by By Paul and Carol Lukins, Ethiopia
14 April 2008

	Author Paul Lukins visiting with some Mursi men

The rainy season in Mursiland is a month overdue, and there has been little to indicate that things may change. Of the rainy seasons we have experienced in this area, 5 have begun reliably in late February to early March. But this year, there has been no effective rain in any parts of southern Ethiopia, and things look bleak for the current crop over much of the country.

The small rainy season at the end of 2007 provided limited rain and, even though the Mursi's crop was planted on the saturated floodplains following the June flood, there was little yield. So people are already hungry, prior to even planting their next crop. Humanly speaking, the outlook is bad.

Unlike in western economies, there is no public storage of grain in Ethiopia and no system for making up for vagaries in seasonal production. Over 90% of people are subsistence farmers. People live from crop to crop, and many have insufficient money to buy grain for any length of time. Consequently many Mursi people are living off leaves from shrubs and trees, plus those with cattle are enjoying milk and blood. But those without cattle are suffering.

To complicate things, the Mursi cannot access the nearest highland markets on foot as they usually do because of ethnic tensions - the markets are all in Aari territory, and the Mursi are not safe in this area following the unwarranted murders of three Aari by a Mursi man.

Please pray

• for rains to come
• for God to provide for those who are hungry
• for the Mursi church to look to God and to be an instrument of peace in the face of ethnic fighting.