Missions

In October 2012 Our Saviour  Partnered with 12 others from the Church at Charlotte and embarked on mission to minister and be ministered to by the people of Ethiopia.  To view all of our pictures from the trip click here.

Return to Ethiopia

​by Dave Ralston

On October 20, [2012] seven members from Our Saviour went for a week of work, worship and fellowship in Addis Abba and southern Ethiopia.  We went expecting to do a little work and share our faith.  What we learned is that God had much more planned for us and while we did serve, we received much more in terms of what we witnessed and were able to observe.

Our members partnered with twelve others from another church and visited, encouraged and worked with a variety of different ministries while in Ethiopia. In Addis Abba (the capital of Ethiopia) we visited with about 15 young girls that were part of a ministry named The Deborah House. This is a ministry that works to get young, abandoned, vulnerable girls off the dangerous streets and into a home where they are cared for and provided safety.

South of the capital we worshiped in an area at two churches in a Christian denomination known as Gospel for the Nations. These two churches were in very poverty stricken areas primarily populated by Muslims. The churches had very little in terms of material items but they were rich in their faith and generosity to us.

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We saw and learned about a ministry called Water is Life. We learned about the severe shortage of clean drinking water and how approximately 70% of the health issues in Ethiopia  come from dirty water. We saw how wells are being used by churches in the area to share the good news of Christ and provide for hope in very poor communities.

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We got to hear an amazing testimony of a former Muslim Sheik who has given his life to Christ. Several years ago he was part of a group that burned down a Christian church in his community. A week after the fire he learned that the people in the church were in fact praying for

him and his family. He was asked to meet with the Christians where they poured out their hearts to him. He went home that night and had a vision in his dreams that he was to follow Christ. The next day he accepted Christ as his Savior and has dedicated his life to converting others in the Muslim faith to Christianity. Today there are 17 Muslim Sheiks in the Islam faith that are working underground to bring the Gospel to others. Simply amazing!

Some of our group got to witness a baptism of 160 Muslims that were coming to Christ. Some of this group had traveled for days to be baptized in a lake near by. One of the members of our team said, “It was the most memorable experience of my life” to see so many that have so little come to know our Lord and Savior.

While we were in southern Ethiopia we stayed at the only children’s camp in the country alongside a large lake named Langano.  At the camp there is a clinic where they provide the only medical service within 25-miles,  a school for 401 students from kindergarten to 7th grade (with only 12 teachers), and a self-sustaining farm effort that is owned and operated by Ethiopians.  The camp, school and the clinic are operated under the oversight of SIM (Serving in Missions) ministry, which is one of the largest Christian missionary organizations in the world.

Sports Friends is another ministry under the SIM umbrella. Sports Friends is a simple ministry that began with two people ten years ago that uses sports such as soccer and volleyball to reach the youth in the country. With a median age of 16.8, there is an abundance of children everywhere you go.  The Sports Friends ministry has truly been blessed and today there are 85,000 children involved in their activities and the ministry has spread to five other countries.