Great Commission …
For over 2000 years, the central mandate for Christians has been missions and discipleship -- a divine call given to followers of Jesus at the end of the book of Matthew. We refer to those two verses as the Great Commission. The focus of ZEELO is the Great Commission. The way we engage with this divine Calling is to care for those who are serving in the most remote and difficult places on the planet. Through connections, resources, care, shepherding, encouragement and more, ZEELO works to ensure the health and longevity of those who are on the frontlines of evangelism and discipleship among the unreached.
Last month, on opposite ends of the African continent, two trainings took place that ZEELO had some level of involvement. Thanks to your support we were able to help send church planters, pastors and missionaries from multiple countries to trainings in Lomé, Togo and west Ethiopia. In Lomé, Togo our partners from the Middle East were able to send two people from Sudan, three people from South Sudan, one from Algeria and six from Egypt to attend a specialize training in West Africa. These leaders reported having a great time connecting with others in their field of ministry. More importantly they learned vital skills related to disciple making and church planting using the avenue of sports ministry.
Meanwhile, our partner, Melaku Meserate with Truth for All in Ethiopia held a training for leaders from 50 different churches in southwestern Ethiopia. He led the training in Oromiffa which is the official language of this part of Ethiopia. With more than 41 million speakers (34% of the total population) Oromiffa has the largest number of native speakers in Ethiopia. Holding training like this, in peoples' heart language, is incredibly valuable.
Recently, ZEELO was able to send funds to help a missionary who serves in the war-torn Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. His main ministry is to preach the gospel to those who are suffering from various addictions and those who have been trapped in human trafficking. The women standing in the photo with him now have come to the Lord through his ministry. While our financial support has helped him establish a small business more help is needed. We would like to do more and are working to raise additional funds to help this missionary and others with small business start-up capital so they can be self-sustaining.
Often, most of us in the US don’t understand the difficulties that global leaders face. The rigors of ministry among the unreached can take a major toll on peoples’ souls. Quality counseling is required at time. Just today, ZEELO staff determined to cover 100% of the expenses for a missionary to travel to Arizona to receive specialized Christian counseling. They will be staying on-site for treatment in which they will receive intensive, specialized counseling to help them recover from post traumatic stress. We consider it an honor and a privilege to be in a position to provide this kind of care to leaders. We can’t do this without the team of supporters, donors, and financial ministry partners who desire to see the Great Commission accomplished all across the globe.
We've been asked to return to Ethiopia sooner than we had anticipated. We are currently contemplating a trip next month in addition to the plans we have to be there this fall. If the July/August trip happens we will only be back in the US for about three weeks before leaving the country again. As always, thank you for your support of the ministry of ZEELO. We're humbled to be involved in this important work and thrilled to have you on our team! Some names have been changed/faces blurred for security reasons.