Watermark in Africa

Today was our first day out in the mission field of Ethiopia. We went out into the beautiful countryside, with a cool breeze, a little rain and a lot of mud. We saw God at work in the hearts of the Ethiopian people and encountered some Christians, and some Muslims. Taylor, Autumn and I (Melissa) got to meet a Muslim woman that had a 2-year-old daughter who said she used to be Christian but married a Muslim man and converted to Islam. She wanted to give her life back to Christ but was worried her Husband would abandon her and her daughter. In the Ethiopian culture this is a big deal as women do not have many rights without a man or husband in their life and it can cause much hardship. We shared the Gospel with her and Taylor encouraged her with a personal testimony of how Christ changed her life and reminded her that Jesus loves deeply and He is a God who provides. After some time, she confessed she wanted to surrender her life back to Christ. We prayed for her and the joy on her face w

 I dropped the 1st July team off at the airport & they are on their way home.  The 2nd July team arrived & just got to the hotel.  Everyone on both teams feels great but the 2nd team is understandably tired.  All the people are healthy & all the bags arrived so praise the Lord.  Tomorrow is our travel day as we have a 7 hour van ride ahead of us.  Please pray for: unity with our Ethiopian partners safety as we travel on the Ethiopian roads open hearts for the gospel this week  Check back regularly for updates. 

On our last ministry day, our small team had the opportunity to encourage an incredible woman of faith. This woman a few years ago was married to a Muslim man when she heard the good news of Jesus and accepted Christ as her savior.    She was pregnant with their 10 th  child at the time but her Muslim husband still divorced her putting her in hardship.    As one of the only Christians in her whole village, she is suffering immensely for her faith while and caring for her many children. The hope and joy in the Lord she had shined brightly on her face as we shared scripture with her and encouraged her as best as we could. What a beautiful testament of faith. Needless to say, her strength challenged and inspired us more than anything we could say to her.    Story by Cory    Psalm 40 says that the works of the Lord are so numerous that they’re impossible to count. Today (and this week more generally) was a reminder of this. Our team went to a village which has recently been marked by tensi

The third ministry day was an AMAZING one. My team walked to a Muslim village where people were not open to hearing the gospel. We encountered an elderly Muslim man and I shared the gospel with him. He responded by reciting the Quran and rejecting Jesus. I shared my testimony of how Christ has changed my life and asked him if he had an assurance of salvation.    The Quran does not promise an assurance of salvation so he responded that he was unsure if he would go to heaven because of his good works. One of the disciple makers’ wives then shared her testimony of how her Muslim family came to believe in Jesus and how that had changed their lives.    The older man eventually said he would think about becoming a Christian but needed to talk to his family first. He turned his back and walked away and then stopped and said, “come to my house, I am ready to accept Jesus Christ now!”. In his home he prayed and proclaimed his faith in Jesus. He told me that God had softened his heart today afte

Today was the second day in the mission field and it would be an understatement to say that God is definitely working in people’s hearts. Mattie and I used the bubbles to start a conversation with some of the kids (the bubbles were a total hit by the way!) Our crowd eventually grew to about 20 kids and maybe 10 adults.    After that our translator started talking to one of the elders who let us know that there was a teenage girl who had just accepted Christ that week along with her whole family. At that point Mattie decided that she would share her testimony with the crowd and this teenage girl to encourage and support them. Mattie shared of her life before Christ and the hole she tried to fill with worldly vices. Mattie explained how once she accepted Christ she felt the hole fill with the Love that only Christ could offer. All while she was sharing, I (Paige) was standing next to 4 older woman who were whispering amongst themselves. One of the women and I looked at each other and fel

Today for our 1 st  day of ministry we were invited into one of the homes of an older gentleman and his family. Apparently his children were believers, but he and his wife were not. After we shared the gospel with them, he said he needed time to think it over. His wife on the other hand, came over to him, on her knees, and begged him to accept Christ. While we couldn’t understand what she was saying, we could hear the urgency in her voice. One by one the old man’s granddaughters also encouraged him to make the decision.    Knowing what we know about Ethiopian culture, it is a BIG decision to accept Christ.    This man was a respected elder in the Ethiopian Orhtodox community & he knew that professing Christ would cost him friendships & status in the community.    We saw the Holy Spirit softening this old man’s heart & he said that we wanted to submit his life to Jesus Christ.    We stood in awe of God, and prayed and worshipped together - it was a truly holy moment. Then, j

The July team arrived in Addis Ababa safe & sound.  Praise the Lord that all the bags arrived & everyone is feeling healthy & somewhat rested.  We had a delay coming out of Dallas which almost caused us to miss our connection in Newark but praise the Lord we were able to our connecting flight along with all our luggage.  The flight from Newark to Addis Ababa was 16 hours to the team is exhausted.   Tomorrow we will drive to Hosanna &l spend our time training & getting acclimated & preparing for the ministry to start Monday morning.  Please continue to pray for our team that God would open up doors for the gospel of Jesus Christ.   We hope to update the blog daily with stories & prayer requests so check back often.  Please pray for: *  unity with our Ethiopian partners  *  rest today for the North Americans  *  open doors for the Gospel of Jesus Christ *  health & safety for the North Americans 

In a few short days (Friday, July 21st) the 2 nd  Ethiopia 2023 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 2 nd  of 3 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 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 biblical defense for the gospel for common Orthodox and Muslim arguments. As I think about these summer trips I can’t help but think about the people w