Testimonials from ERM Supporters & Missionaries
Ezra Rural Ministry sees the results of the prayer and financial support given not only to its staff and its students, but also to their families and the rural communities in which they live. Here are a few examples.
A Bible of Their Very Own:
A good study Bible is very costly in Ethiopia, about as much money as a poor, rural farmer can make in a month. While distributing brand new study Bibles to his students, Ezra Rural Ministry Director Dereje Shiferaw heard about four of his students who had previously decided to pool their resources to buy one study Bible, which they had planned to take turns sharing. It would take several months for the four to save up enough money to do that. Imagine their surprise and gratitude as each of the four were handed his very own study Bible, bought with money received from generous donors. Dereje said, "God answered their prayers..." |
A Big Attitude Change:
The Director of Ezra Rural Ministry, Dereje Shiferaw, testified to the importance of the book, Where There Is No Doctor, when he said that it was helping his own family and the students at Ezra Rural Ministry Training Center. Said Dereje, "We got a big attitude change...for example, flies were not a big concern here. But the book taught us how flies affect our health and that we need to protect ourselves by cleaning our home...I am receiving good reports from my students day after day. The students present health courses when they are doing field ministry...there are only a few pastors teaching and working in the Ethiopian communities about health issues." |
The Evangelist Buys Oxen:
Elias Dogiso is a 40-year-old father of seven children, two boys and five girls. Like many rural Ethiopians, Elias has not had enough farm land to feed his family, but he and his wife have refused to allow poverty to be an excuse for not following the call of God. In the thirteen years that he has been a Christian, Elias has been involved in evangelism ministry, bringing many in his village to Christ. Eventually, he was able to bring enough of the evangelized villagers together to form a church, where he now serves. In 2006, through Ezra Rural Ministry's Adopt an Evangelist program, Elias was adopted by a family living half a world away. With their support, Elias and his family have since bought land and oxen. He has graduated from the training center with a two-year diploma and is teaching the one-year certificate program in his village. Now, the two-year commitment made by his adoptive family is done and Elias has entered into Ezra Rural Ministry's pilot-program, Tentmaking. In this program, Elias will be given the opportunity to become self-supporting by using his Tentmaking gift to buy two young oxen, which he will fatten up and sell at a profit in the fall. |
[Top of page] |
