After a decade of dedicated service in Egypt, Christian workers Mark and Annette Bennett have been persuaded to take up a crucial medical ministry in Ethiopia.
Mark Bennett will be taking up the position of CEO at the Fistula Hospital founded by former Sydney Anglicans Drs Reginald and Catherine Hamlin.
The world-renowned medical service based in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is devoted to helping women overcome a fistula, a debilitating condition caused by pregnancy which results in them becoming outcasts in their villages.
The Bennetts, who have close links to Sydney Anglican churches, have been working in Cairo with the Episcopal (Anglican) Church since 1995.
In that time Mr Bennett helped expand and develop Refuge Egypt (formerly Joint Relief Ministry), providing support for struggling Sudanese refugees.
Annette Bennett, a midwife, assisted this work by providing antenatal care for pregnant women forced to flee their homes.
The Bennetts also spent close to eighteen months working with Bishop in Egypt the Rt Rev Mouneer Anis to develop ministry strategies for other diocesan organisations.
But the couple have used the last two years to slowly pull back from leadership positions and allow Egyptian nationals to come to the fore.
"Over the time we were there we really felt discouraged that there weren't more Egyptian people involved," Mr Bennett says.
The successful training of several very capable Egyptian staff signalled it was time to consider other directions.
"We really felt that it was time to hand on that work. By staying we'd be taking the place of local people and taking away the opportunity for them to take up the work," Mr Bennett says.
Mr Bennett says the opportunity to join the work in Ethiopia arose from a visit to the Fistula Hospital in November last year.
There he met with Catherine Hamlin and discussed the opportunities facing the medical organisation.
More than 24,000 women have been treated and cured since the Hamlins pioneered the radical surgery in 1958. The hospital now trains doctors from other developing countries.
"The hospital’s been operating for 35 years. Really it’s grown up enormously and there are now plans to establish five more centres based in regional hospitals," Mr Bennett says.
"Catherine has been the heart and soul of the work. Her love of the Lord and the people have been the basis of the ministry. But she's now approaching 81."
Mark and Annette hope to spend at least the next four years helping to expand her pioneering work, ensuring that its Christian ethos is firmly established in the five new medical centres.
The new ministry represents a bittersweet change for the Bennetts and their children because of the years spent making close connections in Egypt.
"The only sadness is that when you’ve done something that’s very precious to you it’s sad to leave the community you’ve been part of. Our family is still struggling with that loss."
Further information about the medical ministry the Bennetts will be joining can be found at the Fistula Foundation website.
