Mission Blog From Ethiopia, Africa
Read our Amazing stories and blog from Africa in 2008
SUNDAY OCTOBER 25,
Last service in Africa, but we will be back! + reflections.
This Sunday both Abby and I were scheduled to speak in the new baptist church in Addis Adaba, lead by Filipino missionary, Pastor Elijah Alvaro. We came early because Abby was going to speak to a lot of kids and I was going to take pictures. So I thought! But when we came I realized that they even expected me to speak to the older kids as well! Well, I have learned to be ready in season and out of season, so I gave the kids a bible lesson about Jesus. As I was doing my lesson (drama..:) I could hear a lot of kids in the yard next to the room I was in, shouting and dancing and I realized that it was my wife who was teaching the kids different games. I don't know any games or kids' songs here....so I guess everybody should have just been in Abby's Sunday school class!
I also preached in the main Sunday Service. And after the service we got real Filipino food....yes, I like it a lot! We appreciate the warm welcome we got in this church and we pray that this church will experience supernatural growth and favor. This was our last service in Ethiopia this time. But we will hopefully be back in Africa soon. Maybe for crusades in Kenya as well.
Thank you for reading this blog. In the past 37 days we have been reaching out to thousands of people in one of the poorest countries on earth. We have left a mark and we believe that what has been started and planted will grow and be very fruitful. Thousands have been helped with food and school supplies, hundreds have been saved and many others experienced a miracle healing touch from Jesus. We will continue to support the mission and relief work in Ethiopia through our contacts in this great country. If you want to help us financially to reach out to Ethiopia and Africa. Please send us an email. We appreciate your help. It is people like you who make this work possible. We are "just" the gospel messengers!
Sunday, October 18, 2008
Busy Sunday!
This morning we gave out 200 notebooks and pens to children in a church in Adama, MKC North. We came early to the church but there were already children everywhere and the church became full fast. My interpreter was Mr. Alemu Checole. He is Ethiopian but very fluent in English. He had been blind since he was 8 years old because of eye infection but still he had achieved so much in life. He is now 66 years old and it was truly inspiring and a blessing to meet him. The children's service started with very energetic singing. I have never heard children sing so loud anywhere else in the world! It was amazing. I told some bible stories about Jesus and prayed a prayer for everybody. After the singing and the stories, all the children got notebooks and pens. It was fun and amazing to minister to these children, Abby and I felt really blessed.
In the evening we went back to the same church for a youth meeting. MKC North is a very old evangelical church, it is actually the first in Ethiopia and it has many, many branches. It has 26000 members in this area and still growing! It was supposed to be a youth meeting this evening but people of all ages showed up! I was preaching about the great commission in Mark 16. And God is going to do something powerful. My interpreter was Akeya, whom we had to encourage many times to translate but he only did it for the first time today. But he did an amazing job!
Just a little side story about the church...in the dark communist ages, the church building was confiscated by the government and they tried to cover a painting with the cross in the church. But they failed because it was made in a special way, indented deep in the wall. Another amazing thing was the growth of the church at that time. Before the building was confiscated they had 500 members. But when they became underground, they did it in small groups. When the church emerged, they had grown 10-fold!
-peter-
Friday Oct. 17.
Special Extra: My wife got sick and well again!
Abby woke up around 2am in the morning with a severe headache and stomach pain. And it continued into the day. We were supposed to meet with Pastor Daniel Makonne (Founder of Gospel Light Church) and our good friend evangelist Henock D. Mulugeta from Washington D.C. for a lunch meeting down town. But Abby was too weak to join me and her mom promised to look after her, so I went out in the African wilderness by myself……it is not as bad as it sounds! Hehe. I caught an India imported taxi (scooter with three wheels) and paid completely overpriced for my ride…. After 25 min I arrived at Safari Lodge were I was going to meet with the Pastors. And from there we went to Rift Valley to have our lunch meeting. I met with Pastor Daniel, Henock and the worship leader of Gospel Light Church, Henock Hailu. It was truly inspiring to talk with all of them and see their heart for Ethiopia, global gospel outreach and even the Philippines. These guys are truly pioneers for the gospel of Jesus Christ and are making an impact on thousands of people. Later Henock D. Mulugeta . gave my wife some stomach medicine for food poison and then we prayed for her as well. And God is good. She feels much better already (Saturday).
Wed. Oct. 15.
Gospel Miracle Service
Today I was scheduled to speak in a church in Nazareth. (MKC North) Our translator and Nazareth guide Akeya Zeleke helped us on the way to the church, which was not far from Adama University where we are staying. When we came to the church in the evening hundreds of people were on their knees praying! I was told that people had been praying since 4pm. And they had a special prayer time for all the sick. There were even carpets laying around in the church chapel where the sick were laying on. Just before I was speaking all electricity went out! So the church had to start their electricity generator so we could get light again. There is a lot of brown out and shortage of electricity in Nazareth, and churches like this one need an electricity generator. There were around 400 inside the chapel and about 100 more outside sitting on benches! It was a great gospel miracle service and many experienced a touch from God both spiritually and physically. After the service we went straight home.
Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008
The insect bite still hurts in my right arm as I write this, but more about this later! The first living creature I saw this morning (aside from Abby!) when I went out the door was a big black and white monkey looking at me through the glass door.
At 9:30am we had to go to Pastor Jon Coronel's church, Liberty Baptist Mission, where I was scheduled to preach. There were exactly 133 attendees at the service and many new comers. This is a new, powerful church. The church is offering free English, computer, and bible classes. There is a lot of young people in the church, most of whom came from far distances and walked many miles (they started walking at around 6am) just to go to church. I will not be surprised if this church becomes much larger and influence the town on a much larger scale, both spiritually and socially.
After lunch we went to a very poor village, which was very difficult to access. We were bouncing around in our pick-up truck. Hagugeta Kudnhi (the village) had been hit hard by hunger and malnutrition. Many children had died because of it. We brought 700 kilos of wheat, food for about 185 families. We also brought notebooks, pencils, and cookies for the kids.
When we came to the village, we saw lots of mud houses and lots of kids running after our truck. I was stunned to see thousands of very poor people gathered in one place. All the people had gathered because they knew we were coming. Pastor Jon was the one who organized this meeting. He has been to this village many times because he is ministering to the people.
Before we gave out the wheat, I first told the people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. There were about 2500 adults and kids sitting on the ground listening to the gospel. Suddenly a small group of Muslims left because it was time for their prayer. Only, they went to the mud house 15 meters away and prayed very loud! But I continued to preach the saving gospel of Jesus Christ even louder! I was later told that many Muslims actually stayed to listen. At the end, I prayed for everybody and I truly believe that God¡¯s word was planted in thousands of people this afternoon.
When it was time to give out the wheat, all the families lined up and received their portion, which is good for about two weeks, I was told. The village appreciated the wheat very much because we were told that it was the very first time that someone came to give them food. It was very touching to see their needs. It was all done in a very orderly manner and I was impressed by the organizational skills of the leaders. When I was giving out the bags of wheat, I suddenly felt a sting in my right bicep and the pain spread to my shoulder and down my arm. It swelled up a bit and the pain stayed the rest of the day and even a little the next day. I don¡¯t know what bit me, maybe a wasp, even though I was wearing long sleeves. And then it was time to give out the notebooks and pens and cookies to the kids. It was a little more difficult to keep the kids in line. Abby and her sister were giving out the school things and then suddenly all the adults wanted to get some as well. People, adults and kids alike, started pushing forward because they wanted to be in front. The sisters almost got mobbed so we all had to go to the mud house office and hide there while the village officials tried to get things in order. But it didn¡¯t seem like they had much success so we just left the school things in the office to be distributed by the officials at a later time.
So we left the village and said goodbye to everybody and we went to the creek where the villagers get their drinking water. It was so shocking I tell you. The water was brown and very dirty, almost like mud. And people were washing their clothes there and taking a bath there¡¦and that is where they get their drinking water as well! Pastor Jon has a vision for a clean water station for this place.
Abby and I agree that this has been one of the most extreme experiences we have ever had. The Coronel family¡¯s passion for the lost is really inspiring. Again, thanks to all those who supported us because you have helped make this trip possible. The ones who dare win!
-peter-
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008
Today we are scheduled to go to Shashemene. Pastor Jon, a Filipino missionary, drove all the way to Adama to pick us up. He left Shashemene at around 4am and got to us around 7:30am. On our way we saw acres of wasted corn. The people were not able to harvest because of the dry season. The corn just dried up. Such a waste. It was like a desert.
We stopped at Sabana Resort at Langano for lunch. The view was fantastic. On the road to the resort we encountered very heavy traffic. Not vehicles¡¦¡¦animals! Hundreds of cows, donkeys, and goats. They were on their way down to the lake for a drink. The animals were sharing the lake with the resort. The water was brown and green and murky. Some people were still swimming though.
After lunch we went on our way. Let me emphasize the amount of dust we had to go through. Our car was originally red but at this time it became gray. We also went to Shashemene¡¯s open market. Open means open – in the middle of a huge open space. To the left are those selling goats, to the right are those selling horses. You can even try out the horses before you buy them. There are those selling sugar canes, firewood, vegetables, and even second-hand shoes! It was really cool to see it – the real Ethiopia, not the city. I can just imagine the scene looked just like in Jesus¡¯ time.
Finally we reached Pastor Jon¡¯s place. There we finished packing the wheat we¡¯re going to give out to the villagers tomorrow. They started re-packing yesterday. We bought 700 kilos of wheat. It was soooo heavy. The poor donkey that carried the sacks almost died of exhaustion. I¡¯m not exaggerating; it collapsed outside the gate and had to be helped inside. We are also going to give out notebooks and cookies for the kids. AND I also dropped our new, small camera and broke it. Thank goodness we brought another one, lent to us by Kuya Jotham from FCC. I promise to take very good care of it and not drop it.
Tomorrow is going to be really exciting.
-abby-
Friday, Oct. 10, 2008
Today we were invited to preach the gospel in a house church which was just newly planted. There were about 80 people cramped in the tiny room, but it was a great experience. When we arrived at the house church, everybody was on their knees praying. And without any instruments at all and no sound system, they were worshiping God in an amazing way. I have been preaching in house churches before so it was not unfamiliar to me, but it was always fun preaching next to a refrigeratorJ. I was preaching about Jesus Christ and His saving and healing power. And many experienced an encounter with God. We believe this church will experience massive growth and revival. This meeting was held in Nazreth and the church was a branch of MKC East.
-peter-
Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Oct. 3, 4, 5
Revival Meetings in Addis!
Today Abby and I drove once again from Nazareth (Adama) to the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. I was scheduled to speak at a revival conference conducted by different church denominations together with Evangelist Henock. D. Mulugeta. The coordinator of the conference was Yonathan. There were thousands of people to the meetings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning Henock preached a great gospel centered message and there was an amazing atmosphere of worship. Later in the afternoon I preached a message about salvation in Jesus Christ and the promises of healing in the Bible. There was a great response and many were prayed over and some were healed as well. Again the worship was awesome.
On Sunday I was scheduled to preach at the morning service. The church was packed and the gospel worship choir led the crowd into powerful worship and the presence of God. I preached a message about the promises of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Very powerful service and God’s presence and power fell on many. It was truly a blessing to see the hunger for experiencing more of Jesus and His presence and saving and healing power. In the afternoon Henock Mulugeta preached the gospel and he led the congregation into worship as well. These couple of days with revival meetings had been truly awesome and full of God’s glory. Abby and I really enjoyed being a part of it. All honor to Jesus. We went back to our ‘base?in Nazareth (Adama) in the late afternoon. We met some great people during these days and especially we want to thank Yonathan and Henock for this great opportunity for being part of this revival conference and three great days in Addis.
-Peter-
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Evangelistic Meetings and Humnitarian Relief
Early this morning we met with Akeya Zeleke who is helping us with going around the churches in Adama. We went to a prayer meeting with 12 local evangelists from Nazreth. I came to give an encouraging message. When we arrived, they were all praying on their knees in a little room. I could really sense God’s presence when we walked into the room. I shared some word from the Bible and prayed with them and for them as well. It was inspiring to meet these evangelists and church leaders. Our main contacts were Evangelists Workineh Ayele and Gishu Gebecha from Mehal Adama Meserete Kristos Church (MKC). Evangelist Gishu Gebecha was my translator. Their passion to spread the gospel was amazing.
At 2:00pm we went to a Christian orphanage, also in Adama. It was situated in a very poor neighborhood with no main road. There were about 54 kids. The name of the orphanage is Yosef Yeljoch Bet or Joseph Children’s Home. I told them bible stories and we gave out food and toothbrushes. It was a great experience and it was a blessing to be a blessing.
At 6:30pm we went back to MKC East to speak at a worship healing service. The Ethiopian worship was awesome and hundreds of people were shouting and dancing in the worship. I talked about Jesus and His saving and healing power. In the end I had a prayer for everybody. A lady also got delivered from witchcraft. MKC East is a great church and we made some new friends as well.
-peter-
Monday, September 29, 2008
Outreach In Addis
We spent Saturday and Sunday in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. It’s about 2 hours away from Adama where we are based. Saturday, we explored the city and the family celebrated Abby’s birthday in a Filipino friend’s house. Sunday we visited a Filipino missionary who has planted a church in Addis. I was invited to speak to the youth group of the church, Berean Baptist Church. There were about 60 lively young people and I challenged them to follow Christ and talked about the value of the soul and that Jesus is the only answer. The church’s vision is to open up a technical school for the poor and we will continue to pray for them. After the service we went straight home to Adama on a public bus where I spent the whole trip holding tightly to my seat as the driver seems to think he owns the road.
-peter-
September 24, 2008 Wednesday
We officially woke up at 5am. Frankfurt airport starting to get busy. Our flight leaves at 10:15am. Had a stop-over at Khartoum, Sudan. The land was brown, dry, and very warm. I tried to take a picture from the plane's open door. Two guys warned me not to do it because the soldiers will come and take away my camera if they saw me. Arrived in Addis Ababa 30 minutes earlier than expected. It took a while to have our turn in passport control because people kept cutting in line. Finally managed to get out. Abby's parents and one Filipino missionary were waiting for us outside. So excited to see them. Addis Ababa reminds me of the Philippines. Had to drive an hour and a half to Adama, which will be our base. Had to drive up and down the mountains. Thank God for a wonderful journey.
-peter-
September 23, 2008 Tuesday
This is the beginning of our journey to Ethiopia, Africa. Before it even began we have been showered with blessings. We took the Grayhound bus from Malmo to Copenhagen airport because one free ticket arrived in the mail two days ago. We've brought so many gifts and give-aways that we had to take off three kilos of our own stuff from our suitcases. We were able to check-in early but the guy can only check us in 'til Frankfurt but he managed to send our luggage all the way to Ethiopia. I do hope it would be there when we arrive because we still need to spend the night in Frankfurt. Our flight left exactly on time and we also reached Frankfurt 20 minutes earlier than expected.
In Frankfurt, we went directly to the transit counter and the nice lady checked us in for our flight to Addis Ababa and she gave us nice seats too, in front with lots of leg room. She also gave us directions on where we can find nice, comfy chairs to lay on. I guess we weren't good enough in folllowing directions because we walked around for an hour but couldn't find the nice, comfy chairs. So we just ate dinner (we were so hungry, no food in the plane) and camped inside a cafe. It's a reasonably ok place because it was a little dark and offered us a little privacy. The benches weren't very comfortable though so we spent half the night awake and preparing sermons.
