This month we went where the Holy Spirit lead. My team leader, Emily, prayed for a person of peace and a day later we met that person. Through lots of divine intervention and God’s orchestrating, that person of peace did ministry with us throughout the month. Bridging the gap between us and the Ethiopian culture. Through Tamerat, we were gifted with translators and connections to local churches and missionaries who were ministering directing to the people group we were supposed to meet, the Karrayu people.
We spent the first half of the month in Metehara. I wrote a blog previously about our first two weeks in Ethiopia, where you can read more about Tamerat and our ministry in Metehara. We then went to Welenchiti, a town southeast of Addis Ababa. We camped out there at the churches compound and partnered with the local evangelists, going to different villages everyday to share the gospel and parts of our testimonies.
We would walk throughout the villages, gathering crowds and sharing the good news! One day, my teammate, Matt, was sharing the gospel and some of his testimony with a group of men. Afterwards, two men accepted Christ and one rededicated his life to Christ. According to Matt, you could see the change and peace that washed over the men once they accepted Christ. God did it!!! Throughout our time in the villages and in Welenchiti , many people’s hearts were softened and opened towards the gospel. To be raw and real with you though, some were not. Some got mad, some did not want to hear, and some were drunk and swinging sticks. The hearts and lives that were changed far outweighed the ones that were closed off though! “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house of town” (Matthew 10:14).
A day before going to one of the villages we were told that the village we were going to the next day people had died. We weren’t exactly in that village, but we were near by in a different village and we met and prayed over a guy who had been shot in the head. Turns out, this guy and his friend, had taken their cattle to graze up the hill between two people groups who were fighting over land borders and grazing land and this fella and his friend were caught in the cross fire. His friend died, but he is getting better each day. We visited him and then three days later, visited and prayed for him again. We definitely noticed a difference in the way he was doing the second visit but continue praying for healing over our friend. Although he is a Christian, pray this will be a testimony to His family and non-believers in the village.
While we were at the church compound, we were often surrounded by kids. I got to know a sweet teenage girl who goes to the church, named Elizabeth. We spent afternoons together, reading the bible, listening to music, and dancing. She has big dreams of going to college and visiting America one day. She was once sick, and the Lord healed her. Since then she has been following the Lord. She also helps with the kid’s programs on Saturdays. Pray for her; her faith and future.
Our last night in Welenchiti , the pastors and men of the church wanted to celebrate our time there and our departing by slaughtering a goat and eating it!!! So I watched as my teammates Matt and Zach did the hard part and then the locals skinned and gutted the goat. We then cooked it over an open fire and sat in a circle eating the fresh meat and sharing stories and testimonies of our time there! I had never had goat before and let me tell you I had a lot that night and it was pretty darn good!
One of the most impactful parts of our time in Ethiopia was working with the local missionaries and evangelists. I am blown away and inspired by their testimonies, dedication to the Lord, and faith. There were two men we went into the villages with to share the gospel whose testimonies truly touched my heart. One of the men had been sharing the gospel with his village and his house got burned down three times. The man who kept burning down his house then became a believer. His friend had a similar story of persecution. He was being stoned one day so to flee the stoning he ran to a nearby body of water and jumped in. He saw an alligator in the water and looked at it and said, “in Jesus name get back in the water.” The alligator then went away. The same man was put in prison for sharing the gospel in a part of the country where it was still illegal. Once he was let out, the prison guard, who was also a Christian told him to keep doing what he was doing and if they tried to put him in there again, he would help him.
From just this story, you can tell that this month was very eventful and impactful to say the least!! I felt like I was living out the gospels and Acts. I felt like so many of the things I read in the Bible, were actually happening right in front of my eyes!
Now, I am sitting in Rwanda, debriefing the month, and in just a couple days will be starting ministry in Rwanda!
Prayer Requests:
-Our ministry in Ethiopia. That the Lord will continue sending laborers out into the villages. For teachers and preachers to continue discipling the new believers. Pray for endurance in the Christians that we worked alongside throughout the month. Please please keep Tamerat in your prayers as he is now figuring out what the Lord has for him next!!!!
– Prayers for our month in Rwanda! Pray for focus, as we are in the last two months of the race!!
-Prayers for what is next, after the race! I am still praying about where God will have me after this great adventure.
Love you alllllll. Xoxxo
-Calli
“But He would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” -Luke 5:16
The Lord has been speaking to me about rest and being in communion alone with him. If Jesus went away to be alone with the Father, how much more, do we, as sinners, need time alone with the Father!!!
