Ethiopia: Fasil and Ezana 

Ermias feared for the safety of his twin boys at school, who were vulnerable to attack and discrimination because of their Christian faith. But a new school, hosted by the church, is changing everything…

Ermias* was at a Christmas service with his twin boys, Fasil* and Ezana*, when their church was attacked. 

“As we gathered to celebrate the birth of Christ, extremists were sent,” remembers Pastor Yohannes*, the leader of Ermias’s local church. “They started throwing stones at the church’s roof.” Thankfully, on that occasion, nobody was hurt. But that hasn’t always been the case. 

“We have prayer meetings on Fridays, and these extremists climbed the church wall and saw that we were praying,” says Pastor Yohannes. “They started throwing stones.” Two members of the congregation were hit in the head. 

“Huge oppression targeting Christians” 

The level of freedom Christians have in Ethiopia depends on where you live and what kind of Christian you are. The country is one of the world’s oldest majority-Christian countries, but most of these believers belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), which can itself persecute Christians who leave the EOC for evangelicalism or other Protestant denominations.  

The most overt forms of persecution, though, happen in areas dominated by Islam. In these regions, converts to Christianity can face social ostracism and church attacks by Islamic militants. Families and communities may pressure converts and use violence against them to recant and return to Islam. 

“There is huge oppression targeting Christians in the area,” says Pastor Yohannes. “When a person converts from another religion to follow Jesus Christ, there is intimidation and threats of killing. They write on a piece of paper, ‘If you don’t denounce this God, we will slaughter you in three or four days,’ and leave the paper outside the converts’ doors.” 

Ermias is an evangelist in the community and has experienced this persecution first-hand throughout his life. He knows his children are vulnerable too. “Because of the persecution, we’re in a difficult situation,” he says. “Even in the schools, there are pressures. They would refuse to give them their deserved grades – they would lower our children’s test scores.” 

He was worried about their safety too: “We would be sending our children to school because they need to be educated – but until they came home each day, we would be worried about the risk.” 

A school to bridge the divide 

In the twins’ village, the Christian community wanted to reach out to groups who had persecuted them and find points of connection. That’s where ‘bridging’ projects, run by Open Doors partners, stepped in. These projects create a ‘bridge’ between the Christian community and the surrounding neighbourhood. 

In Fasil and Ezana’s town, one of these projects is a school. The building is owned by Pastor Yohannes’s church and used for church activities like Sunday school, but as a school it is open to children of all faith backgrounds. It provides safe, fair education to all children from the community – the schooling is secular, rather than faith-based, but believers see the provision as a way to show God’s love.  

“Loving our enemies is biblical, and it’s the truth,” says Pastor Yohannes. “We will be the first people to be there in their time of need: even if they hate us, we love them. Doing good to the community that is persecuting us – that’s the only way we can change the community.” 

How you can stand with Ermias 

You can see how relieved Ermias is when you hear him speak about Fasil and Ezana now. “I am no longer worried about their safety,” he says. “The school is in the church’s compound; it’s a familiar place for the children – it has created a home environment where the children are educated with freedom.”  

And by God’s grace, the school has even changed the hearts of the persecutors themselves. “The families who used to throw stones at the church have now started sending their children to this school. They feel a sense of belonging,” Yohannes says.  

Ermias has hopes that this acceptance will go further – that the school will be a way to evangelise to the community. “I hope they will one day join us in being God’s children — that makes me happy,” he says. 

As well as bridging projects, Open Doors works through the local church to strengthen Christians in Ethiopia with leadership, persecution survival training and economic empowerment projects. Your prayers and gifts can make a real difference to believers like Ermias and Pastor Yohannes – and the next generation of Christians! 

*Names changed for security reasons