Indigenous Outreach International: January 2009

January Team to Ethiopia and Bible Conference

Patrick and I just got back from Ethiopia after taking a team of seven brothers from the states to see the work there. The team members were; A C Curtis and his son Jon, Ted James, Skip Purdy, Steve Foglesong, Claude Wilson and David Mondt. It was a joy to see how the Lord put this team together and how each were a vital part of what the Lord had us do while there.

The week began with attending Kebebush's wedding. She has been supported by IOI for almost five years. It was a great blessing to see the answer to her many prayers for a godly husband.

Monday through Wednesday found the team along with Negash, Fikere, and myself in the countryside, visiting the new churches planted in the Oromo region. We saw nine different villages and churches that the Lord has planted in each of these. Patrick and Fikadu met over these three days discussing the progress of Sanctuary Village being registered with the government, and looking at the land we would like to use for the village. Many exciting things are going on with Sanctuary Village, pray that the Lord would bring it to pass.

Above was our mode of transportation, keep in mind there were 10 of us in there which made sure that we were all very close by the end of the trip.

At each of the locations in the countryside Negash asked us to "bring what ever word the Lord has given you from the scriptures". Pictured is Steve giving a word of encouragement to the church at Tulobolo, which is where we slept that evening.

After returning to Addis we had the annual Bible Conference for the IOI missionaries. The theme was based off of 1 John 4:1-6 and dealt with testing the spirits to see if they be from God. It was a good conference and our time with these brothers and sisters was a great joy, reminding us of why we do what we do, in short we love these dear ones in Christ.

After finishing the conference and meeting with all the missionaries we spent a few hours showing the team the wonderful work of the True Light Childcare Project. We played with the 102 children, distributed Christmas gifts brought for them, and then visited some of their homes. Above is a picture of some of the homes that we visited with a crowd of beautiful children holding our hands.

We praise the Lord for the time He gave us in Ethiopia and for the team that He put together. Doing this ministry is truly a joy because we are again reminded of how much we believe in what God has given us to do. May He continue to be so gracious as to use us to bless these dear brothers and sisters in Christ.