April 2015
Return to the Poorest of the Poor — in Their Darkest Hour.
B
umping and lurching down the long, rough dirt roads, we finally made it into the remote Ethiopian village of Woliso, where the people of the Gefat reside, which happened to be the location of our next medical clinic. Much work still needed to be done to prepare for the thousands who would be arriving in the next few days, many who had begun their journey days in advance to make it in time. As we stepped off the bus and saw many of the precious children of the village, you could almost feel the excitement, as if they were saying, “They came back! They came back!” Everyone quickly began working together, knowing that this year, the neglected branch of the Beta Israel needed our medical outreach more than ever before. Many already beginning to line up just outside the clinic gates . . . Granted, this Lost Tribe has always faced incredible hardship. The Gefat are quite possibly Ethiopia’s most impoverished and beleaguered people group. Even worse, they’re
reviled and persecuted by their own countrymen. Their neighbors call them the Fuga, a derogatory term that means “hated, disliked people.” The original meaning of the word was “blower,” because they were blowers of the shofar. The term ultimately became an insult. The message was “dry up and blow away from us.” Not only do the Gefat face anti-Semitism because of their Jewish customs and heritage, some now face additional persecution because they are embracing Yeshua ( Jesus). These brothers and sisters are truly outcasts among the outcasts. The poorest of the poor. Their plight is so dire that our relationship with them began in an unusual way: Their tribal leaders sought us out several years ago, asking for our help. Our hearts broke at the way they pleaded with us to consider the evidence of their Jewish heritage conveyed with a full-blown presentation of their case. It’s as if they were begging us to care about them. Of course, we www.jewishvoicetoday.org