Dear friends in Jesus,
We are grateful for your gift toward sending the Lutheran worship programs into the homes and villages in the most remote places in Africa. City dwellers listen and worship too and prisoners as well. ARM staffer Wondimu Mateos received a letter inviting him to visit the Wolaita prison in the south of Ethiopia and he met seven hundred prisoners worshipping around the radio! Thirty-one were baptized and more are being prepared for baptism. One prison warden told him that he is welcome to visit anytime because they see a positive difference in the attitudes of the prisoners since they have begun listening to the programs. Wondimu was touched by their simple request for a few Bibles.
Sadly, Wondimu also reported that the Somalis and other fundamentalist Muslims in the region have declared jihad against Ethiopia to claim the country completely for Islam. There are troubling reports from Ethiopian pastors who are appealing through Wondimu for your help. They tell us that in October fifty churches were burned and nineteen Christians died because they would not submit to Allah. Some Christians did renounce their faith rather than watch their families be murdered and then be killed themselves. The Church in Ethiopia is suffering and it asks for our help.
They are not backing down but ramping up with bold plans and strategies for evangelism. ARM radio programs are part of their campaign because Muslims are coming to Christ as a result of the Spirit led law/Gospel sermons of pastor Demalash. In fact there are some twenty radio cell churches whose members are former Muslims. And these are only the few that are brave enough to write to inform us about their fellowship. Most prefer to remain anonymous for fear of persecution.
This historical opportunity before us now is similar to the one given to the Church during the reign of Ghengis Khan when the Mongol leaders formally invited missionaries to come and tell them about Jesus. The missionaries came and stayed for a very brief time but then no follow up visits by other Christians were made until the twentieth century. Islam, however, entered that Asian region during that period and today the region is solidly Muslim. Ethiopians are spiritually open to receiving the Gospel but they are also receiving Islam - by persuasion and by force.
Praise God for our faithful Ethiopian brothers in the faith and pray that stability will return to the parts of Ethiopia where the fundamentalists are persecuting our family in Christ. Please, prayerfully take it one step further and tell others about the need to support ARM and the programs that are setting the prisoners free for all time.
In His service,
Rev. John and Kathy Duitsman
Send financial support to:
Mr. Gary Thies, LCMS
Mission Development Coordinator, 40718 Hwy E16
Mapleton, Iowa 51034
