Northern Ethiopian Mission Trip #1 Testimony - Upon Return to Korea
Here is the testimony I shared with SIBC church members and NeulSaRang church members after God faithfully brought me back from my mission trip in Mekelle Jan 25-Feb 18, 2003.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It's an undeserved honor to stand here before you and tell you about how faithful God was during my short term mission trip to northern Ethiopia.
Before I give you some details about my trip, I'd like to read to you from Psalm 115 to put the whole thing in context, so you understand the purpose:
"Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto they name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake." (Psalm 115:1)
It's amazing how many friends and different people think that going to Ethiopia has somehow put me in "God's good books" or earned me bonus points with Him.
Such thinking is not much different from the "works related religious area" I went to minister in.
It's not about us or what we do. It's about God and what He did for us some 2,000 years ago on the cross of Calvary.
That's what grace is: undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor with God.
In acknowledging God's gift of love while we were still rebellious, the natural reaction to this gift is a grateful willingness to be obedient to Him.
Now, if that point is clear, let me tell you a little bit about my trip:
PHOTO 1:
This here is a photo of the Plante family: Chris & Cynthia Plante, Sarah Grace, Stephen and Joshua James.
Chris is the director of the Mekelle Youth Center. They have given up everything to move full-time to Mekelle, Ethiopia, to minister to the Tigrai people.
The government has allowed the center to open as a trial test. If the center is successful, there is a strong possibility that they will open similar centers in many similar buildings throughout the city and also throughout the province of Tigrai.
Just through word of mouth, kids have been flocking to the center in hundreds. It can be quite overwhelming at times.
There are 4 areas of ministry in the center:
Sports ministry, which is a great way to first get the kids interested in coming.
We also have a library there, which even as primitive and lacking as it is, is one of the best in the city.
We teach them the rules for different sports, respect for others, sharing and teamwork.
The second area is education; English and personal hygiene. Of course, there is a strong focus on HIV-AIDS prevention which is the biggest killer in Ethiopia.
17% of the population above 14 years of age have AIDS and it's hard to meet a student who hasn't had at least one family member killed by AIDS.
The ages between 5 and 14 are known as "the window of hope" in HIV education as the infection level is so low.
Our goal is to teach them about the prevention of AIDS through Christian principles, which is the only solution.
80% of the population is sexually active, both in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and in the Evangelist church, estimated at 2% of the population.
There are many kids having kids there.
Condoms is not the solution, but a change of heart leading to changed behavior which can only come from a real relationshiop with the living Christ.
They just opened up a computer room the week before I left. Computer education is very lacking there, as you might imagine.
It's awesome to see God working among the Tigrai people. There is at this present time such an opportunity to call people to Him.
There are 4 great opportunities available for God to work through.
Actually, we know He can work through a million different avenues (let's not limit our God!) but there are 4 apparent methods openly available.
These youth-centers is one way. They are also working on getting bibles accepted by the Christian Orthodox Church. 20,000 were recently distributed but only to the priests. (There are 4 million people in the region!) They are trying to get audio tapes of the bible made. They plan to buy radio time for the sharing of the gospel.
Please continue to keep the Tigrai in your prayers as well as the missionaries who have chosen to live in that spiritually dark land in order to minister.
IF God lays it on your heart to want to do something for these people, (whether it's donating books for the library, helping out with the computer teaching program, or making a trip to the area yourself to see God at work) please don't hesitate to approach me and ask questions. That's why I'm here.
It's amazing what God can do through us if we are willing and obedient. Just think about what the kids at SIBC have done. They raised $500 for radio time for the gospel to be shared last weekend. $500 is a huge fortune in the North of Ethiopia!
I believe that God is calling me back to Mekelle for July and August and it is my prayer that someone from the church might join me there, to be where God is at work.
Now, I'd like to play a 3 minute slide-show on northern Ethiopia. Perhaps someone could play the piano while we watch.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It's an undeserved honor to stand here before you and tell you about how faithful God was during my short term mission trip to northern Ethiopia.
Before I give you some details about my trip, I'd like to read to you from Psalm 115 to put the whole thing in context, so you understand the purpose:
"Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto they name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake." (Psalm 115:1)
It's amazing how many friends and different people think that going to Ethiopia has somehow put me in "God's good books" or earned me bonus points with Him.
Such thinking is not much different from the "works related religious area" I went to minister in.
It's not about us or what we do. It's about God and what He did for us some 2,000 years ago on the cross of Calvary.
That's what grace is: undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor with God.
In acknowledging God's gift of love while we were still rebellious, the natural reaction to this gift is a grateful willingness to be obedient to Him.
Now, if that point is clear, let me tell you a little bit about my trip:
PHOTO 1:
This here is a photo of the Plante family: Chris & Cynthia Plante, Sarah Grace, Stephen and Joshua James.
Chris is the director of the Mekelle Youth Center. They have given up everything to move full-time to Mekelle, Ethiopia, to minister to the Tigrai people.
The government has allowed the center to open as a trial test. If the center is successful, there is a strong possibility that they will open similar centers in many similar buildings throughout the city and also throughout the province of Tigrai.
Just through word of mouth, kids have been flocking to the center in hundreds. It can be quite overwhelming at times.
There are 4 areas of ministry in the center:
Sports ministry, which is a great way to first get the kids interested in coming.
We also have a library there, which even as primitive and lacking as it is, is one of the best in the city.
We teach them the rules for different sports, respect for others, sharing and teamwork.
The second area is education; English and personal hygiene. Of course, there is a strong focus on HIV-AIDS prevention which is the biggest killer in Ethiopia.
17% of the population above 14 years of age have AIDS and it's hard to meet a student who hasn't had at least one family member killed by AIDS.
The ages between 5 and 14 are known as "the window of hope" in HIV education as the infection level is so low.
Our goal is to teach them about the prevention of AIDS through Christian principles, which is the only solution.
80% of the population is sexually active, both in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and in the Evangelist church, estimated at 2% of the population.
There are many kids having kids there.
Condoms is not the solution, but a change of heart leading to changed behavior which can only come from a real relationshiop with the living Christ.
They just opened up a computer room the week before I left. Computer education is very lacking there, as you might imagine.
It's awesome to see God working among the Tigrai people. There is at this present time such an opportunity to call people to Him.
There are 4 great opportunities available for God to work through.
Actually, we know He can work through a million different avenues (let's not limit our God!) but there are 4 apparent methods openly available.
These youth-centers is one way. They are also working on getting bibles accepted by the Christian Orthodox Church. 20,000 were recently distributed but only to the priests. (There are 4 million people in the region!) They are trying to get audio tapes of the bible made. They plan to buy radio time for the sharing of the gospel.
Please continue to keep the Tigrai in your prayers as well as the missionaries who have chosen to live in that spiritually dark land in order to minister.
IF God lays it on your heart to want to do something for these people, (whether it's donating books for the library, helping out with the computer teaching program, or making a trip to the area yourself to see God at work) please don't hesitate to approach me and ask questions. That's why I'm here.
It's amazing what God can do through us if we are willing and obedient. Just think about what the kids at SIBC have done. They raised $500 for radio time for the gospel to be shared last weekend. $500 is a huge fortune in the North of Ethiopia!
I believe that God is calling me back to Mekelle for July and August and it is my prayer that someone from the church might join me there, to be where God is at work.
Now, I'd like to play a 3 minute slide-show on northern Ethiopia. Perhaps someone could play the piano while we watch.
posted by Andrew Brown at 12:53 AM
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