Sleepless in Soddo

                 After an all day excursion driving from Addis Ababa to Wolaita Soddo in the southern region of the country on Friday, I am tired. Riding in a van is surprisingly exhausting, not to mention the 10 hour time difference that has my body thinking it should be sleeping all day and awake all night. Even after a few days in Soddo I am not adjusting well because of the noise at night. Oh the noise! Our hotel, while a very nice place to stay, is right next to the discotech, which ironically blasts “Don’t Wake Me Up” by Chris Brown late into the night. I guess they can’t wake me up if I am not asleep… The only relief is the blessing of a power-outage, a phrase I never thought I would say during summer in Africa.  However, even when the whole city of Soddo is without power, the Orthodox church is “miraculously” still able to keep its morning sermons going over the citywide loudspeaker which begin around three or four in the morning depending on the day.  Somehow the Muslims have worked around the power grid as well, as their early morning call to prayer is still going in full force. While we cannot take a hot shower, use any lights, or charge our cameras, the Orthodox and the Muslims still vie for volume victory while those not from either religion, including myself, fight for a few fleeting seconds of shuteye before giving in and listening to the drone of elderly Ethiopian men singing to the sky. At least the evangelical Kale Heywet Church across the street doesn’t start singing and service until eight.

                This public religious proclamations are very representative of the religious culture of Ethiopia as a whole.  The Orthodox have been around forever, tracing their lineage back to King Solomon. In fact, it was only recently during the surge of communism that the kingly lineage was broken when Haile Selassie was removed from office during the rise of the Derg (the Ethiopian communist government that ruled from 1974-1987). Even during the Derg, the Orthodox Church retained some power and now that communism has fallen the Orthodox are once again in control of most of the government.  Islam too has a vast history starting in the Sixth Century and it has a foothold in Ethiopia as well.  Islam is on the rise though as it has a plan to Islamize Ethiopia by 2020. Once again, the late one to the religious culture party is the Evangelical Church. 

                Despite its tardiness, the Evangelical Church is on the rise in Ethiopia.  Pastor Yosef, one of the men we worked with in our evangelizing excursion in 2012, is a leader in the Kale Heywet Church which partners with the Sudan Interior Mission Church.  While behind the times in some ways, there are other ways that the Evangelical Churches of Ethiopia show great maturity.  “We do not care about denomination,” says Yosef, “Only Jesus!”  During our stay in Soddo we had the opportunity to visit many different churches including Kale Heywet, Faith Bible Institute, and Mekane Yesus, a church currently in dialogue about opening fellowship with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  These and many others all partnered together for the evangelism of Mount Damot in 2012 and over 80 people came to Christ and six or seven home churches that were planted then are still meeting to this day! During our efforts this time, another 26 came to Christ and joined home churches that were planted in 2012 and we were able to distribute over 30 Amharic Bibles (the national language) and Wolaitenya New Testaments (in the local language). The Evangelical Churches even tried to band together to purchase some property for campus ministry at Wolaita Soddo University. Even though they could not afford it, they still plan to let all of the Christian students use the property if Mekane Yesus can afford the new land before the Muslims find out about it and purchase it for twice its worth with oil money. Just imagine what could be accomplished for Christ if churches in America set aside their differences to reach out to non-Christians rather than allowing their “theological superiority” get in the way of partnering with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I have a lot to learn from Christians in Ethiopia, that’s for sure.

                Now I am not trying to say that we should ignore doctrinal differences in the Church. Doctrine is a very important part of Christianity and it can and should be discussed in the right times and settings.  The point I am trying to make clear is that none of us have it all figured out theologically and it is arrogant to believe that you do.  I know that I can fall into this trap myself quite often.  What is most important though is sharing Christ with those who do not yet know him as their Lord and Savior. Doctrine can be sorted out later, as I believe that anyone who professes Christ as their only Righteousness will be saved, regardless of their denomination. Our mission is not to make sure that everyone we know is Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, or whatever denomination we hold. Our mission is share the Good News of Jesus sacrificial death and resurrection with those who do not know about it yet, just as the Evangelical Churches in Ethiopia have a united front against Islam and Orthodoxy. What will non-Christians think if the only exposure to Christianity they have is bickering between denominational groups? We are all parts of the Body of Christ with different abilities and strengths and I believe it is time for the Church to stop poking itself in the eye and use that hand to help someone in need and share Christ with them. I know that I will be trying to improve on this thanks to the many sleepless nights I have had wrestling with these issues.