Ethiopia Updates January 2024

I hope you’re all doing well in God’s grace and have enjoyed the holiday season!
We are doing really well by God’s grace here in Ethiopia, Africa. Our African leadership team and our leaders across Ethiopia have been sharing lots of encouraging and transformative stories on how God uses our ministry in this ending year. It brings me great joy to see, to hear and to be a witness to how God is doing the great work that is transforming countless individuals, communities and several Nations at large.

The work is truly in great hands and I believe the best lies ahead. Our leadership team is developing in every region of the country, passion is high, there is momentum, people are getting saved and the church is growing and we celebrated thousands of baptisms this year alone, praise God!

I want to thank each of you again for your partnerships over the years in our work in Africa. Through your prayers and faithful generosity, the work is going well and continuing to move forward.

The followings are few selected stories that I am wanting to share with you so that you will see a glimpse of what God is doing among us and you can join us to praise God Him for His great work.

1. Dr. Okongo’s Visit to Ethiopia

The founder and President of our ministry Dr. Okongo together with his wife Shyla visited Ethiopia and ministered to us in various ways. The purpose of the visit was to speak at the Lausanne Africa & Middle East Summit that is held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to encourage, mentor and coach our leaders, oversee our work and to give direction for the upcoming new year.

During their stay with us; God used Dr. Okongo & Shyla to facilitate several healing sessions for individuals, marriages and families. Through their healing ministry; wounded hearts got healed and relationships have been restored. We give all the Glory to God.

And again Dr. Okongo visited the land that we got recently and the project that we are planning to implement on that plot of land. We aim to construct a multi-purpose building on that plot of land that will be used for a training center, guesthouse and for our offices. Dr. Okongo gave us very important advice and direction on how to utilize this land properly and effectively. He also prayed for us for the provision and the wisdom of God to be upon us as we plan and implement this project.

Dr. Okongo Prayed right on the plot of Land and gave us directions

2. From Persecution to Growth – Jima Church

Jima region is one the persecuted regions in the country. Years ago, our churches suffered a lot due to their faith in Jesus and Dr. Okongo came and visited us right in the middle of the persecution and encouraged us. During the time of his visit; he moved village to villages, home to homes, met the victims, hugged them, cried with them and prayed for them.

Currently the church in the region is getting stronger and stronger in their faith, reaching out to many communities and has planted hundreds of churches within the last few years. I recently visited the region and trained church leaders, encouraged, coached and mentored them. We thank God for His church in the region and the Grace that He has given them to endure in the storm of persecutions.

 

Leadership Training in Jima town.

 

3. The Impact of our Ministry in Ethiopian Evangelical Churches – Nationwide.

The impact of our ministry is growing across Ethiopia. I got an invitation to speak on a nationwide summit and share with all key and top Ethiopian leaders on the issue of the core challenges of the churches in Ethiopia.

The response and feedback from the participants were amazing and they want to learn more from our ministry and approached us after the meeting. This is because of the uniqueness of our vision and mission and the approach that U4A uses to impact individuals, churches, communities, ministries and organizations. We thank God for the impact.

4. Praise and Prayer items

The followings are praise and prayer request items to pray about with us:
• Praise God for our Persecuted Churches in the country that are enduring in their faith in Christ in the midst of persecution.
• Pray for our healing ministry that God would continue heals many lives for His Glory.
• Pray for the Ethiopian Churches that God would give the leaders wisdom and discernment so that they will be able address all the challenges that the country is going through.
Samson Weldemariam /Pst/
Africa & Ethiopia director of U4A