From Workbenches to Mission Fields: The Ethiopian Church on the Move

Greetings from Asheville, North Carolina, where I'm attending the forum for the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication, part of Campus Crusade for Christ.  This is a network of more than 110 global church planting organizations.

The last stop of my recent trip to East Africa was in Ethiopia, with most of my time in Wolayta Soddo, about 320 km outside of Addis Ababa.  Our relationship with the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church (EKHC) goes back to 2016, as the first formal denomination with whom we partnered.  At the time, they had 10,000 churches, 10 million members.  Today, they have approximately 14,000 churches and more than 12 million members.  

The DML leader for EKHC, Yoseph Bekele, had a marketplace ministry on his heart for years before meeting DML, and because of this calling from God on his life, the ministry has flourished.  Yoseph travels to more than 70+ villages and towns every year - that is more than one per week - to share the message that work should be done as an act of worship.  He hosts a TV show for EKHC twice per week to teach this message.  He has brought the teaching to the youth ministry, men's ministry, women's ministry, and family ministry.  He teaches that poverty is not the lot of Christians and that our generous God seeks for his people to flourish and to be generous as well.

And that message is landing with changes that are noticeable.  

Last week we met with newly elected leaders of the denomination (who supervise 10,000+ fulltime ministers and 30,000 elders) to ensure that they also have an understanding of the theology of work and to hear many testimonies of believers and church leaders who are seeing the impact of working "as unto the Lord."

In Wolaita Soddo alone, there are 48 EKHC churches.  Together, the business people have formed an association that numbers more than 3,000, gathering regularly to encourage, equip, learn, and share.  They are seeing business growth and jobs being created.  

And they have planted 155 churches, sent 370 missionaries (with a goal of reaching 500 missionaries), and built seven homes for widows.  

Amazing.  

When the church is unleashed from the building, it's amazing what can happen.

When people are affirmed that their work is part of the mission of God - that their role is not limited to paying for and praying for the "real" work of the church which happens in the building - it's amazing what can happen.

Thanks to the partnership of many of you, we placed four additional fulltime DML leaders in four regions of Ethiopia, and with God's help, we hope to add seven more next year.

I can't even share all the testimonies and stories that we heard, but I will share one more.

In several countries now, a theology of work has entered into prisons, and Ethiopia is one of those countries.  Most prisoners are expected to work and there are sometimes opportunities for them to earn some money by doing so.  When the message reaches these prisoners that their work matters to God, and that they can contribute by doing their work as an act of worship, things begin to change.  Work gets done with excellence, with joy, and with integrity.  And one person shared that the prison where they are serving has now sent six missionaries.  The prisoners are pooling their limited resources, seeking to be a blessing for others, and are coving the costs of these missionaries.

Absolutely amazing.  Only God.

It's how He made us to work in harmony and cooperation for the building of His church, to His glory.

What a joy to watch, listen, learn, and participate.

The visit in Ethiopia ended with meeting with two other denominations who want to get started with DML.  Up until now, the EKHC has consumed all of Yoseph's time, but the pressure has been increasing, and we think the time has finally come for him to share some of his time with other churches.  

As always, we ask for your prayers in this!

Lastly, we also ask for your prayers for Ethiopia.  Inflation has been very significant in the last few years (resulting in EKHC just approving a 100% salary increase for their staff!), and democracy is also struggling.  You can read more about this in this article but it is worrisome for the citizens who experienced a few good years of change and now see that slipping away.