email article printer friendly submit a comment

Secretly vowing I would not return, I flew out of Addis Ababa following a couple of harrowing nights in transit. Something at the back of my mind, however, reminded me that on every occasion I’ve made similar resolves, God has taken me to the very place I determined I would never go in order to demonstrate his broader purposes. His aim: to dismantle my impulsive and often inaccurate premature assessments.

Little did I know I would find myself back in Ethiopia, not many months later, only this time on outreach with the Gateways Training School. It became a trip I would not have wanted to miss, where God would unfold the beauty and treasures – to which I had previously been blind – of one of the oldest countries in the world.

 

Ancient history

Ethiopia has one of the richest histories in Africa and, unlike so much of the continent, remained uncolonised except for a five-year occupation by Italy. It was one of the earliest nations to officially adopt Christianity, which it embraced in the fourth century AD. The orthodox church accounts for over forty percent of the population, and there are a significant number of churches on fire for God, some of which were birthed out of a more traditional expression when the Holy Spirit radically renewed them.

Experts in worship

We had the privilege to worship with a number of such churches and to experience their special flavour of exuberant praise dancing, the sheb sheba. One highlight was a first of its kind Shavout conference at the new Messianic congregation in the Beit Avraham community. These believers are newly coming into a deeper understanding of the importance of celebrating the biblical feasts.

 

We had a glimpse of the price they pay to follow the Way in a neighbourhood known for the prevalence of witchcraft. As we gathered in the open air, stones were thrown into the courtyard while unrest was fomented outside the compound walls. Meanwhile, even children were being dramatically delivered from tormenting spirits during the ministry time at the close of the evening.

Anointed for healing

Refusing to be discouraged, the church continued to meet beyond the last day of our conference, anointing the sick with oil pressed from Gateways’ olive trees. They reported that a man who had suffered with an injured leg for thirty years threw away his crutches. The boils covering the face of another man disappeared altogether. We were aware of the darkness being pushed back as heaven’s light shone down.

Rise and shine

Many churches were evidently thriving but it was those that needed an encouraging boost in which we saw the most visible impact from our ministry times together. One group, whose passion appeared to have waned a little, had its enthusiasm so restored that, by the close of the meeting, the worship team was reluctant to stop and go home. A collection of students in another church initially seemed to be in a spiritual stupor but they soon began to respond to energetic exhortation and numerous words of encouragement from the Lord so that, by the time we parted, they had become very much rejuvenated.

Waifs and stray

Part of our mission was to bring love and comfort to orphans in a number of children’s homes and a feeding centre. Impromptu dramas about Bible characters both entertained and instructed them, and we sang to one another in our respective languages giving praise to God.  At a hostel of older girls where such a fond connection was made over a series of visits, one girl observed that because of the joy we’d shared in our time together the pain of parting would be unavoidable. In a hospice set up by Mother Theresa’s order we held and fed abandoned handicapped children, many of whom live confined to a chair for most of the day.

During moving visits to these centres of refuge we felt inadequate to minister to such overwhelming need. Yet we remained aware that, in so much as relief is offered to the most obscure, it is offered to Jesus himself.

Captives set free

 

After visiting those held captive by unruly and deformed bodies and those restricted by poverty and parentlessness, we moved into the prisons where, even in the face of another form of confinement, God was in the business of bringing release. Each prison had a handful of men who had come to know Jesus’ freedom. God’s word through one of our team for the believers in one prison was that they would be a source of joy to the whole town around them. Their faces were glowing as we worshipped together, so it was not difficult to picture that becoming a reality.

Never say never

God isn’t bound by the restrictions with which we sometimes limit ourselves. I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to discover a fuller appreciation of Ethiopia and her people. I felt I came away enriched with so much more than I had brought to give. Along the journey a lesson learnt: Never say ‘never’.

email article printer friendly submit a comment