Chapter 4: Easy Opportunity for Corruption
Behailu and John Ed claimed the Ethiopian Mission could stand independently with donations from America. Carl and I would be the last permanent missionaries to live in the Mekanissa compound. When we left, Mekanissa Church of Christ headquarters would have no truthful accountability to the Americans sponsoring all the Church of Christ Ethiopian Mission work and no oversight of the five supported Deaf schools. It was the perfect setup for naïve Americans to trust those in Ethiopia with too much power and financial donations. Behailu quickly took over my father’s responsibilities, and all control over the Mission and employees was in his hands. John Ed listened to and followed Behailu’s lead on almost everything. If John Ed understood the implications of giving too much trust to Behailu, perhaps there would have been a different scenario today. Sometimes, in my dreams, I live in an altered universe where things turn out so much different from what I found them 20 years later. After a year of living in the States and time past grieving my parent’s death, Carl and I longed to return to Ethiopia.
Demere advised us to wait because of the ongoing political unrest. Then, again, in the early 1980s, Carl and I tried to return to Ethiopia, but we were blocked. The fundamental reason was that we had changed our beliefs, which didn’t match the Church of Christ’s teachings. However, because of our close connections with Behailu, Demere, and the Mission, Carl and I suspected another reason beyond our new faith. Deeply familiar with the Mission and Deaf schools from when we left Ethiopia, it now appears Carl and I were the only ones who could have prevented severe trouble, but as much as we tried, we were prevented from returning. Behailu, Demere, and John Ed were our closest friends and critical factors in our being blocked. On December 5, 1988, after a long battle with cancer, Carl, my beloved husband of 16 years and father of our children, died. By that time, we had two biological and four adopted Ethiopian children. Only Behailu and Demere are the most critical links to the loving memories of my parents and Carl in Ethiopia while they still lived. For this reason, I am still endeared to them. That is why I am telling this very sad story. In August 1990, I remarried.
Together, my husband, Neal, and I continued to raise our children until 2001, when the youngest began his adult life. At Pepperdine lectureship, May 2001, 9000 non-traditional Church of Christ members gathered. Behailu pushed me away and rejected me, telling me I was no longer a Christian because I had changed how I believed and was no longer a Church of Christ member. Later, in Ethiopia, after keeping his friendship a secret from Behailu for a few months, Demere also rejected me out of fear of what Behailu might do to him should he learn of our secret reconciliation. Once, my closest friends and colleagues, sharing our mutual grief at losing my beloved mother and father, treated me as a menace and someone to annihilate. How did Behailu and Demere become heartless and calloused souls toward me? I knew it was not because of the Church of Christ doctrine. They accepted others who believed the same as me. Why not me? It hurt me so much. I longed to enter and reminisce about where my mom and dad lived before their premature death. However, I was denied this simple act of kindness and treated as an irrelevant outcast, altogether banned from entering or visiting anywhere on the property.
I knew something was wrong with their behavior, but why? Are they guarding a terrible secret? Through prayers and letters, I begged Behailu and Demere to show me love and compassion as they once did. They continued the hostility and pushed me away, forcing nearly all my 1970s friends to do the same. What horrible deed did I do to deserve this? They are distant and cruel, telling lies about me to all who knew me.
I returned to Ethiopia in 2001. I had been absent from working with the Ethiopian Deaf for 25 years. Motivated to bless the Ethiopian Deaf people, Neal, my second husband, and I established LeaMcD Educational Services for the Deaf in Ethiopia. LeaMcD provided significant life-changing Deaf programs, including tutoring to pass national exams, Deaf school, grades five through high school, rehabilitation and educational courses for adult Deaf, employment opportunities in various industries, and a Deaf church for the older Deaf community. Behailu and Demere were on red alert because of my desire to continue the work Carl and I had in the 1970s. They harmed Deaf the deaf community by attacking me personally and through our deaf programs.
The more we grew and became successful, the worse their attacks became, sabotaging me by slander, bribing, and using LeaMcD former employees to take LeaMcD and me to the corrupt Ethiopian courts to accuse and kill our programs. With the persistence of constant court battles, they finally destroyed the sacrificial investments Neal and I provided the Ethiopian Deaf for 12 years. My passion was to improve Ethiopian Deaf life. However, Behailu and Demere considered me an enormous threat. Relentless evil pursuit caused the Deaf to lose their essential LeaMcD programs and potential donors. I lost many friendships, both inside Ethiopia and in America. Slander, lies, and bribery seemed their best weapon against me. Still, I did not understand why Behailu and Demere wanted so much to damage me at the expense of the Deaf losing such valuable programs.
