Tangible Ministry in Ethiopia

By Stephen Kennedy
Mission Coordinator
The emergency assistance fund was established last year as we heard of the tangible needs of some of the ministers in Ethiopia. In January we left $390 USD with Negash to use for meeting emergency needs for the missionaries. On behalf of all the ministers who received help in tangible ways, he wrote last month, thanking from his heart all who gave. Below is what all was able to be done for less than four hundred dollars.
Aid for Merkebu, Seyefu, Gelana and their wives on the occasion of them all having children born into their families. Yerga and his family received some help toward a new house. Kaleb received an MRI to see if surgery would be able to help reduce the pain in his hips as he walks. Awash Buni Church was given assistance toward buying a house church near the main road. Chaka’s wife was helped with some medical expenses. Mellese was able to go to the eye doctor and get glasses.
After all of this there is still more for Kaleb to return to the doctor and to help Matteows who will see a doctor next month.
I was amazed and very encouraged by how much was done with so little. It is a blessing to serve these dear ones in Christ not only with a little monthly support but to also come alongside of them in times of need. We continue to have the emergency assistance fund available for the brothers and sisters in Christ that He has yoked us with in love.

Cafe Ministry Planned for Addis

A plan is developing to open a coffee shop, guest-house and English language reading room in Addis Abeba for the purpose of outreach ministry and discipleship, as well as a means to facilitate future teams through IOI.
A similar ministry in another part of Addis facilitates over 1,000 students per week and many students have been converted.
We are currently seeking investors for the coffee house venture. The estimated cost of this phase of the project is $20,000.00 US.
There is a need for a team that will go to Ethiopia to establish this ministry. There will also be future opportunities for interns to teach ESL.
You may receive a pound of Ethiopia coffee for donations to this ministry through www.BishopBeard.com. Donations go toward the establishment of the café ministry in Addis.

Missionary Profile - Belaynesh

Belaynesh was born in 1972 in a rural agricultural region of Ethiopia known as Eastern Gojame Mota.
While in the eighth grade, she made a profession of faith in Jesus after hearing the gospel from her older sister, who had become a believer after moving to the south of Ethiopia. Some years later, Belaynesh was baptized by a visiting evangelist who helped to start a church in her region.
Her conversion and membership in the evangelical church caused her to receive persecution from family members. Her uncle is an Orthodox priest and he threatened her to change her mind concerning faith in Christ or he would kill her.
While having many Christ-exalting traditions, some rural Orthodox priests remain ignorant of the gospel and oppose the preaching of salvation by faith in the evangelical sense. For many of the Orthodox, the church and its traditions are the means of salvation and the way that faith is received. Belaynesh was unable to remain in the Orthodox church and was forced to leave home.
She moved to Bahir Dar and the adjustment to city life was difficult. She gained employment as a teacher and joined a fellowship of believers.
“God spoke to my heart during that time in Bahir Dar,” she said, “that someday I would become a bible lady.” Two years later she moved to Addis Abeba to pursue the calling of ministry.
The first years in Addis were financially difficult. “I struggled with life,” she said. “My physical and spiritual well-being was under attack”
During this time of loneliness and desperation, she often thought of how she could have remained home and married a wealthy man. “For sure I would not have the peace that I have today,” she said. “Jesus saved me because He loves me. This I know.”
Belaynesh served several years in Addis in ladies ministry and evangelical outreach. She said during this time, “God brought me out of the darkness by using my sister as a witness. In the same way I need to be a witness to my people.”
In 2005 Belaynesh was married after years of praying for a godly husband. God sent her a husband that not only is a fellow believer but also a minister. They are now able to minister alongside each other. Belaynesh meets often with women in their home for prayer and bible study while her husband is working on a new church plant in Badessa, where they moved just over a year ago.
Belaynesh and Teferi (her husband) now have two little boys and praise God for His provision and faithfulness. Belaynesh shared that Badessa is a strongly Islamic area and is a place of great persecution and sectarian violence. Belaynesh asks for prayer that God’s Spirit would move, bring men to faith and repentance in Badessa, and also for the “ongoing fellowship, unity and love for all attached to this ministry until the end of time.”

Bread Ovens to be Provided

It is our desire to not only send enough support to help families eke out an existence. We want to minister holistically, to improve the whole economy of life for our brothers and sisters.
With this in mind, Arlene Norton has begun raising funds to purchase ovens that will allow mothers of TLCP supported children to bake local bread and sell it. This will enable these families to add to their very small income with a business that is not based on ongoing support.
Arlene has already raised $1000.00 of the $3000.00 goal which will be enough to purchase every mother in the program an oven who desires one.
Pray that Arlene can meet this goal and that God will use these ovens to feed His own.

Churches supporting the new SPARK Outreach Programme

BALLYMONEY, NORTHERN IRELAND, UK
Published Date: 13 May 2009 (Ballymoney Times)

CHURCH leaders gathered at the Mayor's Parlour in Ballymoney last week for the official launch of the SPARK 09 Outreach Prgramme.

Press officer, Dr. James Wilson, thanked the Mayor, Councillor John Finlay, for hosting the launch.

He said: "I am absolutely thrilled that so many of the Reformed churches in Ballymoney have opted to support the initiative."

I first came across SPARK whilst working amongst the communities in Ballymena, and was impressed how it motivated young Christians to get out of their confounded holy huddles and get out amongst the people, showing the characteristics of the Lord Jesus in their community; loving compassionate, kind, humble - loving their neighbour in practical ways."

The SPARK programme will effectively run from Monday to Saturday, August 10 to 15 and will involve projects such as: litter picks, free face painting, free games, free gospel concerts, night time coffee bars and free football coaching by the highly-acclaimed FIFA approved Coaching 4 Christ team.

The teams will be drawn from local churches and the teaching pastor for the week will be Stephen Kennedy from Indigenous Outreach, Jackson, Tennessee.In his reply, Cllr. Finlay congratulated the Ballymoney churches on adopting SPARK.

He said: "One hundred and fifty years ago young men from Ballymena carried the spark of the '59 revival to Ballymoney."As Mayor of the Borough and a committed Christian, it is my sincere prayer that the actions, deeds and witness of these young people will, indeed, be the spark mightily used by God in transforming lives and reviving our churches again."