Ethiopian Mission Trip #3 Jan-Feb 2004 (Testimony before leaving at NeulSaRang Church)
As I stand before you today I feel a lot like Jacob must have felt in Genesis 32:10.
He said to God at that time, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which you have shown your servant."
He said, "I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan (River), but now I have become two groups."
In the same way, God has so richly blessed me since I decided to follow Him.
Spiritually, not only did I not have a staff, but I was blind, full of disease, wicked and headed for destruction.
With the death and resurrection of my Saviour, Jesus Christ and faith in His name, I have been freed from a slave of sin to become a son of God.
Think about that. I have been SAVED! Does this thought excite you?!
I pray that you will NEVER forget the deep significance of that fact!
But God does not save us to keep this good news for ourselves. We must proclaim it to everyone we know.
I really can't believe that I am going to northern Ethiopia for the 3rd time. The thought is overwhelming when I consider it.
I would like to tell you a little about the place where God is leading me this time.
I will be teaching at Axum, a city which is a 6 hour drive NW of Mekelle.
While Mekelle is the provincial capital of the province of Tigrai, Axum is the spiritual capital of the entire nation.
Most tourist brochures, like this one here, proudly declare Axum to be "the last resting place of the Ark of the Covenant."
Of course, the Ark of the Covenant refers to the portable box like container whcih held the 10 commandments.
The Ark itself is not as important as what it represented, or I should say, who it represented - Jesus Christ.
There are also long, massive carved stones there that they are proud of and many legends surround them.
The fact is they are very pagan in nature (the stones) and there is strong evidence to show that ancient civilizations there used them to worship false gods, mainly the moon.
As you can imagine, this makes the city and surrounding area extremely spiritually dark and people are turning away from the Living Lord to worship false images.
Our prime mission in going there is to teach the bible to a group of 30 college students in the belief that God will use these students to make great changes in their land.
Most of these people have never heard the truth for themselves and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has corrupted the basic message of the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus and His work on the cross.
We visited Axum during my last mission trip and it is not as friendly and open as Mekelle.
Because Axum is the spiritual heartland of Ethiopia, there are so many beggars and poor people there looking for handouts from tourists and church goers.
Please pray that God will move us with compassion to be true ambassadors of Christ.
Most people in such environments harden their hearts in order to protect themselves from the pain of others as it is impossible to help everyone.
Pray that we will be led by the Spirit, just as Jesus was while on earth, to know whom to help and get close to and to know when we must depart from the crowd to pray, rest and recuperate.
Pray that the Holy Spirit wil prepare the hearts and minds of all those we will encounter, both in and out of the classroom.
The Bible declares that, "The hills shall be brought low, the valleys shall be filled in, the crooked paths shall be made straight in preparation of the Lord!"
We are planning on sending large numbers of volunteers once again this summer to Mekelle, Axum and possibly a third city if there are enough workers in the harvest.
It is truly amazing how many students wish to sign up for these classes and how quickly God is expanding this ministry in such a short time.
Please pray that more volunteers will come forward and that this mission trip will be a huge success, thereby allowing an even larger group invited to return this July and August.
Pray that I will get a chance to visit Mekelle after my 2nd week of classes (on Feb. 7th and 8th) and to express my genuine love and concern for all those God allowed me to meet there and to open any other doors in bringing the gospel there.
My main purpose is to express love to my Ethiopian family there and my new Chistian brothers, Tatek and Kibrom, who may have many questions in trying to follow the Lord since only 6 months ago.
Pray that God will raise these men up as strong leaders to bring many to salvation.
There are so many others things to talk about and to request but due to the lack of time I should end here.
But once again, I can't thank you enough for having the desire and the patience to hear about all that God is doing in that distant land.
Through your support, you are, in fact, partners with me, our team and indeed with God Almighty in bringing the good news to the poor and lost.
God answers prayer and your prayers are like strategic weapons which cause the enemy great fear.
That is why the enemy tries as hard as he can to whisper lies to Christians that their prayers are unneeded and unnecessary.
They fear and tremble because there is absolutely no defense against the faithful prayers of the righteous.
I will also be lifting all you up in prayer while there.
Specifically, it is my prayer that Neulsarang Church will grow as a Bible believing, God-centred, mission-oriented church of courageous prayer warriors.
He said to God at that time, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which you have shown your servant."
He said, "I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan (River), but now I have become two groups."
In the same way, God has so richly blessed me since I decided to follow Him.
Spiritually, not only did I not have a staff, but I was blind, full of disease, wicked and headed for destruction.
With the death and resurrection of my Saviour, Jesus Christ and faith in His name, I have been freed from a slave of sin to become a son of God.
Think about that. I have been SAVED! Does this thought excite you?!
I pray that you will NEVER forget the deep significance of that fact!
But God does not save us to keep this good news for ourselves. We must proclaim it to everyone we know.
I really can't believe that I am going to northern Ethiopia for the 3rd time. The thought is overwhelming when I consider it.
I would like to tell you a little about the place where God is leading me this time.
I will be teaching at Axum, a city which is a 6 hour drive NW of Mekelle.
While Mekelle is the provincial capital of the province of Tigrai, Axum is the spiritual capital of the entire nation.
Most tourist brochures, like this one here, proudly declare Axum to be "the last resting place of the Ark of the Covenant."
Of course, the Ark of the Covenant refers to the portable box like container whcih held the 10 commandments.
The Ark itself is not as important as what it represented, or I should say, who it represented - Jesus Christ.
There are also long, massive carved stones there that they are proud of and many legends surround them.
The fact is they are very pagan in nature (the stones) and there is strong evidence to show that ancient civilizations there used them to worship false gods, mainly the moon.
As you can imagine, this makes the city and surrounding area extremely spiritually dark and people are turning away from the Living Lord to worship false images.
Our prime mission in going there is to teach the bible to a group of 30 college students in the belief that God will use these students to make great changes in their land.
Most of these people have never heard the truth for themselves and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has corrupted the basic message of the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus and His work on the cross.
We visited Axum during my last mission trip and it is not as friendly and open as Mekelle.
Because Axum is the spiritual heartland of Ethiopia, there are so many beggars and poor people there looking for handouts from tourists and church goers.
Please pray that God will move us with compassion to be true ambassadors of Christ.
Most people in such environments harden their hearts in order to protect themselves from the pain of others as it is impossible to help everyone.
Pray that we will be led by the Spirit, just as Jesus was while on earth, to know whom to help and get close to and to know when we must depart from the crowd to pray, rest and recuperate.
Pray that the Holy Spirit wil prepare the hearts and minds of all those we will encounter, both in and out of the classroom.
The Bible declares that, "The hills shall be brought low, the valleys shall be filled in, the crooked paths shall be made straight in preparation of the Lord!"
We are planning on sending large numbers of volunteers once again this summer to Mekelle, Axum and possibly a third city if there are enough workers in the harvest.
It is truly amazing how many students wish to sign up for these classes and how quickly God is expanding this ministry in such a short time.
Please pray that more volunteers will come forward and that this mission trip will be a huge success, thereby allowing an even larger group invited to return this July and August.
Pray that I will get a chance to visit Mekelle after my 2nd week of classes (on Feb. 7th and 8th) and to express my genuine love and concern for all those God allowed me to meet there and to open any other doors in bringing the gospel there.
My main purpose is to express love to my Ethiopian family there and my new Chistian brothers, Tatek and Kibrom, who may have many questions in trying to follow the Lord since only 6 months ago.
Pray that God will raise these men up as strong leaders to bring many to salvation.
There are so many others things to talk about and to request but due to the lack of time I should end here.
But once again, I can't thank you enough for having the desire and the patience to hear about all that God is doing in that distant land.
Through your support, you are, in fact, partners with me, our team and indeed with God Almighty in bringing the good news to the poor and lost.
God answers prayer and your prayers are like strategic weapons which cause the enemy great fear.
That is why the enemy tries as hard as he can to whisper lies to Christians that their prayers are unneeded and unnecessary.
They fear and tremble because there is absolutely no defense against the faithful prayers of the righteous.
I will also be lifting all you up in prayer while there.
Specifically, it is my prayer that Neulsarang Church will grow as a Bible believing, God-centred, mission-oriented church of courageous prayer warriors.
posted by Andrew Brown at 4:54 AM
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