Our Lord not only opened doors to make this trip possible but continually blessed through His presence and the power in His word as we shared the message of being “in Christ” with our brothers and sisters in Christ in this ancient land of biblical beginnings.
My host, Mulugeta Ashagre, is the head of the Ethiopian Brethren Church denomination. This mature body of believers comprises more than 200 churches and growing. My task was to encourage pastors, congregations and support groups in the reality of God’s presence among them. That is to say, we took a hard look at being “in Christ."
To set the scene, Ill share one quick story illustrating the pace of church life in this growing Africa country. I emerged out the gate late at the Bola airport on my arrival on a Sunday morning in “Addis." Mulugeta spots me coming through the fenced gateway to the outside parking area. He greets me with a hurried motion to an awaiting car and driver. My flight was about a 14 hour non-stop ride and I am unshaved and feeling a little grungy.
Mulugeta advises me we are running late and we have a long drive. I ask where we are going, not having a clue.
“You are preaching this morning in Gingy and we are late,” he informs me.
I guess he assumed I walked around, like most pastors should, with a sermon at the ready in my hip pocket. He didn’t know, and I didn’t tell him, this would be my first real “sermon."
Over an hour later we are seated on the platform of a packed church, over a thousand people, literally. Unknown to anybody, except myself, my only preparation was my faith. And that was enough! I opened to 2Cor 4:7 inspired by the children who went forward to be blessed before leaving to their own service. It was short but a day or two later Mulugeta asked me to preach the same sermon to his own home church where God enabled me to do a longer version.
I preached four sermons in four different church locations and held numerous study sessions with pastors and leaders. Most sessions were in the church office compound where I had use of a small white board. Second Corinthians 5:17 and Gal. 2:20 were our primary go to references leading to the reality of 2Cor. 4:7cf in our daily experience.
One sermon was at a country church were we drove most of the way but then had to leave the car and walk less than an hour on a narrow trail, stepping on rocks to get to the other side of a stream. It was a special service on a Thursday afternoon, a workday, and people had to walk an hour our so to show up. There were about 300 people there. The last Sunday I spoke at a “new church plant” which was constructed from rolled metal sheeting on all four sides and roof. There were no windows but it was packed holding about 100 people.
Addis Ababa is the capitol of Ethiopian. The greater population area is around 6 million people. Its growing population expands beyond its proposed area. The “belt way” around the city, called the ring road, is now contained within the center of the city. It is a hodgepodge of new and old construction. There are no superstores. You buy your groceries from simple one room store fronts or open air markets.
There is new construction everywhere but mostly inactive waiting on financing or construction materials. Eucalypts are growing every where for construction material. They are also the poles and braces used for scaffolding.
Traffic is horrendous. DC and LA are mild compared to the “no rules” driving in Addis. Small three wheel taxis are everywhere and old cars are kept running while taxes on cars can triple the costs of buying a replacement vehicle. Smog is a pollution issue.
But within the helter skelter of these heterogeneous masses are pockets of life characterized by the divine living presence of the resurrected Jesus. The Ethiopian Brethren Church has a small compound located south of the city center. It is the scene of constant activity from 6 or 7 in the morning till at least 7 in the evening. There is an office staff during the working hours and then there are the “boys” coming in and out all day long. The complex includes a small kitchen, dormitory rooms, offices, meeting rooms and an open court that can provide useful drying spaces for sheets, towels and all kinds of paraphernalia.
These precious people are disciplined, very gracious and loving. They are also very proud and eager to demonstrate their God given skills and prowess. They have spiritual hunger and are eager to feast on manna God may provide. There is a spiritual quality in the hearts of these dear saints that is open to receive the ministry of God’s grace. The capacity to “connect” with this body of believers is very high. They are eager to discern the Spiritual things of their Lord and Savior, He is their Lord and Savior!
The ministry to me as a visiting “pastor” was the pervasive love in the souls of these beloved people for whom the Lord is their God. There was an innate blending of our minds because the Spirit of our Lord was their joining us in a union which was an evidence of His presence affirming both my being there and participating in their worship.
I was invited to return in a year but after we were together ministering the “year” was changed to six months. Their expectation is that I come back in April and minister to some the congregations more remote and further away from the big city of Addis Ababa. This means I will have to get my yellow fever shots if I come again.
The lessons for me personally were related to my personal faith. The Lord enabled me some growing time in faith so that I was without fear and in complete assurance doing what was beyond my capacity to do. I was able to respond to God’s grace in His Spirit with a deepening capacity I am not able to frame into words. This sense of His being is still with me and ministers to me in my need which is much bigger than my soul can consume even though I have a deep knowing His grace is “so much more.” We need to pray for each other and our brothers whom are contending with things we know nothing about.
The other circumstance that grabbed my attention is the poor physical conditions these people accept because they lack the resources to change and accept, in stead, their poor circumstances.
Their plumbing in Ginchy is PVC lying above ground and their electric is wire strung from building to building held together by tape. The Ginchy compound is well maintained in the higher use areas but over grown and unsightly in the less used areas.
Their passion is to fund more church planters into full time service and fulltime pastors as well. They have constant training in place at their church office compound. They have people ready and anxious to serve but not the resources to send them out into the areas of ministry and need. They have several church locations where they need to provide structures for ministry where they meet in small homes and shelters. They also need to provide school structures in some of these same ministry locations but are without the means.
It has been brought to my attention that too much construction support creates a support dependency that is unhealthy for self sustenance. There is, of course, valid evidence to support this point of view, and we know the lessons within our own families, but as a hard fast principle to apply in all circumstances, it may be a different matter.
I am certainly not an expert in these matters and have only a cursory understanding of things I observed in Addis, but I do know for certain, we are dependent creatures intended to rely upon a Creator who has mandated His Body certain principals of love within His church under His care and shepherding. So it is, within the context of His grace, we are to move and submit to each other according to our need and according to His provisions.
We are always subject to our finite vulnerabilities. We need to constantly be in the Spirit so that we are not seduced by our human point of view. I’m not suggesting the admonishment I received was in this category, but rather it is a flag of warning to us about our vulnerabilities to observe in submission what the Lord would have is to do.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”