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Ethiopia is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world. Most of us identify Ethiopia with Emperor Hailie Selassie or the Queen of Sheba (Saba). The land of Sheba was referred to as Saba by the Ethiopians. The actual name of the Queen of Sheba was Queen Makeda. The time span between the reigns of Queen Makeda and Emperor Hailie Selassie is approximately 3000 years. Most of the world is familiar with this period of history wherein Ethiopians ruled a great civilization. Most people are unaware of the existence of at least 97 other sovereign rulers who reigned prior to Queen Makeda. Once we include the rule of these 97 sovereigns, Ethiopian civilization can be traced back to 3000 BC.
We are familiar with Ethiopia from passages in the Old and New Testaments of the bible. Genesis, Chapter 2, verse 13 refers to 4 rivers that flowed out of Eden. One of these is the River Gihon which is the river that encircles Cush (sometimes in the bible Cush and Ethiopia are used interchangeably). The Gihon is another name for the Blue Nile River of Ethiopia. While visiting Ethiopia my family and I had the pleasure to stay at the Gihon Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In addition to Ethiopia being one of the oldest civilizations in the world, Ethiopia is also one of the oldest Christian nations in the world. The Ethiopian court (governing officials) was first introduced to Christianity in approximately the year 42. Some of you may remember the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch as written in Acts, Chapter 8, verse 27: "Then the angel of the Lord said to Philip, Start out and go south to the road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he set out and was on his way when he caught sight of an Ethiopian. This man was a eunuch, a high official of the Kandake (Candace) Queen of Ethiopia in charge of all her treasure."
The passage continues by describing how Philip helped the Ethiopian understand one passage of Isaiah that the Ethiopian was reading. After the Ethiopian received an explanation of the passage, he requested that Philip baptize him, which Philip obliged. I cross referenced some of my Ethiopian materials and discovered that Queen Gersamot Hendeke VII (very similar to Kandake) was the Queen of Ethiopia from the year 42 to 52. The aforementioned reveals that the Ethiopian court was introduced to Christianity in the 1st century.
Another very interesting fact with respect to Christianity that remains hidden is that Christianity became the official state religion of Ethiopia in the year 320 (the 4th century) during the rule of Emperor Ezana. Further, the Ethiopians commemorated the event (acceptance of Christianity as the state religion) by removing the image of the crescent from their coins and replacing it with the Christian cross!! The Ethiopians of what was known as the Axumite Empire minted, distributed and utilized coins for money.
Hundreds of varieties of coins were minted in gold, silver and bronze during the Axumite Empire over a period that spanned 700 to 1000 years. .... Ethiopians (Axumites) also built numerous monuments, palaces, temples and other structures in northern Ethiopia. Some remain standing after 2000 years.
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Ethiopia Report
This was one of the most unique trips I have had in my twenty-two years of medical missions.....Seventy of us traveled to minister among the Jews of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and our numbers were more than doubled when we were joined by the national Christian volunteers and workers. Together we worked at three clinic sites: Beta Israel, Bet Avraham and the Free Methodist Clinic.
When Jonathan Bernis of Jewish Voice first asked me to organize and lead the medical team last year, I was unaware of all God was going to do. An estimated 7,000 Ethiopians were given medical attention and care during our stay there! Of those thousands many received life changing eye surgery, and more than 3,400 pairs of eyeglasses were given out to the people. Dental care was provided for a population of 60,000 who didn't even have a single dentist. We also cared for the many children orphaned by parents dying from HIV-AIDS.
The physical needs were at times overwhelming but the spiritual darkness was even greater…1,200 people broke through into the light by receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah!...The Lord showed up in power to heal the blind, the deaf, the lame, and to deliver His people from the spirits that bound them. Over 810 miracles were documented...12 had their hearing restored…3 were healed of blindness, and a young girl lame from birth walked!
A young rabbi from Bet Avraham responded to our involvement in an e-mail concerning the impact of the medical clinic: "Thanks to God of Israel who sent us his angels to his forgotten Jewish community…. the community broken heart in the past and you gave them light to their remaining life."
The community had felt no one knew of their plight. The knowledge that God has remembered them has renewed their long cherished hope of one day going to Israel. The rabbi wrote further: "Our hope is not lost, the hope of 2000 years to be free people in our Land in Zion and Jerusalem."..As I heard the heart-felt cry of the Ethiopian Jewish people longing to return to Israel, I remembered the prophecy of Isaiah 43:5-6:Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth We knew we had been sent by God to let these people know they were loved and not forgotten. God would not forget His promises to His people to bring them back to Israel. God was giving them hope that the promise would be fulfilled NOW and not in some distant future.
Personally, I have never felt more in the center of God's will for my life than I did on this trip to Ethiopia. Nine years ago, God placed in my heart the vision of being involved with the Jews that desired to return to Israel. Reaching out to the poorest of the poor the Ethiopian Jewish people is near to the heart of God and renews hope for the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophetic words. We are planning now with Jewish Voice to return to establish a permanent medical clinic in Kachene. May all you who participate, pray and give, share in the joy of being at the center of God's heart!
International HealthCare Network
From the Desk of Paul R. Williams, M.D. July 2006
Update for July 2006
After I returned from Ethiopia which was one of the most significant trips of my life, Sofia and I hosted the IHN Board Retreat in the last week in April. This was a divinely anointed time of strategizing for the future. ... Immediately following the board retreat I participated in a disaster relief nmeeting in Tulsa, OK, which resulted in the formation of CORD (CooperativeOrganizations for Relief and Development), an informal coming together of several organizations for the express purpose of responding to disasters. The vision of networking that God put in my spirit more than eight years ago is coming to pass.
Many Blessings to You,
Paul R. Williams, MD
Paul and Sofia Williams
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