Ethiopia

Church Planting Team
CMF’s church planting work in Ethiopia is a team effort with our national partners, the Kristos Andinet (Unity in Christ) Church. The missionaries work in both semi-urban and very rural areas of western Ethiopia, focusing on developing a church planting movement among the Oromo and Gumuz people. Because both of these people groups have strong animistic backgrounds and different levels of exposure to the Gospel, their ministries range from leadership development and college ministry among the Oromo to pioneering evangelism and new church planting among the Gumuz. While the missionaries work primarily in western Ethiopia, they have recently developed a partnership to plant our first church in the capital city of Addis Ababa.

Ministry with the Oromo is based out of Nekempte, a town of 150,000, and focuses on leadership development. Because college ministry is constantly changing, there are always many new opportunities for outreach, evangelism and discipleship.

Ministry with the Gumuz is more foundational and is based from the stations of Ayagali and Yamp, which are located north of the Blue Nile River. CMF missionaries operate medical clinics in these remote locations to demonstrate God’s love and open doors for the Gospel among totally unreached people. The combination of medical ministry and evangelism continues to be very successful, and the Church among the Gumuz is experiencing dramatic growth.

Here are a few of the many ways the members of the Church Planting team work and serve in Ethiopia:

Advise and teach at many national churches.
Train and disciple national church leaders and church planters.
Arrange logistics for and assist visiting work teams with a large variety of projects – medical, leadership training, construction, digging wells, etc.
Lead Bible studies for college students.
Run a busy medical clinic in a remote area of the country.

Urban Poor Team
CMF’s newest work in Ethiopia takes places in the slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, where the urban poor ministry team works in association with our local partner, Strong Hearts Ethiopia, to carry out holistic ministry among those who are trapped in poverty. The team uses Community Health Evangelism (CHE) with community members to help find appropriate solutions for the problems and challenges the marginalized face on a daily basis. CHE can help the many in Addis who are afflicted with leprosy and the orphaned and vulnerable children who live on the streets.

Team members also teach Bible Study Fellowship classes and serve as teachers at the Berhane Wongel Theological College, where Ethiopian Christian leaders are trained for ministry and missions to impact Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa for the glory of God.

Here are a few specific ways members of the Urban Poor Team serve in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:

Run a hospice project that provides palliative care for those afflicted with cancer and HIV/AIDS.
Teach CHE principles to community leaders.
Teach leadership and English classes.
Mentor and teach children’s groups and classes.
Lead in-depth Bible studies.