Mariamsina Bekele is a dynamic young woman from Ethiopia. She is a missionary to university students serving with the campus ministry known as EvaSUE. Mariamsina is also a wife, a mother and a terrific Bible teacher.

I have had the privilege of working with Mariamsina over the years during the annual BereanSafari conferences in East Africa. It is always a treat to be able to encourage one another, compare notes on Biblical questions and just hang out. The photo above is from August, when Mariamsina and I were serving on the faculty of BereanSafari 2018.

While we were together, we talked about an upcoming study she would be facilitating in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. So, it was not a surprise when I got an email from Mariamsina at the end of September, seeking a bit of advice as she prepared to launch into the study with her student group. She is a gifted and experienced teacher (the photos below show Mariamsina working at BereanSafari a few years ago). So, she really did not need any new information from me. But it was a delight to be able to serve as an encouragement to her, and to reinforce the approach she was planning to take.

I have played a tiny role in the work God has been doing in and through Mariamsina, but I am deeply grateful to God for the chance to be part of it—both when we can be together, and when we connect through e-mail!

Thank you for the prayer and financial support that enables me to invest time and energy in Mariamsina and others like her, all around the world. Ethiopian university students may feel like they are a world away from you, but you are only 3 degrees of separation from them. Thanks for choosing to touch their lives by touching mine!

May Lord use you as a channel of love today and each day, and give you joy as he touches lives through you, both where you are, and around the world!

P.S. Mariamsina will be part of the leadership team hosting BereanSafari when we gather for the second time in Ethiopia, August 3-10, 2019. Join us!

P.P.S. I am very grateful for the work of my Mission Partnership Team, as we together respond to God's initiatives to build the network of support for this ministry. There is much to be done, but we have also seen a lot of progress--thanks be to God! And thanks to you, too, for your help with that important task!