A Short-Term Missions Trip To Ethiopia
An update from Leo Parris, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA…
Mountain top experiences are precious in the Christian experience. They’re not our daily experience, but when we encounter God in remarkable ways it fills our sails with energy to continue our journey in times of storms and doldrums. Our church just returned from a short-term missions trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and it’s safe to say our sails are bursting at the seams!
We took 9 youth and 10 adults to this city to run a Youth Camp for high schoolers that are a part of Covenant Mercies (CM) there. CM (as you’ve likely heard) is a ministry that is run by Doug Hayes, one of the pastors at our church, that exists to serve orphans in collaboration with indigenous local churches in the developing world. Many of the students that we spent time with had been sponsored for several years. But prior to this past year, Ethiopian laws had hand-cuffed the program and prevented open preaching of the gospel to those in the program. By God’s grace, last year that law changed and allowed CM to form this camp as the first public exposure to gospel preaching for the kids in this program. This was an incredible opportunity but was not without difficulty.
We had planned to camp outside of Addis Ababa, but leading up to the trip stories of rural kidnappings forced us to change locations only days before our flight departed. The CM team worked around the clock and found us a wonderful location within the city. Still, as the camp kicked off, the kids were clearly afraid of us and reluctant to talk. A massive language barrier and the newness of having the whole program together didn’t help these initial moments. But as we played games, ate together (actually feeding each other as a cultural act of affection - “gusha”), and heard message after message of 100-proof gospel, affection and openness began to grow.
There was a decisive turning point in the trip as Abenezer Djene (AB) began to preach to the camp. AB is a graduate of Trinity Fellowship Pastors College, which Josh Pannell heads as dean. AB led worship skillfully throughout the camp in the local language. As he began to share he pressed home the question, “Do you know what will happen when you die?” Then he spoke from Romans 5:8 directly into the world of the youth. AB grew up in an orthodox family and knows the world that the kids inhabit. He spoke to their fears and offered them the gospel of grace instead of works.
Conversations were radically different from this moment on. Several placed their trust in Christ. Songs and chants boomed from the dining hall. Worship was expressive. The Spirit was moving.
As the youth began to head towards their buses, the moment of departure couldn’t have been more different than their arrival. Many were crying. None wanted to leave. It was a holy moment for us. A few days later Doug shared a list of people that had been engaging with CM staff on spiritual questions. It was so encouraging to see that God had worked mightily in these student’s hearts during camp, but even more so to know that they were going to continue to be discipled in the days ahead.
We ended our trip by worshipping and enjoying fellowship with our sister church, Trinity Fellowship Church, led by Michael Granger. This was such a delight. Michael is doing a phenomenal job leading his church. They are thriving as they keep Jesus central and seek to reach their city with the gospel of Jesus.
Missions trips like these always come with challenges and a high cost, but may I gently encourage you to do them anyway? When carefully planned, they can be massively beneficial to our partnership in the gospel. These trips also make a radical impact in forming our people into the image of Christ. Our team returned excited about what God was doing among the nations and in our lives, and with our own struggles more fully entrusted to our savior. These trips can also be key in inspiring future long-term missionaries. I hope you’ll think strategically and plan sacrificially to take steps to deepen your global partnership through short-term missions trips.
