Photo is of "church service" under huge tree. Kids are in tree so they can hear the message.
We’ve just arrived back to the hotel in Asela from a full day of ministry. Our team was able to work today in 4 different villages within 30 km of Asela and the “Full Gospel Church” that we are partnering with here. With us, we have a translator and a “disciple-maker” (who are local men from the church) for every 2 or 3 of us, enabling us to have great conversations with people and to get to interact with the locals. We have been able to do stories and crafts with kids, played soccer with men and boys, and get to share our personal testimonies with multiple individuals throughout the day. We have also experienced the highs of this type of ministry as well as the lows.
In one of the villages, we shared why were there and explained to the people that we were there to share with them the good news of Jesus Christ. In the crowd there were several Muslim men who wanted to ask us questions they had and ways in which they did not understand our story about Christ and how he was the Son of God. One man, named Abu, asked how we could know that this is true. We pointed out that the Word of God tells us this is true and then shared how we have experienced his work in our lives. He approached us later, saying he was ready to accept Jesus as his personal Savior, and then shared with us that he first heard the gospel 4 years ago and how he has seen that it is a peaceful religion and that now he is ready to accept it. We were able to hand him off to one of the “disciple-makers” who just so happened to be his neighbor. It was such an encouraging thing to see.
On the other side, there is a great deal of persecution here, specifically from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In one village we visited today, there were men who asked why we were there, and when we answered, they told us that they already had one religion and that they didn’t need ours. They told us that we were not welcome there. We shared with them as much as possible, but left after only a short time. It was great for our teams to experience that type of persecution, something that the believers here in Ethiopia have to deal with on a regular basis.
The team is doing great. We did have one of our team members who had to remain back at the hotel today because of illness, and we have a few others experiencing upset stomachs, not too uncommon as we enter this different culture. Our accommodations are wonderful and we are blown away by the believers here, our translators, and the men from the church. We will be back in these villages tomorrow, so please continue to pray that hearts would be softened and that we would be faithful with our opportunities. Thanks for checking in and we’ll update more tomorrow.
In one of the villages, we shared why were there and explained to the people that we were there to share with them the good news of Jesus Christ. In the crowd there were several Muslim men who wanted to ask us questions they had and ways in which they did not understand our story about Christ and how he was the Son of God. One man, named Abu, asked how we could know that this is true. We pointed out that the Word of God tells us this is true and then shared how we have experienced his work in our lives. He approached us later, saying he was ready to accept Jesus as his personal Savior, and then shared with us that he first heard the gospel 4 years ago and how he has seen that it is a peaceful religion and that now he is ready to accept it. We were able to hand him off to one of the “disciple-makers” who just so happened to be his neighbor. It was such an encouraging thing to see.
On the other side, there is a great deal of persecution here, specifically from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In one village we visited today, there were men who asked why we were there, and when we answered, they told us that they already had one religion and that they didn’t need ours. They told us that we were not welcome there. We shared with them as much as possible, but left after only a short time. It was great for our teams to experience that type of persecution, something that the believers here in Ethiopia have to deal with on a regular basis.
The team is doing great. We did have one of our team members who had to remain back at the hotel today because of illness, and we have a few others experiencing upset stomachs, not too uncommon as we enter this different culture. Our accommodations are wonderful and we are blown away by the believers here, our translators, and the men from the church. We will be back in these villages tomorrow, so please continue to pray that hearts would be softened and that we would be faithful with our opportunities. Thanks for checking in and we’ll update more tomorrow.
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