsreal, the local advocacy group.
Enyish actually has relatives in Israel and believes that discrimination against her people has increased since Israel sponsored a water pump that is superior to the local wells.
She is determined to make “aliyah” to Israel, despite great controversy over whether Jewish Ethiopians should be allowed to return. Her gratitude spills out from her words and face after receiving treatment.
Or like Wabaye, the farmer and father of nine who walked two-and-a-half hours to reach us. He believes the demon inside him reacted when he was invited inside the prayer tent. But he knows for certain the spirit inside him is gone after being prayed over in the name of Yeshua.
Wabaye is so confident that he confronted a Muslim local who expressed anti-Yeshua, pro-Muslim sentiment, insisting that Yeshua is indeed the Son of God.
Sadly, we cannot treat all of the Beta Israel of Gondar. More shocking than even their medical condition is the sheer magnitude of the need. We simply do not have the time or manpower to treat the overwhelming numbers of desperate people, a number we see growing every year, who show up for help.
But we try.
Our teams work nearly around the clock, trying to relieve the suffering. They leave humbled and overjoyed at the chance to share the love of Yeshua. Thanks to our staff and faithful volunteers, the 2014 Gondar medical outreach proved a huge blessing to these precious yet persecuted Jewish People of Gondar. And thanks to you, your prayers, and financial support, we will return next time in even greater numbers.
Why not come with us on one of our upcoming outreaches? You don’t have to be a medical professional to be used on our medical missions! Check out our 2015 schedule of mission trips on the Medical Outreaches page of our website. Pray, plan, and come along! There’s a vital role waiting for you on any of our JVMI medical missions!
