by Joy Casey in Ethiopia
April 27, 2018
We left Shashemene early this morning heading for a village where we have built a church and operate a kindergarten for 40 students. I have been with this project from the beginning when God began a major move in this M*slim village. I am always excited to go there to see so many who have become dear friends over the years. It is amazing to see the impact this Christ-centered outreach has had on this village of 5,000 people, all subsistence farmers. Just a month ago, twenty-two recent converts were baptized in the nearby lake!
We arrived at the kindergarten and I stepped into the first classroom to listen to their recitation of the alphabet, all eagerly raising their hands to be the one to go to the blackboard and lead the others. The mission team from Lighthouse Church in Washington were here a couple of months ago and gaily painted the outside of the school building as well as colorful paintings on the inside. The classrooms were cheery and inviting. Thank you Lighthouse Church!! Each child is individually sponsored so I took pictures of them to accompany their quarterly progress reports. I am sure I took way too many photos, but they are so dern cute!
God is at work through our little kindergarten… just recently the parents of one little girl (who has been in kindergarten here for the last year and a half) came to faith in Christ! They join several other former M*slim parents who heard the life-giving good news of Jesus Christ because their children attend the kindergarten. Our school is an extension of our evangelistic thrust and God is bringing fruit!
We got back to Addis just as the sun was setting. Tomorrow I’ll be at the airport to welcome two pastors from California who want to get a better understanding of the work NewLife Ethiopia is doing with evangelism. I look forward to meeting them and exposing them to two evangelistic outreaches. One of our training centers has 28 people who will be baptized!