A Digital Newsletter from Living Stream Ministry
A Report from the Saints in Addis Ababa
The Lord’s move in Ethiopia was started around the year 1998 with a group of university students and a few working saints. At that time there was a great hunger for the truth. Because of the hunger for the truth, the saints used to go to different denominations and free groups and visit so-called ministers wherever they thought there was the genuine truth. Wherever we went we diligently and faithfully followed, but there was no one who was able to satisfy our hunger for the truth and the life that we were inwardly seeking. At some point we were tired of going here and there and started to pray. Most of the times that we met our meetings were just prayers. We prayed for two to three hours and dismissed the meeting.
By the Lord’s mercy we got a few of Brother Watchman Nee’s books like The Normal Christian Life, The Normal Christian Church Life, The Orthodoxy of the Church, and The Spiritual Man. We were taking turns to read these books. After reading these books we all felt that we had found what we were hungry for. This not only satisfied our hunger for the truth but also changed the direction of our life and pursuit. We had found the meaning of our Christian life. Since then we stopped going to denominations or any other groups and also stopped inviting other Christian teachers to come to our gatherings to teach or give messages. A few brothers among us took the lead to get into these books and in our meetings to help us know the truth, especially The Spiritual Man.
After reading all the books of Brother Watchman Nee that we had and were able to find among us at that time, we started to look for other books by Watchman Nee, but we were not able to find any book by Brother Nee. In those days we went to all the Christian bookstores in Addis Ababa to look for Brother Watchman Nee’s books, but no bookstore was selling his books. Furthermore, no Christians whom we met had any of Brother Nee’s books. This made us think that we were the only Christians who were following the ministry of Brother Watchman Nee.
In our search for more books by Watchman Nee, the Lord led some saints to look for more books from the Internet and tried to google “Watchman Nee.” Then they discovered the Living Stream Ministry (LSM) website with Watchman Nee’s books and more books by Brother Witness Lee. As with Brother Nee, the Lord led some of us to read Brother Lee’s books online, and we found out that these two ministers are one and continued to enjoy the ministry online. When we read Brother Lee’s books, we had the same enjoyment as when we first read Watchman Nee’s books. This gave us a feeling that these two servants of the Lord were one.
Dear saints, the Lord’s work in Ethiopia was raised up by the ministry in this way. Praise the Lord for his mercy!
Before we had the full-time training in Addis Ababa, we had short-term trainings on the four pillars of the Lord’s recovery every year since 2009. The hunger among the young ones among us to be trained by the ministry gave us a feeling to send some of these young ones to the full-time training in South Africa. Though the young ones tried many times to get visas to South Africa, they were not able to get them. This led the co-workers to start a full-time pursuit training of the ministry. During this time the trainees were pursuing the ministry by getting into ministry books selected by the co-workers and according to a definite schedule set by the training. This pursuit led to the starting of the full-time training in Addis Ababa. Today, what we can say about this full-time training is that it is a blessing to the Lord’s move in Africa.
In many different cities in Ethiopia the ministry is doing the same thing. Many in different places are gained by the ministry books. We received ministry books and Recovery Version Bibles from LSM and distributed these books and Bibles on the campuses and in the community. We have participated in many book fairs and carried out the distribution of the ministry in one of the biggest universities called Addis Ababa University and also at book fairs in other places. The saints also distribute books in different cities in the country. This has helped many to see the vision, know the truth, and be brought to the church life.
One of the biggest regions in Ethiopia, called the Oromia region, was also opened by the ministry books. In this region we have four local churches and positive contacts in over fifty cities and towns. We can testify that two local churches and most of the contacts have been gained by the ministry books.
Once we found this ministry, we started to look for saints who are enjoying this ministry, and by the Lord’s mercy in December 2005, we got in contact with Brothers Dick Taylor and James Lee. These brothers asked us if it would be okay for them to send two brothers who were already travelling in Africa. We were very happy to be visited by these brothers and expressed our willingness to receive them. The two brothers took a one-day detour to Addis Ababa and spent a full day with us. This was another day in the history of the Lord’s move in Ethiopia. This opportunity opened our eyes and gave us the privilege to see the Body. In April 2006 Brothers Dick Taylor and James Lee visited us, and we had the first conference in Addis Ababa. Since that time co-workers are visiting us twice a year.
Since we got in contact with Living Stream Ministry, we did our best to send saints to the seven annual feasts, especially the trainings. We do our best to have a representation in the two semiannual trainings and in the two ITEROs. Though we were late to start video trainings of the seven feasts, starting from July 2020, we have been getting into all the seven feasts by video. These video conferences and trainings and the subsequent issues of The Holy Word for Morning Revival are the primary supply for the saints and the churches all over the country. Because of this we are kept in oneness with the Body. We are very clear that what we are today is because of this ministry.
Dear saints, all the blessings in Ethiopia are because of this ministry. May our Lord have mercy on us to follow this ministry closely.
The Lord also blessed us with the translation work. Currently we are translating all issues of The Holy Word for Morning Revival into the Amharic language, and print it according to the LSM standard. We have also translated and printed four books—The All-inclusive Christ, The Crucial Revelation of Life in the Scriptures, The Glorious Church, and The Economy of God—into the two most spoken languages in the country, Amharic and Afan Oromo, and The Knowledge of Life, The Experience of Life, and A Lesson Book, Level 1: Salvation—God’s Full Salvation will be printed soon. So far over three thousand books have been distributed all over the country, and the impact is great. These books are also helping the saints to develop a habit of getting into the ministry in a personal way.
Following the burden of the co-workers to read 500 Life-studies, we started to translate the Life-study messages in the Amharic language, beginning with the Life-study of Matthew. We will continue to do this until we finish translating all the Life-studies. Currently our burden is to finish the translation of the New Testament Life-studies in Amharic and make 500 Life-studies available to the Amharic speaking saints.