HARAR Fire Conference, DAY 1:
The believers of this city are hungry for Jesus! Preaching to them is effortless. They pull the message out of one with their passion and enthusiasm for the things of God. Tonight was only the beginning of our Fire Conference and already, the atmosphere is charged with expectation. I ministered on the burning bush in Exodus 3 and explained how we are all little bushes—insignificant perhaps in the eyes of men—but when filled with the Spirit of God, we become the mouthpiece of the Almighty. The delegates got the point before I had even made my point, so great is their zeal.
We are holding our conference in the largest church in this city, one with less than 6% of its population being born again. Harar is the fourth holiest city of a certain religion, after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. In fact, it quite possibly has the largest concentration of places of worship for this religion in the world, with 82 in total within a relatively small area—three of which date from the 10th century—and additionally, 102 shrines. The believers here have one ambition: Harar for Jesus! We have come to help them achieve this goal and with the help of your prayers, they will be empowered to get the job done. Amen and amen!
I would like to add a note at the end of this report and wish our UK trustees, partners and friends our heartfelt condolences on the loss of their beloved Queen Elizabeth II. She is with Jesus and we celebrate her life of service to Him and her people.
HARAR Fire Conference, DAY 2:
What a night! The venue was packed to capacity, with delegates sitting outside as well. I taught on the partnership between the believer and Holy Spirit, highlighting the responsibilities of the believer. We are to speak to people about Jesus and pray for people in the name of Jesus. In short, if we bring the words and touch, the Spirit brings the power punch! The people received the message with wholehearted fervour. Layer upon layer, we are pouring into the believers of Harar. What wonders will result! The Lord knows and we are excited to play a small role in the salvation of this city. Tomorrow, we will hold both morning and evening services. I will minister in the morning and Ev. Samuel in the evening. Thank you for your continued prayer support. The hand of the Lord is heavy upon this place. Our entire team can sense that the time for Harar is now. Rise up, believers of Harar! Rise up and preach the Gospel! Amen and amen.
HARAR Fire Conference, DAY 3:
Happy New Year, Ethiopia! Goodbye, 2014. Hello, 2015. It is rather fun being called by the Lord to a nation that works off a calendar that is seven years behind the rest of the world, due to the birth of our Jesus being calculated differently. This means that every so often, when you are around in September, you get to re-celebrate the coming of a certain year. It is good to see you again, 2015! Let’s do it again—even better this time.
What a day we had, here in Harar. We held both morning and evening services. This morning was extra special as our service doubled as a graduation ceremony for students of the Full Gospel Theological College. What a privilege to be part of their merriment. I ministered on intimacy with our Jesus and how important this is. All ministry should flow out of intimacy. It should be the foundation of our every word, act and thought. We gifted each student with a copy of the Amharic translation of my book on the Holy Spirit and evangelism: Spirit of Fire. We also gave over one hundred books to the pastors, for distribution among their leaders.
This evening, Ev. Samuel Murrombe preached with profound conviction, sharing his testimony—which always makes me want to receive the Lord as my Saviour all over again!—and the importance of looking to the Lord with eyes of faith. He stirred a fantastic expectation in the hearts of the delegates for tomorrow night, when we will lay hands on everyone in attendance. Before we closed the service, we celebrated the New Year together through praise and prayer. You will see from the photos that some of the ladies—including myself—wore yellow flower pins in their hair. The real version of these hair pins is an indigenous flower called Adey Abeba, which only blooms in Ethiopia during the month of September. It hence symbolises a change of year.
Tomorrow morning, Samuel, Elias and I will all preach in different churches. It is going to be another fire-filled day and we appreciate your continued prayers as we finish off strong in the city of Harar. Harar for Jesus!
HARAR Fire Conference, FINAL DAY:
It is difficult to put into words, what the Lord has done today. Harar is not an easy place. The Lord led us here and we know that he is cracking open the spiritual darkness that pervades this city and causing the Light of Life to shine supreme. The born-again population is tiny and for centuries, other religions have dominated Harar and made their beliefs her very identity. Yet, Harar belongs to Jesus and what has been poured into the believers here over the past four days, will reap abundant fruit. This is only the start of great things for the evangelical church in Harar. We are so excited and the pastors are too!
This morning, Ev. Samuel, Ps. Elias and myself all ministered to different congregations. This evening, we held our final Fire Conference service. I gave a last teaching on the Holy Spirit, unpacking the mysteries of the baptism and the anointing. I also explained step-by-step, using a tract that I wrote and which our team translated into Amharic, how to share the Gospel. The people listened—as they have in every session—with eager attention, absorbing every truth shared. Then, we stacked the chairs, pushed them to the side of the church and let the Holy Spirit take over completely. Our team moved through the crowd, laying hands on every delegate and praying with passion and power. Men and women were filled with the Spirit, bondages were broken, boldness imparted, diseases vanquished and believers fired up for soul-winning. It was a time of splendid, divine chaos. Joy broke out and the delegates danced and leaped and praised the Lord with total abandon. It was absolutely glorious! The pastors gave our team beautifully embroidered, traditional outfits as gifts. We will be sure to wear them when we come to Harar for a Gospel Crusade.
Dearest friend, thank you such much for your faithful prayer and financial support. You have mightily impacted two cities with minority born-again populations, setting the believers ablaze with the fire of God and rallying them for extravagant soul-winning efforts. Dire Dawa and Harar shall be saved and you have played an essential role in bringing this to pass. Ethiopia belongs to Jesus!
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