LHF begins work in a new region of the world: Eritrea
Less than 400 miles up the coast from Somalia in east Africa, there is a small country called Eritrea. Though there is much greater freedom of religion in Eritrea than in Somalia (half the population is Christian, and the other half Sunni Muslim), Eritreans are leaving their country in droves. At a rate of 3,000 people per month, nearly 10 percent of the population has fled to other countries like Ethiopia, Italy, the United States and Canada to evade forced conscription in Eritrea’s military (which can last indefinitely) and to embrace liberties like
a free press and speech. Among those who remain are a group of about 20,000 Christians who belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea, the result of the Gospel sown by Swedish missionaries in the late 1800s. Excited to share the Good News with those who hadn’t yet heard, Eritrean Lutherans were actually responsible for spreading the faith to the Oromo people in Ethiopia, where today Mekane Yesus numbers more than 9 million people! This passion for the Gospel continues among the Eritrean people today, including those who have relocated to other countries.
THE DIASPORA: SCATTERING THE SEED
Sow the Seed! 2
“Diaspora is a word that refers to God’s scattered Church that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland,” explains Rev. Dr. Dinku Bato, LHF’s coordinator for African translation projects. “There is a large Eritrean Lutheran diaspora here in the United States, and they believe they are missionaries. “Think of the parable of the sower and the
seed. If you see Eritrean immigra think they are missionaries to this said. “This is their second home, are sent to share the Gospel with Rev. Bato recently connected w the Eritrean diaspora who now liv Dakota, where he learned of thei good Lutheran books in the Kuna guage. “So far, we’ve learned of nearly itrean congregations. They do ha of the Kunama Small Catechism, done in the 1960s. Church leade there are fewer than 10 copies th among the diaspora; lay people d it,” he said. The congregations have also materials in the Tigrigna languag is the official language of Eritrea. identified Kunama and Tigrigna tr and work is now underway on a v projects, including the Jesus Nev votional tract, the Small Catechism Parts) and A Child’s Garden of Bib “There is a lot of work to be d
