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Ethiopia Flood
LHM Team in Ethiopia Recovers from Devastating Floods by CHAD FIX
August 17 started as a typical Tuesday for the staff of Lutheran Hour Ministries–Ethiopia. The ministry team was busy registering new students for its Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC), writing reports, and making plans for a trip the next day to share the Gospel with people in a village 12 hours to the south. But this typical summer day took a sudden turn for the worse.
Late that afternoon, the staff noticed muddy water from a nearby stream rapidly beginning to flow into the office through the back doors of the building. They quickly began unplugging computers and gathering their belongings to leave through the front door. During that brief time, the water rose rapidly and filled the interior of the office. The water pressure from the rising stream made it difficult to open the door, so several staff members strained to open the door and heavy gates to reach the safety of higher ground on a nearby hill.
Thankfully all our LHM staff members were able to escape without injury but the next morning revealed extensive damage to the ministry center. The water left several inches of mud that ruined carpet, furniture, computers, printers, and the generator. Most importantly, the damage destroyed all the team’s ministry materials: its inventory of thousands of Gospel
tracts, booklets, Bibles, and BCC lessons in Amharic, Oromiya, and English, as well as its public address system and digital projectors used to share the Gospel at large-scale events.
While we are grateful for God’s love and protection of the ministry staff, this catastrophic loss of inventory and materials left LHM’s Ethiopia ministry at a virtual standstill. Previously scheduled events and activities to share the hope of the Gospel with thousands had to be postponed until critical ministry outreach materials could be replaced.
Since the flood was attributed to a failed government dike, the damage was not covered by insurance. Thanks to the generous response to an emergency e-appeal from people like you, our team in Ethiopia was able to get back on their feet relatively quickly.
“We are grateful for our faithful donors who prayed for our staff and sent funds to help us begin reprinting Gospel materials and rebuilding from this extensive damage,” says LHM’s regional director for Africa and the Middle East. “Your overwhelming generosity has allowed us to continue sharing the Gospel throughout Ethiopia with people who desperately need to hear it.” =
session, led by Polly Gregali, LLL community facilitator.
Participants provided feedback during the event with some action items that they plan to do as a result of attending the event:
“I want to try out spiritual disciplines each month, host a dinner every other month and invite friends, and be intentional in my everyday life to have spiritual conversations with friends and family.”
“I need to get the book (The Spiritually Vibrant Home) and think more about how to define a spiritually vibrant home. Some of what I heard, and saw, was surprising.”
“The event helped me open up the discussion about spirituality with others.”
“I will be intentional about reflecting and praying on my relationship with my grandchildren.”
“I will incorporate more shared devotion time at home and expand my household to include more people.” =
