The Ethiopian Church Journal Blog

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. But while he was sti

  The Royal Month, Maskaram መስከረም By Mitiku Adisu   The month of Maskaram reigns royal in Ethiopia, preceded without fail by heat waves and a dry spell. And then came the heavy rains. Unlike other months Maskaram is also known for keeping its admiring subjects at bay five whole days (six each leap year) before it opened wide its gates. And while you waited you reviewed the past, rehearsed buh é and hoya hoy é and enjoyed mul mul for appetizer. Immediately you passed through the gates (if you are lucky, that is) you found all kinds of goodies waiting for you: enqutatash wrapped in the New Year; nosegays for your godparents, colored pencil drawings for your favorite uncle and so on. An air of expectancy permeated the  sun, the moon, the nights, the days, a gust of wind and adoring  ad éy flowers. Conversations took a new turn for what seemed days on end. Nkwan adarasawo Nkwan adarasachew Nkwan adarasash, Nkwan adarasah Nkwan adarasan Ymasgun Maskaram is also that ti

Wealthy nations are fighting for dear economic life as they continue to see their pride and once unshakeable financial institutions crumble under the weight of corruption, mismanagement, and greed. The time of reckoning is here and its reverbrations will be felt across the developing world. Global fight against poverty and diseases will certainly be affected, if not take the backseat. Christian churches in the northern hemisphere are now calling members to prayer . May be they should have done more to speak up on the immorality of un-Christian consumption habits. No one is able to predict events about to unfold. The best minds appear to be groping in the dark. Could it be that the present world crisis is God's way of speaking to us? That we lose much by distancing ourselves from him and that we need to return to him so he can restore our moral moorings. Think about that.

Books and Evangelicals By Mitiku Adisu Recently, Christianity Today (CT, October 2006) put out its selection of The Top 50 Books published since the end of World War II that have shaped the ‘prayer, worship, witness, lifestyle, social action, church life’ of U.S. evangelicals. In prefacing the selection, the editors rightly acknowledged that “people and movements can be defined by the books they read and remember” and that the selections were made “with some trepidation” and after a vigorous debate. It is understandable that a task of this nature rarely elicits unanimity. However, we found it intriguing that the selection did not include a single book by authors from Africa, Asia, or Latin America. We do remember, to cite but one example, how Latin American “liberation” theologians (Gutierrez, et al) forced theologians in the northern hemisphere to rethink their view of church and society (see papers presented by missiologists Escobar and Costas at Lausanne 1974). In our opin

By Mitiku Adisu When you saw your elders mumbling you knew they were in the middle of offering a prayer. You did not want to interrupt; you respectfully stepped aside. This was before the 1974 Ethiopian revolution outlawed prayer and such altogether. No one had the courage then to admit prayer was the one thing revolutionists could not control and hence dreaded the most. At the height of the revolution you came across more and more people talking to themselves. It could be some were faking it. You did not want to take chances; you moved over pretending to have not noticed or heard a thing. Present-day Ethiopia has fewer and fewer of its elder citizens around. Now a youthful generation is torn between the past and the future or perhaps wedged between a whisper and a noise. In America you often saw a silhouette of a lone figure seated on a park bench or taking a casual stroll. As you drew closer you heard what sounded like a faint conversation. Could this be some prayer or

... The apostle Paul was apparently as fond of athletic competition as we are, and he often used it to impart spiritual lessons: "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training" (1 Cor. 9:25-27). "If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules" (2 Tim. 2:5). Similarly, Olympians are examples of Christian hope—with some important differences. Christian hope, for example, does not have to filter out all that negativity, but in fact absorbs it and redeems it through Christ's death and resurrection. Our hope—for salvation and redemption and the kingdom fully realized—is not grounded in thoughts of our invincibility but of our vulnerability more..

.... how folks back home are doing this New Year's day.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor-theologian who spoke truth to power and as a consequence was jailed in 1943 and two years later executed by hanging. Here is the 7th stanza of a poem he wrote from his prison cell for the New Year shortly before his death. While all the powers of good aid and attend us, boldly we'll face the future, be it what may. At even, and at morn, God will befriend us, and oh, most surely on each new year’s day.

Making resolutions is a way of admitting our failings. Hence, every so often we set goals to better our lives individually and collectively. How about "I WILL NOT LIE to myself and to those around me" for a New Year's resolution? Imagine how our lives would change if each took this statement seriously and prayed for divine grace to live it out. Solzhenitsyn, who paid severely for telling the truth, has said that lies and violence are embedded one in the other: Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle. Copyright © 2008 by Ethiopianchurch.Org- All Rights Reserved

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. [Psalms 33:12-22]

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently… May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. [Rom. 8: 24-25; 15:13]

WHEN a group of Burton women visited a healing service in Ethiopia they were so awestruck they did not want to leave."I realised it would be difficult if we came back and tried to tell people what we had seen," said Sharan Murphy, of Cotswold Road, Branston."How could we find words to express what we had seen? People would think we were off this planet." Read on ...

The Ethiopian New Year ( ≈ September 11, 2001) is around the corner and once again the oft repeated refrain "How time flies" is on our lips. We look back to the year that was even as we look forward to the coming. For millions, unfortunately, the New is just a continuation of the Old. The spectre of famine still stalks our land. Maybe we need to tone down the festivities this time in deference to those less fortunate. Maybe we ought to engage in some serious soul searching. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord, our God. Jeremiah 3:22 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for thou art my praise . Jeremiah 17:14 Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up . Hosea 6:1