Many seeds planted in the Ethiopian mission field

We woke up to a rainy morning in Addis Ababa and went out as 4 ministry teams into the mission field.  We went to an opening ceremony where we joined in with our Ethiopian partners in worshipping God together in both English and Amharic. We were then served by our Ethiopian sisters in a “buna” or coffee ceremony. This traditional Ethiopian ceremony was a time where bread was broken and coffee was served allowing for a time of fellowship and unification of the North Americans and Ethiopians as one team. Each ministry team then got into their van and each went to their specific site with their translators and disciple makers. We were met with hundreds of people - men, women and children who were hungry for the Gospel. We came in contact with a lot of Ethiopian Orthodox, some Muslims and some nominal Christians that we were able to pray for and encourage. We were welcomed into the homes of the local Ethiopians where we were served generously and we encouraged their servant heartedness. Those that accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior were connected with local disciple makers that exchanged information with them and got them connected with the local churches. Seeing the hearts of the Ethiopian people and the work that the Lord has been doing in their hearts before we even landed has left us all in awe. The harvest is plentiful and lots of seeds were planted. God is faithful and is working in our hearts and in the hearts of the Ethiopian people. We are so humbled to be working here alongside the local leaders and encouraged as a team seeing how powerfully Lord is working.  Story by Abby

 

The June Ethiopia team is tired after our 1st ministry day but much of that has to do with the fact that yesterday (Sunday) was our 1st day in country & with the 8 hour time difference sleep was difficult.  The good thing is that being extra tired will help us sleep better tonight.  Please continue to pray for:

·       Open hearts to the gospel of Jesus Christ 

·       Continued good health for North Americans 

·       Safety as we travel on Ethiopian roads 

·       Unity with our Ethiopian partners 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ethiopia here we come - August 2024 version

In a few short days (Friday, August 2nd) the 2nd Ethiopia 2024 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 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 thes...
Read more

Monday update- Excited to see God work

This has been an eventful trip with lots of challenges already.    Sorry I haven’t been able to update the blog but I’ve just now been able to connect to wifi.    Our team was supposed to fly out of Dallas on Friday morning but due the weather in Newark (our connecting point) our Friday flight was cancelled.    We were fortunately able to get booked on a flight to DC that would connect us to Addis Ababa for most of the group but we had to be at the airport @ 4:30AM on Saturday morning.    Our Saturday flight was uneventful but meant that we had a 10 hour layover in DC.    5 of our group had to fly through Houston & due to weather in DC they never made it & had to spend the night in the airport only to take a flight the next day from NYC.    3 days of airports, flights & layovers & most of the team is finally in Hosanna (our mission site) with the group of 5 expected to arrive late Monday night in Addis to join u...
Read more

Tuesday update- Our God is in the business of changing hearts

Praise God for His faithfulness! This morning as we gathered for breakfast, we prayed over our team, translators, disciple-makers, and the Ethiopian people that we would encounter. Specifically, we asked God to move in tangible ways that would make His presence clearly known to both us and them. Boy, did he ever deliver on that prayer! At multiple moments throughout the day, we found ourselves sharing the gospel with precious children and were shocked at their eagerness for what we had to share and at their hunger for the gospel. It was incredible to witness the Lord break down the communication barrier between the Americans and Ethiopians through His provision of our translators. Through the interactions today, many children as well as adults made the decision to put their faith in Christ & not made made rules & religion.    At one point this morning I had 12-15 men surrounding me & listening intently as I shared my story of life change & how God has changed m...
Read more