Portland Christian Center

Project Oromia

The following letter was received from Pastor Alayu in Ethiopia.

The God of earth and heaven wants people to be saved. We have seen His hands moving in the villages. One of our church planters went to a village called (named withheld) has seen the hands of God among the people. The village is dominated with spirit worship and witchcraft. In one of the houses of witchcraft, there was a paralytic man who couldn’t be healed by the witchdoctor.

The church planter went into that house and asked the people to allow him to pray for the man. It was a great opportunity for the gospel message to be preached. He went inside and presented the gospel to the people there, and they were willing to listen, but they did not open their hearts. Then the church planter prayed, “Lord, if you called me to this village, then let this man stand on his feet.” Immediately it happened—the paralytic man was healed.

This news of this miracle was heard in many places and became the cause for the salvation of 234 people. From that one miracle, four new churches have been planted.

Glory to God!

Alayu
Director of Pastors in Ethiopia

In January 2010 Pastor Ray Noah inspired us with the vision to join with Petros Network to plant 250 churches in Oromia, Ethiopia and we have now surpassed commitments for 350 church plants! We took a step of faith and God has allowed us to be a part of an amazing move in Africa!

Project Oromia: 2010/2011 Missionary Report
Month	People Heard	New Converts	Baptized
May 2010	16,771	3,594	-
June 2010	16,260	2,658	-
July 2010	10,635	1,954	119
August 2010	13,106	1,978	192
September 2010	15,491	2,249	1,687
October 2010	15,216	2,298	499
November 2010	27,564	3,816	1,451
December 2010	24,558	3,129	1,320
January 2011	24,246	3,020	1,288
February 2011	26,576	3,145	1,431
March 2011	27,016	3,230	1,338
April 2011	28,034	3,217	1,635
May 2011	37,636	4,482	2,378
June 2011	23,521	5,925	2,158
July 2011	26,624	4,249	1,461
August 2011	26,746	4,462	1,972
September 2011	24,396	3,654	1,896
October 2011	28,427	4,376	2,169
Totals	412,823	61,436*	23,021
Church Buildings Construction Completed: 194 Church Buildings Construction In Progress: 191 Total Construction (Completed & In Progress): 385 Additional Churches Planted by Ethiopian Churches: 173 Includes attendance in new Ethiopian Church Plants: 6,920* Total Number of Churches Sponsored / Planted: More than 535

Can an entire nation be won to Jesus Christ?

Yes! We are seeing it happen before our eyes in Ethiopia. Just a century ago, there were only a handful of born-again Ethiopian believers. Today, evangelical Christianity makes up 18% of the population, according to the latest government census. That represents a double-digit increase in just the last decade. Truly Ethiopia is a fertile mission field! Before us is a window of opportunity of unknown duration in which we can plant churches throughout the nation and reap an even greater harvest for the kingdom of God.

Church Planting Is The Key

Ethiopia is also a spiritually strategic region in the Horn of Africa—the key to not only the evangelization of the African continent, but to stemming the rising tide of Islam throughout Africa. The strategy for spiritual victory in Ethiopia (and therefore, in all Africa), is simple: Plant churches! Since 2003, The Ethiopian Call (our ministry name within Ethiopia) under the leadership of the late Dr. Charles Blair and Pastor Ray Noah, has established 1,397 churches in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region—one of Ethiopia’s 9 federal regions. Now, in this remote and previously un-churched territory, almost 70,000 converts have now been added to the church.

A New Region - A New Opportunity

Though Dr. Blair passed away in August of 2009, Pastor Ray will now carry the church planting vision forward in the largest of Ethiopia’s regions—Oromia. Oromia is made up of 17 zones, and the core zone of West Shewa will be the initial target of the new church-planting project. In 2010, working with the Evangelical Church Fellowship of Oromia (nine participating Ethiopian denominations), Portland Christian Center set out to plant 250 new churches. In the next three to five years, using a proven and effective church planting strategy, these 250 churches would plant another 750 self-sustaining, self-generating churches, giving a total of 1,000 new Oromian churches.

As 2010 came to a close, we had received pledges for over 350 new churches. Not only that, but Portland Christian Center had fully-funded and planted 316 new churches! Working with our proven strategy, in three to five years there will be more than 1,400 new Oromian churches in Ethiopia.

A Lofty Goal - A Burning Passion In Our Hearts

We believe that God has called us to plant 10,000 churches throughout Ethiopia in the next decade. Knowing that the local church is the hope of Ethiopia, it is our sense that millions of people will experience salvation, and that ultimately, all of Ethiopia will belong to Jesus Christ. 10,000 churches— a lofty goal. But with God’s help and your partnership, it is possible! Our commitment in this passion is to:

Plant churches only in unreached villages

Plant churches that plant churches

Plant sustainable churches

Win the lost and make disciples

Equip the local church to better the life of the community holistically

Work with Ethiopian denominations

Win the nation for Jesus Christ!