Achyi Beyene's Mission Field Journal
New Generations International
Outreach to the Countries in the Horn of Africa
2010 Aug 25
Dear prayer partners, many greetings to you in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. I hope you and your families are doing well. The Lord is good, and all the family is doing well. The Lord is good, and we are grateful for every single day that he is adding to our lives.
Enkutatash, Ethiopian New Year
Ethiopian New Year is celebrated on September 11 according to the Western or Gregorian calendar. Ethiopia still follows the Orthodox Julian calendar, which consists of 12 months of 30 days and a thirteenth month, Pagume, of five or six days, depending on whether or not it is a leap year. The Ethiopian calendar is seven years and eight months behind the Gregorian calendar, so September 2010 is Meskerem 2002 in Ethiopia. We are always reminded that, whenever the Lord gives a new day or a new year, it is so that we will testify His goodness and love to the people who have not yet known Him as Lord and savior.
Family Update
As some of you heard, I had an emergency health situation—an appendectomy—during the trip that I did in the US. It happened two days before I was to catch my plane to go back home, and I am so grateful that it happened in a good time and in good place that I was able to get the best medical attention. The doctor said it could have been very bad had I taken the 15-hour non-stop flight from San Francisco to Dubai in my condition then. Because of the surgery, I had to delay my trip for a week. After a week, I was so happy to join my family. I know many of you have been lifting me up in your prayers; I would like to thank you for all your care and love.
Tsega is doing good enjoying motherhood. The Lord is helping us in our resettlement in Addis. Since we have confirmed that we are staying in Addis now, Tsega is looking for a job. We are praying and hoping she will get a job to teach in one of the universities in Addis or that God will open a door for her to work in an area where she can impact the lives of children and the poorest of the poor.
Fikir is growing day by day. I can’t believe she is already nine months old and has her first five teeth. She is happy and healthy. Very soon she will be talking and walking. Watching her growth is amazing, and we are thankful to God.
Ministry Update
I have just returned from Kulal Lumpur, Malaysia where I gave training to a group of key leaders from Pioneers. We have had 30 trainees who came from Asia, North America, and Middle East. The Lord has given us a great time for interacting, and we are looking and praying for the fruit that this meeting is going to bear. God is doing some amazing things in some of the most restricted areas.
The ministry in the Horn of Africa is going well. God is giving us victory in new places. At a City Team/New Generations event in June, we celebrated God’s victory in planting 10,000 churches thoughout our network, both in Africa and globally. The Bible says in the Book of Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us . . . .” we have seen that this has been the reality. God always amazes us, and he will keep amazing us in the days remaining, as well. We trust the Lord to do much more than we expected for the next five years. More work needs to be done, and more prayers and provisions are needed for the ministry. We are always grateful to have you be a part of our family and be ministry partners to us and to the greater network. Thank you so much for standing with us to expound the Kingdom of God.
Prayer Requests
Pray for my trip to Madagascar. I will be going this Friday, August 27 to train about 50 key leaders.
Pray for Tsega and Fikir that the Lord will keep them well and safe as I leave them briefly in Addis.
Pray for Tsega as she looks for a job in Addis.
As soon as I come back from Madagascar, I will be traveling with another team to different parts of the country to capture the stories of God. Please keep us in your prayers.
Pray that the Lord will provide our family with a ministry vehicle needed in order to travel effectively throughout our country. We invite your support and are trusting God for His provision.
We would love to hear from you and welcome your prayer requests.
Thank you and many blessings,
Aychi, Tsega, and Fikir
Email Aychi Beyene
2010 May 17
Introduction: Aychiluhm "Aychi" BeyeneI was born in 1974 in a city called Harar in the eastern part of Ethiopia. I was raised in a Muslim-majority community but received the Lord as my personal savior in 1990. After my salvation, I served the Lord and my local church by carrying different ministry responsibilities, including youth chairman, secretary of the shepherded committee, Sunday preacher, adult Bible-study group leader, mission board member, and children’s ministry.
In 1993, God called me to be a missionary to the Somali people, and, for the past six years, I have been able to plant churches and disciple Somali believers. In 2002, the Lord challenged me to focus on the unreached in the greater Horn of Africa. I have been involved in starting the Horn of Africa Mission, which is a full church-planting organization. For the last seven years, I have led work in the Horn of Africa Evangelical Mission in Ethiopia, which has resulted in the planting of 5,200 churches and gathering 72,000 new believers, 60% of which have Muslim backgrounds. I now represent New Generations International, a division of CityTeam Ministries, based in Addis Ababa. New Generations trains, mentors, and coaches church planters in Horn of Africa countries and beyond.
Introduction: Tsega Wondimagegnehu, Aychi's WifeI was born in 1982 and grew up in a Christian family in Dire Dawa in the eastern part of Ethiopia. Since my parents are born-again Christians, I had the chance to learn about God, Jesus, and many of the Bible stories through our family fellowship. Because our government strictly forbade church activities for many years, I didn’t begin attending church Sunday school classes until I was ten years of age. At 14, I was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Since then, my spiritual life has grown a lot.
While I was was completing my undergraduate study, I was the leader of girls in the university’s Christian students fellowship. After graduating, I became a lecturer of economics at Jimma University, one of the biggest local schools in the western part of the country. There I have been serving as youth coordinator in one of the local churches, called Meserete Christos. At the same time, I have been an associate member of Evangelical Student’s Union (EVaSU), helping and mentoring Christian students on campus.
Watch a Meserete Christos choir video below.
After two years’ stay in Jimma, God gave me a one-year scholarship in Antwerp, Belgium for postgraduate study in globalization and economic development. Upon returning from Belgium, I served as board member for the Evangelical Student Union. Currently, Aychi and I are based in Addis, where we serve God to reach the unsaved.
God has blessed us with a beautiful baby girl, Fikir, which means love in Amharic, our local language. Six months old in May 2010, Fikir is such a precious blessing to us, and we thank the Lord for her.
Email Aychi Beyene
2010 May 20
Dear Prayer Partners,Many greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing this prayer letter from Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia in North Africa. This is the third day of giving training for key leaders who came from three countries. God is giving us a wonderful time, and I am thankful to God for his servants who are willing to pay the price to spread the good news of our Lord in such a strict country. There are no closed doors for the Gospel, and we are witnessing God’s miracle in penetrating new areas to reveal his glory. We give all the glory to Him.
Transition
As you know, my family and I were in the process of moving to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. I moved first, and obtaining the resident permit was very easy. We expected that getting a visa for my wife, Tsega, and daughter, Fikir, would be easy, but it became the opposite. After a long process, the Embassy of the Ivory Coast denied the visa for Tsega and Fikir. We are praying to God to show us what will be the next step. We feel that, for now, God wants us to stay in Addis. We always make plans, but God directs our ways. We will be based in Addis, but I will be ministering, training, mentoring and coaching the church-planting ministry in the Horn of Africa, the rest of Africa, and beyond. Thank you so much for praying for us. We are grateful for having you as a family to keep us in your prayers.
Beside the transition process this quarter, the Lord has opened a door to network with Sport Ministry International [ Google search did not result in a web location for this organization ]. Harry Brown, our director, and I were able to go to South Korea to give exposure to the church-planting movement in order to help the sport ministry to access church planting. There, 200 people from 25 Asian countries participated. We are thankful for such a great network, and we believe that as networking continues, the impact will be great.
Family
Fikir is growing day after day. We were excited as we saw her first two teeth coming in during her fifth month. This Sunday, she will be six months old, and it will be time to add solid food to breast milk. Tsega is doing good, enjoying motherhood, and trying to resettle in Addis. Having cleared the house of all furniture in preparation for our relocation, we now need to buy and refurnish again.
Election Week in Ethiopia
Election in Africa creates lots of fear and concerns. Ethiopia's next national election will be this Sunday, May 23, 2010. Tensions are already increasing. No Ethiopian needs a reminder of the horrors that followed the disputed 2005 election. Many died, many were imprisoned. Many people are praying that there will not be violence during this year's election.
Prayer Requests
- for the Middle East, as God opens doors and gives breakthroughs
- for my family as we are resettle in Addis
- for the Ethiopian election to go smoothly
- for my family’s protection on the election evening as I will be away from Addis
- for the two remaining days that I will be spending with the leaders in Tunis
Thank you so much for standing with us. We appreciate your prayers and financial support. In Him, we can reach the unreached.
Email Aychi Beyene