New Life Despite Destruction

The region is located northwest of Addis Ababa and is home to approximately 400,000 people. Seventy-five percent of them belong to the Oromo ethnic group. The past five years have been marked by instability: In the wake of widespread unrest, several church buildings belonging to our partner church were destroyed.

The Full Gospel Believer's Church has over 10 million members nationwide. In the region itself, around 60,000 people belong to the church, about 15 percent of the population. However, the local congregations did not let the loss of their places of worship stop them and continued to meet. What's more, they took to the streets, distributed Bibles, preached, and visited people in their homes.

Some of the destroyed church buildings have since been rebuilt. A new movement has even given rise to a daughter congregation with over 50 new believers. This congregation has also been able to construct its own building, where the young congregation now meets regularly for worship services.