Ethiopia – Muslims find Jesus

In February 2024 we started the first two-week basic training in Ethiopia to start a multiplicative discipleship movement in this region. 29 people from a Muslim background chose Jesus and 50 people came back to Jesus from Islam. At the end of the training, we were able to form 7 broadcast teams and broadcast in three regions.

Bale is a large region in Ethiopia in the Oromo area. About 99% of the 1,5 million people are Muslim and have never heard of Jesus as Savior. Together with our long-standing partner in Ethiopia, we have decided to venture into this new area and start a movement. To this end, Pascal traveled to the border region of Bale in December 2023 and shared the vision and strategy with the local churches. The leaders were very open and saw our coming as a response from God. A few weeks later we conducted the first training session. This was very fruitful. In the two weeks, 29 Muslims decided for Jesus. Including several families. Unfortunately, since Islam is very dominant in this border region and discipleship is lacking, churches often experience Christians converting to Islam. During the training, in addition to the 29 new converts, 50 converts to Islam also converted back to Jesus. What a joy, thank you Jesus. We would like to share with you a few testimonials from the training.

Mother struggles with death

On the first day, a team was asked to visit a family with a sick mother. This team went to the family home during the first outreach, but they sent the Muslim relatives away again. The team came back from the outreach disappointed. But they were even more amazed the next day. There were two Christians in the family. They brought the young mother to the training ground on her motorcycle. The young mother could not walk or talk. She also hadn't eaten or drank for 8 days. She was clearly struggling with death. The relatives reported an incident in the family over a week ago. At that time, the mother wanted to get ready for the mosque and wash. Two neighboring women came into their house. As they began the ablution, the young mother suddenly changed. The relatives said she had suddenly gone crazy. She took a knife and attacked her family, slightly injuring two people. She has been unresponsive since then. The trainees began to pray for her and God revealed that the young mother was plagued by demons. They were invited into occult rituals by their grandmother. Over the course of the day, family members repeatedly came to the training ground to see how the young mother was doing. Including the grandmother. She looked after the young mother's newborn baby. At first the grandmother didn't want to turn back, but she said: "If my daughter gets well, I will believe in Jesus." The young mother stayed on the premises overnight and the trainees looked after her. To everyone's delight, she began speaking again the next morning. She also started drinking again and eating a little. When the grandmother saw this, she repented and chose Jesus. The young mother did the same. The two women and the newborn remained at the training ground for the next few days. Family members came by every day and the trainees were able to tell them about Jesus. So the husband also came and heard about Jesus and saw with his own eyes how Jesus performs miracles. It was a touching moment when, in the middle of a teaching, the young mother stood up independently and left the room. A training team is now continuing to support this family.

Families choose Jesus

During the days of training, the trainees found many houses of peace, and several families chose Jesus. It is a great joy how God works:

A team came to a Muslim house. The family was worried about a sick sheep. As the team prayed, the sheep healed instantly. This was a powerful work for the family and they said: “We want to get to know and worship this God!”

Another team visited a family, but they were not open and did not want to talk. The next day the team went to this family a second time and was able to pray for the mother. An evil spirit came out of the mother. Then the father and mother called their adult children together and they all chose Jesus.

One evening a team had a vision of a paralyzed woman being healed. The next day they followed up on this vision and were able to pray for a paralyzed woman in a house. An evil spirit came out and the woman was able to walk again.

Resistance and persecution

The greater Bale region is considered a stronghold in Ethiopia. The first attack two years ago resulted in physical violence against the trainees and trainers. We had also experienced spiritual resistance from Begin in the Bale zone. When we arrived, the entire Oromo region was placed under military supervision. This is because of increasing violence by the rebels. On the first evening of the training, a group of Muslims threw a fist-sized stone onto the church roof during prayer time. We later learned from the trainees that the Muslims were planning attacks and ambushes in the mosques. This news initially paralyzed the trainees and they no longer wanted to continue the broadcast service. But that very day we taught them about persecution and they were able to apply the principles in persecution that evening. Especially not to allow yourself to be paralyzed by fear and anxiety, but rather the joy of the spirit casts out the fear of the enemy (Neh.8,10:XNUMX). The next day the trainees left again full of faith and reported strong encounters the next evening.

At the end of the training, we were able to form 7 broadcast teams and broadcast in three regions. We will soon be conducting the second part of the basic training.