Watermark in Africa

Our small team got to see 13 people come to Christ today. We are praying that in the overflow of their joy, they would become evangelists and disciple makers & share the good news they have experienced. Our team got the opportunity to encourage many new believers to begin sharing their story with their peers and prayed for them to have boldness.  Today a woman we met shared that she had a dream the night before that there would be ferenge (white people) that would be coming to share a conversation with her. The gospel was shared with her and team members were left radiant.  Our team got the opportunity to talk with a Muslim leader. While the conversation with him was only a few minutes long due to his resistance to talk, we were able to walk to a nearby house to have a conversation with a few young Muslim men. As the conversation was nearing the end, the son of the Muslim leader walked to us, curious of what we wanted to share. As we conversed, he began stating why he didn...

We had a great day of ministry! Our small team was in-between a Muslim and Christian area. After many conversations of Muslims refusing to profess faith out of fear, we walked into a Muslim woman’s yard. After sharing the gospel, she told us she could not profess faith if her husband was not present. We prayed for her and after felt discouraged. As we left her home, we just hoped we would run into her husband, but didn’t think that would be possible. BUT GOD in His perfect timing and sovereignty allowed for her husband to be walking home JUST as we were about to move along. Another member of our small team got to share the gospel with him. He and his wife are now considering what they’ve heard, got plugged in with Christians in the area. We even ran into a Christian neighbor who was so encouraged that this couple was receptive and encouraged the husband to “believe today!!”. We were so grateful for God’s grace and sovereignty to allow us to get to witness to them both and are praying t...

Bullet points from our 1 st  day of ministry: -         Walked to a local Christian church in a heavily dominated Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox village to encourage local believers who were struggling from the intense persecution. -         As we walked we met Layla, a Muslim women. We shared the gospel with her and she believed in Jesus, but could not accept because her husband was a devout Muslim and she was afraid of the intense persecution she would experience. We prayed for her and that her husband would be open to hear the gospel.  -         Prayed over a Christian woman that her faith would be a witness to her unbelieving husband.  -         Many teams met resistance from Muslims who would acknowledge that the gospel was true, but they were afraid to accept Jesus at the risk of being kicked out by their family or killed. The de...

 Sorry for the delayed post but I didn't have wifi at the hotel Saturday night.  The team arrived in Addis Ababa healthy & safe.  All the bags arrived & everyone is excited to start our ministry Monday morning.  We had an 8 hour van ride today to our ministry site in Hosanna & met our Ethiopian partners & had an awesome worship service this evening preparing our hearts for what God has in store.   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, July 17th) the Ethiopia 2026 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 trip is a partnership between Watermark Community Church Young adults & E3 Partners ministry.  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 trips, I can’t hel...

What an awesome day of ministry.    Our small team drove outside of Hosanna & parked along the road & started conversations.    We had a lot of really good conversations early & several people say they believed the good news & accepted Christ.    I have been coming to Ethiopia since 2009 & I have never seen so much chat.    Chat is a plant that grows in Ethiopia & the locals chew it because it is a narcotic.    We had multiple people offer us chat (which we obviously refused).    We had a chance to go into one of the local houses & share our testimony of life change & the message of the gospel.    This local house is where locals go to buy chat & there were 5 or 6 men inside the house that were eating the chat & preparing it in bundles for sale.    They kept offering chat as I was sharing my testimony of my past drug & alcohol use.    One man said he beli...