TEWOLDE GEBREMESKEL - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

When Tewolde Gebremeskel left the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in 1991, he sought freedom and a new beginning - far away from his homeland. What he eventually found was freedom and a new beginning, indeed, and a burning desire to return to Ethiopia.

Tewolde was a geology student at the Addis Ababa University when he decided, together with others, that he needed to flee for his life. He is from the Tigre region of Ethiopia and at the time a rebel army, made up predominantly of people from the Tigre region, was engaged in a protracted civil war aimed at toppling the socialist government of the day. One-by-one, students from the same region as Tewolde had started to disappear from campus never to be seen again. This prompted Tewolde and some friends to a decision to escape to Kenya and then work on proceeding to a First World country.

The journey to Kenya almost cost Tewolde his life. To avoid roadblocks that had been set up on all major roads, he was forced to hide in bush and thickets as he crossed grassland and semi-desert areas and made his way over and around rugged mountain terrain. Many who tried the same would get caught by local villagers who would then turn them in to the authorities.

At one point Tewolde was jailed for two weeks. The situation got so desperate in prison that the inmates considered killing the prison guards in order to escape, but later abandoned that plan. Tewolde was only released because a relative of his in the town payed money to the authorities and promised that Tewolde would return to Addis Ababa. Tewolde started off in the direction of the capital only to detour after a distance and continue his pursuit of freedom.

One elderly man who really helped Tewolde and his friends was the owner of a truck, who would let them ride in his vehicle but made sure they would get out well before a check point and then would wait for them much further up the road beyond the check point so they could catch up with him on foot and then continue with their journey.

About thirty-five days after leaving Addis Ababa, Tewolde arrived at the Kenya-Ethiopia border. Ten months later, after spending time in the dusty and desperate conditions of a refugee camp in Kenya, Tewolde made his way to Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.

It was here that Tewolde's life took a major turn. He had started reading a New Testament that was given to him in the refugee camp. Although Tewolde was not a particularly religious person, like most Ethiopians he had grown up with the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The more he read his New Testament, the more he realized that there was much in the Orthodox traditions that was not biblically sound. He longed to practice true Christianity.

One day he met people street-preaching who on hindsight he is sure were members of the Nairobi church. But despite taking his address, they never followed up on him. Soon after that a fellow Ethiopian refugee, who was a disciple, shared his faith with Tewolde, but failed to pick him up for Sunday service as the two of them had agreed. Not long after this, Tewolde moved to a new house and just so happened to be next-door neighbor to another Ethiopian refugee who was a member of the Nairobi church. She got the brothers involved, Tewolde studied the Bible, and on the first day of 1992, Tewolde was baptized into Christ.

At this point Tewolde dropped his dream of seeking asylum in a First World country, where many of his fellow refugees sought to seek residence. Instead, Tewolde dreamed of taking the life-saving truth of the gospel back to his people in Ethiopia.

In the meantime, the war in Ethiopia ended with victory to the counter-government forces. Tewolde could return home with no threats to his safety. "I told Addis (one of the brothers who studied the Bible with Tewolde), 'We need to go back to Ethiopia and make disciples.'" Eight months after his baptism, during which period he was fruitful, helping a young Kenyan man become a Christian, Tewolde returned to Addis Ababa on a United Nations refugee repatriation flight, three months after the others on the church planting (which was lead by Alcides and Leslie de Morais and included Addis and another Ethiopian brother, Mulugeta Tadesse, apart from Tewolde - photo left). Like Moses many millennia earlier, a man who had fled was back to declare liberation for his people.

Tewolde has experienced numerous victories since then, but it has by no means been plain sailing since returning to Addis. He eventually graduated from Addis Ababa University, married a wonderful sister named Simret, and became a father. He has lead many to Christ, including his boss - whose wife also got baptized - at a downtown advertising firm.

Sadly, though, just over a year after his wedding and a few months after the birth of his daughter, Tewolde's wife, one of the first conversions in the Addis church, passed away. It was difficult and painful, but, says Tewolde, "I didn't need to worry. I needed only to rely on God." Having seen God's hand in sustaining him through much hardship up to that point, Tewolde was determined to hold on to his faith.

Some months later, a great victory took place. Mulugeta Taddesse, an advocate, had been one of the members of the planting to Addis. And it was he who reached out to Simret soon after the team got to Addis. But he later fell away and went to work in a town 500 kilometers from Addis Ababa. At one point Mulugeta started visiting church whenever he would be in town for work. Tewolde remained his friend and urged him to get his life right with God again. In March 2001, Mulugeta was restored to the Lord, and has helped six other men and women become Christians in the town where he works.

For a time, Tewolde led the Addis Ababa congregation while holding down a full-time job. "It is challenging," he said, "but it is a privilege. It is the least that I can do for God."

It is encouraging to see the resilience Tewolde has and his enthusiasm about being a disciple. "When I was studying the Bible I was inspired by the Scriptures," Tewolde says. "As I saw Scriptures and then saw people living them out I was inspired. The example of Alcides and Leslie de Morais and their marriage was great. I was also inspired by Addis Keleta. Since then, it is simply the truth that keeps me going. I have learned that people will fail me - disciples are not perfect - but that through it all I need only to stay close to God. So many people around me today are an inspiration, but the outstanding thing is God."

Just as God was faithful to Moses on his return to his people, God has been faithful to Tewolde, who looks forward, he says, to seeing evn greater things that the Lord will do in Ethiopia. "As God showed Abraham the uncountable number of stars and promised him his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, I would love to see the spiritual descendants of Abraham being as numerous as the stars, which means having disciples all over the country - in each region, town and village. I dream of the gospel being preached in all the tribal languages of Ethiopia."

Ethiopia, one of the poorest counties in the world, has long been known in the international media for two highly contrasting events - humanitarian crises like famines that strike periodically on a massive scale, and for producing world-class, gold-medal-winning long distance runners. And as many rally to provide nutrition for the starving millions in the country, let us pray for them and for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, to whom Tewolde and disciples of the Ethiopia Christian Church are holding out the word of truth. Let us pray that as many as possible will find God and get the crown that will last forever.

Read this article on the website upcyberdown.org