After our local service on Sunday, Pastor Emanuel invited us to attend a ‘conference’ at a nearby rural chapel. Many from our congregation climbed into bijus[ 3 wheeled taxis] and 7 of us piled into a Toyota for the short drive.We turned off the main road a few kilometers from Burayu and onto a rough dirt track rambling through eucalyptus groves and the occasional grain field.
We came to a small cluster of farm houses where many people had begun to gather. We untangled ourselves from the Toyota truck and walked a short way to an outdoor pavilion made of poles and tarps. The ground was covered with fresh eucalyptus leaves and they gave off a lovely fragrance as we walked on them. A large group of worshipers had already gathered in the pavilion and we were given seats near the podium. The guest speaker turned out to be the driver of the Toyota, Mitiku. A local elder opened the conference with prayer, then Mitiku launched into an enthusiastic message about the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives.
At several intervals the message would break and the music would begin and people would sing and dance and a man even began to play a large drum. Pastor Emanuel explained to me how King David’s wife Michal had disapproved of his dancing and that the Ethiopian people consider dance a form of worship just like David did.
Mitiku began to preach again and someone spoke up saying they had received a word of prophesy regarding a man at the conference. He came forward and they prayed over him and laid hands on him and he received a healing from the Holy Spirit.
A woman came forward and was prayed for and also received a blessing The preaching continued for awhile and after some more music Emanuel gave a closing sermon .
I find the worship here to be inspiring and uplifting and I very much enjoy the music and dance. It is as though people here feel free to worship with all of there being, in our American churches we seem to have lost some of that along the way.
I love the worship services in my home church and I greatly value the teaching of the Word also. I just pray that we can find a way to incorporate the enthusiasm I find in the Ethiopian church. CW
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