Ethiopia Update – September 2022

1. Coaching and Encouraging our leaders.

Pastor Burussei Bedada and Ashenafi Massebo are serving in the persecuted and a very challenging area in the country. However, they endure and are steadfast in their faith and ministry regardless. I had a very good coaching and mentoring time with them. They shared with me their stories and how they are passing through in this difficult time. I have noticed that how God has given them His grace to continue ministering in their region where conflicts, persecution and threats that they are facing in their lives and families are on an almost daily basis.

I visited them recently and encouraged, coached and mentored them during the time I spent with them in our heart to heart talk and I also prayed them.

I encourage all of you to pray for those pastors and their families for God’s protection, wisdom and guidance as they are serving in the riskiest areas in the country.

Pst BurussieBedada /on the left side/ & Ashenafi Massebo / Right side picture/

2. Sample of our Organic farming

Organic farming is one of our small projects that we are teaching and introducing to our local farmers. We believe that this small initiative will grow and help our farmers to produce more harvest in their farm lands.

My wife Addis has just started this method a few months ago in our yard as a pilot project. She grows vegetables, carrots, green onion and tomato. The vegetables and the carrots grow very good and my family are enjoying it.

My kids said that the taste of the vegetables is so good and it tastes different than the vegetables we get from the market. Our goal is to expand this small initiative to other villages so that our farmers will benefit from it.

I take this opportunity to thank my wife for her hard work.

My wife Addis on her vegetable farm in our compound

3. Disciple – Making Movement /DMM/ continues

We believe that the best way to bring about lasting life transformation is through life-on-life discipling, which requires of disciple makers to go deep with each person they are discipling. The more time that is spent in close relationship with disciples, the more the DNA of Christ will be transferred. We seek to mobilize disciples who will live their lives in such a way that communities in Africa are transformed by the life of Christ and the Father is glorified.

Training & spending time with our leaders are some of the tools that we use to mobilize our leaders for the disciple – making movement. Just recently we trained about 30 of our leaders in the southern region in the town called Arbaminch. We saw the life and ministry of Jesus in this Disciple -Making effort.

It was a challenging and a life changing training. I thank you Pastor Chachi and Pastor Wondye, who are our regional coordinators in the Southern region, for their leadership and work of facilitation and organization.

Training & fellowship time in Arbaminch town.

4. Conclusion, Praise & Prayer Requests

These are praises and prayer request items to pray about with us:

• Thank God for our leaders and workers of the Kingdom who have been laboring in the persecution regions of the country.
• Pray for those pastors and their families who are ministering in the persecution areas for God’s protection, wisdom and guidance as they are serving in the riskiest and most threatening areas in the country.
• Continue to pray for our Disciple Making Movement that; God would help us to make many more true disciples who are willing to follow Jesus with love and devotion.
• Pray for our organic farming project; that God would help us to reach out to many farmers with this method to ensure the food security of our farmers.

Samson Weldemariam /Pst/
Africa & Ethiopia director of U4A