Ethiopian missionaries strengthen Fulani teams

The Gospel first arrived in Ethiopia nearly 2,000 years a go, through a high official in the court of Queen Candace. Acts 8 tells how the Holy Spirit sent Philip the evangelist into the desert to meet this Ethiopian in his chariot and explain the scriptures to him. Today, the Holy Spirit is sending Ethiopians out into the desert to open the scriptures to others.

An emerging focus of the SIM East African Office (EAO) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is the nomadic Fulani people of West Africa, who live along the Sahara Desert. The Fulani population, estimated at 40 million in 20 countries, is largely Muslim, and includes many who follow indigenous traditions.

Side-by-side, the Fulani and Ethiopians look like siblings, and legend says the Fulani originated from Ethiopia. In one of the Hadith, Muhammed forbade his followers from harming Ethiopians, making them natural friends today.

Worku Hailemariam, Director for SIM EAO, hosted a two-day conference in Addis Ababa in June 2019, drawing attendees from various churches and denominations. He invited a Fulani church leader from Niger, Tambaya Ibrahim. Tambaya is director of a Fulani Bible school and serves on a scripture translation team. (Famines in 1974 and 1984 sent people from his desert community south in search of food, and they encountered the gospel.) Rev Gashaw, Ethiopian missionary to Mali, gave an altar call, and eight responded, committing themselves to help reach the Fulani.

The three main presenters at the EAO conference were Jon Banke of SIM, Tambaya Ibrahim from Niger, and Rev Gashaw Nemosa of Ethiopia.

The EAO has sent out over 40 missionaries outside Ethiopia, supported by their home churches. The EAO is now also sending Kenyans, Eritreans, Tanzanians and Ugandans.

Five families sent through EAO, now serve among the Fulani in Ghana, Niger, Mali, and Guinea, with more arriving in Nigeria soon.

SIM'S FULANI TEAM IN GHANA

The emerging Fulani outreach team in northern Ghana is so far made up of two Ethiopian families, Dawit with wife Eshetu and Mesfin with wife Asefash. New SIM workers, Gaspard and Félicité Mamang, from Central African Republic, have joined them. Gaspard and Félicité fled civil war in their homeland several years ago, becoming refugees in Ghana. Earlier this year, they joined SIM through the West Africa Missions Office.

*Adapted from the article ‘Ethiopian missions: A history of prayer and sacrifice,’ published in AfriGO Vol 4, Iss 2.