This Year. Our Life.

Holiday Greetings to you all,

The end of a calendar year provides an opportune time to think back, reflect, and consider the last twelve months of our lives. As we go about doing just that, we will grant you all an open window into what the Lord has done.

We offer this for you because you are a vital part of our life and work, and it seems evident to us that we have done a poor job spelling out the specifics of the details that make up the last year. This letter will serve as an apology in two senses: to express our regret in not being explicit where that has in fact been the case and to explicate with more precision the specifics that are entailed.

Plans & Prayers
December 2006 – July 2007

PTI
Our focus within the work remained pointed and strong upon our return in late December last year. Even within the first week, I had preliminary meeting that eventually led to the Pastor’s Training Institute. We aggressively pursued this opportunity and anxiously anticipated the beginning of the Institute, which was eventually inaugurated in April.
To see with deeper insight some of the elements that made up those early days I will copy a page from Amber’s journal.

“The meeting yesterday with the Addis Kidan leaders far exceeded our expectations. In the meeting, Anthony just opened up and said, "This is our hope....this is our goal and our burden....to train men that will be sent to the un-reached peoples of this country." Immediately after he said that, Ermais pulled up a document on his computer that outlined a detailed plan for reaching the un-reached peoples in 8 of the 9 regions of Ethiopia. The plan includes sending men out by twos to plant churches in these areas. The reason they have not pushed forward with this plan is because they lack the finances to support these ministers and they lack the men to do the training. Ermais said that they have money pouring in for humanitarian efforts and development work, but few are willing to give money for this purpose...for the spread of the gospel to the un-reached. Ermais has given the responsibility of the training to Anthony. He said that he could do it in whatever way he chooses.”
“We are overjoyed at this, yet so overwhelmed at the same time…
Then we read the Daily Light this morning..."Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might."-"Falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land."-"Fight the Lord's battles."-"Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work...Fear not."-"Lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest."-"Yet a little while, and the coming one will come, and will not delay."
“What can we say to these things? I have not completely taken it all in. It seems that all the planning has been done and that God has sent us here to make connections and to pray and help. I was ashamed this morning as I thought about all this and how it is really more than I ever expected and sooner than I ever expected. I want to think that this was more of doubting self and not God, but I don't know. I imagined Anthony training a few ministers in the city and maybe seeing some reform in a few of them. That was my hope. This is far more than I could have ever dreamed up. It seems so serious and weighty to me. Now I am only asking that God will make this goal the burning passion in my heart and all would be poured out in prayers to Him…That I would love His glory and long for the spread of His kingdom across this land…That my desire for these things would be in no way connected to self, but that I would long for this no matter who God was using. This is just like the Lord, isn't it? To exceed our expectations in every way. I do not doubt that this work will bring trials and difficulties, but is our God not sufficient for these things as well? Lately I have found myself holding back from boasting in Him, for fear that He will not do what I have hoped. I want these fears to be taken away that I may boast confidently in my Lord and fully believe that He will be all that we need in every situation.”

Following these initial meetings, PTI did begin and has continued since then, meeting in April, June, and October of this past year. I will leave in about three weeks to conduct the fourth round with a focus on the ministry and work of Jesus Christ. About 65 men are involved in this systematic study of the Bible that should lay a sufficient foundation for them to pastor and plant churches that please the Lord.

PROGENY
Running along side these plans were amazing developments within our family as well. Having previously resigned to the apparent fact that adopting from within Ethiopia was impossible for American citizens, we did not expect that door to open. But God did open it up to us, with more than one agency notifying us of the possibility of adding to our family by adoption even while we lived in Addis. We took the Lord’s leading and began the process with positive encouragements coming from our church and families. Our prayer has constantly been that God would grow our family. We expected that He would in fact do that, after all He had given us Ellie already. Our presumption was that we would adopt from Ethiopia again, after all it is where we were living and how would anything else be feasible.

We completed our Home Study and began the process in late January. From there we were faced with one hurdle after another and could not seem to make any significant headway in the process. Wrong information here, ridiculous expectations there, we simply were unable to move forward in the slightest way for nine months. Disappointed and assuming that all previous work toward another child was lost, we found ourselves back in the United States to renew our visas and to hurriedly return to the work that we had left mid-July.

EXPECTATIONS & ASSUMPTIONS
So with our trip home we hoped to accomplish the retrieval of two-year visas that would allow us to stay in the country for a lengthy period that has thus far been divinely prevented. We were facing minor medical issues that ultimately hindered our October return, so we tentatively planned on early December being the date of our return to Ethiopia. The reason for an October return was so that PTI did not have to miss a beat from the original itinerary. Due to our postponing the return I went to Ethiopia in October to teach round three of PTI on the Doctrines of Sin and Humanity. Two weeks before I departed, we experienced another interruption. (discussed at length below)
We had no reason to suspect that we would not be able to get back to Ethiopia as planned. We assumed that there would be no major kinks in the process of getting visas renewed and making travel plans. However, God chose this occasion to answer prayers.

Plans changed through answered Prayers
August 2007 – December 2007

HOPE BECOMES REALITY
In September, we received a phone call and e-mail from a friend. ‘There is a need of a family for a baby boy…are you interested?’ was the message we received. ‘Are we interested?’ Interested in God answering so many people’s prayers for so many years? Of course! Who wouldn’t be? Right? We were ecstatic initially, just to consider how God had orchestrated all things for His good pleasure and for our good by increasing of our faith through seeing Him answer another prayer. Our Home Study was completed on another continent, with different intentions, yet God was seated at the helm and working all things according to His purposes. People had believed God from the beginning and some had even provided for it each month of the process along the way. The nine-month process that seemed at times to be headed nowhere at all!
However, with most sweet things in life comes something bitter. With gain there is sometimes loss. Saying yes to God meant going against what expectations were for us. Allowing God to provide the answer to our long awaited prayers meant not returning immediately to the field where God has given so much opportunity in recent months. Yet we trusted and are trusting that God has been the initiator since the beginning and that He would see us through as well as sustain His work abroad.

We are now the family of Isaac Anthony Mathenia, born July 10, just four days before we boarded the plane in Ethiopia to return to the USA for ‘our trip’ home. This journey, though very brief thus far, has been a remarkable pleasure for us. And is not every journey in which Christ is at the helm?

NOW WHAT?

Two Things:
1. The legal finalization for Isaac will happen the first week of May. We can at that time apply for a birth certificate, social security card, and passport. Upon attaining those documents we will need visas for travel and then it’s off to Addis.
2. PTI will continue this year with round 4 in January. Also, tentatively scheduled are rounds 5 – 7 in April, July, and October respectively.

In closing, may we solicit your continued prayers on our behalf? Will you join with us in petitioning Him to make much of Jesus in all things?

We cannot thank you enough for your genuine interest in our lives.

Anthony, Amber, Ellie, & Isaac

All Things Adoption.

Well, I know it seems that way of late, but hey, it is where I am living right now.

Anyway, this short article is well worth the read.

Here is a quote for whetting:

"I see the halo of birth parents that surround our family as a beautiful testimony of God’s drawing people from every tribe and tongue into fellowship. "

PTI-4

Three weeks from today we will all be observing Christmas. The day we all give each other gifts to celebrate Someone else. Go figure! And two weeks after that the Ethiopians will be celebrating their Christmas, but in a much different way than us. The exchanging of gifts is absent, for the most part, from the culture, but the enjoyment of food and fellowship is not. Families and friends will gather and feast on whatever meat they can afford after pooling their funds together. For the more well off, an ox will be slaughtered. From four o’clock in the morning when the process begins they will begin consuming the ox, red meat (lean) and white (fat), and eventually even cook some of it to enjoy also. Other families will merely have a chicken or two to commemorate the day together, and some will delight themselves in sheep or goat, roasted or stir-fried.

For about sixty-five men, this will be their last meal before they board a small 65-passenger bus with 110 other people and make the several hour (or in some cases all day) journey into the city for ten days.
Why would they succumb to such misery as being cramped on to a stuffy 105-degree bus in which no one will dare open a window for fear of moving air making them deathly ill? And ride that way for so long only to finally arrive in a city that is not their home and to a thin piece of foam (AKA a bed) while being fed crushed peas, some boiled veggies and sour fermented mush made from a grain that we have for the most part never even heard of in our country.

“Why?”

I am glad you asked! Primarily, the reason these men are willing to come and suffer the hardship that they face is so that they can learn about Jesus of Nazareth. These sixty-five men are coming to Addis Ababa for round four of the Pastor's Training Institute.

The content/curriculum of PTI-4 that these men are coming to consider will be proclaimed through the preaching of the scriptures. That Jesus was promised of old and that He was born of the Virgin Mary, and that His life was remarkable, not to mention His relentless ministry toward us and for us, His children, will be the beginning point. They will be confronted with the two natures of this God-Man and see clearly the three offices that were combined in Him as Prophet, Priest, and King. Though these men come from impoverished situations, none can compare to the transition that the Christ made by leaving His home of heavenly bliss to dwell on the dusty, dirty streets of His hometown, where He had no honor or a foam mattress in any corner of the village. And following this unthinkable stooping, this Man was murdered by us-type godless men for us-type sinners.

These Habesha men will God-willing begin to consider the real necessity of the atonement that Christ made and also seriously consider its nature and extent. But, they will not have to leave on such a dreary note. They will be expected also to contemplate Jesus even now, in His exaltation, following His physical resurrection and ascension. The Lord’s intercession and representation on their behalf ought to be a great encouragement to these men who have no one representing them on this earth. And in closing all the focus of these men will be on the Holy Spirit of God. His regenerating work, sanctifying grace, and constant comfort should enhance their desire to know and love this Man, Jesus.

May we too be enthralled with Him and His glory among the nations.
Here is one way we can send forth His glory.

Ethiopia Adoption

I received this email earlier today from Dan Cruver.

Dan is the Ministry Outreach Coordinator at Carolina Hope Christian Adoption Agency.

Our director of international programs went to the Ethiopia Embassy in D.C. today to submit our Ethiopia adoption application. They would not take it because they've stopped accepting US adoption agency applications since this past Sunday. Pray that God will move in the hearts of Ethiopia's leaders to open it back up. They are no longer receiving new applications from adoption agencies until this matter is settled. They have no idea when it will be settled or even if it will be settled. This needs serious prayer. God seemed to be clearing the way for us in this every step of the way. This is the FIRST obstacle, and it's a really, really big one.
May the Father of the fatherless move in the hearts of the governments leaders for the sake of these orphans.


Please pray.

Will you not pray with us?
And for the children?

Interviewed.

Here is a recent interview that I completed.

GOD is LOVE - repost & retry

I am hoping that this will motivate me to continue this series.

(1 John 4:7-19)

I have for some time now had good intentions of writing some meditations about the LOVE OF GOD. If we, by HIS help, can fix our thoughts on this reality then our hearts and affections follow so quickly with love to HIM. The Apostle John is a superb example for us, and this portion of scripture serves us immensely concerning this matter. The text brings us immediately to a personal GOD, who is or ought to be the object of our love and worship and life.
To know who and what GOD is has been a vast mystery that has vexed the minds and souls of our race’s greatest thinkers. So to read of this truth so plainly spelled out for us in the Scriptures is quite astonishing.
The apostle here begins with the familiar Christian saying, “let us love one another”, but he doesn’t stop there. He must continue on, for our benefit, and trace the flood to the fountain by stating, “love is from GOD”. Therefore, love is divine, and proceeds from the nature of GOD alone. So wherever divine love prevails, it does so because of a new nature, from above, implanted by the regenerating work of the HOLY SPIRIT. Is this not exactly what John says; “everyone who loves is born of GOD and knows GOD”, and contrastingly as well, “the one who does not love, does not know GOD, for GOD IS LOVE”.
John is not content with generalities here, and thus continues on and refers us to that great, stupendous manifestation of DIVINE LOVE in the incarnation; “the love of GOD was manifested toward us, that GOD has sent HIS only begotten SON into the world so that we might live through HIM.” One result of this sending of HIS SON was propitiatory. Propitiation proves love, love to sinners especially. (1 Jn. 2:1-2) Propitiatory love is a chief demonstration to us of the Supreme splendor of GOD. The LOVE OF GOD being poured out within our hearts (Romans 5:5) displays more of GOD to us than all works or signs.
Throughout these verses there is this thread connecting the love in GOD’S nature, the love in the atonement, the love in JESUS, and the love in the Church. And the clear explanation is that it is the same love flowing from GOD to us via HIS chosen path, which is HIS TRIUNE work of accomplishing our redemption.
The second place where John explicitly states that ‘GOD IS LOVE’ gives us magnificent application for life; “if you abide in love, you abide in GOD and HE abides in you”. The ONE who made you, who has sustained you, and who has redeemed you makes HIS abode in you. The Love of God ought to be our habitation! We must live there, never going out, or, going out soon to return. HIS LOVE should be our atmosphere, where we live and breathe and love. How is this possible? HE has accomplished it all for us.
Consider the final verse in this passage. “We love, because HE first loved us.” And loving us, HE conquered all barriers to us living in HIM and for HIM in all things.

Concerning Adoption - Biblically.

This was originally preached in January of this year by J. Piper.

Galatians 4:4-8
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
Romans 8:14-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

The biblical foundation for the act of adopting children is primarily in the New Testament rather than the Old. There are only three adoptions in the Old Testament (Moses, Esther, and Genubath, 1 Kings 11:20). Israel is called God’s son (Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 14:1; 32:6; Jeremiah 31:9; Hosea 11:1) but not until the New Testament is this called adoption.

The Foundation of Adoption
The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans. And this act is not part of his ordinary providence in the world; it is at the heart of the gospel. Galatians 4:4-5 is as central a gospel statement as there is: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” God did not have to use the concept of adoption to explain how he saved us, or even how we become part of his family. He could have stayed with the language of new birth so that all his children were described as children by nature only (John 1:12-13, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”). But he chose to speak of us as adopted as well as being children by new birth. This is the most essential foundation of the practice of adoption.

Eight Similarities
What I would like to do is lay out eight similarities between what God did in adoption and what happens in a Christian adoption today. I pray that whether you have adopted, or are engaged in assisting adoptions, or are pondering an adoption, God will use these comparisons to heighten your confidence that God is graciously involved in our adoptions. He has done it himself. He knows what it costs. And he stands ready to support us all the way to the end.

1. Adoption was (for God) and is (for us) costly.
When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)
To redeem means to obtain or to set free by paying a price. What was the price that God paid for our liberation and adoption? In the previous chapter, we heard the answer: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). It cost God the price of his Son’s life.
There are huge costs in adopting children. Some are financial; some are emotional. There are costs in time and stress for the rest of your life. You never stop being a parent till you die. And the stresses of caring about adult children can be as great, or greater, than the stresses of caring for young children. There is something very deep and right about the embrace of this cost for the life of a child!
Few things bring me more satisfaction than seeing a culture of adoption. It means that our people are looking to their heavenly Father for their joy rather than rejecting the stress and cost of children in order to maximize their freedom and comforts. When people embrace the pain and joy of children rather than using abortion or birth control simply to keep children away, the worth of Christ shines more visibly. Adoption is as far as possible from the mindset that rejects children as an intrusion. Praise God for people ready to embrace the suffering—known and unknown. God’s cost to adopt us was infinitely greater than any cost we will endure in adopting and raising children.

2. Adoption did (for God) and does (for us) involve the legal status of the child.
When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:4-6)
There were legal realities God had to deal with. His own justice and law demanded that we be punished and excluded from his presence for our sins. Righteousness was required and punishment demanded. God had to satisfy his justice and his law in order to adopt sinners into his family. This he did by the life, death, and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.
This means that the status of being a son legally preceded the experience of the Spirit coming to give us the affections of sons. We are legally sons before we experience the joy of sonship. The object work of our salvation (two thousand years ago at Calvary) precedes and grounds the subjective experience of our salvation by the Spirit today.
So it is with our adopting children today: The legal transactions precede and under gird the growth of family feelings. If the legal red tape seems long and hard, keep in mind that this tape is not yet red with your blood, but Jesus satisfied all the legal demands precisely by shedding his blood.

3. Adoption was blessed and is blessed with God’s pouring out a Spirit of sonship.
Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:6)
You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8:15-16)
God does not leave us in the condition of aliens when he adopts us. He does not leave us with no feelings of acceptance and love. Rather, he pours his Spirit into our hearts to give us the experience of being embraced in the family. What is remarkable about these two texts is the term abba. It is an Aramaic word. Why then does Paul use it, transliterated, in these two letters written in Greek?
The answer is that it was the way Jesus spoke to his Father, in spite of the fact that virtually no one in Jewish culture referred to God with this endearing word abba. It stunned the disciples. They held onto it as a precious remnant of the very voice of Jesus in the language he spoke. In Mark 14:36, Jesus is in Gethsemane and prays, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Therefore, in adopting us, God give us the very Spirit of his Son and grants us to feel the affections of belonging to the very family of God.
In the mercy of God, in our families God works to awaken affections in adopted children for their parents that are far more than legal outcomes. They are deeply personal and spiritual bonds. Adopted children do not infer that they are our children by checking out the adoption papers. A spirit pervades our relationship that bears witness to this reality. Like the other children in the family, they all cry, “Daddy.”
Praise God that he give us both legal standing as his children and the very Spirit of his Son so that we find ourselves saying from a heart of deep conviction, “Abba, Father.”

4. Adoption was (for God) and is (for us) marked by moral transformation through the Spirit.
All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)
God does not leave his children without help to bear the moral image of the family. We may trust that his help will be there for our children as we bring them under the means of grace that God uses to awaken and transform his children.

5. Adoption brought us, and brings our children, the rights of being heirs of the Father.
Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:6-7)
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:16-17)
Notice that Galatians 4:7 says we are heirs “through God” and Romans 8:17 says we are heirs “of God.” In Galatians, the context is the promise of Abraham—through God, that is, by his sending his Son to redeem us, we are heirs with Abraham (even though many of us are Gentiles!) of his inheritance, namely the world (Romans 4:13). But in Romans 8:17, the context is that we, with Christ, are heirs of all that God has, namely, everything. “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:21).

6. Adoption was (for God) and is (for us) seriously planned.
He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4-6)
Adoption in God’s mind was not Plan B. He predestined us for adoption before the creation of the world. Plan A was not lots of children who never sin and never need to be redeemed. Plan A was creation, fall, redemption, adoption so that the full range of God’s glory and mercy and grace could be known by his adopted children. Adoption was not second best. It was planned from the beginning.
In our lives, there is something uniquely precious about having children by birth. That is a good plan. There is also something different, but also uniquely precious, about adopting children. Each has its own uniqueness. Your choice to adopt children may be sequentially second. But does not have to be secondary. It can be as precious and significant as having children by birth. God is able to make adoption and A+ plan in our lives.

7. Adoption was (for God) and often is now (for us) from very bad situations.
We . . . were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:3)
God did not find us like an abandoned foundling bundled on the front step and irresistibly cute. He found us ugly and evil and rebellious. We were not attractive. We would not be easy children to deal with. And, what’s worse, God himself was angry with us. He hates sin and rebellion. We were then doubly “children of wrath.”
These are the ones God pursued in adoption. Therefore, all of God’s adoptions crossed a greater moral and cultural divide than any of our adoptions could. The distance between what we are, and what God is, is infinitely greater than any distance between us and a child we might adopt. God crossed the greatest cultural barrier to redeem and adopt us.
Consider too, that according to Romans 9:4, the people that God chose in the Old Testament, the Israelites, were adopted out of a terrible situation. “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.” But how was this adoption effected? Hosea 11:1, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” They were slaves in Egypt. But not only that, they were often also rebellious against God. “Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea” (Psalm 106:7).
Therefore, God went and took a son from Egypt who was both enslaved and rebellious. The pattern is set: adoptions do not just come from nice, healthy, safe, auspicious situations.

8. Adoption meant (for all Christans) and means (for Christian parents) that we suffer now and experience glory later.
The whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22-23)
This strikes us as strange. Aren’t we already adopted? Why does Paul say that we are “waiting for our adoption”? Yes, we are already adopted. When Christ died for us, the price was paid, and when we trust him, we are legally and permanently in the family. But God’s purpose for adoption is not to leave any of his children in a state of groaning and suffering. He raised Jesus from the dead with a new body, and he promises that part of our adoption will be a new resurrection body with no more disabilities and no more groaning. Therefore, what we wait for is the full experience of our adoption—the resurrection of our bodies.
There is much groaning in the path of adoption on the way to full salvation. But the outcome is glorious. It is worth it all. “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
This is especially relevant for parents of children with disabilities. They know the “groaning” of this life. All of us have children with some sort of disability, and some of us will live to get very old and watch our children age and die before we do. Others will see their children struck down in war or by accident or disease. Others will care for a disabled child till one of them dies. All of this groaning is groaning in hope because we are adopted by God and destined for a resurrection and an eternal future of health and wholeness and joy. It will be worth it all.

Article on Adoption by Justin Taylor

Just click this link to read the article.

Astonishing. Really.

Malnutrition still affects children in Ethiopia.

Pray for Ethiopia & Eritrea

Please keep these two countries before the Lord !!

God's Men in Jimma

This is Getenet, who pastors in the town of Jimma, which is referenced in the article below.




Pray that God would protect him and cause the Gospel to flourish among this town!





This is Zecharias and Tamarat. They are in the church planter's training program. (PTI)
Ask the Lord to prepare them and send them to proclaim His Son to the unreached of Ethiopia!

Persecution in Ethiopia

Radical Muslims Attacked Christians in South West Ethiopia

10/31/07 Ethiopia (International Christian Concern) - In mid October 2007, radical Muslims attacked houses belonging to Christians, burned down a church and vandalized farm land belonging to Christians in south west Ethiopia. Most of the attacks that occurred against Christians in Ethiopia in 2006 and 2007 have been occurring in the south west part of the country. This article gives background information to the region as well as details of the attacks that occurred in mid October 2007.

Islam in Jimma

The majority of people in the south west Ethiopia are Muslims out of the 3 million estimated people in Jimma region; only 2% are evangelicals while 90% are Muslims. Islam has a long history in this region and Muslims living around the area have been strongly connected to Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and others.

Islamization of Jimma occurred during the reign of King Aba Jifar who was also the last King of Jimma. The province was later absorbed into Ethiopian state in the beginning of 20th Century and that reduced the influence of the king and finally the Kingdom was abolished. But still Aba Jifar’s family has a lot of sway in the province. The descendants of Aba Jifar who live in Arab countries as well as in the West are continuing to influence the growth of Islam in Jimma area.

Muslim fundamentalists and radicals are now taking deep root and are persecuting the churches of Christ. Last year alone, they burned over 800 churches and houses and killed hundreds of Christians. Besides in March 2007 they killed Evangelist Tadesse in broad day light in Jimma town. It is puzzling that no one has been brought to justice for killing the evangelist.

Evangelism in Jimma

No matter how enormous the challenges are, the gospel of Jesus Christ is spreading like wild fire among Muslims in Jimma. Contextual evangelism was launched three years ago by a visionary man of God who had a burden to reach Muslims for Christ. Soon the vision was taken up by an evangelical church which is using it effectively to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ in the Jimma region. So far Muslims are flocking to Christ in great numbers, responding to the calling of the Lord, with 1,100 converting to Christianity and 261 being baptized.

The unique thing about this movement is that it focuses on contextual evangelism than the usual method of evangelism. These converts worship the Lord in the house called "Ruh -Allah Mosque", meaning - The Spirit of Allah that directly refers to Jesus Christ in the Quran. So basically the meaning of their place of worship means the house of the Lord. There is neither Crescent nor Cross on the place of their worship.

They sing in their own context although they sometimes sing like evangelicals do. They are encouraged to pray in their own context as well. The contextualization aspect is attracting more Muslims to easily come to Christ and identify themselves with these true followers of Christ. It is also noted that there are some Muslim leaders who are following Christ with their whole heart but not yet come out and identified with these group. They are teaching their people from the Quran about the Son of God , who is the light, Spirit of Allah, word of Allah, creator, righteous, sign, born, died & rose again, etc.

Christian ministries are also sending students on short and long term mission basis and God's love is continued to be known and touching many Muslims in the area.

Persecution against Christians

The radical Muslims are infuriated due to large number of conversion of Muslims to Christianity and are reacting violently as seen recently in Buyo locality in Jimma. The locality is found in Seka province which is 15 Km away from Jimma town. Nearly two hundred converts from Islam to Christianity live in the village where 95 % of its residents are Muslims.

The violence began on the 14th Oct, 2007 in midnight when the Muslim extremists set a fire to Mr. T's house. Then Mr. T fled to Jimma town to report to the government officials about the incident. The next day, another house was burnt down. This house was the place that used to serve the Christians as their gathering place and it belonged to the missionary named Mr X.

As the Christians in this place were newly converted from the Islam, the radical Muslims were threatening them for the last two weeks saying like, "You can't live here being Christians; we are going to prove it to you very soon"

Then again fives house were set on fire although they were not completely burned down as some people came out and put it off. Yet the houses became out of use as they were damaged severely. Some other houses were also broken into and totally 13 families became homeless and all the Christians, nearly 200, in this village became victims of this violence in one or the other ways. Then 25 people who were targeted in a special way fled to Jimma town and the brethren in Jimma town are providing them with food, shelter and clothing.

Although the Seka province government officials were aware of this violence, they kept quiet until the federal police from Jimma town interfered and commanded them to take actions. It has to be known that the officials in Seka themselves are Muslims and sided with the perpetrators. That is why the victims had to come and report to the federal police when they could have gone to the Seka town Police.

Pressured by the federal police, government officials in Seka town put 13 of the perpetrators in Jail for only one day and released them without taking their case to the court. They held three days meeting with the residents and tried to settle things unfairly. They spoke to the people about religious freedom in Ethiopian constitution and promised the Christian minority that they would be given a plot of land where they can build their church.

In spite of the official's advices and meetings with the people, the Muslim extremists again burned down one house after a week and continued threatening the Christians. The Muslim extremists have continued to perpetrate such acts because there have not been any measures taken against them for their past actions. Mr Y, one of the victims said, "The perpetrators are even getting ready to take a worse action against us provided that the opportunity avails itself.”

It was not only their houses but also their properties were severely damaged. Coffee trees, Avocado trees, Mango trees, banana trees and some other trees that have been the main sources of income were cut down. It takes at least 3 -4 years to get back them in place. This means the Christians have to rely on aid for long time.

This incident is yet another proof that religious freedom is being curtailed in Ethiopia, a country where government alleges that its building democracy and rule of law. The prevalent situation makes it difficult to worship freely in some areas of south western Ethiopia. It is unacceptable that Ethiopian authorities fail to bring perpetrators of such horrible acts to justice despite their constitutional obligation to do so.

Now thirteen families along with their children are with out houses. They are sheltered by friends and relatives not having something to eat and put on by their own.

One of the victims, Mr A, who used to be a famous robber before coming to Christ stated that, "I was running to and living in the bush hide myself from authorities who would arrest me for my crimes. However, when I became a good man and citizen due to the gospel of Jesus Christ, you burned down my house. Well, don't worry, now for the sake of the gospel, I can still go to the bush and live there. The burning down of my home can't make me turn back from Christ."

Another victim Mr B said that, "Standing up on the ashes of the burnt home, I proclaim the gospel of the grace of God"

When asked by their Muslim relatives to leave their husbands and come back to Islam, the women in one accord said, "Forward, Ever! Backward, Never!"

When asked about if they are already getting support from brethren in Jimma & surrounding Mr Z, said, "It breaks my heart that the Christian community here is not fast enough in responding to our situation".

Mr Z, commented on the persecution and said, "What the Muslim extremists are doing to us is making the moderate Muslims to hate Islam and come to Christianity. This in turn continued to annoy the extremists and multiply their attack against us."

Article from persecution.org

Pics of Isaac

Prayer Update - October 28

* The arrival of our son, Isaac, on Monday October 29.


* The provision that is needed for finalization of the adoption.


We do appreciate your praying with/for us!

Isaac Anthony

As you can see, we have met him, and on Monday, October 29 at 7 p.m. he will be placed here with us. Thanks for praying. We urge you to continue!

Prayer Update from Addis

It is early Tuesday morning, the sun is as bright as the noon day back home,
and the birds are filling the cool brisk air with their amazing song. There
is nothing like mornings here! In contrast to the nights, the mornings are
even more noteworthy.

PTI round 3 is complete now and the men have returned to their villages to,
Lord willing, continue the digestion of all that God was pleased to give us
from His word this past week. In your praying for this to happen, please do
lift up round 4 as well, which will occur between January 9-19, if all goes
as scheduled. I am not sure of the specifics of round four as of yet, but
after a short time thinking through where we have been, it will become
increasingly clear where we are to go from here.

The second major project that I needed to accomplish on the trip was to
change houses here in Addis. Our lease was up and we had secured another
home but had yet to move in. This took basically 3 days with a lot of help.
The Lord is incredibly gracious to us here and had granted us with many
outstanding friends. This was a chore that would have been impossible
without their assistance. After two or three loads, a meeting with the
acting owner, and some small errands this too will be completed and a huge
relief to me.

In closing, I covet more than I can express in words, your continued prayers
for Amber, Ellie , and I concerning the growth of our family. Being on
different continents for extended periods of time, roaming to and fro
without a home, all of the normal stresses of life and receiving an addition
to the family seem to be piling up rather rapidly. So, for this we beg your
constant intercession.

Concerning the particulars with the adoption, all of the necessary
information has been exchanged and the baby has been given to us. Upon my
arrival we will have the freedom to schedule a time to meet him, the family
caring for him since birth, and then to take him home with us. The only
other stipulation on our part is the financial one.

God has already begun to provide for this, and we feel certain that in His
mandate to care for orphans He can also supply what is needed to fulfill
this often neglected command from on High. After all, is not the whole of
the Christian life this way? What can we really do within ourselves that
God commands us to do? Absolutely nothing! St. Augustine summed up this idea
wonderfully when he said concerning the Lord and His commands, (and I
paraphrase) "Command whatever You want God...and grant us whatever you
command". Does not scripture back up this quote? We are commanded to repent
and believe the gospel, yet we are completely incapable. Yet God gives us
faith to believe and grants us the gift of repentance toward Him in the
gospel. So, will he not also provide in this very concrete area of gospel
life and ministry?

Thank you for your kind interest in our lives and our ministries.
We appreciate your praying for us especially, and are completely dependant
on God answering your prayers for both our life and our work.

--Anthony--

Update from Addis - PTI 3 - Day 4

I cannot express in words really the gratitude that I feel towards God for
His help in teaching this week. Nor can I adequately thank you for your
involvement, whatever it may be.

Today was especially aided it seemed. We arrived in our journey of Sin at
the point where sin was first committed by humans and thus passed down by
imputation to all of humanity. This concept, it appeared, had never been
entertained before, at least not to any extent. We looked extensively at
Genesis 3 and then turned to Romans 5 to see how that initial iniquity has
so deeply affected us all.

Following lunch, in the afternoon, we considered 2 Samuel 11-12 which is
David's fall into sin, the consequences of that fall, and also his eventual
repentance toward God. The effects of a seemingly 'small' sin are so evident
in this passage. David is lazy, and is not where he is supposed to be
fighting a war with his people. This, on the surface, appears such an
insignificant issue. However, it leads to only more sin and that sin carries
with it more severe consequences. Laziness begets lust and lust leads to
adultery. David eventually encourages Uriah, who is one of his mighty men,
to indulge in drink and causes him sin. Then, David orders Uriah to the
front lines to be killed so that the adultery would be hidden from the eyes
of men. Uriah is murdered, but David's method of covering is insufficient
and God does find him out. When Nathan is sent to David with a story to
point out David's sin, David does see the sin in the life of the man in the
story but is completely unaffected by his own sin. It is so easy for us to
see the sin in others, even when we are wrapped up in the worst of evils.
God pronounces never-ending war on David's house, and promises that evil
with come upon him from within his own home. God also warns David that the
child that his sin has brought forth will not live. It is in the midst of
this that Nathan points out to David that he is that man in the story whom
David suggest should die, and David is granted grace to repent before God
for sinning against Him.

My translator even commented today that he had never considered that sin was
primarily against God. He said that he thought it only affected him and
maybe his family. My hope is that many others were confronted with this
staunch truth and will begin to deal with the reality of sin being a sure
thief of God's glory.

Please pray that God would deal thoroughly in the hearts of these men, so
that they may experientially know these great truths and Lord willing one
day accurately apply them in fellow brother's and sister's lives.

Day 2...

Though it may be some time before you read this b/c I do not have internet, I will offer an update anyway. Today went well I believe. The men seem attentive and some even effected by what we are discussing. Some of the application that I used today was from Old Testament narratives. Here is just a snippet from one of them.

1 Samuel 2:12-36 Eli and his sons:
The sons failed to learn the law of God and His expectations for them resulting in them despising the Lord and committing all kinds of gross sin. Eli did an insufficient job of rebuking them and dealing with the sin in his sons. God declares that his sons will die and no one in his family will ever live past the prime of their life. In Chapter 3:14 God declares that the iniquity of the house of Eli will be never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering. That is quite a judgment resulting from not knowing the word of God, and for not dealing with sin thoroughly and biblically.