Church of the week
Coming to America: The Ethiopian Evangelical Church of D.C.
By Renelle Richardson
The 700 Club
CBN.com –
It’s the country’s largest Ethiopian church, located right in the nation’s capital… that is, the U.S. capital!
Twenty-three years ago Pastor Hanfere Aligaz and his family felt called to leave the only land that they knew and plant an evangelical church in the United States.
But the story of Ethiopian Evangelical Church has a humble beginning. Hanfere, as a young muslim, says that he heard the audible voice of the Lord.
" I head this voice asking me, 'What about Jesus?' Not once, it kept coming," he recalls.
"I quit being muslim because of that voice."
When a Christian friend told him the truth about Jesus Christ, Hanfere believed.
" I knew that I knew that I knew that this was what I was looking for. Without any doubt, I knew in my heart. I asked a friend, 'What must I do now?' He said, 'Get a Bible and pray.'"
Just two years later, Hanfere says he heard the audible voice of the Lord again -- this time telling him to start a church in Washington, D.C.
" I came here with $140 and my wife and children," he remembers. "It was very difficult. I had no money. That was a testing time for me, and that’s when I met the lawyers."
The lawyers were part of a Bible study that Hanfere was invited to attend. These men helped him establish his church and soon the church, which started with just five people, purchased a building with seating for 1,000!
Currently, there are about 85,000 Ethiopian immigrants living in Washington D.C., making it home to America’s largest Ethiopian population.
" There is a culture shock. We help them find a job and an apartment."
In addition, church members support 250 orphans still living in Ethiopia -- all victims of the AIDS epidemic that has ravaged the country. Each day the children are given healthy meals and Bible lessons.
For your compassion for the poor and your care of the Ethiopian community in America, The 700 Club salutes you, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Washington, D.C.
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