Grace Ethiopian International Ministry (GEIM)
MISSION - To empower churches in Ethiopia through training and by providing different resources for the work of expanding the Kingdom of God.
VISION – To see churches in Ethiopia become effective in proclaiming the good news of the gospel to the lost and making them disciples of Jesus Christ.
FOCUS - To accomplish our mission we will focus on four major areas:
1. Training - In Africa, Asia and in parts of South America, evangelical churches are growing rapidly. For instance, in Ethiopia, according to the recent government census report, the number of evangelical Christians has risen by 8%. The country is enjoying unprecedented freedom in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, which was very difficult during the communist regime. Everyone who knows about the churches in Ethiopia would agree that the number one need of churches is training. Most of the ministers, even though they are known for their strong personal piety, have little or no exposure for theological training. Because of this it is not uncommon to see legalistic teachings in many churches. On top of that, heretical teachings are sometimes seen as well. Lack of training has also prevented the church from following a consistent church government style. One of the major problems which needs to be address is the Hermeneutical method the ministers follow. It is very common to see ministers interpret the Bible wrongly. To alleviate these problems we believe that we must work hard and focus on both formal and informal training. The training that we design will focus on topics like evangelism, church government, biblical studies, systematic theology, hermeneutics, and a host of other topics. By equipping and training the church, we will help them to be effective in reaching the lost and helping them become disciples of Jesus Christ.
2. Translation – The English language is not widely spoken in Ethiopia. As we all know most theological resources are available in the English language. The total number of biblical materials translated in the nation’s language is very few. It is not uncommon to find pastors and evangelists who have never used any biblical-aid books, or commentaries to prepare their preaching and teaching. This happens for two major reasons. First they don’t have access to the materials at all. Secondly there is a language barrier to use the materials even though they may have access to few of them. Hence translation of theological materials and spiritual books and distributing them is extremely vital to equip the churches accomplish their mission. We will be devoted to translating a variety of materials. We not only focus on translating the theological materials, but also focus on the distribution of the English versions for those ministers who are able to understand English language.
3. Outreach Programs – Ethiopia is enjoying an unprecedented opportunity for the gospel. We do not know how long this freedom will last. But we do know that this is the time to aggressively work with churches to reach the lost for Christ. We can be involved in many ways to assist local churches in evangelism and outreach programs.
4. Humanitarian work – By working closely with churches and NGOs, we will help the humanitarian program of the local churches. The main purpose of this work is to show to the community that Christians do care for them. This, in turn, will creates a wonderful opportunity for the gospel. The humanitarian work includes all areas of life and will be based on the availability of resources and the programs of the local churches. This program covers many areas including hospitals, orphanages, helping elderly people, assisting HIV victims, etc. We will also organize mission trips to take groups of medical doctors and nurses to do short term medical assistance programs for the people. Helping the poor is godly and biblical- but the main focus of our humanitarian work is always geared towards reaching people for Christ.
Ethiopia is the main focus of our ministry but we will also have strong relationships and work in the United States. We also have the vision to expand our ministry to other parts of Africa. Directly or indirectly, by using any windows of opportunity we would like to be a part of any movement committed to expanding the Kingdom of God in all parts of the world. At the beginning, in Ethiopia, we will focus on four cities: Addis Ababa, Nazareth, Awasa and Bahirdar.