Ethiopian Adventist Global Revival Conference

Friday June 30, 2012 - Monday July 02, 2012

10000 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20903 USA

Summary Report
Over 300 adults and 100 youth convened in Washington DC for a single goal to repurpose their lives while united in God. Revival! The joyful tears, the brotherly love, reminiscing about the past, and hopes about the soon coming of Christ the sentiment overall was palpable in the auditorium. The spontaneous praise songs that sprang out as we gathered on the podium for a picture left us with indelible memories about the spirit-filled conference. Ethiopian Adventists, friends of Ethiopia, believers, non-believers, and children of God from far and near gathered for this momentous occasion. Conference attendees flocked from around the world, including Australia, Canada, England, Ethiopia, Norway, Sweden and the USA. Also represented were Canadian provinces including Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Ontario and US states including Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington state, and Washington DC. Our fearless program leaders, Janet Game and Merid Gebru, led us down a pictorial memory lane as we reminisced about our past. The congregational music and the Kansas Choir along with the soloist and musicians Kidane Kitabo, Legesse Enjamo, Lemlem Enjamo, Tsion Beyene, and the Tebege quartet Aster, Banchamlak, Wuditu, and Zewditu Tebege were all heartwarming. The conference was made possible by the support and tireless efforts of the two Ethiopian Adventist Churches in the Potomac Conference. They were instrumental in this endeavor. Members of the two churches took full responsibility in making the local arrangements including conference facilities, lodging and accommodations, and shuttling conference attendees to and from the airports. Special thanks to Egziakulu Tamrat for his tireless service in championing the local accommodation efforts along with Lydia Yohannes and Lemlem Tsegaw who assisted him in registration. This conference has softened the ground to evangelize to

Ethiopians, in particular for Ethiopian Adventist back-sliders. Several attendees have inquired about other Ethiopian Adventist centered programs within the Potomac Conference, and leaders of the local churches have begun contacting back-sliders. Already attendance in the Sabbath immediately after the conference has increased and we thank God for this. The National Labor College, in Silver Spring, Maryland was the conference site. The Kirkland conference center, dining hall, and lodging facilities were up to the task of accommodating all 400 guestsit was a pleasant experience for all. Diverse topics including unity, rediscovering Christ, our first love, marriage, and child-parent communication were handled by able speakers including Pastor Fasil Ketema, Pastor Edjigu Tollesa, Pastor Daniel Hailemariam, Dr. Kebede Daka, Dr. Mebratu Madebo, Dr. Merid Gebru, and Pastor Beyene Baresa. The Ethiopian Union Mission President, Pastor Alemu Haile, spoke about global unity in Christ and reported on the evangelical effort in Ethiopia. His heartwarming report about the spread of the gospel throughout Ethiopia culminated with an impromptu blessing from the 97 year-old patriarch of the church, Grazmach Amara Yeshaw, which reminded us all about Abrahams blessing to his son Isaac. The meetings started early at 6:00 AM with devotional, prayer, and testimonies. Thank you to our early bird leaders including Gashaw Baynesagen, Lemlem Tsegaw, Getahun Merga, and Zenebech Taye. The sessions were engaging, and the group sessions for marriage and parent-child communication especially had forums for everyone to participate. Our conference attendees ranged in age from one to 97, and everyone was taken care of while the adults engaged in serious discussions, the kids had their share too. The young adults were not disappointed either, as dynamic speakers including Pastor Lenox Brown, Pastor Fred Warfield, and Ms. Erome Daniel were there to serve. Concerned Ethiopians in the Diaspora established a cyber-ministry with two goals: first, to support one another spiritually and reach out to backsliders; second, to support Gods work in Ethiopia in collaboration with the Ethiopian Union. To that end, the Ethio SDA Cyber Ministry was launched via teleconference, email, and website (http://EthioSDACyberMinistry.org). Revivals through the virtual meetings were maturing; its natural progression was to have a face-to-face meeting. Our

brethren in the Washington DC area were gracious enough to agree to host the conference, hence the genesis of the first Ethiopian Adventist global revival conference in the United States of America. Mebratu Mdebo, Chairman of the Ethio SDA Cyber Ministry, led the charge. The shared responsibility was evident by everyone including our personal banker Marcos Faltamo, the organizer Egziakulu Tamrat, the prayer warrior Janet Game, the humorous secretary Kebede Daka, the willing-hearted Getahun Merga, the un-bashful and all-energetic fundraiser Mulugeta Dolicho, and our personal carrier Dawit Mehari. The miracle of technology enabled the revival to reach hundreds of homes around the globe. The conference sessions were broadcast in real-time through the internet and teleconference medium. The technical team (Paulos Birhane, Yoseph Degu, and Solomon Negash) worked around the clock keeping up the audio visual linkages. When the host site for the live stream was disabled due to a severe thunder storm, interrupting the virtual broadcast, the team configured their setup to channel the message through a teleconference medium. The conference ended on a high note on Monday, July 2nd, where the audience responded with tears of joy, words of forgiveness, prayer for back-sliders, commitment to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters in the Diaspora, and to support evangelism in Ethiopia. The Holy Spirit has truly blessed the conference and worked in the hearts of individuals to repurpose and stay united in Christ while awaiting His soon coming. We thank God and give glory and honor to Him for all that He has done in our midst.