Tensions are continuing to rise in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa this week, but in the midst of this chaos the Bible Society has reported that the demand for God’s word is rapidly increasing in the region.

|TOP|The Bible Society has reported a huge increase in the growth of Bible listening groups. Commencing just four years ago from nothing, there are now 185 Bible listening groups in Addis Ababa.

The listening groups have been reported as regularly meeting to listen to audio cassettes of the Bible, and to talk and share grace from the scriptures that they have read.

The successful spreading of the word of God in the city has come about from the Bible Society’s ‘Faith Comes By Hearing’ project.

Leading the project is Tassew Negash, who said, “Many of the participants have told us how listening to God’s Word has changed their lives.”

The Bible Society’s project has amazingly reached out to a wide range of people, with some of the attendees to Faith Comes By Hearing being blind, and unable to read Braille. Also elderly men and women who cannot attend church services regularly make up a proportion of the groups.

“They all come together for fellowship and nourishment through God’s Word,” state the Bible Society.

The Bible Society is carrying out a number of projects in Ethiopia in addition to the Faith Comes By Hearing project; Father Firremariam is a priest at St George’s Church in Addis Ababa, and preaches to 3,000-4,000 people each Sunday.

Firremariam, however, revealed a worrying statistic: “About three quarters of the congregation want a Bible but cannot afford one.”

|QUOTE|The Bible Society tell how it is currently working to resolve this great problem by distributing affordable Bibles to the churches and bookshops in the area.

Just last month, the western border of Ethiopia saw a new hope for Christianity come, as one thousand evangelical churches were set to receive church planting funds as a result of the successful completion of a two year project to secure sponsors by the Blair Foundation.

Dr. Charles E. Blair, founder and president of the Blair Foundation, announced on Aug. 31st that funds to plant 1,000 churches in the unreached region of Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia, bordering Sudan, had been secured. The project, called the “Ethiopian Call,” was officially launched on Sept. 1st, 2003 and originated from and was supported by the region’s born-again president, Yaregal Aysheshim.

In September also the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, praised the ‘unique contribution’ of Ethiopian Christianity during his first official visit to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Rev. Kobia said: “As custodians of an ancient spiritual heritage, Ethiopian Christianity has a unique contribution which is of central importance in Africa and to the ecumenical family worldwide."

The WCC general secretary also highlighted the stark contrast between the “moral wealth” of the African continent and the “fear and poverty” that is the daily reality of so many lives in Africa, where so many struggle against “HIV/AIDS, insecurity, corruption and conflict”, a WCC press statement said.