Dear friends in the harvest, warm greetings. It is my prayer that the joy and peace of Easter fill your heart and home with love and laughter. As you celebrate His resurrection, may it bring you hope, happiness, and countless blessings.
Wishing you a Happy Easter!
Three Months Ministry Update
God is moving with us amazingly as usual. In the last three months from January – March 2024 through GCM staff and volunteers working under my leadership efforts we could achieve the following results: 1. Prayer and fasting: Over 7,773 people mobilized and trained for prayer 2. Training: Over 37,369 people were trained for action, both for evangelism, discipleship, leadership, a healthy marriage, children, and church planting… 3. Gospel Exposure: Over 685,183 people heard the gospel message, decision for Christ: 20,981 decisions to follow Christ, follow-up engagement: 11,934 new believers follow up, 4. Planted churches andgroups: 192 churches and groups with a membership of 6227 new believers. 5. Bible Study: 7226 believers are engaged in weekly bible study within 867 groups.
Prayer Request
We need your prayers in the following areas:
Healthy Family: Since we relocated to our new house, we have been constantly worried, visiting the doctor almost every week.
Financial Support: We are currently facing a critical situation due to a significant increase in our living expenses. We kindly ask for your prayers, seeking God’s provision of families and individuals who can support us, enabling us to continue the ministry entrusted to us.
We extend our warm greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. As we celebrate Ethiopian Christmas and step into the new year, we find it essential to reflect on the remarkable journey that 2023 has been for our family and ministry. It has been a year filled with challenges, milestones, and the unwavering faithfulness of God. We are immensely thankful for the significant moments that have shaped our lives, and we are eager to share with you some of the major highlights that have taken place in our lives during the past year.
Family Update
At the beginning of 2023, our hearts swelled with joy as we witnessed our special needs daughter, Bethany, taking her first steps. Her journey from crawling to confidently walking and even jumping has been a testament to the remarkable progress in her development. We are filled with gratitude for the milestones she has achieved and the resilience she has shown.
Another significant change in our lives was our move to Addis Ababa after seven years of living in Debre Zeit. This transition allowed us to find a suitable facility for Bethany, tailored to her special needs. Additionally, she became the first student at the first Down syndrome school in Ethiopia, a place we had fervently prayed for and sought for the past two years. This progress has brought immeasurable joy and hope to our family.
Furthermore, we were blessed to receive generous gifts that enabled us to complete the basic finishing work on our house. Despite the challenges we faced, we are grateful that all members of our immediate and extended family made it through the year alive. Each moment has been a testimony to God’s faithfulness and provision in our lives.
Ministry Update
In 2023, our ministry witnessed remarkable growth and impact. The responsibilities entrusted to us for national leadership were met with God’s enabling grace, resulting in abundant fruits. Here are some of the key achievements that marked our ministry’s journey:
Prayer and Fasting: Over 62,502 people were mobilized and trained for prayer, fostering a culture of spiritual growth and intercession.
Training: More than 158,981 individuals were equipped for various aspects of ministry, including evangelism, discipleship, leadership, healthy marriage, children, and church planting.
Gospel Exposure: The message of the gospel reached over 2,535,409 people, leading to 107,679 decisions to follow Christ. A total of 53,575 new believers were engaged in follow-up, nurturing their newfound faith.
Church Planting and Groups: A total of 785 churches and groups were planted, and about 17,859 new believers into the community of faith.
Bible Study: An average of 8208 believers engaged in weekly bible study within 687 groups, fostering spiritual growth and community.
Special Events: Notable events such as the Ignite Women Conference, 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer, Staff Achievement Annual Celebration, Reaching Oral People initiative, and Children Summer Camp were instrumental in mobilizing, training, and engaging individuals for transformative ministry.
Partnership Development: Emphasizing missional effectiveness and self-sustainability, we have made significant strides in developing partnerships and fostering sustainable growth in our ministry endeavors.
Gratitude
As we reflect on the milestones of 2023, we are filled with gratitude for the lives transformed, the communities reached, and the hope that has been ignited. Each achievement stands as a testament to the unwavering commitment and dedication of every individual who has contributed to these significant milestones.
Prayer Request
We humbly request your prayers in the following areas:
Healthy Family: Over the past three months, our family has faced constant health challenges. The impact has been particularly significant on our special needs daughter, Bethany, whose low immunity makes her vulnerable. Your compassionate prayers for our family’s health and strength are deeply appreciated.
Financial Support: We find ourselves in a critical situation due to the increasing cost of living in the capital city. Our living expenses have risen, and the burden of school payments and housing loan back payments has added to our financial strain. Despite our prayers for increased support, our monthly sustenance has been decreasing. We earnestly seek your prayers for God’s provision of families and individuals who can support us, enabling us to continue the ministry entrusted to us.
As we look back on the journey of 2023, we find ourselves standing on the foundation of faith, hope, and unwavering commitment. We are deeply grateful for your continued support, prayers, and encouragement that have sustained us through every challenge and problem. Together, let us step into the new year with hearts filled with hope, faith, and the assurance of God’s faithfulness.
Dear family and freinds, We greet you in the precious name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, who called us to serve him in this generation. It is our prayer that the Lord keeps you safe and under His mercy. The last three months for our family were unique, and we are enjoying God’s blessings and mercy. These are the highlights: Ebenezer, our second child, was promoted to grade two. Lydia, our daughter, was promoted to grade 5 with a high score. She stood out as a star student in the academic year at the school. Bethany, our third daughter, is growing healthy and improving her walking skills. We have celebrated our children’s birthdays. Lydia turned 10, Ebenezer turned 7, and Bethany turned 5.
Three Months Ministry Update
God is moving with us amazingly as usual. In the last three months through full-time staff and volunteers’ efforts under my leadership, we could achieve the following results Prayer and fasting: Over 30,583 people mobilized and trained for prayer Training: Over 39,861 people were trained for action, both for evangelism, discipleship, leadership, a healthy marriage, children, and church planting… Gospel Exposure: Over 889,889 people heard the gospel message, decision for Christ: decisions to follow Christ, follow-up engagement: 16,696 new believers follow up, Planted churches andgroups: 272 churches and groups with a membership of 4,947 new believers. Bible Study: 8,748 believers are engaged in weekly bible study within 972 groups.
Staff Achievement Annual Celebration: Every three months, my leadership team evaluates each staff member’s progress with the objective of identifying things going well that need to be improved. In the six-month progress evaluation and monitoring, we sit with the staff and deal with their next improvement steps. Then every 12 months or yearly, we evaluate each staff member’s progress in detail, and at the end, we celebrate together, encourage the model achievers, and set improvement points. One-Year Achievement Summary July 2022 – June 2023 i. Over 15,646 people mobilized for prayer and fasting. ii. Training = 126,493 iii. Exposure = 2,157,735 iv. Decision = 95,715 v. Follow up = 46,960 vi. Planted Churches = 724 with members of 15,716 new believers vii. Bible Study Group established = 1594 group with 21,054 believers viii. 36 Evangelism groups established with about 2000 active members
We celebrated our achievements together in the last month with GCM 108 staff under my leadership in the presence of National strategy leaders, the Global VP (Dr. Bekele Shanko), the National Director (Dr. Girma Altaye), and StroryRnners Global Team. We have acknowledged the model staff, region, and strategies.
Prayer and Praise:
Praise the Lord for the people who heard the good news, decided to follow Jesus, and planted churches.
Prayer: 1. Pray that the Lord gives us wisdom and knowledge. 2. We are hoping to move to Addis Ababa at the beginning of September, please keep praying for us.
Dear co-workers, I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, who has called us to serve Him in this generation. It’s our prayer that the Lord keeps you and your family safe. We are enjoying God’s gratefulness in our daily life and ministry. Here is a short update on my family and ministry in the last three months. Our daughters and son are growing healthy. Lydia and Ebenezer finished today their second-semester mid-exam. Bethany growing healthy. Ministry Highlights God is moving with us. In the last three months from January – March 2023 through GCM staff and volunteers’ efforts under my leadership: 1. Prayer and fasting: Over 7,337 people mobilized and trained for prayer and also prayed for the ministry within 423 groups. 2. Reaching Oral People: We have developed 42 stories in the Amharic Language that will be used for evangelism, discipleship, and church planting with the collaboration of StoryRunners. 3. Training: Over 28,149 people were trained for action, both for evangelism, discipleship, leadership, a healthy marriage, children, and church planting… 4. Gospel Exposure: Over 410,647 people heard the gospel message, decision for Christ: 19,653 decisions to follow Christ, follow-up engagement: 10,892 new believers follow up, 5. Planted churches and groups: 165 churches and groups with a membership of 4,582 new believers. 6. Bible Study: 8,517 believers are engaged in weekly bible study within 921 groups. 7. Food Support: 550 households supported food in Borena among the people who were and are experiencing severe drought and fodder scarcity.
Changed Life Story Impact of Story-Telling TrainingThe training was held in Yabelo from September 24 to October 22, 2022, with 18 participants; among the participants, two were Abagadas Waqefecha religion leaders, which is a cultural belief in Ethiopia, particularly among the Oromo tribes. We have never seen such a mixed audience for training. However, it opened a good opportunity to share the good news with the non-believers’ trainees, and they were expected to share what they learned or did with their neighbors and families every day after training and on weekends. There were also two Muslim English teachers working as local back translators twice a week, and they heard the good news very clearly through all the stories we were developing. One of them was very challenged, so he promised to spend more time reading the Bible. In addition to the trainees, we had 4-6 non-believers twice a week; all those gusts heard the story, retailed it, and provided feedback and concerns about the story. Generally, over 24 non-believers were engaged in the training in one way or another until it was completed Well-known two religious leaders, Abo Guyo and Abo Dida believed in Christ during the training. Azmach had a conversation with the Abagedas as follows: As I interviewed Abo Guyo, I asked him how this training had helped him. He said, “It helped me in many ways.” I got my salvation and learned many things. This training is about the work of God, and that’s what I enjoyed. And I got something I call God’s son: “I very much like that I am the son of God.” He explained to me that he was used to everyone calling him father, so it was so good to know that he was a son of God. I asked him to share a little more of his story with me. He said, “At first when they came and told us about the gospel, I didn’t understand it like this.” I thought it would destroy our culture, and it did not go with our society, but now I come and hear many histories and don’t hear anything that opposes our culture. The way they were telling us was not the way the training was conducted. ” After I met Jesus, this was the right way and the way our communities were searching for it, and I am so happy to get such an opportunity to be part of this team.” Abo Guyo started sharing the gospel message and winning others immediately, like the Samaritan woman in John 4. I will share with you the continued impact in my next post.
Praise the Lord!
Prayer and PraisePraise the Lord for the people who made the decision to follow Christ and those who mobilized for the kingdom expansion.
Prayer: 1. Pray that the Lord gives me wisdom and knowledge as I lead a global church movement on a national scale. 2. Today my wife, I, and some of the GCM team arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, to attend the Global Church Movement Annual Conference. Kindly pray to God to give us a fruitful time here. 3. Continue praying for my family’s relocation plan.
Dear co-workers, I greet you in the name above all names—Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who called us to serve Him in this generation. It’s our prayer that the Lord keep you and yours safe. We hope that you had a fruitful year in 2022 and are enjoying the new year’s opening celebration. All our kids are doing well and growing healthy; Lydia and Ebenezer are enjoying their school; Bethany has begun to walk. All in all, we are doing well. Praise to the Lord!
“I know what you are doing. See! You do not have much power, but you have obeyed My Word. You have not turned against me. “So I have given you an open door that no man can shut.” Revelation 3:8
Christ opened His letter to Philadelphia by revealing His sovereignty. He is the one who “has the key of David, He who opens, and no one shuts, and shuts, and no one opens.” Jesus possesses the key to the kingdom of God and entrance into eternal life. He told the church in Philadelphia, “I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.” When the Lord opens a door for someone, nothing can prevail against it. Philadelphia was a strategic gateway city to a large region that included other metropolises. This location created a strategic opportunity for their ministry. I believe that God has intentionally placed or positioned you where you are; thus, my prayer for you as you begin the new year 2023 is that doors of opportunity for ministry will open before you, as it is written, “Pray that God will open the door for us to preach the word.” Colossians 4:3
2022 Ministry Highlights
Despite the difficulties we encountered, such as the civil war, drought, famine, and insecurity, God was faithful to transform our lives and the community through us. We were able to achieve the following results in the last twelve months through the efforts of our staff and volunteers under my leadership. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Let’s celebrate God’s goodness.
Boldly prayer and fasting. Over 13,925 people mobilized and trained for prayer and also praying for the ministry within 390 groups.
Village Mapping) We have launched village mapping. 45 national trainers from nine denominations and national ministries are being trained. The Great Commission Ministry of Ethiopia only planned to survey about 4000 Kebles in the fiscal year.
Reaching Oral People We have developed 42 stories in Afan Oromo Language (Borena) that will be used for both evangelism, discipleship, and church planting with the collaboration of Storyrunners.
Vacation Bible Club 135 children, teenagers and youth participated in Holistic Personal Development Program for a month from 11 July – 5 August, 2022. The program encompasses foundational Bible Class, Physical Exercise, Music, Arst, crafts and Personal development skills.
Panel Discussion July 28 and August 6 we had a youth and Parenting Panel discussion where averagely 700 people participated.
Training: Over 88,568 people were trained for action, both for evangelism, discipleship, leadership, a healthy marriage, children, and church planting….
Gospel Exposure: Over 1,996,312 people heard the gospel message, Decision for Christ: 86,700 decisions to follow Christ,Follow-up engagement: 38,722 new believers follow up,
Planted churches andgroups: 702 churches and groups with a membership of 25,506 new believers.
Bible Study: 21,054 believers are engaged in weekly bible study within 1594 groups.Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Let’s take few minutes to celebrate God’s goodness!
CHANGED LIFE STORY
The Lost Found!
In the Oromia region, in a village named Miriga, there was an evangelistic training conducted for eighty members of the Miriga church (north of Nekemete). After finalizing the training, the trainees were sent to experience outreach. They went around the village preaching the gospel and demonstrating what they had learned in class. On the way, they encountered a young man named Reta Befekadu. Reta were joined Dilla University from Kombolcha, where his family lived. When he was in his second year, an evil spirit drove him to stop his education and sent him to the wilderness, away from the university and his family’s village. For two years, since 2019, he has been living under trees, in rocky shelters, etc. When the new trainees from the Miriga church found him, they prayed for him. They brought him to church for more prayer to set the young man free from the tormenting evil spirit. Immediately after the prayer, he was set free and was under the follow-up care of missionary Birhanu Chalsisa. When he was completely well, they sent him back to his family at Kombolcha. Praise to the Lord!
2. Power of Prayer: Cancer Disappears!
Desalegn Shamebo, a Great Commission Staff who lives in Hawassa Town in the Sidama region, was devoted to his ministry and rarely spent time at home.
But one day, his mother fell ill and he rushed her to the hospital. The doctor’s diagnosis was a devastating one, she had breast cancer. Desalegn refused to believe it and kept praying to God for her healing. He refused to accept the doctor’s advice that her breasts should be removed as part of the treatment. No matter how many times he was told it was impossible, Desalegn refused to accept it. The cancer kept spreading and Desalegn’s prayers kept growing. He refused to give up hope and kept believing in the power of healing. He kept on praying and believing that God would work a miracle. Finally, one day when the doctor came to check on his mother, he found she was completely healed. The cancer had disappeared and she was back to her old self. It was a miracle. God had worked a miracle through Desalegn’s prayers and faith. Desalegn thanked God for healing his mother and for the miracle he had worked. He was reminded that God is the God of the impossible. That no matter how impossible the situation seemed, God could still work a miracle.
3. The whole Family Transformed
In the rural village of Kite, located in the outskirts of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, lived a family with an evil curse placed upon them. The family was controlled by an unseen force, and the youngest daughter, unable to ignore its power, heard about Jesus Christ and received Him into her life. The family was, of course, appalled and began to ostracize her for her newfound faith. The power of the curse was so strong that it had taken over one of the sons in the family, making him an insane and dangerous person. The family members were so scared of him that they tied him up in a corner of the house, hoping to contain him. Desperate for help, the family sought out a witch doctor, but he was unable to help them. It was then that the youngest daughter, who had chosen to follow Jesus, suggested that only He could free her brother from the curse. But her suggestion was immediately rebuked, and she was despised for her faith. However, the family eventually gave in to her pleas, and the son was brought to Jesus. To everyone’s amazement, Jesus touched the boy, and the power of the curse was broken, setting him free from its hold. The family was amazed at this miracle and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The youngest daughter was finally accepted by her family and was no longer marginalized. From that day on, the family was truly blessed by the power of Jesus, and the village of Kite was forever changed.
It was a dark and despairing day. The family of the young boy had gathered around him as he lay dying in his bed, his body becoming weaker by the minute. Everyone was in shock and distress, unable to comprehend what was happening. The boy’s mother, in her desperation, had asked her Christian daughter to call someone from the church to pray for her son. The daughter quickly complied and called the church planter, Gemechu Kaba. When Gemechu arrived at the house, he was met by a scene of chaos. Everyone was shouting and crying, and the atmosphere was thick with pain and sorrow. Gemechu quickly took control of the situation and asked everyone to be silent. He then began to preach the gospel, his words calming the distraught family and bringing them some solace. Finally, Gemechu prayed for the boy and rebuked the evil spirit that was afflicting him. Suddenly, the young man was freed from his torment, and everyone was filled with joy. As Gemechu continued to preach and many in the house accepted Jesus Christ, a new church was quickly formed. The family was filled with gratitude and joy at the miraculous work of the Lord in their lives. Not only had their son been healed, but they had also experienced the power of the gospel and been brought closer to God. This was only the beginning. From that day forward, a church planter named Gemechu Kaba regularly visited the family and helped them to deepen their faith and knowledge of the Bible. Together, they all experienced the joy of being part of the family of God.
PRAISE AND PRAYER ITEMS
Praise: Praise the Lord for the health and peace that the Lord has given to my family and my team Praise the Lord for the wonderful ministry results we have seen in 2022
Prayer Item: Pray for spiritual growth and our relationship with the Lord. Please pray for continued ministry success in 2023 Pray for our financial and needed resources provision
Dear friends and co-workers, I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who has called us to serve Him in this generation. It’s our prayer that the Lord keeps you and your family safe.We are enjoying God’s gratefulness in our daily life and ministry. Here is a short update on my family and ministry in the last three months. Our daughters and son are growing healthy. Lydia turned to 9, Ebenezer turned to 6, and Bethany turned to 4. Lydia is enjoying her fourth grade education, while Ebenezer is struggling to learn in a first grade setting. Bethany started walking a little bit. Ministry Update God is moving with us. In the last three months of July to September 2022 though staff and volunteers effort under my leadership we could achieved the following results: 21 Days prayer and Fasting We mobilized over 3600 intercessors all over the country for 21 days prayer and fasting over 61 centers Vacation Bible Club 135 children, teenagers and youth participated in Holistic Personal Development Program for a month from 11 July – 5 August, 2022. The program encompasses foundational Bible Class, Physical Exercise, Music, Arst, crafts and Personal development skills. Panel Discussion July 28 and August 6 we had a youth and Parenting Panel discussion where averagely 700 people participated. Training over 23,435 people trained for action Gospel Exposure over 356,271 people heard the gospel message, Decision for Christ 20,258 decision to follow Christ, Follow up engagement 8,442 new believers follow up, Planted Churches andGroups, 147 churches and faith communities with a members of 2,997 new believers. Bible Study 9817 believers are engaged in weekly bible study within 867 groups.Glory be to the Lord!
Changed Life Story
1. Chala Found the Lord thanks to the stolen tablet! God is always at work. One of the church planters’ trainers, Tesfaye Laleto, gave his tablet to his neighbor, Hassen Ibrahim, in the Afar region of eastern Ethiopia. A friend of Hassen Ibrahim named Chala Getachew snitched the tablet from his friend’s home. Miraculously, it happened for Chala to watch the Jesus Film in his language. He simply starts to watch, unknowingly thinking it is just a film. But at the end, he found himself humbled by what he saw and started crying for what Jesus had done to save him. He kneeled down and received Jesus Christ just there and returned the tablet to Hassen, his friend. Challa is the one in the yellow T-shirt. Praise to the Lord!
2. Twenty-four People converted to the Lord at a Moment!No one can resist the power of God. The devil has tried starting from creation, but he is defeated, and is always defeated.This is manifested through the preaching of the Gospel. In the eastern part of Ethiopia, in the village of Dinkitu, there was a family that had been worshiping the devil for a long period of time. They have their own family witchdoctor, who is well known in the village, and all the members of the village community worship him. Normally, the people’s understanding was that it was not as if they were worshiping the devil. This kind of worship has been cultural and traditional for the people. The witchcraft was his mother. After the death of their mother, they locked the three houses with the material within and put these three houses under the responsibility of one of their brothers to keep them. It was said that this brother was the one who was caring for and sleeping with the devil’s python, which was worshiped by the mother and the whole community as a whole.In 2014, one of the family members, called Kassahun, decided to follow Christ. But, this was not accepted by the community and some of his friends. Even though he was determined to follow Jesus Christ, he didn’t hear their challenge and continued to worship the Lord. Following that, he also decided to destroy all the materials that were used to worship the witchdoctors. In doing that, he also presented the gospel to his brother, who was given the responsibility of the three houses and the materials. His younger brother received Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Finally, all the family, with twenty-four members, received Jesus Christ as their personal savior. At the end, they burned all the worshiping materials and gave those three houses to the church. A new church building is currently being constructed in the compound.
3. A family miraculously received Jesus Christ! The story goes like this: it is the story of a woman named Hawi Tufa. She is married and has seven children. The family’s livelihood is based on the production and sale of alcohol. Her father worships an evil spirit that is practiced in the family. One day, her brother-in-law got sick, and a witch doctor advised them not to take him to church. They did as the witch doctor advised them to do. After a few days her brother-in-law died. She was so sad about what happened. Her husband told the story of his brother’s death to evangelical believers, and they told him that it was the devil who killed his brother. This incident led him to receive Jesus Christ. But after that, the couple were not in harmony. The woman was not happy with her husband because of his new beliefs. Thus, she decided to leave the family and divorce her husband. But, she got sick and couldn’t leave the family. Then she called on those believers for prayer. They came and prayed for her, and she was healed. Currently, a weekly Bible study program is being conducted in her house.
4. The Jesus Film Impact! A young girl named Hayat Hussen approached one of the church after the end of the Jesus Film Show. She told him about the Jesus Film Show that changed her life. She briefed the story as follows: Her father’s family are Muslims, and her mother has no religion. But her grandmother was a Christian. I saw my grandmother always praying. And it makes her happy to pray with her grandmother. In her dreams, she sees scary and terrifying things most of the time. Whatever happens in her life, people tell her that it is because of the devil’s influence in her life. Becoming hopeless, she denied the existence of God and the Devil. She became very stressed and wandered in spirit. Even though her brother was not a Christian, he brought her a Jesus Film video clip and invited her to watch it. And they sat together to watch. When they reached Jesus’s affliction and crucifixion, she couldn’t watch it and told her brother to pass it . But, he just continued to process the video till the end. After watching the videos, he started to meditate on what she saw, and finally she came to the conviction that it was on her behalf that Jesus received all that affliction and death. She believed and received that story in her soul. After that, she got peace of mind and tranquility. But, she didn’t start to go to church. While she was reading a spiritual book, she came to realize the importance of spiritual fellowship. But, even though she decided to go to church, she is afraid to do that. At that time, she approached an evangelical believer to teach her. After a while, her tutor invited her to a Sunday school program. In the middle of the worship, the Holy Spirit touched her and she started crying. That has become the turning point in her life to give her life totally to Christ. Currently, she is a member of one evangelical church where she is serving in the outreach ministry.
Prayer and Praise Praise the Lord for the people who made the decision to follow Christ and those who mobilized for the kingdom expansion.
Prayer:Pray may the Lord give me wisdom and knowledge as I lead a global church movement on a national scale. As a family, we made an agreement to purchase a house and are praying to raise the down payment as quickly as we can to secure the bank loan. Only a few weeks were given to us by the property owner to arrange the necessary funds., I’m asking you to join my family in prayer and support financially.
Dear friends and co-workers, we greet you in the precious name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, who called us to serve him in this generation. It is our prayer that the Lord keeps you safe and under His mercy. The last three months for our family were unique, which we are enjoying with God’s blessings and mercy. These are the highlights:We have celebrated God’s faithfulness in our marriage for the last ten years!Ebenezer, our second child, performed well in kindergarten and was promoted to grade one.Lydia, our daughter, was promoted to grade 4 with a high score. She stood out as a star student of the academic year of the school.Bethany, our third daughter, is growing healthy.
Ministry Update
Besides the challenges we faced, such as civil war, drought, and the global pandemic COVID-19, the Lord was with us in every aspect, and we were able to thrive in many areas. Here are some highlights of the ministry’s achievements under my leadership within the last three months of April-June 2022. Over 23,752 people were trained for leadership, evangelism, discipleship, church planting, bible study, children’s ministry, etc. Over 632,072 people heard the gospel message through one-on-one, films, and mass evangelism. 26,319 people made a decision to follow Christ. 10,443 new believers joined a discipleship group. 287 churches were planted with a membership of 15,906 new believers. 5169 believers are engaged in weekly bible study within 438 groups.Glory be to the Lord!
Changed Life Story!
30 people turned to God just in A Moment
In the Oromia Region, East Shewa Zone, in a city called Boset, there is an adult man named Debela Bedaso. He is married and has ten children. He earns his livelihood by farming. Mr. Debela is well known for agitating the community to follow and worship the ancestral gods. He tries to convince the community in a way that unless they worship this ancestral god, blessing and fertility will never come to their farm and family. Their shrine is under a big oak tree. In their worship process, they slaughter many oxen and drink a lot of alcohol. Mr. Debela was a drunkard who led his family to bankruptcy. He is personally against Christianity.Tola Biru is our missionary/church planter who is actively engaged in evangelizing the community. Many times, he tried to tell Mr. Debela about Christ. But Mr. Debela is not convinced, and the persecuted Christian who is living in the community is Despite that, Mr. Tola tries hard to become more intimate with him and his family. The turning point came in the month of January 2022, when Mr. Debela turned back from a nearby city after selling teff (a well-known national cereal) with his donkey at night. He drank a lot, and he found himself in a ditch and lost his donkey to a hyena. Fortunately enough, his neighbors found him and took him to his home. Hearing this, the church planter, Tola, went home to visit him. In their dialogue, Mr. Debela said, “For the last fifty years I have worshiped the ancestral god, but this god is not able to save me; rather he gave me to death.” Thus, if your God (Tola’s God) can save me from this problem, I will worship him. Hearing this, Tola sent him to repentance prayer, where Mr. Debela finally accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. While they were praying, an evil spirit shouted and came out of Mr. Debela. That was the first night his children saw him get asleep without drinking. Before, they knew that their father was unable to sleep unless he drank. This is just a miracle to his children, even to his neighbors. This incident led his whole family and some of the neighbors to believe in Jesus Christ, and they are thirty in number. All are baptized after basic Christian
A church is surviving in daily Persecution
In Oromia Region, East Shewa Zone, Lomme Woreda, in a village called Qolo Kebele, there is a church planters’ coach named Mathewos Dawit. He is coaching ten church planters. Even though the community is highly dominated by traditional religion, Matthewos and his disciples managed to evangelize many and plant a church in a very short period of time. Matthewos and his team recently planted eight new churches, with an average of fifteen new members. One of these churches was planted with three new believers through the work of the Holy Spirit and the evangelistic tenor of the family many have been won for Christ where there are fifty-seven members who are now gathering for worship, prayer, and bible study. This small community of churches survived a frequent stone attack daily, where few were personally persecuted and marginalized by the community. For many years, the community has been dominated by witchdoctors and those who have lived their practice of giving tights. One of the young men who is currently attending training at Multiplying Church Communities was the one who was sent to kill the disciples who are serving the community. When he tried to do that, he was not successful in touching them, not even killing them. But, with the miraculous work of God, he received Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Seeing the work of God in his life, his mother and his wife received Jesus Christ. He is the young man dressed in a white shirt in the picture.
God is always at Work!
The gospel of Jesus Christ has no borders. It has the power to penetrate every ethnicity, every religion, and every community. Ismael is the son of Abraham. Jesus was born, died, and raised from the dead for his descendants too. In the Amhara region, in the South Gonder zone, in a special place named Alem Ber, there was a Muslim convert who lived there. She is (the woman at the back of the picture) the only person who received Jesus Christ and worshiped him together with her six children. Tezera Gelaye is the disciple (the man who is baptizing, in the picture) who was nurturing the family with the Word of God. Two of her brothers also received Christ with her. She lived away from her family, so her father came to visit her (the one with the white cape in the picture). He came while Tezera was teaching the family the Word of God, and they worshiped together. He sat silently and listened to Tezera with calm until he was finally touched by the Holy Spirit and received Jesus Christ. His family also received Jesus Christ and were baptized.The miracle continues. There was an old man named Adem Yibre (the man wrapped in white). Fortunately, he received Jesus Christ while death was knocking at his door. He became ill and died while praising Jesus.What a blessing. Our God is always at work, and the gospel is borderless.
Prayer and Praise
Praise the Lord for the people who made decision to follow Christ and those who mobilized for the kingdom expansion.
Prayer: Pray may the Lord give me Wisdom and Knowledge while I am giving leadership for a Global Church Movement national wide.
Housing Project: One bank obtained a 50% interest rate discount from the actual interest rate on mortgage loans for Great Commission Ministry Ethiopia staff for a limited time. This gave the staff a great opportunity to buy a house, as they were suffering severely as a result of the inflated rental prices. Since last year, we have been praying to relocate our family to Addis Ababa, the location where we found a school facility for our child born with Down syndrome. If the house rent and the bank loan back payment are almost similar, we intend to purchase the house. To secure the bank loan, I would have to put down 20% of the down payment. This time, I’m asking you to join my family in prayer and supporting financially
Ethiopia has over 115 million people, and out of this number, 25 million claim to have some relationship with Jesus, whereas more than 90 million do not. We have a biblical mandate to reach 90 million people with the gospel of Jesus Christ by mobilizing the 25 million Christians.
The Great Commission Ministry Ethiopia, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International, has been serving in the country for the last 42 years. The organization has four major field focus areas: student ministry, church ministry (Global Church Movements), leader strategies, and digital strategies. The organization has 250 full-time staff members and a little over 1,500 trained associates.
The church ministry (Global Church Movements), which I lead, began in 2014. It functions in five sub-strategics. such as church planting, mobilization, North-East Initiative (Missions), Women for Change, and children’s ministry. Many church leaders and believers have been trained and involved in it, and about 7,000 churches have been planted across the country since the strategy began. Our desire is to see healthy and multiplying churches in every village. This strategy has 78 staff, 1039 associates, 599 church planting training (coaching) centers, and 34 evangelism teams.
10 Month Ministry Achievement
The past ten months were challenging because of civil war, drought, and global pandemic Covid-19; regardless, the Lord was with us in every aspect, and we were able to thrive in many areas. The following highlights are the Global Church Movement results in the last ten months.
52,700 people were trained
1,474,376 people were exposed to the gospel message through one to one and mass evangelism
63,552 people decided to follow Christ, and 30,180 people are engaged in follow up groups
56,711 people engaged in the bible study groups
631 churches and groups were started and 3240 bibles were distributed for the new believers
We mobilized over 3,000 people for 21 days of fasting and prayer.
We distributed over 1000 sets of children’s ministry curricula for the churches
Dear co-workers in the kingdom, I greet you in the name above all names Jesus Christ who called us to serve Him in this generation. It’s our prayer that the Lord keep you and your family safe. In God’s grace all our kids are doing well. Lydia and Ebenezer are enjoying their school. We are all healthy and safe.
Igniting the Fire!“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” Luke 12:49God helped us in training 763 movement leaders, which we refer to as “coaches,” from March 22–25, 2022. These leaders have engaged with us for the past two or three years, putting our strategies into action and mobilizing and equipping people for the kingdom. 469 are church planters coaches and trainers, 88 are women’s ministry trainers, 33 are Sunday school teacher trainers, and 83 are church mobilizers and action group leaders. Each leader is in charge of a specific ministry target and the intentional development of 10 to 25 volunteers. Currently these leaders are coaching 8945 volunteers on a regular basis, according to the data we gathered. They came from all parts of the country, except for the Tigray region. The lessons thought organization overview (vision, mission, strategies, and direction), evangelism and discipleship, leadership, church planting, prayer and fasting, community transformation, women’s and children’s ministry, village survey, and related. The Goals of the Training Was:To motivate the leaders and lift their spirit upTo reaffirm the organization vision, strategies and directionTo uphold the 50x leadership philosophy (developing leaders intentionally).To equip leaders to take the five bold steps (boldly pray, boldly mobilize, bold partner, boldly go, boldly multiply) toward establishing a vital church and faith community in every village across the country.The Impact of the Training:Each leader set their plans for the next two years in four main dimensions (expansion target, goals of evangelism, discipleship & leadership, and church planting). I have heard that the Assela team shared their plans with each other on the way back to their hometown.Village survey: shortly after the session, some of the leaders began scanning their Kebele statistics“ I have been challenged to mobilize the body of Christ to help fulfil the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, I will dedicate my life to it.” Getu “I have been involved in evangelism and discipleship ministry in my local church, but this training opened my eyes again, I got encouragement, new insights, and simple strategies about evangelism, discipleship, and church planting.” Pastor Fitsum Zeleke“ I felt guilt when I realized my back history. To compensate or revenge, I committed myself to mobilizing the body of Christ, I strive to reach my country with the gospel message and churches by starting from my village, Kebele…” Degife Shikur
Praise We praise God for such great success and we thank all those who invested in its fulfillment with prayer, financial, physical, mental, and other support both from within the country and outside.
Dear co-workers in the kingdom, I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who has called us to serve Him in this generation.It’s my prayer that the Lord keeps you and yours safe. My family is doing well. Lydia and Ebenezer, our daughter and son, went back to school for the second term, and Bethany, our third child, is also growing healthy. Prayers for the training of 800 movement leadersIt’s a week to see 800 national wide movement leaders. I hope that, as you may know, we, Great Commission Ministry Ethiopia, are organizing training for 800 movement leaders who are working with the Global Church Movement Strategy, under which I give leadership on a national level. The training conference will be held from March 22 to 25, 2022, in Debrezeit, near Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. These leaders have been engaged with us for the past two or three years, implementing our strategies and mobilizing and equipping people for the kingdom. The majority of them are church planter coaches and trainers. Some of them are female leadership trainers.Some of them are children’s ministry or Sunday school teacher trainers. Some of them are church mobilizers and action group leaders. Each leader is responsible for a specific ministry site and developing 10 to 25 leaders intentionally. These leaders come from all parties in the country, except Tigray and some parts of the western provinces, which are still under civil war. At this point in time, preparing such leaders for Ethiopia is more than just a conference. As the country faces many obstacles from time-to-time, such as civil war, starvation, drought, COVID-19, inflation, and so on, many people are losing hope as a result of these and other challenges. Seeing such a large gap, we are training leaders to carry the message of hope of our Lord Jesus Christ to everyone in every village of Ethiopia.
Prayer Item
Prayer for God’s presence in the training Prayer for safe travel for each participants and the speakers who travel from abroad Pray for wisdom, knowledge and the Holy Spirit guidance for the organizing team Pray for my family health, this time my mother, mother in-law, sister in law are sick. Please join my family and the team in your prayer.
Dear co-workers, I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, who has called us to serve Him in this generation. It’s our prayer that the Lord keeps you and your family safe. We are enjoying God’s gratefulness in our daily life and ministry. Here is a short update on my family and ministry in the last three months. Our daughters and son are growing healthy. Lydia and Ebenezer finished today their second-semester mid-exam. Bethany growing healthy. Ministry Highlights God is moving with us. In the last three months from January – March 2023 through GCM staff and volunteers’ efforts under my leadership:
God helped us in training 763 movement leaders, which we refer to as “coaches,” from March 22–25, 2022. These leaders have engaged with us for the past two or three years, putting our strategies into action and mobilizing and equipping people for the kingdom. 469 are church planters coaches and trainers, 88 are women’s ministry trainers, 33 are Sunday school teacher trainers, and 83 are church mobilizers and action group leaders. Each leader is in charge of a specific ministry target and the intentional development of 10 to 25 volunteers. Currently these leaders are coaching 8945 volunteers on a regular basis, according to the data we gathered. They came from all parts of the country, except for the Tigray region. The lessons thought organization overview (vision, mission, strategies, and direction), evangelism and discipleship, leadership, church planting, prayer and fasting, community transformation, women’s and children’s ministry, village survey, and related.
The Goals of the Training Was:To motivate the leaders and lift their spirit upTo reaffirm the organization vision, strategies and directionTo uphold the 50x leadership philosophy (developing leaders intentionally).To equip leaders to take the five bold steps (boldly pray, boldly mobilize, bold partner, boldly go, boldly multiply) toward establishing a vital church and faith community in every village across the country.
The Impact of the Training:Each leader set their plans for the next two years in four main dimensions (expansion target, goals of evangelism, discipleship & leadership, and church planting). I have heard that the Assela team shared their plans with each other on the way back to their hometown.Village survey: shortly after the session, some of the leaders began scanning their Kebele statistics“ I have been challenged to mobilize the body of Christ to help fulfil the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, I will dedicate my life to it.” Getu
Making My Generation God's Generals 