by Joy Casey in Ethiopia
Sunday April 29, 2018
Yesterday I met two pastors at the airport from Napa Grace Church. They are delightful men with a heart for God’s global commission to reach the lost and strengthen churches. We immediately drove south where we met our evangelism coordinator and got to know one another over dinner.
This morning, Sunday, we headed out to a village where we have planted a church. Pastor John brought a wonderful, engaging message and then had time with our missionaries after church.
For me, it is always wonderful to hug masses of children and kiss the faces of the dear, dear ladies and babies … all recent converts.
We were invited to one missionary’s house to experience a traditional coffee ceremony, again having time to fellowship with the leaders of this evangelistic outreach. After a three-hour drive, we checked into our hotel and over dinner continued to brainstorm how Napa Grace could partner with our evangelism work. This is what Pastor John observed and liked:
- All of our missionaries are indigenous – same language, same culture as the people being reached
- Our goal after conversion is discipleship and eventually a church plant
I am confident God will direct these good men into areas of His choosing. Meanwhile, it has been my great privilege and pleasure hanging out with them. Tomorrow we drive about 1 ½ hours to an area where we work in seven far-flung villages. The missionaries from those seven towns have brought people who they have been talking with and are interested in learning what being a Christ-follower is to our training center in a main town for five days. Tomorrow 28 people will be baptized and then sent back to their village, commissioned to share about Jesus. It is a fundamental M*slim area, so they are well aware of the problems they will face. It never ceases to amaze me, a typical American who avoids suffering at all costs, that they know the risks yet love Jesus so much they want their families and village to experience their new-found freedom.