There is Hope
Hiruy Tsige, Ethiopian national overseer, relates how they are starting to reach out to the Ghurage tribe, another largely unreached ethnic group of 1.8 million people, living about 100 miles southwest of Addis Ababa, the capital city.
It is gratifying to see how the people of the Harvest Church of God in Ethiopia continue to accomplish much, despite their very limited material resources. Hiruy Tsige, national overseer, shared with me how they are starting to reach out to the Ghurage tribe, another largely unreached ethnic group of 1.8 million people, living about 100 miles southwest of Addis Ababa, the capital city. The Ghurage are deeply involved with Islam and have so far resisted the Christian message. Nevertheless, 30 potential workers and evangelists of the Harvest Church gathered there in early August for a first training session to plant new churches among the Ghurage.
Phase One
In southern Ethiopia, Phase 1 of the Martin Kielwein Memorial Bible School complex is nearing completion. In April and May 2009, two teams of skilled volunteers from the Church of God in Germany installed the water and sewer system as well as a solar water heater. They also tiled most of the floors of the dining hall, kitchen, guest rooms and bathrooms. Another group from Germany plans to finish the tiling later this fall. After the construction and finishing work is done, the new facility will then need to be furnished—another project for us to tackle.
The Slums
During a visit in March 2009, I had the privilege to go with a couple of workers from the church into a major slum area of Addis Ababa, to visit several families. It was moving to witness in the midst of all the squalor how these impoverished families responded with so much gratitude and joy to the ministry and help they received from the church. Despite an immense construction boom, Addis Ababa is still home to a vast number of utterly poor people, barely eking out a subsistence living—women, by washing clothes for 30 cents a day; men, by breaking rocks into gravel with a hammer for two dollars a day, and others by begging along the roadways or giving themselves to prostitution.
But there is hope for Ethiopia! God is using the Harvest Church of God to minister salvation and healing. Thank you for sharing in this harvest with your prayers and partnership. I would not know of another place where investment reaps more eternal dividends than in Ethiopia.
Heinrich and Lisa Scherz
Associate Missions Representative
Martin Kielwein Memorial Bible School Fund
Ethiopia
Project Number 1527005
© 2009 Church of God World Missions
