Pray For Ethiopia
From Josh Pannell, Dean of the SG Pastors College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia…
As many of you know, Ethiopia has been experiencing a civil war for over a year. In the past four weeks the rebels have made significant progress towards Addis Ababa, the city we now call home. Their intentions are clear and violent, and we’re hearing that some forces have reached Debre Sina, about 120 miles away from Addis. In response, the US Embassy began regularly urging us to evacuate. Our Pastors College was already scheduled to have a break from November 6-22, and I was planning on taking that time to travel to Orlando for the Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference to present a report on our church and pastors college. After praying and talking with our pastors, I decided to still go to the conference and to purchase airline tickets for Sabrina and the kids while there were still international flights available.
We had return tickets purchased for November 20th; however, as the civil war continued to get worse, we canceled the return flight for Sabrina and the kids and planned for me to go back to Ethiopia alone until the situation cleared. Unfortunately, I heard from the Ethiopian Immigration office last Thursday that they are temporarily suspending entrance to the country for standard entry visas, and I am unable to return to Ethiopia as planned. These changes in visa requirements appear to be due to the rising conflict. We have living accommodations set up near family in South Carolina where we plan to spend the holidays. Our prayer is that we can get back into Ethiopia on January 8th.
Michael Granger, our pastor at Trinity Fellowship, is still in Addis Ababa, and he plans to stay. The church is continuing to meet every Sunday, and God is working through Michael’s faithful preaching and pastoral care. We’re also happy to say that the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College will continue online. I will be using this time to teach classes over Zoom and help future professors put their classes online. The students are already adjusting to the new online learning environment, and they are eager to continue their studies. We’re praying that the Lord would allow in-person classes to resume in January.
We are deeply saddened by these developments, but we have confidence in the Lord who reigns sovereignly over every detail of our lives. We’ve especially found Psalm 46 to be a comfort:
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea ... Come, behold the works of the Lord, He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
God is doing so much in Ethiopia through Trinity Fellowship and the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College. Pray that he preserves what he started, and please join us in trusting that he will. We love the city, our church, and our friends, and we deeply anticipate the day we can go home again.