Mass Revival Continues to Expand throughout Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa

AIMS News: Posted 2/1/2005

"I am here to find out how I can better minister to my community." Until just a few months ago, "Jamal" was a devout Muslim living in Ethiopia. After he and his wife met Jesus Christ, they decided to attend an AIMS Harvest Connection seminar in November so they could learn how to reach people in his tribe. During the seminar, Jamal met "Josiah," International Equipping for the Harvest Director. Jamal explained his desire to reach other unreached people like himself who needed to hear about Jesus Christ. "Can you help me?" 

Josiah introduced him to "Shaif," a new believer who met Jesus through a dream several years ago. Currently, Shaif trains missionaries and leaders in the Evangelical Christian Fellowship of Ethiopia (ECFE) to plant churches among unreached tribes throughout Ethiopia. Jamal and Shaif are now working together to develop strategies that will more effectively reach other tribes in Ethiopia.

"Jamal is a living example of what is happening among people in Ethiopia," said Josiah. "People are coming to faith in Jesus by the thousands."

Mass Revival Spreads throughout Ethiopia

Since AIMS began working with the ECFE in Ethiopia in 1996, revival has exploded throughout the country. Last year, the statistics were staggering. We reported that hundreds of churches were fully supporting 124 national missionaries who had shared the Gospel with more than 1.5 million people and had planted more than 1,000 indigenous churches, As a result, 85,000 had accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

In November, our team learned that those statistics had increased. Currently, the Ethiopian church supports a total of 420 Ethiopian missionaries. During the past six months, these missionaries have planted an additional 600 churches, most of which are among unreached people groups in Western Ethiopia near Sudan. Furthermore, they have preached to an additional half million people and led another 30,000 people to Jesus Christ!

"In the past two years, the Ethiopian church has experienced the greatest growth of the Gospel in its entire history," said Josiah, who spoke with the president of the ECFE during his visit to Ethiopia. "Their great push now is to set up the infrastructure to send out Ethiopian missionaries to Sudan, Somalia, and the Middle East."

An Open Door in Sudan

Indeed, the doors into these other countries are already opening. In 2005, the ECFE will host a mobilization training in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, which will include church leaders from several countries throughout the Horn of Africa.

"The Ethiopian church has a God-given opportunity in Sudan," said "Priscilla," Director of Africa. "Because of intense persecution, the Christians in southern Sudan do not have an open door to work with Arabs in the northern part of the country. However, because Ethiopians look very similar to the Arabs, they are accepted in the Northern regions of Sudan."

The ECFE plans to research ministry opportunities among unreached people groups in Sudan and learn how to more effectively reach them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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