Watermark in Africa

Day Three! After two days of a later start to our ministry day than expected, we all thought today would be a long day of sharing the gospel, sharing our testimonies and really getting after it. This expectation quickly dissipated when all four vans, filled to the max with North Americans, Ethiopian translators and disciple makers, drove 2.5 hours away from our hotel. We were now in DEEP Ethiopia. So deep that the Ethiopian’s cell phones were spotty or not working at all. Many of us Ferenge (white people) were at least confused as to why we drove so far, and some were even disappointed at how this drive would cut into our time to evangelize.    But as God has a tendency to do, He wrote this day perfectly for each and every one of us.    While there were fewer conversations today, many conversations were much deeper than day one and two. We had Muslim men and Ethiopian Orthodox families asking very good and intentional questions, engaging with us and our disciple make...

I thought day 2 couldn’t beat day 1 but I was wrong.    Our small team stopped this morning by the side of the road & just made our selves available to any Ethiopians who wanted to talk.    The 1 st  guy that we saw was named Mohammed Mekoro & he invited us to his home just around the corner.    We went to his home & sat outside under a tree & met his wife, his brother & his wife & his mother & a bunch of kids.    I introduced myself & shared my personal testimony of life change.    I then shared the evangecube & talked about God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ.    Mohammed said that his wife used to be a Christian but since he was Muslim he made her conver to Islam.    After sharing the cube Mohammed said that this was a good story & he believed that it was true but that he was afraid because following Christ would mean persecution since this was a Muslim communi...

What an AWESOME 1 st  day of ministry.    We loaded the North Americans & our translators in 4 vans & headed into the mountains to the host church.    When we arrived at the host church there was an awesome youth choir singing praise songs to the Lord!    The kids had such big smiles on their faces & the joy of the Lord was evident.      After meeting our disciplemakers, we loaded into the vans & drove to the mission sites.    The local pastors told us that this area was 97% muslim & we could tell right away that Christianity was in the minority.    My small team parked the van on a dirt road & myself & McKenzie got out & started talking with an older muslim man.    After about 5 minutes I looked up & we were surrounded by 20-25 people.    I shared my personal testimony of life change & then shared the gospel with the evange-cube (tells a picture story of God...

The June team arrived in Addis Ababa.  We are feeling good & all the bags arrived.  The time difference is 8 hours ahead of Dallas time so we’re understandably exhausted after being on a plane & airports for 24 hours.  We’ll try to get some sleep tonight & tomorrow travel 6  house  to our mission site & do our in-country training & meet our national Ethiopian partners.     Please pray for: •        Ethiopian hearts would be receptive to the message of the Gospel 
 •        Unity between the North Americans and Ethiopian partners •        Continued good health for North Americans  •        Safety & good health for North American family members at home

In a few short days (Friday, May 30th) the 1st Ethiopia 2025 team will get on an airplane for the long flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.    Our mission will be to share how Jesus Christ has changed our lives & how much he loves the people of Ethiopia.    This will be the 1st of 2 Ethiopia trips for the Watermark Young Adults partnering with E3 Partners this year.    The “journey” to Ethiopia started long before getting on the plane as we had our 1 st  training meeting in early February of this year so we have been praying & planning for this trip for 6 months.    Our training and preparation for Ethiopia has consisted of support raising (learning how to share the financial need in healthy ways), immunizations (shots) party and cultural awareness training, practice sharing the gospel, roleplaying sharing our testimonies, and giving a biblical defense for the gospel for common Orthodox and Muslim arguments. As I think about these summer ...

What an awesome day of ministry!    Our small team was asked to go visit a small church in the mountains that has been suffering persecution.    On the drive to the church they explained to us that this church had only 4 families & was surrounded by Muslims.    As we got to the church & talked to the people they kept calling this area “Ethiopia Pakistan” since the mosques in this area were funded by Pakastani Muslims.    Many of the women in the area were wearing full traditional dress where they were covered head to toe in black with only a small slit where they could see through.    The church members explained about the persecution they experienced but when we worshipped with them it was evident that in the midst of trials that Christ was alive in their hearts.    We prayed, sang & then gave them an encouraging message from the bible.    What an awesome way to spend our time encouraging believers to sta...