How a widow’s funeral changed 100 lives
Witness the story of the 13 households that came to Christ thanks to the remarkable mission of one church dedicated to serving its community!
After telling the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus said “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:27b)
Pastor Mesfin Yacob and his church couldn’t have imagined the impact that Tearfund’s church mobilization training would have. What once was a church that preached God’s Word now lives it out in every aspect of their lives. Within one year, this church experienced physical and spiritual transformation in ways they had only heard of in the Book of Acts — it was revolutionary.
Gununo Stadium Kale Heywet Church is a church plant that has served the rural community of Beklo Segno, Ethiopia, for decades. The surrounding families in southern Ethiopia suffer from immense poverty; many live without proper homes or enough food to eat. Throughout this, Pastor Mesfin Yacob’s church faithfully preached the Word of God and his love to its congregants on Sunday mornings. But seeing the devastating conditions the community was living in, Pastor Mesfin Yacob longed to do more. He struggled to know how to best help the community with the limited knowledge and resources available — and thanks to Tearfund’s partners, they were given that opportunity.
Gununo Stadium Church was trained by Tearfund’s partner, TDA, in Church and Community Transformation (CCT). This training teaches a model of community development where the church reaches out to their community in holistic ways. It equips churches with the ability to respond to community needs in a way that points to God’s love. It is motivated by the relentless love of Jesus, resulting in positive, whole-life transformation. For the leaders of Gununo Stadium Church, they have learned that community work is not separate from church work.
This church was trained in CCT three years ago in order to reach beyond their church doors and extend the loving hands of Jesus to those who were hurting. Longing to embody the Good Samaritan, GSKHC shares generously with those around them. One leader said, “In heaven we will be asked if we served the poor.” Realizing the necessity of serving others, especially the less fortunate, this church strives to help everyone in the name of Jesus and love others as he does.
With a renewed mission and spirit from TDA’s training, Mesfin Yacob’s church created an enormous, life-changing impact. Having decided to focus on the community, the church has served others tremendously this past year. For example, they have paid health insurance for 39 people — 11 who were not church members! They helped people start businesses and started a church-community garden, and 10 children were able to go to school because their fees, food, and supplies were covered by this church.
These efforts gave the community access to necessities, like food and medical care, as well as education that could have only been imagined in this community before. The local government is so delighted with their impact, that they were given a plot of land for their work. Several people even gave their lives to Christ through the loving, holistic work of the church! As part of their mission to open doors wholly to their community, the GSKHC constructed homes for several people who were homeless, 2 of whom were not church members either.
One of those recipients was a recently widowed woman named Reta*. This act of generosity gave her renewed hope after the deep loss of her husband. However, her family was skeptical of both the church’s involvement and their mission as a whole. Then, tragically, Reta died soon after her home had been constructed. This devastation shocked the church, and more profoundly, her family. Grieving beyond belief, Reta’s entire family came to a funeral hosted by the church. But through this deep darkness, God softened the hearts of her family members. Through this act of service from the church, 13 households came to know Christ. With 6-8 people in each, about 90 people dedicated their lives to Jesus that day! Isn’t it so incredible how God can take broken things and make them beautiful?
Through Reta’s funeral and the other community-serving efforts of the church, nearly 100 people have come to know Christ. Gununo Stadium Church is not just a church plant, but a catalyst for complete community transformation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Thanks to CCT and the work of this church, people are experiencing holistic transformation!
Rejoice with us in celebrating all the families who have become part of God’s kingdom through CCT, and join us in generosity and prayer so we can continue making an eternal impact.
*Pseudonym
