Chase Oaks Church

Big Picture: The Ethiopia Project is about coming alongside strong indigenous leadership, assisting their vision of multiplying churches throughout northern Ethiopia, doing holistic ministry in a largely impoverished and unreached people group.

Situation in Northern Ethiopia

Population and Economics

Northern Ethiopia has a population of around 27,000,000 people. After years of warfare, famine, political corruption, AIDS, & domination of the Coptic church, Ethiopia is a mess economically.

Virtually everyone except for government workers live at a subsistence level. In the urban areas, unemployment is very high. In the rural areas, the farmers eek out a living on farms that are less and less productive every year due to farming practices.

In the North, the Coptic church has dominated daily life, which affects economics directly. The church has mandated about 20 days of the month as feast/celebration days in honor of various Coptic saints. This means people are not allowed to work or farm on those days.

Religion

Of the 27,000,000, only .013% are Christians. Traditionally, this area of Ethiopia is Coptic. The Coptic church has roots in Eastern orthodoxy and is a very dark religion. Picture pre-reformation Catholicism for an analogy. In this area, the Coptic teachings have syncretized with spiritism, so that often the Coptic priest is also the witch doctor.

After World War II, the Ethiopian monarch at the time did allow missionaries to come into the country, but only allowed them to work in the south. The southern area was largely animistic and not Coptic. The King felt the north was already Christian, and wanted the “pagans” converted in the south. Because of this, there is a significant number of evangelical Christians in the south and a good bit of missionary work going on there. Unfortunately, the churches themselves in the south are by and large not highly missional themselves. They rely on the western missionaries. The churches have also adopted a western style of church as opposed to enculturating the gospel for their people effectively.

In the northern areas, the Coptic priest in a village has a lot of power, and the church dominates much of their lives. The coptics consider evangelicals a huge threat and have labeled them a cult. They command the village government and people to chase out the evangelicals so that their disease will not spread. When a person comes to Christ, they face incredible persecution. Often, they will be disowned by their families, their farms will be taken away, and their houses dismantled. Pastors especially face all that, plus physical persecution against their persons.

Islam is rapidly growing in this area. Money goes a long way in Ethiopia, and the Arabs are investing heavily with the goal of making Ethiopia the “Islamic Republic of Ethiopia.” They will typically build a large mosque in a village or city before there are even muslims there. They will then begin to give out money for those who wish to convert. Once converted, there is no exit—except by death. Their strategy is working.

Some of the missionaries are working in the northwest part of the country, with an isolated tribe called the Gumus. The Gumus are animistic and very open to the gospel. The muslims have yet to work in that particular area.

The Indigenous Leadership

One of the principles we appreciate about Bright Hope, the charitable organization we're working with in Ethiopia, is their insistence on coming alongside solid indigenous leaders that are already doing the job, where God is already working. They look for projects where great people are already doing the job and will continue to do it whether Bright Hope helps or not.

The leaders and fellowship of churches described below have a clear vision and are down the road with it. They are under-resourced and under-trained, but they will continue regardless of what we do.

The point person as far as Bright Hope is concerned for this area is a man named Worku, raised in Ethiopia and now a resident/student in New Zealand. Worku fled the country when he was 17 years old to escape the violence. Worku is a very sharp and godly leader who has a clear vision for his native area. He is very helpful as a bridge between the west (us) and his home country.

There are four geographic areas where the current pastors have gathered together to plant churches in their regions. We met with the two strongest of these groups, one in Gonder and the other in Bahir Dar. The fellowship of leaders was very impressive. The four groups have sent out about 25 missionaries over the last two years. Chase Oaks is currently supporting 69 missionaries/church planters. Their vision is to send out many more church planters, and there are plenty of people willing to go.

The churches are growing at different rates. The new plants have been going for 1 to 2 years, and are between 6 and 350 in terms of congregational size. The existing churches in the larger cities are a bit bigger, from 400 to 600.

The Ministry Focus

• Church Planting
• Holistic Ministry (community development)
• Support for widows & orpans
• Income generation

Current Issues in the Church Planting Effort

• Need for training
• Persecution
• Low receptivity in many areas
• Growth of Islam
• Lack of resources of social needs care (creates good will)
• Places to meet
• Transportation
• Bibles
• Medical Care 
• Encouragement (these guys are exhausted)

Current and Upcoming Project Involvement

This year (November 2009 – October 2010) Chase Oaks Church is supporting our Ethiopia Project by sending $235,000 to be used in the following ways: 

$60,000 – Church Planter Living Support (68 church planters)

$23,000 – Support for Widows Care Center in Gondar (50 widows daily)

$6,000 – Compassion through Debre Markos Church for Orphans and vulnerable

$126,000 – Private School Building/Land in Gondar for 400 students

$5,000 – Support for orphans through indigenous church relief projects

$5,000 – Support for orphans through indigenous church relief projects

$2,000 – Village visits to Church Planters for encouragement by Leader of ministry

$8,500 – Subsidy for 50 school students from Compassion International

In September 2009 the private school started up in a rented facility on church property in Gondar for 400 students. At this time, Chase Oaks is the sole supporter of the school. This part of the project has many benefits. First of all, the students are afforded a great education, better than what is available in the government schools. The school has qualified teachers and pays them above average salaries to ensure the education level, as well as provide a better income. Thirdly, the profits from this school will go directly into support of evangelical efforts in northwestern Ethiopia, which will include eventual full support of the church planters we currently support at Chase Oaks.

Opportunities to Participate

Each child’s tuition will provide their education, books, uniform and lunch on school days. Each of us has the opportunity to sponsor a child for $15/month or $150/year (10 months).

Other opportunities to support financially include:
• $10 a month feeds an orphan
• $35 a month provides care for a widow at the ministry center in Gondar
• $68 a month supports a church planter

For more information on our Ethiopia Project email John Stanley, Outreach Pastor, at .