親愛的弟兄姊妹平安：

        從埃塞俄比亞恭祝新年快樂！感謝主的幫助，我們終於在1月11日將「阿比西尼亞營」會員大會的報告呈交宗教局了。這個年會是在2018年11月舉行，由於要制定兩項新增的重要預算，包括從現時2194平方米的營地移除電線杆和電線，以及營地即將發展的新項目，所以報告便被拖延。

        有關即將發展項目的財政預算內容，我將會在下個通訊與你分享，先將印在會員大會報告上的概要列下：

        當我告訴政府官員有關延遲呈交報告的原因，是為要把即將發展項目制定預算時，他接受了我的解釋，沒有要求繳交罰款，所有的文件都順利呈交了。

        遞交報告後往吃午飯，之後回到我租住的房屋，駭然發現家居被人爆竊，睡房和書房的門鎖都被撬破，物件散落一地一片凌亂。我有點震驚，因為這是我在埃塞這麼多年來第一次被入屋爆竊。

        感謝信實的主！除了損失了三、四千比爾（birrs） 和一只加拿大弟兄姊妹送給我的新腕表，並少量物品外，其他重要的東西都沒有失竊。電腦、數碼相機、攝錄機、量度輻射的儀器等，還有護照、居住證、支票簿，以及所有關於阿比西尼亞營地的檔案和文件，全都安然留在屋內。

        雖然有主的保守，但我們仍須採取預防措施，避免另一次被盜。所以我聘請了鐵匠來為家居安裝有刺的鐵絲網、換上更安全穩固的門鎖、在前門和後門加上保安防盜鎖，又在我套房露台外加上金屬格網。窗戶沒有安裝格網，賊人很容易爬入打破玻璃門窗。這次他們便是這樣從鐵欄爬入，打破前門的玻璃門了。

        此外，也在左面鄰居的大閘上加上防盜鐵絲網，居住在右面的鄰居是一對退休夫婦，他們雖然早已用混凝土磚加高了圍牆，這次他們也聘用了鐵匠，請他在完成我家的防盜設施後，為他們那精美的房子安裝防盜鐵絲網。阿比西尼亞營可借出打磨機和焊接機讓他們自由使用。我所住的這條街共有六戶，大家正在商議是否在街頭和街尾兩端加裝大閘和聘請保安。

        請代禱記念！

為主收莊稼的
朱肇平

下載 PDF 格式（中文）

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Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

        Warm New Year greeting to all of you from Ethiopia! Our Lord has been helping us that we were finally able to submit our ACM General Assembly (2017 to 18) to the Religious bureau of the Federal government on 11/Jan/2019. The reason we were late (the Assembly being held Nov., 2018) was this year budget has to include 2 major things, which are the removal of poles and wires from our current 2,194 sq. m Site and the other being the budget for our ‘Immediate Phase’ development.

        The breakdown of the ‘Immediate Phase’ budget will be send to you in details of Joseph’s New Year Update news. Let me layout for your reference the summary in our Assembly report:

1. ACM yearly general expenses: 350,000.00 birrs
2. Removal of poles & electric wires from our current Site: 101,716.17 birrs
3. Immediate Phase: 926,900.15 birrs

Total: 1,378,616.32 birrs

        When I explained to an official at the Fed. Ministry the reason for our being late, which was due to working out all the details of the ‘Immediate Phase’ budget, he accepted it and with no fine all the pack of documents was thus submitted successfully!

        However, on the same day of 11/Jan (Friday) when I returned to the Ayat rented house after lunch hour, I was shocked to see the house was broken into and both my bed room and study with locks broken and everything laying in confusion everywhere. I was very shocked because it was the 1st time this kind of burglary happening to me after all these years in Ethiopia.

        How thankful I was to my faithful Lord that except a few thousand birrs (3 to 4 thousand) and a new watch (given by a group in Canada yet I never wore it) and a few minor items being taken away, all those vital things remained! Important things like the computers, digital camera, the meter testing radiation, video recording camera & many others…plus passport, residence permit, cheque books, and all those ACM documents and files…were still in the house!

        Yet even with His divine protection we must take measures to prevent burglary happening again. So throughout the past week, with a metal man we were installing the very sharp thief-wires, changing stronger and more secure locks, adding special reinforcement (with additional security pad locks) for the front and back doors of the house, adding metal grills (which includes my bed room, with an attached bathroom, with a balcony. The thieves could climb up easily and broke the glass of the door without any grill — like how they crashed the glass of the front door this time after climbing in through the iron sheet fence)

        We also installed thief wires on top of the neighbors’ gate at the left. At the right the neighbors (a retired couple) were adding new cement blocks to heighten the wall surrounding their compound. They also asked the metal worker, after finishing with my house perhaps tomorrow, to install sharp hook thief wires surrounding their nice house. ACM will let them use our grinders & welding machine free for our next door neighbors. The 6 houses on our street are also talking about setting up a wide iron grill gates on both ends of the road with a guard.

        Please remember me and the ministries in Ethiopia!

In His harvests,
Joseph