David Baldwin, August 2005
Maura and I both felt certain that the Lord was calling us into long-term mission service from our tender years. It wasn't that we felt that this was somehow a more spiritual path or even a more important occupation than ordinary work, just that we felt called to do explicitly Christian work overseas.
I was convinced that I was called to China, for some reason, and prayed regularly for that great land. Maura was brought up in a missionary family in the Middle East but was open as to where she might herself serve -only that she didn't fancy China!! And that is a good synopsis of our eager but fumbling attempts to make sense of our inner convictions; we needed some clear direction.
Our first contact with SIM was when I offered my services to a variety of mission societies upon the completion of my PCGE. I wondered if there was any need out there for a Science teacher and quickly found myself 'reeled in' and ensconced at Bingham Academy, SIM's mission school in Ethiopia. All I knew about Ethiopia was what Michael Burke had told me on TV and it didn't seem very inviting. I was only thinking of the experience as a 'GAP year' and kept telling everyone that I was enjoying myself but wouldn't be back, thanks very much, China awaited! Little did I realise that this was the Lord's way of leading both Maura and I to Ethiopia for long-term service.
Once we started our married life and professional careers back in the UK we started to talk and pray about our next moves. To my slight irritation our church leaders, SIM and other mission societies, advised us to go to Bible school and learn about the Bible.
I thought that I already knew about the Bible and everything else I might need to know to save the world, but the Lord's ways are best and we were soon on our way to Belfast for a few years of Theological Education and trying to avoid a lynching on the Falls Road (not easy with my accent). That was a fantastic time of preparation and humbling. We started our family in Belfast too.
For us, our home church was the key sending body behind us and SIM-UK shared our desire to involve our congregation at every step of the way. The final leg of our preparation was to serve in our church in Reading for a year, while raising support. And so it was that our little family found itself surrounded by 30 friends and family singing a very moving but highly embarrassing valedictory song in Terminal 4 on a summer evening in July 1996. We were off.
SIM had asked us to serve in Theological Education, which is a 'church strengthening' ministry I was keen to be a part of. After learning the most difficult language in the world (except, ironically, Mandarin) we taught at Bible schools in Addis Ababa, Hosanna and Jimma in first English and eventually Amharic. I loved teaching the Bible and I also loved most of the students. Many of them are so keen to learn, humble and eager to feed their congregations with what they've gleaned from God's Word. However, I didn't expect that some students would be in it for the kudos, position and future salary and I found the political manoeuvering and ladder climbing very hard to stomach. I'm also beginning to wonder how long we Westerners are needed in Theological Education here, now that the local church has been established for 75 years!
After home-schooling our four kids for a number of years, we decided that we would be better placed in Addis Ababa, and enrolled them in Bingham Academy. At the same time, we began to ask ourselves, 'What is really needed in this country? Where can we serve most strategically? How can we pour out our energies to best effect?' After prayer and taking advice we asked the SIM administration if they might not embrace us as ESL teachers willing to start up a school in Addis. This school would have a dual role; both to contribute to Ethiopian nation building (the level of English being very low here) and also to make contacts for outreach into the Orthodox, Muslim and International communities. The administration here had been dreaming of some such project for many years and we were encouraged to get started.
A start is all that we've really been able to make in the 18 months since the Lord led us to serve by teaching English. By his grace, the SIM English Language School (SELS) now has over 80 students from over 10 different countries. There are lots of teething pains, including getting government registration and recruiting sufficient ESL teachers to meet the incessant demand. The opportunities for ministry are huge, and to bring this story full circle, some of the SELS students most ravenous to know God and study his word in extracurricular courses are ... you've guessed it ... from China!
