Chagni-Bullen Mission Report

Tuesday, January 04, 2006
African Enterprise

The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up (Mat 4:16).

Yes indeed light sprung up in Chagni- Bullen and surrounding cities. Praise the Lord.

The ratio of Evangelical Christians to total population in Ethiopia is about 1:7. However in Chagni-Bullen and surroundings it is much smaller, something like 1:1000. The area is highly dominated by traditional beliefs and syncretistic faith and practices. So, doing evangelistic mission in the area is like sailing against the tide.

In some of the cities, the preachers were prepared to accept any kind of opposition or persecution, as the area is well known for such a kind of violent resistance. It was only about 2 years ago now since an evangelical Christian brother was beaten to death by some religious fanatics in one of the mission centers. Even now as the mission was being carried out in some of the cities, people were throwing stones on church roof-tops throughout the mission period.

Yet in the midst of raining stones and fearsome situations, people came in their hundreds to the evangelistic mission centers (churches) and some 110 people made first time commitments. An even a bigger number recommitted their lives to the Lord. Many were healed from various sicknesses, freed from demonic possessions. Another outstanding feature of the mission was the pouring down of the Holy Spirit. Some were baptized for the first time and many were filled with the Holy Spirit. For instance, one of the AE board members reporting what he saw in his assigned preaching site said, I could not believe my eyes, seeing bare footed, poor farmers, men, women and children being filled with the Holy Spirit and joyfully praying in tongues. I think while Jesus was on earth, He must have ministered to such kind of people.

A pastor in Bullen who was in charge of local coordination, was taken by surprise to see 43 people accepting the Lord in that town. Old and young, men and women came forward to declare their commitment. Bullen is a district center for the Shinasha people group. He said, “I was praying to see if 1 person could accept the Lord, and now what I see is a flood of people. This is beyond my comprehension”. He is also cheerily amazed to see a clan member of one of the Shinasha people group accepting the Lord. He is identified as the first convert of the clan. So this mission freed many from sin-bondage and crossed clan boundaries/ barriers.

Because of what the Lord did in these cities, Church leaders of the area say, the cities and the region as a whole will never be the same. Altogether it was a joyous and unforgettable moment. Oh, praise the Lord.

AE was happy to have on board 3 of its Board members as evangelists in this mission team. The mission team composed of 25 people, from 8 evangelical denominations.

Dear brethren, thank you all for your prayers and support.

In His service
Melisachew Mesfin
Team Leader