Praying For Power in Soddo … And Using Generators to Share Jesus
{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.
