The Permanent Solution
is Jesus: a podcast episode from the heart of Ethiopia
When I sat down with Samuel Bekele to record an interview for the Redeeming Missions podcast, I had no idea that our stories would overlap in a profound way. Samuel was born and raised in Ethiopia by a family that had mixed affiliations with Protestant, Coptic, and Muslim faith traditions, but he met Christ as a teenager in the eyes of a child who was experiencing poverty beyond his comprehension. It reminded me of my own conversion experience—also as a teenager, in the eyes of a child experiencing profound suffering on the streets of India. (If you haven’t heard me tell the story already, you can find it in my book Full Circle.)
Samuel was transformed by his encounter with poverty, and he has spent his life carrying Christ to those who most desperately need hope. Today he leads Every Home’s ministry in Ethiopia. His tenacious hope in the power of the gospel to bring transformation is so inspiring. I hope you’ll be encouraged by this episode to find what moves your soul to action, too.
I asked Samuel to share more about what it looks like to carry Christ to everyone in Ethiopia. I was encouraged by the practicality and simplicity of his answer.
Question:
Samuel, you lead this ministry of Every Home for Christ in Ethiopia. We’re proud—in a good way, I think—that we’re the type of people that don’t want to leave any person behind. We believe the gospel is for everyone and the good news of Jesus is for everyone. What has it meant for you to not leave anyone behind in Ethiopia?
Samuel:
Simply, it means that we should be inclusive. When I say inclusive, we have to address people who are marginalized, children, women, men, seniors—all kinds of people should be included by this program. That is the philosophy we are following.
Now, we use two kinds of strategy. One is our conventional way of doing the ministry—as we all know at Every Home for Christ, we do house to house, home to home—we do that every day. And also, after Covid—Covid…created another way of reaching people…a virtual way…
So when we say we don’t want to leave [anyone] behind…we use all means to reach the people… We even have a program to reach the politicians… Everyone… Different strategies for different people. That’s what we do.
Listen to all of Samuel’s episode on Redeeming Missions, available now wherever you stream your podcasts!