Taras Sen, pastor from the city of Rivne, visited Africa

Taras Sen, pastor from the city of Rivne, visited Africa

Ethiopia is a fantastically picturesque country in eastern Africa. People come here to admire the unearthly landscapes of the Great Rift Valley which are about to come out of the crucible of the Creator, go down to the incredible churches-wells that are completely cut in stone, see many rare endangered species of animals in the vast national parks, relax on the picturesque Lake Tana and admire the waterfalls of the Blue Nile. Among the country’s other oddities are Christianity with millennial rituals, a calendar that is 8 years behind and has 13 months, and midnight and noon at 18:00 and 6:00, respectively. In short, if there is an opportunity – it is a must to visit the country!

The country’s territory is twice the size of Ukraine, and the population here is only 2.5 times larger – 110 million, and about 5 million people live in the capital, Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is a traditionally christian country. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has won the Nobel Prize for his efforts to bring peace to the regions of East and South-East Africa. He and the country’s President, Sahle-Work Zewde, the first woman in office, are evangelical christians.

However, approximately 34% of the population is muslim. Recently, the issue of religious affiliation has become the cause of many terrorist attacks and crimes against christians. Many people here live in poverty, especially in muslim cities. In those areas where christianity is being replaced by islam, there are a large number of needy, sick and addicted people. Imagine that in Harare in the old city there is only one orthodox church and 345 mosques, there are protestant churches only outside the city. There is a lot of garbage on the streets, a lot of poor people who beg, sleep right on the sidewalks; and the worst thing is that everyone, even children, eats khat – the local drug.

The nature of Ethiopia is rich and diverse. The highlands turn into deep tectonic depressions; the humid rainforests are located next to dry and hot deserts and semi-deserts. There are almost all types of African animals, except tigers: hippos, rhinos, giraffes, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, several species of monkeys and other wild animals. A large number of birds: eagle, falcon, vulture, heron, partridge, teal and others. Among the many insects, the locust and tsetse fly in the south of the country are particularly prominent. There are 200 black – maned lions left on the planet, all of them live in Ethiopia.

The vegetation of the country depends on the altitude above sea level, and therefore both desert tropical and alpine flora are found in Ethiopia. The comfortable climate for 13 Ethiopian months makes it possible to harvest crops 3 times a year: fresh and delicious fruits are always sold anywhere in the country.

Ethiopian cuisine is flavorful, often very spicy and consists, as a rule, of savory vegetable and meat dishes, which are served on the injera – a large round tortilla with a diameter of about 50 cm, made from teff flour. Instead of spoons and forks, pieces of injera are used, which are torn off from the whole during eating. Ethiopian bread is similar to regular pita bread, only thicker. The еthiopian Bible says: «Man will not live by faith alone (and in the Ukrainian Bible, «Not by bread alone»), but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.» Ethiopians are very fond of spicy food. Ukrainian spices are sweet for them.

Ethiopia is one of the most economically developed countries in Africa. Rapid development is taking place thanks to new roads and railways connecting Ethiopia with neighboring countries and making it the economic center of the region.

Local residents drive cars very dangerously: they cut each other off, overtake, do not obey the traffic rules – this is their driving culture. It is difficult to find an undamaged vehicle, as almost all drivers have it broken or scratched.

The country’s police are constantly fighting and severely punishing the distribution and use of drugs. Foreigners are not among the exceptions, so many have already been sentenced to 15-20 years in prison.

The best standard of living in Africa is in the South, most of the inhabitants there are christians. Areas where the muslim community takes a leading role are experiencing a curse. For example, the inhabitants of Somalia, one of the poorest regions of Ethiopia, are very oppressive to christians.

A long journey of Taras Sen was carried out primarily not on a tourist basis, but on a spiritual basis: proclaiming the Gospel to non-believers: sermons, lectures, evangelizations, TV programs – many ways to convey the Good News to people. Local ministers were especially grateful for the seminars on the family: the role of husband and wife, real fatherhood.

The pastor taught at the mission school to thirsty students of the word of God. These are young church ministers who will carry the Gospel to various regions of Ethiopia. Taras Volodymyrovych shared his ideas and stories about serving children in Ukraine with the Sunday school teachers . They also managed to record several TV programs for Ethiopian television. The local channel is watched by 20% of the country’s population, and satellite broadcasts are broadcast in many African, Arab and European countries.

The first fruits of the trip immediately appeared: about 450 non-believers attended three evangelistic meetings. A large number of them believed in Christ and prayed the prayer of repentance. There was some trouble: during one of the services, muslims threw stones at the church premises – a simple and rather shabby shed. But this did not stop the missionaries, and the gathering continued.

The «Christ is the Answer» mission has taken on the responsibility of supporting missionary activities in Ethiopia. The ministers plan to develop certain spiritual and charitable ministries so that more and more people will know God’s love and His will for their lives.

There are many references to Ethiopia in the Bible:

1. The woman of Moses is an Ethiopian.

2. Zara Jacob, king of Ethiopia, gathered an army of millions and went to war against Jerusalem, but was completely defeated because he rebelled against God’s people.

3. The faithful friend of Jeremiah the prophet is an Ethiopian.

4. The eunuch who came to Jerusalem to worship God was also an Ethiopian. The Apostle Philip helped him to come to Christ, and today the state commemorates the event when the eunuch brought Christianity to Ethiopia (Bible, 8: 27-39).

5. Psalms 67:32 says, «Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God». Perhaps, this prophecy is already being fulfilled today, because many of the Ethiopians seek the Lord and accept Jesus. Even among muslims, there are those who turn to the living God. At the meetings, there were testimonies of muslims who came to the Kaaba in Mecca to worship and saw in a vision of Christ, Who pointed to the New Testament. These people believed in Jesus and began to read the Word of God.

History lessons from the life of Ethiopia:

From the history of the country, it is known that one of the emperors of Ethiopia interceded for the christians of Egypt. Believers suffered from constant persecution by muslims, burning of churches, and even murder. The monarch threatened to go to war against the pursuers and block the Nile River.

It would be wonderful if our government also defended christianity, christian values and the foundations of the family, and did not promote the spread of perversions, sin and anti-human ideologies.

God is fervently interceding for Ethiopia. Muslim neighbors wanted to Islamize the country, providing funds for the spread of Islam: the construction of mosques and koranic schools, the development of radio, printed material, etc. Local residents suffered from the military conflicts against the background of different faiths.

A large number of islamic countries supported the idea of islamizing Ethiopia, but no attempt was successful. A supporter of the islamization, Saddam Hussein was killed by the Americans, a muslim Gaddafi, a political figure and revolutionary, was also shot. In 2011, mass demonstrations took place in Egypt, as a result of which President Mubarak Hosni, a muslim, was forced to resign. In Syria and Somalia, where 93% and 99% of the population have adopted islam, respectively, wars are being waged today. To the naked eye, God stands up for Ethiopia as well as for Israel.

Lessons for Ukrainians:

1. The Ethiopians are not proud people, they are easy to communicate with, and it is easy to talk about God with them. Often the Ukrainians say: «My opinion, my choice, my right, etc.». Everyone has the right, but usually such phrases are filled with pride. In fact, arrogance does a lot of evil. This is a terrible and insidious sin. It causes pain to others, destroys the human soul. Because of pride, the devil was overthrown by God from heaven, and people who lived with their heads held high suffered in hell.

As Proverbs 16:18 says, «Pride precedes destruction, and arrogance precedes fall.» Pride does not allow you to repent, submit to God and be reconciled to Him. The pompous allow themselves more than they really can. The assessment of others is more important to them than the opinion of God.

2. Many Ethiopians are more dedicated to working for God than some сhristians in Ukraine, who appear at meetings only at Easter and Christmas. In the poor «churches» people fervently praise God, exclaiming: «Yesus Getano», which means: «Jesus the Lord.»

3. A large number of Christians must pay too high a price for their faith: they are tortured, persecuted, and killed. Here are some examples: in one city, muslims broke into a service and cut the entire choir. In another church, a minister of the evangelical church was killed for organizing a viewing of the film «Jesus».

Muslims who accept Christ especially suffer from persecution: there are many cases when parents and other relatives killed family members if they did not want to renounce their faith in Jesus and recognize the Koran as the word of God. The pastor had the opportunity to communicate with muslims who believed in Jesus. One of them was severely abused by relatives: tied up, starved and thirsty, beaten, twice tore off the nails on both hands, forcing him to re-recognize the Koran. By a miracle of God, the guy survived and was able to escape from further torture, and today he is a missionary. Another young man was tied up by his own parents and beaten until he lost consciousness. Thinking that he was dead, the boy was left right there. God showed mercy – the christian was found and saved by doctors, and later he founded a church.

If a child from a muslim family accepts Christ, then at best all his relatives and friends will deny him. At worst, he would be killed, and it was his parents who would kill him. If the father and mother refuse to do this, society will refuse them, and the child will be killed by others.

Despite the difficult obstacles in the service of the missionaries continue to visit the muslim regions. Risking their lives, they bring more and more people to Christ.

4. There is a good tradition in Ethiopia : every day the whole family gathers for dinner. They communicate, drink coffee (after all, Ethiopia is considered the birthplace of coffee), share problems and experiences. In Ukraine, this custom is very rare – there are so many things around that distract attention from the family that people seem to live together, but still strangers to each other.

5. In Ethiopia, there is almost no drinking, there is no smoking: for 8 days of stay in the country, the pastor counted only about 10 people with a cigarette, and mostly they were homeless in muslim cities. Ethiopia has joined the WHO agreement on tobacco control and has introduced strict regulations to protect the public from the harmful effects of tobacco.

It was a God-blessed week filled with new knowledge, discoveries and emotions. Finally, we can say only one thing: before the Lord, neither nationality, nor skin color, nor status in society are important. It is important to be reborn from God and to have the fear of the Lord – a deep respect for everything said in the Bible. The fulfillment of the Word of God is respect and love for God.