Trip to Ethiopia

Almost a year ago, a brother in Ethiopia, Jed, contacted me with questions about some of my blog posts. His emails reminded me of another Ethiopian brother who asked Philip a question about a prophetic Scripture. Here is Luke’s account of it:

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” 

So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: 

“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.” 

So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. (Acts 8:26–35)

Jed and I interacted through video chats, and our relationship deepened. He read my book, Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days, made some excellent suggestions … and asked many more questions.

A few months ago, he asked if I would travel to Ethiopia to teach the material in my book to the group with whom he worships. I mentioned this question to our church—Hopewell Primitive Baptist in Opelika, AL—and asked for prayer that God would give me wisdom regarding it. Our pastor, Asa Moseley, III, immediately asked when I planned to make the trip. One brother, Ben Corley, said he wanted to go with me. From that point, the church has abounded in gracious support for the journey.

If the Lord wills, Ben, his son Jason, and I will leave on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, for Hawassa, Ethiopia. Jed and the leaders of his group have planned a two-day conference with eight teaching sessions and several times for questions and answers. 

Please pray that God will bless the gospel of the kingdom during our visit the way He blessed Philip’s preaching of Jesus to the Ethiopian long ago.¹

1. The image in this post is The Baptism of the Eunuch by Rembrandt (1606–1669). This file (here) is in the public domain (PD-US).