Ethiopian prayer warriors

 "Prayer does not prepare us for greater things, prayer is the greater thing." Oswald Chambers

     In the year 1975 the communists had taken over the country of Ethiopia. Missionary Dick McLellan knew that it would not be long before all missionaries would be sent out of the country and that the Christians would face severe persecution, just as they did in the other communist countries in the world. Mr. McLellan held a meeting for pastors to encourage them and had expected only a few hundred people to show up; but thousands of Christians came to the meeting. As he was preaching, the people noticed the dust of a vehicle filled with soldiers approaching the outdoor meeting site.  Everyone got to their feet, and many started to leave. One of the pastors, named Aldabo, stood up and told the crowd: “Do not be afraid. Do not move! Sit down! Everyone sit down and pray. God is with us. Glorify Your Name, O Lord Jesus!” Everyone sat down again and started to pray. Additionally, a young woman jumped to her feet and shouted: “my sisters,” and 23 other women, who were members of her church prayer group,  got up with her and ran to a small hut nearby where they fell to their knees and put their faces in the dirt and began crying out to God for deliverance.

     The vehicle stopped near the gathering and 20 soldiers jumped out with rifles and other weapons. The leader of the group was called Comrade Assefa and he had a reputation for cruelty. He pushed Mr. McLellan off the platform toward a crooked tree and stood on the platform and started to rant and rave. He raised his fist and shouted about the benefits of Communism and condemned the Bible, westerners, the former government, and Christianity. (He did not seem to know that the majority of the people present did not speak the language he was speaking!) He yelled: “Religion is dead! Your God is dead! Your Jesus is dead! No more church! No more meetings! No Bibles! All the missionary spies are finished too!”

    He had worked himself into a frenzy and seemed to be a man possessed. He screamed at the missionary several more times about God being dead when Mr. McLellan, emboldened by the Holy Spirit, said to him: “You only have man’s authority. Jesus Christ is the Son of Almighty God. The Bible says that all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Him.” That made Assefa crazy. He commanded a soldier to, “Shoot him!” A soldier tried hard to follow the order but he could not pull the trigger. His finger was frozen. Assefa snatched the rifle away from the soldier and held it a few inches from the missionary’s face. The leaders of the churches cried out, “Stop. Stop. He is our guest, our friend.” The whole crowd jumped to their feet shouting the same thing. Assefa, tried as hard as he could to pull the trigger, but he could not pull the trigger either! Finally, he gave up, threw the rifle down, and rushed to his vehicle, threw the driver out, and started the vehicle. The other soldiers quickly jumped in the back and the vehicle roared out of sight.

     The crowd erupted in celebration with pastor Aldabo shouting: “Praise God. Praise God! Thank you Lord Jesus. You have all authority!” Then the door to the little hut flew open and 24 young women came running out praising the name of Jesus for answering their prayers they had been sending up to the Lord! The celebration went on for another half hour as they worshiped and praised our God, the God that can do the impossible! (Warriors of Ethiopia by Dick McLellan, pp 158-162)

    When was the last time you cried out to God for Him to come down and work a miracle in your life? He is a God of miracles. He saved Daniel from the Lions Den. He parted the Red Sea. He saved a missionary from certain death in Ethiopia. He can save you from sin and take care of any situation in your life today. “For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

Pray that:

1.     God will come down and meet you today as you cry out to Him in praise and adoration for all the good things that He has done for you.

2.     You will have a true appreciation of all that God has blessed you with and thank Him for saving you and adopting you as His son or daughter.

3.     He will deliver you in you current time of crisis or need and that He will show Himself to be the God of miracles today.

4.     That God will work a miracle in the life of our church as we repent of our past and present sins and seek His face in the coming weeks and months.