As I am writing, my family and I are traveling across this grand country of ours to set up our new home in the countryside of Pennsylvania. Right now, we are high up in the Colorado Rockies visiting with family. Looking out the windows I can see the barren and treeless peaks of the mountains. The clear blue skies and crisp cool morning air have been a welcome and refreshing break for us as a family. Traveling with a baby and a toddler has proved to be a challenge, but the Lord is sustaining us along our journey and this short break in our trip has given them a reprieve from their car seats. Moving is not an activity that I particularly enjoy. During our packing and loading up of household items a text of Scripture has continued to come up in my mind. “ And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.” Isaiah 65:21-23 This move has brought fresh to my mind what God has in store for those in His new kingdom. The prophet Isaiah tells us that the saved will build their homes in the new earth and we will never have to move from that home throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. We will also have a permanent place of worship to fellowship with our loved ones and friends. Leaving friends behind that we have fellowshipped with for years has been difficult. But God has given us this promise. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23. What a precious promise the Lord has given us!

Churches in Ethiopia

Having a permanent place of worship is a blessing, but not everyone has this privilege. Ethiopia is one of those places that needs to have churches built to bring stability and permanence to those who have chosen to follow and obey the truth in regard to the Sabbath.  The workers in Ethiopia have been spreading the message like wildfire and many in these villages and small cities have accepted the truth and are now worshipping on the Sabbath. In many of these places where the truth has been proclaimed, families, whole churches and many individuals are now worshipping on the Sabbath, but have no place to worship. In the city of Hedero, in the central part of the country, there have been many Muslims and Sunday keeping Christians who have accepted the Three Angels Message and are now meeting like they were in Philippi. “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spoke unto the women which resorted thither.” Acts 16:13 As these new converts to Adventism worship in the open or under some crude structure they are liable to lose their interest in the message. We feel a personal responsibility to better establish the new converts to the faith, and we would like to help them build churches as soon as possible. If you would like to partner with us in this project, mark your donation “Ethiopian Churches.”

Working in the Lord’s vineyard,