From the Lion's Mouth

Mark and Sidney Launder are living and ministering in a poor neighborhood in Soddo Ethiopia. This story, shared by Sidney displays the personal God who loves us all and graciously transforms us.

The story of Gopeeleo is one of magnificent change and a stunning picture of what it means to be a new creation in Jesus Christ.

It was 10 years ago that Gopeeleo came to this same compound where Mark and I now live. He came with a two-foot machete in his hand, walked up to our pastor friend, Tesfi, and said, “Why did you bring Jesus to this place? I keep hearing Jesus in my ears—I am going to kill you!”

The night before Gopeeleo’s visit, Tesfi had been praying and asking God to touch the people on this hill—Tesfi lived here for seven years amongst the thieves and drunks. Although Gopeeeleo had once lived in town, he moved out here to Otonna to get away from some evangelists that had moved into his old neighborhood. Ha! I smiled as he recounted the last time he stood on this same ground, despising even the Name of Jesus.

Now that same angry man is a believer, and he’s laid his machete down.

Gopeeleo arrived at our home with the sunrise. 6:30 a.m.

His eyes grew big as he came into our garden to be greeted by our dikdik, Tazo (smallest member of the antelope family). Gopeeleo stared in amazement and couldn’t believe Tazo was so friendly (dikdiks are usually eaten by Ethiopians whenever they can catch them).  I told him Tazo was our dog, which made him smile. Tesfi, the praying pastor, was also with us as we sat down to talk about Gopeeleo’s new life in Christ. 

Gopeeleo was so anxious to tell us how different he feels, evidenced by his sparkling eyes and the peace we now felt in his presence. We prayed over him as he stretched out his hands, sang songs to God and proclaimed his love for Jesus. 

He is going to church with us tomorrow, and told us he wants to be clean physically as well as spiritually. He had already cut off his long grey dreadlocks (symbolic of his old craft) and asked for a razor to shave off his beard. Then Tesfi and I cut off his leather necklace (which was a symbol of worship to Mary). When he took off his purple turban (symbolic witchdoctor hat), Mark gave him the wool cap he wore on his climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Gopeeleo was delighted to have this. 

These gestures were all physical aspects of repentance for him. He no longer wanted to be known by his old clothes or appearance. So later that day, Tesfi and I went to the open air market and bought him two pairs of pants, two shirts, a coat, some socks and shoes. His face lit up when he tried on his new clothes! He said “I feel like I have had a new birth…much better than the first one! Bravo! Bravo!”  He is so excited about going to church with us tomorrow.

This is a new beginning for him in every way. As of today, he is done with selling tobacco, alcohol and “traditional medicine” (witchcraft) as well. He told us he does not want to make God angry, because God might pick him up and throw him across a field. I cringed inwardly, as I knew this had happened to him before when he was serving demonic spirits. It will take time for Gopeeleo to learn the love and gentleness of the one true God. This will all be a process. 

Now he is wondering how he will provide for his family. He accepted Christ knowing that he would have no means to take care of them for awhile, but Mark and I have a couple of ideas for new work. If we can purchase a few donkeys for him, he can haul water (which is at a premium right now). It costs about $80 to a $100 per donkey.

Pray and ask the Lord if you would want to help him in this way. The day he gave his heart to Jesus, he told us how the demons were angry at him and killed his only donkey. His journey towards God has been full of intense spiritual battles.

The neighbors have been finding out that Gopeeleo has given his heart to Christ, and they are rejoicing! Some fall to the ground in thanksgiving. It is amazing to watch their responses. We will write you again soon and share about his first time at church.

Well dear friends, I cannot thank you enough for all your prayers God is FAITHFUL!  

Amen and Amen.

Lovingly,

Mark & Sidney Launder

Mark and Sidney Launder are living and ministering in a poor neighborhood in Soddo Ethiopia. This story, shared by Sidney displays the personal God who loves us all and graciously transforms us.

The story of Gopeeleo is one of magnificent change and a stunning picture of what it means to be a new creation in Jesus Christ.

It was 10 years ago that Gopeeleo came to this same compound where Mark and I now live. He came with a two-foot machete in his hand, walked up to our pastor friend, Tesfi, and said, “Why did you bring Jesus to this place? I keep hearing Jesus in my ears—I am going to kill you!”

The night before Gopeeleo’s visit, Tesfi had been praying and asking God to touch the people on this hill—Tesfi lived here for seven years amongst the thieves and drunks. Although Gopeeeleo had once lived in town, he moved out here to Otonna to get away from some evangelists that had moved into his old neighborhood. Ha! I smiled as he recounted the last time he stood on this same ground, despising even the Name of Jesus.

Now that same angry man is a believer, and he’s laid his machete down.

Gopeeleo arrived at our home with the sunrise. 6:30 a.m.

His eyes grew big as he came into our garden to be greeted by our dikdik, Tazo (smallest member of the antelope family). Gopeeleo stared in amazement and couldn’t believe Tazo was so friendly (dikdiks are usually eaten by Ethiopians whenever they can catch them).  I told him Tazo was our dog, which made him smile. Tesfi, the praying pastor, was also with us as we sat down to talk about Gopeeleo’s new life in Christ. 

Gopeeleo was so anxious to tell us how different he feels, evidenced by his sparkling eyes and the peace we now felt in his presence. We prayed over him as he stretched out his hands, sang songs to God and proclaimed his love for Jesus. 

He is going to church with us tomorrow, and told us he wants to be clean physically as well as spiritually. He had already cut off his long grey dreadlocks (symbolic of his old craft) and asked for a razor to shave off his beard. Then Tesfi and I cut off his leather necklace (which was a symbol of worship to Mary). When he took off his purple turban (symbolic witchdoctor hat), Mark gave him the wool cap he wore on his climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Gopeeleo was delighted to have this. 

These gestures were all physical aspects of repentance for him. He no longer wanted to be known by his old clothes or appearance. So later that day, Tesfi and I went to the open air market and bought him two pairs of pants, two shirts, a coat, some socks and shoes. His face lit up when he tried on his new clothes! He said “I feel like I have had a new birth…much better than the first one! Bravo! Bravo!”  He is so excited about going to church with us tomorrow.

This is a new beginning for him in every way. As of today, he is done with selling tobacco, alcohol and “traditional medicine” (witchcraft) as well. He told us he does not want to make God angry, because God might pick him up and throw him across a field. I cringed inwardly, as I knew this had happened to him before when he was serving demonic spirits. It will take time for Gopeeleo to learn the love and gentleness of the one true God. This will all be a process. 

Now he is wondering how he will provide for his family. He accepted Christ knowing that he would have no means to take care of them for awhile, but Mark and I have a couple of ideas for new work. If we can purchase a few donkeys for him, he can haul water (which is at a premium right now). It costs about $80 to a $100 per donkey.

Pray and ask the Lord if you would want to help him in this way. The day he gave his heart to Jesus, he told us how the demons were angry at him and killed his only donkey. His journey towards God has been full of intense spiritual battles.

The neighbors have been finding out that Gopeeleo has given his heart to Christ, and they are rejoicing! Some fall to the ground in thanksgiving. It is amazing to watch their responses. We will write you again soon and share about his first time at church.

Well dear friends, I cannot thank you enough for all your prayers God is FAITHFUL!  

Amen and Amen.

Lovingly,

Mark & Sidney Launder

Please thank EVERYONE who is praying for us. Your prayers are more vital than ever to us here in Ethiopia. I must say that it has felt a bit grim these past couple of days.  We were able to fill up our water tanks using donkeys carrying water from the river (they strap 4 old plastic cooking oil jugs on the donkey’s backs and haul them to our house). We are not sure how long we can depend on this source as everyone is trying to get donkey water. Of course, the price went sky high. We were on an absolute ration of water, not taking showers or even flushing the toilet but once a day. 

 But PRAISE GOD the government brought in an emergency generator for the two hospitals in town as one had to close their doors. The Soddo Christian Hospital remained open as they have a huge generator and two good wells. The only problem is that the fuel to run the generators is very difficult to get and very expensive. 

As soon as the fire stopped we sent our guy down to get petrol for our generator. So we are limiting the use of our generator, using it just enough so the fridge doesn’t get warm. But yesterday with this emergency generator coming they are only giving power to the hospitals and we happen to be on the same line….so PRAISE GOD we got some power for a few hours yesterday which also allowed us to get some water.

 I cannot tell you how what a blessing that was. Everyone hollering with praise and tears. I just dropped to my knees, weeping and thanking God for His goodness to us. This is a temporary fix, so PLEASE KEEP PRAYING that the government thinks the power plant is important enough to fix in a timely fashion. It’s Africa…so one never knows what will happen.

I feel like I’ve been on the front lines for a long time, and everyday has such major demands. I have people at my gate daily asking for help. I feel spent and keep pressing on, but sometimes I’m just worn out. Please pray for my stamina. I love it here and am witnessing GOD doing amazing things, but it’s a hard life. 

We showed the Jesus Film last night under the broken power poles on top of the hill in front of our house. We were the only light on the hill (using our generator), sharing with the Ethiopians that Jesus is REAL LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

Hundreds came, and you should have heard the cries of the people as they watched Jesus being crucified. They wailed beating their chests…their crying went on for at least 15 minutes. But the cheers at His resurrection were so loud and joyful. Many are giving their hearts to the Lord weekly as we show a Jesus film every Friday night.

We sing  ”YES….JESUS LOVES ME…..YES JESUS LOVES ME ….YES JESUS LOVES ME, THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO”  each time before we start the movie. I am so blessed as I hear the kids across the way singing it to themselves throughout the week, and when they’re playing together I hear them singing it over and over. 

 Since we have been showing the films more and more people come to our gate…the lame…the blind…the sick and the dying. The needs are endless. 

Love and thanks,

Sidney Launder

{This letter came from a friend of ours who supports our ministry partners in Ethiopia, Mark & Sidney Launder. They come from up here in the the Northwest, but they’ve recently relocated to Soddo to live with and reach with Jesus’ love the needy and oppressed in their community. Soddo’s main power plant underwent an explosion and destructive fire this week. Here’s what Sidney has to share.}

   One of the things that Sidney & Mark Launder are involved with is witnessing to the local Ethiopian people through their “Jesus Film Ministry”.  They have acquired a projection system that can be run off of power from their home, and on Friday nights the past few weeks have been showing Campus Crusade’s Jesus Film (translated into Amharic) to all comers.  They hang a white sheet in a tree by their home to project the film onto and invite the neighbors - last Friday they had over 150 in attendance.  Sidney is working with local pastors who issue an “altar call” after showing the film - last week 20 people gave their lives to Jesus. 

The entire area continues to be blacked out by the destruction of the Soddo power plant.  Only those who have access to a generator (such as the Soddo Christian Hospital) are able to have any light at night.  The Launders have a small generator, big enough to run a few lights and a couple small appliances, but as fuel sources are extremely tight they are limiting its use to a few hours a day.  There also is a critical water shortage throughout the whole area as there is no power to run the pumps that move the water through the local water system. 

 Here’s an excerpt from an email Sidney sent me last night:

“I am not sure how long we will be able to stay here, until they get this fixed. We did Donkey water yesterday and they are saying that the source is drying up. We have 2 full tanks. Which in normal use is just 3 to 4 days worth at best. …Rationing I don’t know. People are really sad about this. I went down to the power plant with Gold and I preached for a while to the people about bending their knees to God and repenting and having a relationship with him, as there are many people there staring at the charred remains. We will be the only light on the Ottano hill tonight as we will be using our precious fuel to show the Jesus Film right under the power lines….how about that…Showing them the real Light of the World. Pray.”

(“Donkey Water” is water hauled from a local polluted river or town water taps in jugs on the back of donkeys and as demand increases, so does the price). 

PLEASE CONTINUE YOUR PRAYERS -

 Pray for:

 - Many to come to know Jesus as Lord in the midst of this severe trial.

- The showing of the Jesus Film to bring many into relationship with Christ.  Sidney is showing the film on Friday night, which is 8AM-10AM Friday morning (today) in Spokane.

- Wisdom for Sidney, Josh & Lindsey Roe and other local missionaries as to how best minister to the people

- Protection and Provision for basic needs (water/fuel/food) for the Launders and Roes, and for all the Ethiopia people affected by this disaster.

And remember, we know a God more powerful than disaster, more illuminating than electricity. Remember to pray for his Spirit to woo the souls of the lost in Ethiopia and that they might respond to the God of all Power who died to save them and lives to make them free.

Isaiah 51:15-16

For I am the LORD your God,

who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar.

My name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

And I have put my words in your mouth

and hidden you safely in my hand.

I stretched out the sky like a canopy

and laid the foundations of the earth.