This is Tola, he works as a nurse in Ethiopia and was part of our main city campus. In 2018 he moved to a different suburb and opened up a medical clinic. The sign for his clinic says, ‘We Treat, Jesus Heals’ and whenever people came to the clinic for medical treatment, he would also ask if he can pray for them.
One day, a man came to the clinic, pulled out a gun and held it to his head saying, ‘If you don’t stop praying for people, I will kill you.’ Tola responded to him saying, ‘I can only do what God has called me to do.’ Fortunately, the man did not shoot him and went away.
Awhile later, the man’s daughter became very sick. He took her to many different doctors but nobody was able to treat her. Finally, one of his friends said to him, ‘Why don’t you take her to Tola, maybe he can do something?’
With no other options left to him, the man took his daughter to Tola and asked him to pray for her. God miraculous healed her and when the man saw this, he said to Tola, ‘If anybody causes you any trouble, tell me and I will go kill them.’
Tola stood firm in the calling of God on his life, and kept his trust in God much like Daniel and his friends, Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel in Chapter 3. Today, that man has been won over to the cause of Jesus Christ and Tola now runs a new church service on one of his properties (picture below).
As Christians, we are all called to be courageous in following Christ. We won’t all face overtly dangerous situations like Tola did and many of our missions partners do, but we will all encounter situations that will challenge our sense of security. Perhaps it’s standing up for righteousness and justice at our workplace or school. Maybe, it’s taking a step of faith that God will provide for us financially as we give to finance the work of the Kingdom. Whatever the situation, we can trust in the faithfulness of God to complete the good work that he has begun in us, as we partner with him in the work of the Kingdom.
The Apostle Paul says this in Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV) ,
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
