National Nazarene Conference in Ethiopia
From 12-14 May 2023, a National Conference for the Ethiopian Church of the Nazarene was organised in the southern city of Hawasa. This conference is significant as it is the first of its kind in more than a decade. More that 3500 Ethiopian church members made their way, some travelling more than 700 kilometres and others selling hens, foraging for firewood or auctioning off their own valuables to raise the money to attend.
At the conference, there were 146 local churches represented from 10 regions in Ethiopia. Of the attendees, 80 were local pastors, leaders and DS’s. Additionally, there were twenty groups of church choirs among the over 3500 attendees.
Rev Stanely Ushe, the Field Strategy Coordinator (FSC) for the Africa East Field, and Dr Dany Gomis, the Africa Regional Director (RD), both attended the conference and delivered powerful sermons calling for unity and following God’s call. Attendees were profoundly impacted by the sermons presented by the speakers, as well as by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
The conference focused on John 9:4 which states, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” With the preaching and teaching focusing on this verse, many people experienced healing and new souls came forward to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. Approximately 500 people rose up and made commitments to the mission effort in Ethiopia following one of the sermons, which emphasised the necessity and call for every born-again Christians to go forth and share the Gospel.
Rev Grace Ushe also inspired the women present to engage in ministry, using John 4 as her basis. Additionally, she offered prayer for the Nazarene women at the conference.
The leaders of the Nazarene churches in Ethiopia have a vision to send out 100 local evangelists annually to plant 100 churches every year in the places where there are no churches. The current target is to plant 500 Nazarene churches by the end of 2027 in Ethiopia. Please keep Ethiopia in your prayers as they work to fulfil this mission.
