Testimony at "NeulSaRang Church" Before 2nd Missionary Trip to Ethiopia July-Aug 2003
It is so hard to believe that in only 2 days I will be leaving once again to join God in His work in northern Ethiopia. This semester has passed SO quickly.
Because of stronger needs, I will not be returning to work at the youth center where I worked last time BUT the first trip was an important seed planting mission and very important for building relationships in the community and also for building my faith.
This time I will be teaching English and spending time with students at Sheba Business College in Mekelle with The XXXXX.
Fortunately, I will still have many opportunities to see and share time with old students I taught there in January and February as I will be in the same neighborhood.
Some students have kept in touch through mail, others through email (written from the youth center computer of course as no one in Mekelle can afford a computer of their own.)
These letters from students, amongst other circumstances, helped confirm to me that God was indeed calling me back to Tigrai in northern Ethiopia.
One special family, which I like to call my "Ethiopian family" consisted of 3 of my students and during my first mission trip they invited me over to their home many times and I formed a special bond with the highschool boy, Tatek.
They are aware of my faith and are eager to know more.
They have even made a traditional Ethiopian costume for me which is not cheap for such a family, which is waiting for me when I arrive.
I am very excited about working with college students this time as they will be at an age of accountability.
This means they will be more open to the gospel due to personally experiencing the corruption of society, the false teachings of the Ethiopian-Orthodox church and their own downfalls and sinful nature.
In a way, I feel that God has answered my prayers just like in the well known "Prayer of Jabez".
1 Chronicles 4:9
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!"
God has blessed me indeed.
The ultimate blessing was salvation through the suffering, death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ of course, but eternal life is also a blessing to be enjoyed NOW and not a distant goal to look towards after we die.
God has also blessed me spiritually in hundreds of ways since my last trip which would take hours to share with you in detail.
God has enlarged my territory in mighty ways.
Now to think that he might use me, as useless as I am, as one of His tools to bear fruit in Ethiopia is overwhelming and amazing for me to even think about.
God's loving hand has been on me.
Sometimes God's firm hand of disciplining is upon us as a redeeming fire to bring us away from sin and closer into His will and other times it is the gentle hand of blessing which we would all rather feel.
It is my prayer that God will continue to bless the work in Ethiopia, that He would enlarge the territory of missionaries there quickly and dramatically, that He would keep His loving, protecting hand upon us while we are working in such a spiritually dark place and that God would keep us from evil so that He is glorified in all that we do.
Please understand that we are in a highly dangerous spiritual area and we can place many missionaries in extreme danger if we preach the gospel to the wrong person.
So, that is why your prayers are SO important to our trip. Like God said to Zerrubabel in Zechariah 4:6 - ""Not by might nor by power, but my my Spirit," says the Lord Almighty."
It is the Holy Spirit's job to convince the world of guilt in regards to man's sinful nature, God's righteousness through the glorified Lord and the coming judgment of the Christ rejecting world. This is explained in detail in John 16.
It is awesome that God is sending me with another church member, Mary Shin, the church secretary of SIBC. Please keep her in your prayers.
Going out in twos to do God's work seems more biblical to me, just as Jesus sent out the 72 in pairs during his ministry on earth.
We need to have the Holy Spirit's annointing power, because apart from it we can do nothing. We need the guiding described in Isaiah 30: Verse 15 says "in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength". And in verse 21: "Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."
I can't thank you enough for your faithful prayers. They kept me from evil on the first trip and allowed the soil of many hearts to be prepared for the good seed which God shall plant on this upcoming second trip and which, God willing, will produce a crop of one-hundred fold.
Please pray that God will:
1) prepare the hearts of all those we will meet
2) that we will be constantly annointed with the power of the Holy Spirit
3) that we will walk in the light of the Lord as a strong witness to those in darkness
4) God's kingdom is expanded through our work.
Because of stronger needs, I will not be returning to work at the youth center where I worked last time BUT the first trip was an important seed planting mission and very important for building relationships in the community and also for building my faith.
This time I will be teaching English and spending time with students at Sheba Business College in Mekelle with The XXXXX.
Fortunately, I will still have many opportunities to see and share time with old students I taught there in January and February as I will be in the same neighborhood.
Some students have kept in touch through mail, others through email (written from the youth center computer of course as no one in Mekelle can afford a computer of their own.)
These letters from students, amongst other circumstances, helped confirm to me that God was indeed calling me back to Tigrai in northern Ethiopia.
One special family, which I like to call my "Ethiopian family" consisted of 3 of my students and during my first mission trip they invited me over to their home many times and I formed a special bond with the highschool boy, Tatek.
They are aware of my faith and are eager to know more.
They have even made a traditional Ethiopian costume for me which is not cheap for such a family, which is waiting for me when I arrive.
I am very excited about working with college students this time as they will be at an age of accountability.
This means they will be more open to the gospel due to personally experiencing the corruption of society, the false teachings of the Ethiopian-Orthodox church and their own downfalls and sinful nature.
In a way, I feel that God has answered my prayers just like in the well known "Prayer of Jabez".
1 Chronicles 4:9
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!"
God has blessed me indeed.
The ultimate blessing was salvation through the suffering, death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ of course, but eternal life is also a blessing to be enjoyed NOW and not a distant goal to look towards after we die.
God has also blessed me spiritually in hundreds of ways since my last trip which would take hours to share with you in detail.
God has enlarged my territory in mighty ways.
Now to think that he might use me, as useless as I am, as one of His tools to bear fruit in Ethiopia is overwhelming and amazing for me to even think about.
God's loving hand has been on me.
Sometimes God's firm hand of disciplining is upon us as a redeeming fire to bring us away from sin and closer into His will and other times it is the gentle hand of blessing which we would all rather feel.
It is my prayer that God will continue to bless the work in Ethiopia, that He would enlarge the territory of missionaries there quickly and dramatically, that He would keep His loving, protecting hand upon us while we are working in such a spiritually dark place and that God would keep us from evil so that He is glorified in all that we do.
Please understand that we are in a highly dangerous spiritual area and we can place many missionaries in extreme danger if we preach the gospel to the wrong person.
So, that is why your prayers are SO important to our trip. Like God said to Zerrubabel in Zechariah 4:6 - ""Not by might nor by power, but my my Spirit," says the Lord Almighty."
It is the Holy Spirit's job to convince the world of guilt in regards to man's sinful nature, God's righteousness through the glorified Lord and the coming judgment of the Christ rejecting world. This is explained in detail in John 16.
It is awesome that God is sending me with another church member, Mary Shin, the church secretary of SIBC. Please keep her in your prayers.
Going out in twos to do God's work seems more biblical to me, just as Jesus sent out the 72 in pairs during his ministry on earth.
We need to have the Holy Spirit's annointing power, because apart from it we can do nothing. We need the guiding described in Isaiah 30: Verse 15 says "in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength". And in verse 21: "Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."
I can't thank you enough for your faithful prayers. They kept me from evil on the first trip and allowed the soil of many hearts to be prepared for the good seed which God shall plant on this upcoming second trip and which, God willing, will produce a crop of one-hundred fold.
Please pray that God will:
1) prepare the hearts of all those we will meet
2) that we will be constantly annointed with the power of the Holy Spirit
3) that we will walk in the light of the Lord as a strong witness to those in darkness
4) God's kingdom is expanded through our work.
posted by Andrew Brown at 2:55 PM
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