3rd Quarter Issue
July - September  2004

   

BIANNUAL ETHIOPIAN DINNER BANQUET
 

EVERYONE IS INVITED!
 

We look forward to seeing you at the biannual authentic Ethiopian dinner banquet that is held on
 

Saturday, October 9, 2004

Time:  12:00 Noon until 6:00 p.m.

Place:  Salunga Mennonite Missions
              Fellowship Hall  
 
RSVP:  by Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004

 

You can RSVP by phone or
 fax 717-846-2041
 or e-mail eomusa@aol.com
 
 


 Your generous donations at the banquet will be used to fund the various outreach programs of EOM.


 

 

Ministry Needs You May Consider This Quarter

To the friends and partners who responded with their gifts to various needs listed in the past, thank you for your prayerful support and encouragement that has been shown through your gifts that supplied the needed equipment and tools to promote God’s work in a more effective way. Those of you who want to take part in meeting the needs listed below, you can send your special donation designated to the project of your choice.

Cassette Duplication Machine
                              
      Upgrade TELEX XGEN
      (Master and Copy unit each $3,073.47)
     (Our Current Cassette  duplicating machine will be refurbished and shipped to our Ethiopia office where it will be used constantly.)

Funding needed for office furniture 
    (Estimated amount $1,955)

Shelf construction in the newly purchased building  library/conference room. (Estimated amount needed:  $2,750.)

We encourage each and everyone of you to consider sponsoring the one constant need of this ministry… The Daily Radio Broadcast. It cost us $60 for each ½ hour broadcast. With persecution in Eritrea and strict laws against Christians in Islamic countries, our broadcast means a lot to the thousands of Ethiopian believers. Do you know if 365 people send a special gift of $60 each—just once a year, it will cover the expenses
of the broadcast for the whole year? Thank you for making a difference!

 

 IMPACTING MILLIONS VIA THE AIRWAVES...
  

While it is getting more and more difficult for thousands of believers to freely worship the Lord in countries like Eritrea, our daily radio broadcast is making a difference in providing encouragement and comfort to fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

In the past six months alone, we received letters from Christians that went underground that they can no longer receive Bible study resources and tapes from us. If they are found getting these resources, they will be thrown in jail and tortured. They literally begged us to pray for their safety and for extended programming on our radio broadcast.

It is known to many of you who receive our publications that Ethiopian Outreach Ministry has been on the air daily since 2002. In this short period of time, we have Ethiopians in twenty-three countries listening to the broadcast. The gospel is penetrating the remotest parts of Ethiopia as well as towns and cities of Islamic countries and other hostile nations that banned Christianity. It is very critical that we pray for the persecuted Christians and do whatever we can to comfort and encourage them.

You may ask “Does the radio really impact that much?” Here are a few answers to that question.:

Radio is the most effective, safe, easily accessible and reliable means of communication in most developing nations and in countries where Christianity is not permitted.

The radio broadcast easily reaches over 25 millions of Ethiopians in Ethiopia, neighboring countries (The Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, ‘Eritrea’ Djibouti) and the Islamic countries in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan).

Through the daily Christian radio programming, thousands of Ethiopians living in the Islamic countries are being reached with minimal fear of persecution.

Our Mirror of Life Bible study publications, books and other resources are shared with the millions of Ethiopians over the airwaves in audio format.

The large prison population in Ethiopia is being reached through the radio.

Provinces in Ethiopia that are difficult to evangelize due to Islamic opposition are reached safely through our evangelistic messages.

Here is what the vice president of Operations at High Adventure Ministries, the broadcasting organization that carries our programs says about the radio ministry.

“...I was amazed at the clarity and strength of the signal. ...I heard brother Melese in Addis Ababa, Nazareth and Assela. On my last day in Ethiopia, I was standing with my host Mekuria outside a restaurant in Addis. We tuned in his program coming from the Seychelles (Mr. Mekuria works for another Christian broadcaster) and it was OK, but then we tuned in Melese, and you should have seen his face...he was VERY excited to hear Melese and he was also excited to hear how good the signal is. … I cannot tell you how pleased I was to know that your program is going in there so powerfully.

It is even more important now as I see strong evidence of rapidly increasing Muslim control there. In addition, the unemployment there must be 50-60%, and hundreds of thousands just sit around every day with nothing to do-every day. I was told that now the Muslims are paying young men to become Muslims (approx. 1.5 years of salary for the average person).

Everything I saw seemed to say that we are on the right track. I want you to be assured that your efforts will be well appreciated there.”


Don McLaughlin
Vice President of Operations
High Adventure Ministries


We pray the impact of our radio broadcast and the
testimony of Don McLaughlin is an encouragement
to you as you continue to serve the Lord with us
among Ethiopians around the globe.

 

Urgent Prayer Request
 While you are reading the following pieces of news, we encourage you to engage in prayer that our brothers
and sisters may persevere the hardship they endure every day.

Islam on the rise in Ethiopia

It has been reported that a number of Christians in the south western part of Ethiopia have been imprisoned or
remain in hiding because of their faith in Christ. In this predominantly Muslim region of the country, many Christians
are being persecuted. A few months ago five church leaders were imprisoned by local authorities, accused of
speaking against Islam, the Koran and the religious leader of the town. “Mohamed”, a convert to Christianity, has
been held in prison for a year without any formal charges.  Another believer, “Osman”, remains in hiding. He is being
chased by his sons who have been promised money and a trip to Mecca (Muslims’ holy city) by Muslim leaders if
they kill their father. Church leaders are helping hide “Osman” to protect his life. Muslim leaders in the region
are working to eradicate Christianity in the community, which they consider to be a holy place. Christian youths
are regularly harangued as Muslim scholars engage them in conversations, deliberately intending to confuse them
and turn them from their faith.
 

THREE JAILED ERITREAN PASTORS ‘DISAPPEAR’


August 25 (Compass) Relatives of three Eritrean pastors jailed since May discovered yesterday that the prominent
evangelicals have been transferred from their police station cells in the capital of Asmara to an unknown location.
When families and friends of the Rev. Haile Naizgi and Dr. Kiflu Gebremeskel of the Full Gospel Church and Pastor
Tesfatsion Hagos of the Rema Evangelical Church took food yesterday morning to the respective police stations
where the men have been imprisoned without charges, authorities informed them that the men were no longer there.
Evangelicals who later visited the wives of Naizgi and Gebremeskel said they found them “in distress and deep sadness over the sudden disappearance of their husbands.” “Such disappearances could be for the good or for the
worse,” one source told Compass. At least 400 members of evangelical churches in Eritrea are known to be imprisoned for their faith, including more than 70 soldiers held under severe conditions for over two years at the Assab Military Prison

2004 Copyright Compass Direct: Reprinted by permission



Praise & Prayer
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16

Praise:
   For the safe return of Dr. Melese from a three-week evangelistic trip to Lebanon and United Arab Emirates (UAE). For the extraordinary strength and energy he had as he preached the gospel from the pulpits, conducted seminars and workshops training lay leaders, and counseled many Ethiopians individually. Brother Melese sensed the prayers of many of you who did pray for him in these three weeks.
   For the many Ethiopians who crossed the line of faith in Lebanon and UAE as a result of this summer’s evangelistic mission. For the many other believers who recommitted their lives to walk closer with the Lord and be a light to those around them for the glory of our Lord.
   For continued prayer and financial support we receive from friends and partners. Please pray for God’s blessings upon these committed servants whom the Lord knows by name.
   For the wonderful opportunity God has given us to minister through radio. Thousands of Ethiopians continue to be impacted by the teachings of God's word over our daily radio broadcast and through the tape ministry.
   For the safe return of Misiker and his family from a four-week trip to Ethiopia and for the opportunity he and his family had to reconnect with relatives for the first time in many years.

Please Pray...
  For Dr. Melese, who is on his second evangelistic trip to Ethiopia. He will be ministering there until October 1st. Please continue praying for travel safety, for the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord as Dr. Melese makes himself available to the work of God. Pray that God will be glorified through the teaching of the Word, transformation of lives, renewed relationships, encouraged hearts, healed souls and bodies and other happenings God engineers.
  Continue praying for the gospel to be preached among Ethiopians who have never heard about Jesus Christ. Our radio broadcast has been a very effective tool in this regard. Pray that many in the remote parts of Ethiopia get access to shortwave radios.
  For Christians who are being persecuted in Eritrea (former province of Ethiopia in the north). The most recent communication we received from believers in Eritrea and their relatives confirms that the situation is getting worse. Many are still living in fear that they may be next to be thrown in jail for practicing their Christian faith with their fellow believers. We have also been informed that we cannot send any Christian literature or tapes because they will get in trouble even for receiving such resources. Pray that Christians in Eritrea grow stronger in their adversities.
  For the faith of the believers in Djibouti to be solid and unwavering in this time of difficulty due to new government policies.

 

VOLUNTEERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE
     When people interested in the Lord's work here at EOM visit our office for the first time, one of the common questions they ask is “Is this all the staff, the three of you, who are producing all this variety of Christian resources?” This is when we explain to them where the “invisible” but effective support staff is situated. Our support staff who make the work of the three full-time staff productive and effective are the volunteers who come in to do whatever they can to impact the world for Jesus with their time, talent and skill.

     Of those who volunteer regularly, Dick Naylor is one. He maintains our website that gives information about the resources we produce and how to order them. We also have audio streaming of our Bible studies on the Web.

     Mike Beckmeyer is the other volunteer “staff” behind the scene. The computers in our office behave well whenever Mike visits us. He is always accessible to tackle our computer-related problems and always looks for ways to improve the systems so that they all work seamlessly so we can use our time more efficiently. Currently, Mike, in collaboration with another ministry partner from the area, Alan Feldman of Virtual October, an Internet hosting design co., is working on upgrading and networking our systems to improve productivity and minimize the downtime of machines.
Tony Montag lends us a hand whenever something needs to be fixed in our building. He is there whether we need help fixing the lights or the faucets. He also takes care of the lawn at Melese’s place while Melese is on extended missions trips overseas. Tony and his wife minister in very special ways to EOM and by extension to all who are ministered to through EOM.
 		 Another servant is Alan Shue of York. Recently, when we needed a phone system for the office, Alan, in cooperation with his company, Telecom Business Solutions, installed a system that is just right. What a difference that made to our operation in the office!  

The extra hands we get to prepare regular monthly, bimonthly and quarterly mailings of publications and taped messages are always vital. They help us send out important scripture teachings on time to hundreds of recipients. In the photograph, Cindy Kalinoski and her daughter Elena with her friend Annie Smith take time to prepare our bimonthly Bible study mailing. What an opportunity for Elena and Annie to get involved in missions at such young age!

Every winter, friends of EOM volunteer to shovel snow from our driveway. If you would like to volunteer this coming winter, please contact our office. There are a great number of you whose pictures we cannot fit in this short column. By sharing your precious time, skills, money and resources with EOM, you have served God and His people for His glory. We want you to know that you have been an instrument for the Lord's work here at EOM. You help us to be more effective in reaching millions of Ethiopians around the globe with the life changing message of our God through daily radio, taped teachings and printed resources. Without your help, we would not have touched as many people as we have been able to. May God bless you and your families. We extend our appreciation to the family members of our volunteers for their support and encouragement. “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” Hebrews 6:10 (NKJV)