GLOBAL D

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MARCH 2015 U

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BACKGROUND - ETHIOPIA

Located in the Horn of Africa surrounded by Islamic states

Population: The second populous nation in Africa next to Nigeria with 93 million followed by Egypt 83 million (2014)

Religious: Coptic Orthodox 43.5%, Islam 33.9% and Evangelicals18.6%, Catholic 0.7% and Traditional 2.6% and others 0.7%

The oldest Church outside the Middle East according to Acts 8:27 Christianity officially adopted as state religion in the 4th century. Coptic Orthodox Church is still the dominating religion the nation

Economy – largely depended from the Agricultural export: coffee, flora, skin & hides, gold

VISION CONFERENCES

The wholistic Biblical Vision conference in Ethiopia began:

1998 - FH staff exposed to the wholistic Biblical teaching (in Kenya Nairobi)

1999 - the first Vision Conference is hosted by FH Ethiopia and delivered by Bob and Darrow for 164 church and Para-church leaders.

2001- the second VC also delivered by Bob and Darrow, where it was organized in partnership with FH and ECFE for nearly 800 church leaders, pastors and Bible college Instructors, Christian NGO and practitioners;

ECFE - Evangelical Churches Fellowship of Ethiopia

PARTNERSHIP WITH ECFE

ECFE is umbrella organization that embraced over 45,000 congregations that account 18.6% of Ethiopian population

Denominations – 36 denominations such as Lutherna, Baptist, Pentecostal, Mennonites and independents etc

71 Christian NGOs – (World Vision, Compassion, FH and many Local Christian NGOs) and more than 7 Seminaries and Bible colleges;

PHASE I (2002-2007)The strategic opportunity partnering with ECFE facilitated

through its organized structure to the grass root level;It has 8 regional, 61 Zonal and 514 local fellowship offices

that coordinates all evangelical churches in Ethiopia for training and evangelism works.

Such strategic partnership (being seconded staff to ECFE from 2000-2010) has built trust and contributed for churches to open their doors for the Biblical wholistic training.

As a result, over 300 Vision Conferences for over 12,000 leaders were made possible (over 12 years)

Challenge: it was the first ever the freedom of religion is proclaimed in the nation after Communist regime, and many churches were engaged in an open conferences

there were very little openness for VC and change in practice due to Ethiopian conservative culture that resist changes. The development work is given to NGO’s.

PHASE II (2008-2012)These was the years of openness for more

trainings:NGOs supported for the material to be translated and to be printed into the official language

Other NGOs and Churches began to invite for the training by organizing and supporting the cost.

Churches began practicing seed project that helped to get connected with their local community for the first time ;

3 Seminaries incorporated the teaching into their curriculum with the title “The Role of the Church in Society”

2nd and 3rd generations are done to multiply trainers both in regions and among denominations.

Challenges: More invitation for training and less in follow up and experience sharing.

PHASE III (2012-2015)

The major focuses are: strategy to enable each nation or regions or denominations to produce their own trainers;

Training of Trainers Mentorship Sectorial trainings Assist to produce instructors for Bible college or Seminary to teach Focus on University Christian students – there are 30 university campus

with over 30,000 students and such training enable equipping & mobilizing the next professional and church leaders

Strategic Focus

Modeling local churches on sectorial basis

Produce more Incarnational Missionary trainers to enable them working with the rural community

I. Training & progress status (2014)Horn of Africa VC TOT Mentorship Sectors Regional

Trainers

1 Ethiopia churches

2nd & 3rd Generation

s

40 15 3* 5

Emmanuel united church

2,480 80 24 12*

University Christian students

1,200 20

2 Eritrea 62 25 2

3 Djibouti 45

4 Somalia

* Business, Education, Family ** Government & Law, Social, Agriculture & Environment, Engineering & Architecture, Economy, Business, Finance (Acct, bankers), Health, Education, service sector (waiters, drivers), Art & Music, science & technology). Life work seminar & bible study has been done with gate keepers and core group formed.*** Christian TV program on worldview & wholistic ministry for one year long.

II. Wholistic achievement in a Rural setting

Activities in the last 5 years Numbers

1 Wholistic missionaries trained 475

2 Church planted 1,500

3 Leadership training 5,500

4 Functional Adult literacy (FAL) program in selected communities

4 communities with 160/HHs

5 Building Church in the local context by the local community participation.

5 local building

IMPACTS AND LESSON LEARNED

The missionaries are identified and trained with biblical wholism from within the community. That helped;

Not to be seen as a foreign in the community’s regarding the culture, language and to the environment

Leading by example as Development Agents (DA) by being incarnation ally Less costly to support Exhibited appreciation and recognition is given to the church by local

government and open up their mind and heart to learn from more from the missionaries;

160 families are organized and saved small money then began investing in cash crops, horticulture production, bee heaving, fattening animals etc., which enable to provide quality product, balanced diet and earn profit by selling

Traditional Muslims are also open to learn and received the Lord as their Lord and savior

WHOLISTIC IMPACT

• Local toilet is constructed environment pollution reduced and becomes attractive place to live and less to creating sickness

• Hand washing becoming common and as a result the exposure to deharia greatly reduced;

• Potable water constructed – the community labored in digging the hole and placed the hand pump support from outside. More healthier community and less dependent on external sources

• Missionaries used church places for the children of the community to teach writing and reading.

PIT LATRINE, HORTICULTURE, HAND PUMP WATER

COMPOST, BEE HAIVING, FATTENING

WORSHIP, SCHOOL FOR KIDS