Beauty in the ashes in Ethiopia

Enter any Ethiopian town and you’ll find a hive of activity. The streets teem with people; donkeys pull heavy carts alongside motorbikes and bajajs (the Ethiopian name for a tuk-tuk, small, three-wheeled scooters that act as taxis and personal transportation), which zip around buses and cars.

People huddle around low tables on the sidewalk, sipping coffee; construction workers labour away; and street vendors haggle with customers.

To a casual observer, the activity seems normal. In fact, the economic activity might suggest the country’s situation has improved over the last five years.

But look closer and you might see the fissures in some parts of Ethiopia. You’ll notice that more and more women and girls wear full Islamic garb and that newly built, ornate mosques tower over entire neighbourhoods. You might hear calls to prayer coming from both the mosque and the local Ethiopian Orthodox church.

In villages like these, the hum of activity can disguise a tension that everyone can feel. And sometimes, that tension explodes out of the background, snapping a hidden reality into a violent spectacle.

One particular town in central Ethiopia—we can’t tell you the name for security reasons—is a perfect example of this. In September 2023, mobs of extremist Muslims started attacking Christian houses and businesses.

The goal was to eliminate the Christian presence in the town, and to make it clear that followers of Jesus were not welcome.

‘We had a very good life’

Two of the businesses that were targeted were owned by Jemal*. He’s a Christian and a successful businessman.

“We had a very good life,” says Jemal. “My whole family and I go to church and worship God on Sundays and Wednesdays.”

Jemal and his wife Fatima* were Muslims, but became Christians when they were young parents and since then they’ve faithfully followed Christ. New believers in Ethiopia are often sidelined and excluded as their conversion is not welcomed by their families or neighbours, but Jemal had a strong faith community. Over time, he rebuilt his relationships with his family and the wider Muslim community. He had businesses in woodworking and steel manufacturing and did well. Life was stable and secure.

But then, some visiting Muslim clerics began to share radical messages in the local mosques.

“[The clerics] began by isolating us,” Jemal remembers. “They told the community not to talk to us. For six months, they did their work in secret. They made the community afraid by saying, ‘Whoever talks to them or sits with them will not have a proper burial ceremony.’” In Islam, where one is buried is a significant issue, as many Islamic leaders forbid being buried in a non-Muslim cemetery.

Additionally, the clerics began to divide the business community in the town. “Even in the traditional mutual aid association, Christians were forced to leave the association,” Jemal says. “If we had any authority, they took it from us and forced us to leave our positions. This is what they instructed them do in the mosques.”

All Christian business were given a cold shoulder. “They even declared that the bajaj and motorcycles owned by Christians should not operate with theirs,” Jemal says. “They isolated the Christians from the Muslims. Christians used Christians' transportation, and Muslims used Muslims' transportation.”

This pattern is a common one in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Muslim extremists will use economic exclusion to pressure Christians—especially men as they are most commonly the financial providers for the family—to change their faith or leave an area. This is what Jemal began to experience as the clerics’ influence grew. “‘Don’t buy anything from them but let them buy from us. If you buy from them, they will become richer,’ is what they told Muslims in my town,” he recounts.

This kind of treatment was not entirely unexpected—after all, religious tension had existed before the clerics had arrived. Plus, Jemal’s businesses were well-established enough to weather the challenge.

But no one expected what was to come.

‘They turned everything to ash’

Tension had been rising in the town since a group of Muslim students said they experienced difficulties at school and blamed Christian teachers. The situation turned sour and the mosques constructed megaphones to broadcast the Quran. Finally, the government intervened … and this provided the spark to light the fire that was to consume the community.

“They began the attack on Monday night,” Jemal remembers. “By Tuesday, they even tried to kill me.”

At first, Jemal wasn’t sure what to do. “My sister, also a Christian, begged me to leave my belongings behind … I wanted to stay and protect my house and business,” Jemal remembers. “But we had to leave
and we found refuge in another Muslim's house. Because no Christian home was safe.

“Then on Tuesday morning, they started burning everything. Mobs of people went from house to house, singling out Christian homes and businesses, destroying whatever they could find and setting it on fire.
In just one hour, they destroyed everything. They destroyed everything I owned and built-up over the years … In a single day, they turned everything to ash.”

The attackers wanted to ensure that Christian men would be disgraced and that the economic devastation would leave them too weak to care for their families.

“[The mobs] believed that after our property was destroyed, Christians would convert to Islam,” Jemal explains. “They thought, ‘when they have nothing to eat or drink, they will return to Islam.’

“They did not want Christians to remain in the town. Their goal was to eliminate Christianity.”

That day, at least 215 Christians’ homes were destroyed … and 375 families—including Jemal’s—were on the run.

Wounds of every kind

For Jemal this was just the start of an extremely painful time as a father, husband and man. He is a naturally joyful man. There’s usually a smile on his face and he laughs easily. But when he talks about his family’s displacement, his entire demeanour turns sullen, and he struggles to control his emotions.

The first complication was that one of his daughters was pregnant and went into labour in the middle of the violence. “When we took her to the hospital, there, too, the situation was unstable,” Jemal says.

“The doctors refused to treat her because she was a Christian. One doctor finally felt sorry for my daughter and gave her her own [Muslim] head covering[to disguise her as a Muslim]. Then, she gave birth and delivered her child. It was a horrible experience. I was so stressed that I might lose her.”

That wasn’t the only family member Jemal needed to worry about. “I started worrying about the rest of my family; I thought, How can I find and gather my younger children?” he says. “It was a tough and worrying moment for me. I was overwhelmed and paralyzed.”

Jemal and hundreds of other Christians fled to a nearby town where local churches took them in. “Some of us came here by walking,” he says.

“Some of us came here by begging for vehicles we found on the
road. Others paid for a bajaj to bring them here.”

Jemal’s raw emotions are still apparent, even this long after the attack. “We felt deeply hurt,” he says.

“Think about it – your children are separated and far away. I was devastated. Still the feeling of that moment remains with me. It deeply affected me.”

Jemal was worried about his family and their future. His role as provider and protector was violently ripped from him. The questions quickly piled up. He asked: “What work can we do in the future? Where can we live? We lost our home. Our property was destroyed by our own community. So where can we live? What work can we do now?”

Cut deeply

In the attack, Jemal lost everything he had built up over the years. He estimates that he lost 4 million Birr (almost PHP 1.9 Million) in the attack. It was not only the buildings that were destroyed, but also equipment, raw materials and orders that were nearly ready to be delivered.

The attack left Jemal and the other Christians in the town gasping for hope. “This brought us into a state of confusion and great worry,” he says. “Some of us even lost our minds. There were many people who became physically paralyzed, because of the trauma and stress. We also had people who died because of the situation.

“When you lose your possessions—which you built up over 40 and 50 years—in one day you feel very bad. It deeply affected us psychologically.”
For two months Jemal, his family and almost 30 other families lived on the compound of the church that had taken them in. Though it was safe, the traumatic experience that had brought them here made him anxious. “What would have happened to us if there was no one to take care of us?” he wonders. “What could we have done? What could we do if this place were also full of people who hate Christians?”

The violent rejection from his own community also cut Jemal deeply. “We were forced to leave not because we are not Ethiopians,” he explains. “We were born and raised in that same village. Our whole family lives there.

When you face things like this from your own family in your own village it is deeply painful. It truly made us feel heartbroken.”

The desperation of the situation was made clear the longer the family was on the church compound.

“While we were living here, we were in need of many things,” he says. “We had no permanent house to stay in. We had no proper shelter. Even renting a place was unaffordable due to high costs.”

Jemal recognises the outcome the attackers wanted was strategic and calculated. “The situation makes the believers feel inferiority and affects their mind,” he says. “This loss of property made us fear, [wondering] ‘how can I feed my children?’ Even though we know that the one who feeds us and gives us food is God, we were very afraid and anxious.”

Tested, tempted … and rejoicing

In the book of Job, those who are blinded to the Truth want to make God’s children question His goodness. Job’s three friends spend most of the book accusing Job of various sins, questioning his validity as a man of God. Situations like Jemal’s are similar in that the persecutors depend on the spiritual suffering they cause to make believers turn away from God.

Jemal says that his faith was tested and, like Job, that he was tempted to despair. “I temporarily lost the taste of walking with God,” he says. “Following the destruction of the property, my daughter hospitalized, my children dispersed.

“It truly wounded me. We were family, we had shared meals and lived together. And I felt very sorrowful. I felt like taking revenge on them.

But fortunately, the Holy Spirit worked in Jemal’s heart to release him from these feelings. “Later, I calmed down and repented,” he says. “Because we are Christians, we cannot kill anyone. The Bible does not teach that, and it is our guide. Even now, I am trying not to disobey God's Word or treat [our
attackers] with hatred.

“Through all of this my faith has grown stronger. It has not weakened. Now I say, ‘Oh, God is so loving.’

Now I dedicate more time to the Lord. My affection for God has increased considerably. I have come to realize the truth of the teachings contained within the Bible.”

Though the attack had been intended to wound the people of God, the violence had the unintended But there was also long-term support that has taken the form of prayer and regular check-ins. “Even after [partners left], you would enquire, ‘Where are you? How are you? What are you doing?’”,” Jemal says. “For the people (like us) in persecution, the ministry is doing an exemplary service. I wish to express my profound gratitude to [you]. This ministry helped us to stand on our feet. You helped us feed
our children. I really love this ministry. May God bless you all!”

‘We endure many hardships to remain’

During their displacement, Jemal and the other displaced believers also received Open Doors training to better prepare them for persecution, which helped them understand God’s calling to be salt and light.

“We attended several training courses,” Jemal says. “But we began to ask ourselves : For whom did we leave our land behind? This is what they wanted. They wanted us to leave our house.

“At that time, the government also made a call for people to return. The elders came to us and invited us to go back. They asked us to return and promised they would restore everything we had lost.”

And so, Jemal and his family decided to return to a community that had made it clear that Christians weren’t wanted—but they did so with a dedication to continue following Jesus, no matter what. “We
said, ‘how can we leave what belongs to us for them?’” he says. “We decided to return. Immediately after we returned, we began worshiping God again in our church.

Sadly, many promises made by the government have not been honoured. Restoration hasn’t happened and the danger remains. “Not even one person, not even our government officials, contributed anything,’ Jemal says. “The government officials merely extracted us and then abandoned us. Then they proceeded to prevent the perpetrators from going to jail and being testified against.”

And the mistreatment continued after they returned home. “After we returned, we encountered various difficulties,” Jemal explains. “Some of us experienced direct threats to our lives. Others were verbally threatened and insulted. We endure many hardships to remain in our town.”

Though they were resolute about remaining, it did not mean that their Muslim community made it easy for them. “At first, when we returned to the village, some [Muslims] clearly said, ‘We will not sell [groceries] to you,’” Jemal says.

If Christians were allowed to purchase necessities the prices were inflated and so the believers had to make another plan. “We decided that one person would go to another town and buy the items we needed,” Jemal says. “That person would buy the same things for all of us and distribute them equally.”

More painful has been the social ostracism he and his family experience. “The other major problem for us was that our neighbours did not speak to us because they were told not to,” Jemal says. “This was one of the worst things we experienced. You live, eat, and spend time together. That is what social life is. When you lose that social life and see the community’s attitude change, it is a very painful experience. I felt deeply discouraged and even lost the taste for life.”

Painfully, even children taunted and ridiculed Jemal. “They hoped I would hit them and react in a way that would lead me to do something forbidden,” he says. “What could I possibly have done to children? I simply stood there and smiled. It would have been less painful if they had physically attacked me…” effect of making the stories of the Bible come alive for Jemal. “It happened to me,” he says. “I witnessed it first-hand. The apostles were persecuted. They were killed. Others’ hands were amputated. Their legs
were severed. Their property was destroyed.”

By God’s grace, in the upside-down economy of His Kingdom, what the attackers had instead created was a resilient believer. “I have now become accustomed to residing in adverse circumstances,” Jemal says. “It is astonishing that I now serve God with increased fervour. Praise be to God!

I now possess a more profound understanding of His love. I say this is what Christianity is. It entails significant sacrifice.

It’s not without price. In this world you will be hated, you will be cast out. Now I know the meanings of these words. Blessed be His name!”

Walking with the wounded

When Open Doors partners heard about the violence, they immediately responded with relief aid.

“Praise God, we didn’t die from hunger and thirst,” Jemal says. “The ministry responded promptly and quickly from the outset of the tribulation by providing food supplies, not only when we were displaced, but enough so that we could take home when we returned.”

Helping those who have been violently persecuted for their faith often requires integrated support.

Believers need immediate, emotional, spiritual and long-term help. When they saw the emotional and psychological toll the attack had on Jemal, Open Doors local partners also invited Jemal to receive Open Doors trauma care. And it’s helped him heal. “It has greatly benefited me,” he says. “Even though I feel better now, at that time I felt deeply hurt. I even forgot about my children's future. I felt like I had lost all hope for the future. I gave up on everything. I had thoughts of harming them and myself. I had
completely given up.”

As resilient as Jemal is, our partners knew that if he was to remain in his town and be salt and light, we had to help him restart his business. “To tell you the truth, we can’t restore what we had lost. It is impossible,” he says as he pinches his eyes to keep the tears from flowing. “But God can do that. Even though it is not much.”

Open Doors partners helped Jemal buy new machinery and the necessary raw materials to restart his woodworking and steel manufacturing businesses. “We did not have any other means of surviving if the
ministry had not bought us that equipment,” he says. “We might have been subjected to selling the land.”

Our partners also helped several other Christians to restart their lives and begin small businesses. “Some started baking bread and selling it, others sewed clothes, some started a restaurant,” Jemal says.

Even now, it’s not safe for his own children and grandchildren to go to school in their town. “[Other students] would call them ‘Infidels, truth deniers,’” Jemal says. “They are scarred mentally. They are too
young to cope with this and it made them very anxious. Because of this, we were forced to enrol them in a school away from our area.”

‘Our God is the God of hope’

Past and present difficulties makes it hard for Jemal to see a future for himself, his family and the church. “I feel hopeless about the future, regarding the preaching of the gospel in the area, when I see
how tough it has become to preach in the town. This is what worries me for the future,” he says.

Yet when he looks to God, his attitude changes. “The Lord is the source of my hope!” Jemal says. “He will work in that place in the future. I still have hope in the Lord. When I see the church filled with people, I get overjoyed. When I remember the Muslims that came from another town to give their lives to the Lord recently, that gives me hope. I will live. The Lord is faithful to those that lean on Him.

“Our God is the God of hope. He is a God who can do everything. Because of that, I am joyful,” he proclaims. “The Lord will continue to give us hope. We will work. We will change. That is my hope.”

God has brought His hope healing to Jemal and his family through your generous gifts, but they still need the prayers and support of their global Church family as they rebuild their lives and their community. They continue to live in daily risk because of their faith, but are carrying on as a witness for Christ.

Sadly, there are many more Christians in Ethiopia, and sub-Saharan Africa, who need trauma care and economic support to restore their lives and their families. People like Jemal who want to earn an honest living, feed their families, do honest work and live peaceable, God honoring lives. “Let your aid stand by those people,” Jemal reminds us. “It takes a day for them to be hungry or thirsty.

But Jemal also reminds us of the power of your support: “One Christian can be medicine for another Christian.”

This is why Open Doors has begun the multi-year Arise Africa campaign.
It's why we must collectively support Christians like Jemal, pray with them and speak out on their behalf.

The violence is frightening and it seems no one is paying attention. But by God’s grace, each of us has a role to play.

Today, will you stand alongside Jemal and other Christians in sub-Saharan Africa? Here are three ways that you can stop the violence and start the healing:

1. Speak out

Add your name to the Arise Africa petition – or if you’ve already signed it, ask others to sign it too. The petition will be open until 2026 – but please do send your signature as soon as you can, so we can build momentum and raise enough signatures to present it to the African Union, EU and UN. Our goal is to raise a million voice of prayer and advocacy, joining our petitions with those from the church in sub- Saharan Africa. The world is not paying attention, and we believe a million petitions will cause those in
power to stand up and take notice.

2. Give a gift to bring healing to these deep wounds.

3. Pray

For Jemal, knowing that people are praying for him is a source of great joy and encouragement. “It makes you happy,” he says. “You say, ‘Oh, I have people of my own! We have family through Christ. We are of the same Father.’ It makes us very happy. It helps you hold on. You feel content. Even if I don’t have people in my town. I have family in other places.”

This is how you can pray for Jemal:

• “My prayer request is for you to pray that God will change the area where I live. I have a strong desire for God to change that place. Pray for us regarding this.
  
• “The other thing is as whole for Christians to be economically resilient. Poverty makes you surrender for anything. It makes you change your mind.
  “Pray so that power shall be given to us. For change to be there. For us to be changed. God will do it for sure.
  
• “Pray for us to have influence in our community. So we will be heard in various places. In every place I go pray for God to give me boldness.”

*Name changed for security reasons