Anwar Berhe is a Langham Scholar who lives and works in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, with his family. Anwar’s role primarily consists of training missionaries and lay church leaders for strategic evangelistic ministry. He also works at the Evangelical Theological College (ETC) in Addis Ababa.
Over the last six months of 2022, Anwar has been travelling to attend conferences, and looking to support those in the local community by providing for those in need, and using the opportunities he gets, to share the Gospel of Christ with them.
ETC Graduation
It has been a busy year for Anwar and his ministry. In June, there was a graduation ceremony held at ETC, where ninety-three people graduated from their courses in Christian ministry.
“Graduation is an exciting event, and it gives closure to the several years of hard work and studies of students at academic institutions,” he shared.
“This year, we had a graduation ceremony on June 18, 2022, and ninety-three kingdom workers graduated from our college. We thank God for His faithfulness and leading them during their studies at ETC. Those graduates are serving in different ministry capacities in their local churches, denomination offices, parachurch organisations and in other Christian organisations throughout Ethiopia and beyond.”
Anwar noted that this graduation was particularly special as there were five graduates of a new program called the Masters of Arts in Christian-Muslim Relations program. This program was developed by Anwar following his return from studying in Australia.
“It is arguably unique and the first of its kind in Ethiopia. Those five graduates had many years of ministry experiences among Muslim communities in Ethiopia and in other parts of the World,” he shared.
Anwar also shared his excitement over 57 baptisms that took place in the local church in July. He shared that the church had run an evangelistic campaign and God opened the hearts of many young people to hear and respond with acceptance to Christ. “We took them through the discipleship and confession classes, and 57 of them finished their lessons and were baptised on July 23, 2022,” he shared.
Supporting the local communities
One of the ministries that Anwar supports is the Love and Mercy ministry, headed up by Tsige. Anwar shared that Tsige and the Love and Mercy ministry team collected money and clothing to support men and women in federal prison.
While at the prison, the team learnt of around 80 women who were believers in Christ, and over 300 believing men! The Love and Mercy ministry was able to distribute the money and clothes, and share the Gospel with both believers and non-believers alike, which resulted in one person becoming a Christian, and many others showing interest in learning more.
“The exciting thing is that the chief commander of the prison was so happy about the support and gave permission to our team members to come and share the word of God at any time. Though he was not a believer, he said that “only the word of God can transform their lives so that please come again and teach the word of God””, Anwar shared in his newsletter.
Travelling to encourage believers
More recently Anwar and two church leaders travelled to a new church plant in Gedamba Village, to encourage the believers there. The believers shared that they were seeking a plot of land to build their worship centre.
Anwar shared an exciting encounter with a man whom they walked past.
“We met a man who was coming from a nearby town to his home. We greeted him and shared with him the good news about Jesus. God opened his heart and he immediately decided to follow Jesus. After we prayed for him, he urged us to go to his home and to meet with his family. His wife and children were believers. During our conversation in their home, his wife mentioned the challenges that the believers have regarding worship centre,” Anwar shares.
The man and his wife were able to offer up a newly purchased plot of land to the church. They handed over the legal documents relating to the land, to Anwar and the church leaders.
“Thank God for the salvation of the man and the provision of the land to the church. Now we are in the process of finalising all the legal procedures to transfer the ownership of the land. Please pray for this family for the Lord may guide them and they may come closer to Him and experience His power,” Anwar shares.
Please pray for Anwar and his family, and for the ministry opportunities that have come up in 2022 and the way God has worked through Anwar. Thank God for the hearts he has worked in, and the people he has brought to Christ. Pray for the graduates from ETC and the prisoners who heard the good news. Pray that they will hold fast in their faith and be a light for others.