Report of Shakisso area visit by 3 Addis Kidan Baptist Church leaders

November 23, 2006

Purposes of the trip
Encourage local churches to reach their own community
Encourage the three new preaching points and new believers
Assist in solving a problem in Kibre Mengist

We started driving at 6:00 am from Addis Ababa. When we arrived at the church, the congregation was worshiping God. There were about 60 people. They told us that in addition to the Sunday worship they have a worship service every Wednesday. After the worship service we greeted all the members and had a meeting with the leaders. They told us that they have won ten miners for Christ in the past few months. Then we drove to Reji, where we started new work and evangelist Getu is assigned.

At Reji we met with Getu and his new disciple named Tagesse. He renewed his relationship with Christ a few months ago with the help of Evangelist Getu. His home area is at Hadiya about 250 miles from Shakisso. The reason he came to Reji was for mining work. He said “I used to worship God when I was at my home area. But when I came here I lost everything in relation to God. I used to drink a lot. But Getu told me about the saving work of Jesus Christ and I decided to come back to the Lord’s house. When I made that decision my life style changed. In addition to his spiritual ministry Getu is helping me manage the money I get from mining.” We had a good discussion time about strengthening the work started in that area.

The next morning we woke up early and had a meeting with Shakisso church leaders and some of the new converts. We heard the testimonies of four of the new converts.

One of the purposes of the trip was to encourage the new preaching points. On Thursday morning we went to Zenbaba and spent two hours with the believers. Eleven new coverts were baptized after completing five months of discipleship class. Now 10 new converts are attending the discipleship class. What impressed us highly in Zenbaba was that after the Sunday morning worship service the believers regularly go on foot for 1 1/2 hours to evangelize the community. Two families have come to Christ through this ministry. Now the total membership is 46 including children.

At 4:30 we returned to Kebre Mengist and spent two hours resolving a little conflict between the leaders related to the new mission site. The new mission site has demanded the evangelist’s time and finances and hurt the Kebre Mengist work a little. Finally we advised them not to stretch beyond their capacity and to use their resources wisely.

The work is growing. Shakisso was the first but now the other four areas have been added. So we had to organize a committee to follow up on the work closely. We discussed with them the importance of having one committee who will encourage, correct and organize the overall miners’ evangelization of that area. They all agreed and have chosen four leaders.

At noon we began the long journey over the difficult road to Haremfama. We drove 100 miles toward Awassa and turned right and drove 75 more miles to Haremfama. It got dark. The road was new for us and was under construction. It was not easy to drive. At 8:00 P.M. we arrived at a small city and spent the night after accepting the advice we got there not to go to Haremfama at night for our safety. We were extremely tired. Early the next morning at 6:00 a.m. we began driving to Haremfama. After driving three miles we found two trucks stuck in the mud. We stopped there for an hour to assist them. Then we continued on our way over bad muddy roads for 19 more miles. After crossing five bridges made of logs we arrived at our destination at 11 a.m. After a short lunch break we went to the government office to tell them about our vision and to request land for a church building. They welcomed us and agreed with us on our vision. In the afternoon we spent time with the church members. We prayed together, shared God’s word, and encouraged them to stand firm in their faith and to evangelize their community.

At night we showed the Jesus film to the whole community. More than 1500 people attended the film program in their local language, Oromipha. About 50 people decided to accept Jesus as their personal savior.

The next morning 19 new converts got baptized. About 40 were ready for water baptism but we were in hurry to leave Haremfama before the rain came. Evangelist Fikru and the leader of Kibre Mengist baptized them the next day.

In our opinion, in spite of the difficult road, our trip was very important to encourage evangelism and church planting. God’s kingdom is growing fast, beyond our expectation.

By Alem Kidane Evangelism and Church Planting Coordinator and Ermias Zenebe General Secretary of Addis Kidan Baptist Church

We have chosen a new way to communicate in this wonderful technological Alice in Wonderland world. Amazing!!! Now we can post letters and pictures from Ethiopia and anyone can view them, even if they have slow or small email capabilites. In fact, they don't even need email. I will just drop you a note when new blogs are posted.

God has really been at work since we came home 3 weeks ago. Our non-profit Heart for Ethiopia was approved by the U.S. government as a 501(c)(3) organization. That means that all donations are tax deductible. This was the result of the work of a wonderful board of 8 volunteers who worked hard to formulate a constitution, by-laws, fill out paperwork, etc.

A major focus of Heart for Ethiopia is child sponsorships. In October Ray and I took pictures of 50 children in each of 5 remote mountain towns north of Addis Abeba. Churches were begun in each of these towns at the time of Southern Baptist famine relief work. The believers are strong but the churches have remained small as these areas are almost entirely Orthodox or Moslem. The church members chose the 50 neediest children they could find in their communities. The average income of a rural family is $10 per month. Because of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Ethiopia there are many orphans or orphan vulnerable children who have a parent who is HIV positive. Most orphans live with some relative but this often puts a big strain on the family--especially if the relative is an elderly grandparent.

Child sponsorship helps children go to school and get medical care. It helps feed and educate families. Sponsorship is implemented through the churches. They receive the money each month and buy uniforms, notebooks, clothes, shoes, medical care for the child, and provide grain and other basic food for the family. They also give regular classes to the parents on health, sanitation, child care, and much more. Most of all they show Christian love in a very practical way. Typically about half of the children and their families become believers and contributing church members. For $27 a month you can save the life of a child.

Also my bookstore on Ebay has been certified by Mission Fish Giving Works as a nonprofit organization. All of the proceeds go to Heart for Ethiopia. Our house has bookcases on nearly every wall and business is good. Many people have donated books and those I buy are very cheap. God is blessing the business. Listing and shipping keeps both of us busy. One side of the garage is full of books ready to be listed. That is a good project for cold winter months when there are no garage sales.

Ethiopian Addis Kidan Baptist Church has a web page too. Links to all of these web sites are at the right. Soon I will post previous emails and pictures.