.by Joy Casey in Ethiopia
A new church is rapidly growing in one M*slim town in Ethiopia. There are two Ethiopian missionaries living and working there who are doing a terrific job of engaging the people. Right now the church meets in a storage room that was rented to them by a M*slim neighbor. His wife accepted Jesus and was baptized just a few weeks ago and all of his older children have also become Christ-followers. I met this very nice man and it won’t be long before he joins his family in accepting Jesus as Messiah. He needs the storeroom, though, so has offered to let the church use another piece of his property at no charge. There we will put up a lean-to shelter to worship under until such time as the government will let us have property to build a proper church. There are about 40 family units, or about 100 people, who are involved in Sunday church and weekly home bible studies held throughout the village.
We were invited to have coffee with one missionary. I was eager to do so as I know his wife and wanted to see their new baby. We walked through the town to get to his house and his 5-year-old and 7-year-old daughters held my hands while this White ferengi drew crowds of gawking onlookers.
I was warmly welcomed by Marta who gently placed her new son in my arms. Several years ago their only son died, so I was happy to hear that this new baby was a boy. Marta served torosho, a cultural bread made with corn, along with rich, smooth coffee.
The hut was one room with a hard dirt floor and quite dark as there are no windows and no electricity and their food is minimal. But the hospitality was wonderful. The obvious love between the children and their parents combined with the couples’ commitment to serve God as He has called them, kept everything in perspective. When a new road is constructed in the town, they will lose their house. I am hoping we can raise enough money (about $1,500) to build them a new one with a cement floor, tin roof and windows – maybe even a house with two rooms!
We drove to the next missionary’s house. He owns quite a bit of land outside the town, but the soil is very poor and he has no oxen to plow with, so his crop yield is low.
Segni, his wife, his 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son greeted me as I stepped across their threshold. We had a wonderful visit. Segni is vivacious and easy to talk to (through an interpreter, of course). I had met her when we did a women’s conference for the wives of our missionaries in November (read about it here).
I asked Segni is she was using the solar powered audio bible we gave her. Her face lit up! “Yes, I am. All the time! It is the first time I have heard God’s whole story because I cannot read.” She went on to tell me she is retelling the stories from the bible to all the children living around her. I think we just found our first Sunday School teacher for the new church!
The two missionaries building God’s kingdom in this town are highly respected men of the Word who have a big vision for this area of Ethiopia. When I asked how I could pray for them, they asked that I pray for spiritual growth for their families and that the whole area be impacted for the gospel. They do not want to just see change for a few families here and there, but their hopes and prayers are for the entire society to be set free to worship the Lord Jesus.
Maybe you would like to help these dedicated men by sponsoring one of the evangelists monthly. For just $75/mo you will help to provide basic necessities for the family, enabling them to do the work of the ministry. Thank you for prayerfully considering if you should become a sponsor! 