Anti-FGM-opetus leviää Kambatassa

Bezunesh ja Tesfaye lähettivät raportin ja pahoittelivat edelleen viivästystä pätkivän nettiyhteyden takia. Nyt he olivat matkustaneet lähikylään 36km saadakseen nettiyhteyden. Tällä kertaa he ovat opettaneet Sunday Schoolissa ja Raamattuopistossa. Koska Etiopiassa yleisesti vieläkin ajatellaan, että FGM kuuluu kristinuskoon, on mielestäni todella hyvä asia, että B ja T antavat opetuksessaan painavia teologisia syitä anti-FGM:lle, erityisesti opettaessaan tulevia kirkon ammattilaisia, jotka vuorostaan vievät opetuksia eteenpäin.

Minusta on myöskin ihailtavaa, kuinka B ja T avoimesti puhuvat avioelämästä ja seksistä FGM:n varjossa. Usein miehet nimittäin haluavat vaimokseen nimenomaan ympärileikatun naisen, mikä sitten tietenkin vaikeuttaa traditiosta luopumista. Silloin ollaan jo pitkällä kun miehet ymmärtävät, että avioelämäkin on parempaa ehjän naisen kanssa ja he alkavat pitää leikkaamatonta naista parempana vaimoehdokkaana!

Blogilla ja fb-sivuilla on uusia lukijoita ja tykkääjiä, tervetuloa joukkoon kaikki! Pikakertauksena, että Etiopiassa ja Keniassa anti-FGM-työtä tekevät saavat palkkansa yhdistykseltä nimeltä Bezuneshin ystävät ry. Yhdistys voi ottaa vastaan avustuksia keneltä tahansa (ei tarvitse olla yhdistyksen jäsen, ja toisaalta yhdistys ei ole vielä aloittanutkaan mitään jäsenvärväystä). Kuka tahansa voi milloin tahansa lahjoittaa minkäkokoisen summan tahansa ja kaikki otetaan suurella kiitollisuudella vastaan ja käytetään suoraan palkkojen maksuun (pankki ottaa ulkomaanmaksusta osuutensa, mutta muita ylimääräisiä kuluja ei ole). Ei siis tarvitse sitoutua mihinkään maksujuttuihin. Tilinro löytyy blogisivun oikeasta yläreunasta. Jos projektin historia ja synty kiinnostaa, lue ihka ensimmäinen blogipostaus.

Sitten vuoro Bezuneshille, joka ihanan tunnolliseen tyyliin kertoo mitä ovat tehneet:

The fifth work Report to our Partners who live in Finland

Topic:- Biblical Reasons against FGM

Our teaching focused this time on biblical reasons against FGM. Our learners were more than fifty persons both female and male, married and unmarried and the students of Sunday school in the Zame Congregation. We started using different peoples stories. As an example we take one women from Bale Kokosa area. Her name is Obore Kedero. She has lived with this harmful traditional practice of FGM and her vagina is already closed and she can’t give birth more than one child because of this dangerous practice. And also she lives continually bleeding and urine and with headache. She is a married woman but has not had success in her marriage. Then I told our listeners my own story concerning FGM and how I suffered in my marriage life. And Tesfaye assured in his word about my life what marriage is like to us.

Lehmäkin kuuntelee opetusta Zamen Sunday Schoolissa. :) Tesfaye kirjoittamassa vasemmalla.

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Another place where we have been teaching is in Shishicho Bible school. We gave training for first year students in both morning and evening for six days. The number is 25 including girls, women and young male groups and they are married and unmarried.

We are very happy because we assumed that it is possible to reach all people of Kambata through this Bible school students, and it even includes people from Hadiyya ethnic group. After teaching they discussed in two groups and their decision is they are all interested to teach each congregation about the harmfulness of FGM.

This is a picture of our learners in Shishico:

Nämä miehet ja naiset lähtevät viemään anti-FGM-opetusta omiin tuleviin työpaikkoihinsa. Bezunesh nahkatakissa oikealla.

Now we want to show a sample about our teaching of what we taught for our learners. We have been in different areas with the same topic on different levels and different days. This time we have been very successful in our teaching. We came back to our home from Shishicho area in June 21 on Saturday afternoon. We gave training in Zame two week before we went to Shishicho Bible School.

This is our teaching sample: The origin of the practice of FGM is unknown. Also the origin of male circumcision is unknown but it is an ancient operation. It was practiced before the Israelites, even their patriarchal ancestor, come on the scene. The tools used to perform male circumcision at the ancient time were flint knife and other metals. It was dates by Egyptian about 4000 B.C. before it was adopted by forefathers of Israelites as the sign of covenant.

It was not only Jewish people who practiced male circumcision in ancient time, but also Western Semites, including the Ammonites, Moabites and the Edomites, practiced it. But it was rejected by the Eastern semantic speaking peoples. Also it is found in Asia, Africa, Australia, but not among the Indo-Germanic people and the Mongols. It is known among the Israelites neighbors like Egypt, and Canaan but not in Assria or Babylon. Initially it became theologically significant, through its role in Judaism as compulsory sign of covenant membership.

God introduced the physical act of male circumcision as a sign of the Abrahamic covenant: "This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you...Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you." (Gen17:10-11). It was a continual cutting off of the foreskin of the male organ, and it was a reminder of the perpetuity of the covenantal relationship. In the Old Testament (OT) the compulsory sign of covenant is male circumcision alone but not including female. In the Bible it was first described in the book of Genesis 17:1-14, were God commanded the practice as the mark and seal of His covenant with the people of Israel. In this text, it was occurred within the context of God’s renewed covenant to Abraham, following the early contractual relationship.

Circumcision in New Testament

It is remarkable that no discussion about circumcision is found in the Gospels other than the brief reference in John’s 7:22-23 that suggests John’s community was troubled about the issue of circumcision. In the NT self-righteous Jews faithfully practiced circumcision as recognition of God’s continuing with Israel. In the NT male circumcision is not remarkable issue to be included in the church of Christ, but the only thing is faith alone.

The Apostolic church acknowledged a circumcision-free Gospel (Acts15). For all its interpretation of other parts of the Jews liturgy, the epistle to the Hebrews makes no attempt to spiritualize the act of circumcision. Gentiles came to the church and accepted without the question of circumcision within the church up on the Gospel’s proclamation (Acts 10:47-48,11:18). But a sect of Jewish believers aroused and argued that the gospel, without the fulfillment of circumcision, would invalidate the law and make salvation impossible (Acts 15:1).

But we are freed from the bondage of the law, which we cannot fulfill it through our power, but through the death of Jesus Christ. This freedom is from all the bondage that hurts us directly and indirectly. Slavery is not the need of the person. For example the slavery of Israelites under the bondage of Egyptian is not the Israelites need. Like this FGM is a kind of cultural slavery which hurts the body of the person. This may contribute to the spiritual part also.

Sain juuri äskettäin myös Elizabethilta kuvareportaasia toiminnastaan Keniassa, sielläkin ovat tavoittaneet valtavasti ihmisiä! Lisää blogipostausta siis luvassa pian! :)