Most true Christians in Ethiopia can worship freely and openly, but those who leave Islam or the traditional Ethiopian church (Orthodox) to follow Christ face opposition. Multiple large-scale attacks during the last few years have devastated Christian communities. Many church buildings have been destroyed. Here is an example: From Voice of the Martyrs, November 2021.
Negasi grew up in a traditional Orthodox church in Ethiopia (northeast corner of Africa; it borders Sudan, just south of Egypt), but he also attended a special school to learn how to cast demons, curses, and cause people to lose their minds. He became so proficient at witchcraft that he was honored with a title reserved for the best students. Later, after moving to the spiritual capital of Ethiopia, he opened a pharmacy to supplement his income. One day a customer asked him if he would heal his sister, who was seriously mentally ill—she had become a penti—a derogatory term for a biblical Christian. Negasi could only cast his spell if she were present, but when the customer finally arrived with her. he had forgotten. Since he had already been given half the money, the customer filed charges against him, and after a trial, he was sent to almost 4 years in prison.
As a police officer escorted Negasi to jail, they passed a group of young boys playing games with some strange coins. Out of curiosity, Negasi asked the boys if he could have one of the coins. When they obliged, he put their gift in his pocket. He didn’t know it, but it would one day become a treasured keepsake.
Negasi began to think God was punishing him for practicing witchcraft; he feared the consequences of his sins more than he feared death. Too miserable even to eat, he went 20 days without food. Then one day he cried out to God with a broken spirit. “I know that I am a sinner, and I don’t deserve to be in Your home with You in heaven; but if there is any place that is outside Your home for me, please allow me to go there.”
Burdened by the weight of his sins, Negasi confessed to an Ethiopian Orthodox priest at the prison, believing that confession to a priest was required for forgiveness. But he still didn’t feel any comfort. Seeking some kind of penance for his misdeeds, Negasi devoted himself to the central church teachings. He celebrated a different saint each day, just as the church does, and checked out an Ethiopian Orthodox Bible, in the ancient language of Ge-ez. Every time he tried to study one of its 81 books, he fell asleep—even when he wasn’t tired. He also borrowed another Bible, with 66 books, that he found in the prison library. That was in the native Tigrinya language, and it captivated him, and he soon noticed passages that contradicted many things that he had believed.
Then one night, Negsi had a dream in which he was told that the salvation he was seeking is found in the Gospels. And after a deeper study of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ (which he had never read or heard anything about), he concluded that salvation is found in faith in Christ alone. Overcome with joy, Negasi began to share this revelation with everyone he could. During times when he was allowed to leave his cell, he walked cell to cell telling other prisoners about Christ. He would explain as much as he could before the inmates or guards grew angry and forced him to move on. (Note: Ethiopia is 50% Muslim, 40% mostly Orthodox/Coptic, and 10% Animism. “I couldn’t understand why this message was not being taught,” he said. Negasi had no idea the Tigrinya Bible was the same one used by penti, from biblical churches in Ethiopia. And he didn’t realize the gospel that had suddenly changed his life was the principal message of biblical churches worldwide. “I thought I was sharing something that was completely new to the world. I became passionate about telling this message, even to the point that I forgot about my years in prison.“
Each month, some prisoners gathered to worship depictions of the angel Gabriel. But after coming to understand the gospel, Negasi refused to join them, explaining that only God is worthy of worship. As a result, many of the inmates threatened him, calling him a penti and a heretic. When guards had learned that Negasi had been sharing the gospel, they ordered him to stop. And when he refused, they transferred him to a maximum-security cell and placed shackles on his legs.
Shortly after he was released from maximum, he met a fellow prisoner, Ephrem, who had the same religious upbringing that he had before. But now Negasi led him to the Lord. But when authorities learned that a second prisoner had begun sharing the gospel, they decided to take action. He was back in solitary confinement. They sent another prisoner, named Dinaw, to check on him and bring his daily rations. Dinaw was serving a three-year sentence for assaulting a neighbor.
Fellow prisoners had warned Dinaw about the gospel message being shared by Negasi and Ephrem. But as Dinaw brought his daily meals to solitary, he became friends with Negasi and Ephrem. Although Dinaw wanted to follow Jesus, he feared the repercussions. “When persecution comes, I will not stand with you; we are all suffering in prison, but you are suffering even more.” Negasi encouraged Dinaw with passages from Romans 8 and John 16, explaining that trials, tribulation, and persecution are part of following Jesus Christ. And after gaining a better understanding of what it means to be His disciple, Dinaw placed his faith in Him.
Some of Dinaw’s relatives who worked as local police
officers soon reported his “heretical” faith to his father, who decided to gather his brothers and friends and go have a talk with him. “Did you become a penti?” they asked Dinaw. He replied, “I have given my life to Jesus.” His father was so angry that he wrote a letter to the police chief, urging him to keep his son behind bars beyond his eligibility for release. When guards told Dinaw about his father’s letter, his response surprised them. “I like prison; I can read my Bible every day here, so don’t worry about that.”
Some local biblical pastors came to visit, and opened Negasi’s eyes that his beliefs were biblical Christian, and there were many more believers like him. The pastors discipled the three, and before long, 15 prisoners came to faith in Christ.
After release, the three men soon found out that following Christ is more difficult outside prison than behind bars. When Negasi’s wife learned of his faithfulness to God, she divorced him and took their daughter with her. And Dinaw, from a small village, had no one to share his faith with, and couldn’t fit in. He returned to his home village, where he faced continual threats. They found out that as biblical Christians have shared the gospel and planted churches in the north of Ethiopia, some members of the Ethiopian Orthodox church carried out violent attacks against them. And in some cases, traditional Orthodox have sided with Muslims against the biblical Christians, considering them a common enemy.
About 18 months after Dinaw returned home, the threats turned to violent persecution against his family. One night when he was sleeping in a field near his house, to care for one of his cows, a group of villagers came to his home. They tied the door shut from the outside with rope, trapping Dinaw’s wife and children inside as they slept. Dinaw awoke to the smell of smoke and the sight of his house burning a few hundred yards away. After running home, he untied the rope, and got his family out just in time. They lived in a wood wall and a tarp, with no money, until Voice of the Martyrs heard of them and arrived, and rebuilt their home two years ago.
Despite the challenges, all three men have remained firm in faith. And Dinaw, who once resisted following Christ, now accepts persecution as integral to the Christian faith. As he says, “I knew the Lord led me to sleep next to my cows, to be able to save my family. As I watched my house burned, the story of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego came to my mind. They were asked like me, to worship another god, and I said no. So they tried to convince me with fire. But our real home is in heaven. They burned my earthly house, but my heart is not full of hatred, and I pray for them.” When asked why he has stayed in his village, under continual threat of death, Dinaw explained that he has no fear of death. “My life belongs to God, and I believe He put me here where He is working. If He allows me to be killed, I am ready to die.” When Negasi reflects on the past few years, he, too, sees how God has worked in his life. Upon his release from prison, the guards returned all of his original belongings. And in the pocket of his clothing, he found the coin that the boys had given him on his way to jail. On one side of the coin was printed “John 3:16,” and the words “Those who have the Lord Jesus have eternal life.” On the other side of the coin was the question, “Where is your eternal home?” He says, “I thank God that He put me in prison for a purpose.” Negasi is at a Bible college and hopes to become a full-time pastor. He has paid back all the money he owed the man who filed charges against him, and they are now good friends. Negasi hopes that he will become a believer soon. “You are my everlasting good person because you put me in prison; I will not forget you, because you helped me find eternal life.”
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