Why do I have such a strong interest in Ethiopia?
Because they can help us. Because they have much to teach us. Because we will soon need them. Details to follow below.
However, the origins of my interest probably began with a prayer and a curiosity I had about ten years ago. Having for two decades grown more concerned with the alarmingly low birth rates in the West—and thus Western Civilization’s decline and it’s inevitable defeat by the ever populous eastern nations—I began to wonder where on the map there is indeed a growing birth rate along with a majority Christian population.
For me, that question also requires an historic Christian nation, as I embraced Orthodox Christianity two decades ago. Yet there are in fact a couple of what you might call majority Christian nations of the Protestant stripe. South Korea has many devout believers. Sadly, their birth rate has declined from very high a few decades ago to a stunning 1.3 children per woman, far below even the replacement rate of 2.1. Another candidate is Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa with also one of the highest birth rates. Nigeria has many Christians. But the country itself is not stable. Visitors find it dangerous. And for me, without a long tradition to steer it, Nigeria didn’t make the cut.
Sadly, historic Orthodox countries like Russia and Greece have low birth rates. Russia is recovering at 1.9, up from 1.2 in 1991 when Communism collapsed. Greece is at 1.3 with no sign of a rise. It’s future is very bleak.
So when I started looking at the map and praying about this question—and studying birth rates and demographics—I saw that Ethiopia was the only country that really provides a hopeful future for Christendom. With five children per woman, and a 2000 year Christian tradition starting with the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8—and centuries of Judaism before that—this nation began to capture my heart.
Ethiopia can teach us and bless us in three ways:
1. Spiritual insight. With over 1000 monasteries in the country, Ethiopia is full of men and women who spend all their time seeking the face and heart of God himself. This is a key component, a central part of what the Christian Church has always done throughout the centuries. Such devoted prayer is of course a lost art today. Many Orthodox and other Christians desirous to learn from those consecrated to God in this way visit Russia and Greece and a few other countries with a monastic tradition. Some, like Egypt, have lost their Christian majority to Islam. Others, like Russia and Greece, have uncertain futures. Will there be people for their monasteries, which are even now in need of more monks? Ethiopia provides this light to the world, and their future looks bright as well.
2. Defying Modernism. While Western Christians bemoan the slide of our culture into abortion, homosexuality, and now transgender and other absurdities, Ethiopia stands firm on the traditional values of strong families and biblical sexuality. Both adultery and homosexuality are criminal offenses. The church publicly condemns contraception. Traditional male and female roles are the norm.
They can also teach us how to relate properly to Islam, arguably the most critical issue of our time. While 50 percent of the nation is Orthodox and 65 percent Christian, 35 percent of Ethiopia is Muslim. These two religions get along admirably, in general, and have for 1400 years. But while this involves a peaceful tolerance of Islam among their ranks, Ethiopia does not hold a relativistic “we are all the same” attitude either. Ethiopia is Christian. They crack down quickly on militants (it happens occasionally). They make no apologies for their laws based on Christian beliefs. What Western Christian nations exhibited a century ago before modernism—a firm, tough, but loving and tolerant hand—is what Ethiopia models today toward Muslims.
3. An Ark for the future of Christendom. Ethiopia is legendary for insisting it preserves the Ark of the Covenant in Axum, their religious capital. But I am proposing that they also may be holding for us another Ark, like the one Noah built. Where will Christians go if the secular and godless West goes the way of the Communists and the Bolsheviks, if persecution breaks out? Ethiopia provides a valid option.
Just as importantly, an Ethiopian diaspora may affect the rest of the globe for positive Christian advancement in the same way the Jewish and Greek diaspora changed ancient culture and the way the Chinese diaspora is helping prepare that superpower for a new Chinese World Order. To do this, you must have many people. Ethiopia is slated to have nearly 200 million people by 2050, 50 million more than Russia. This would make Ethiopia the largest historic, majority Christian nation on the planet. The Ethiopian Church may indeed be the Ark for modern Christianity’s future. I suggest we find a way to hop on.
In light of these three Ethiopian blessings for Westerners, I am dubbing my trips to Ethiopia “Reverse Mission Trips.” Often when I tell people I am traveling there, they ask, “Is it a missions trip?” I respond, “It’s a reverse mission trip.” Sometimes I explain, and sometimes I leave them scratching their heads.
The Reverse Mission Trip concept has the great advantage of reversing also the mentality of superiority so prevalent in the West toward Africa. I have no problem admitting the obvious superiority of European culture, at least currently, in terms of technology, military power, medicine, invention, and other important spheres. But this does not make us superior overall.
Has not God said that he made the poor “rich in faith”? What can we learn from Ethiopians in the realm of faith? What can an organic, agrarian culture teach a superpower that is poisoning itself with genetically modified food? What can a sane traditional culture teach a country insisting that bathrooms for transgenders be built in every public building?
Just a couple of decades ago, Ethiopia was named the poorest country on earth. Is Jesus's notion that “the last shall be first” just rhetorical, or is there something more to it?
Ethiopia is the only African country that was never colonized. Italy invaded twice, in 1892 and 1935, but failed both times. While the colonial West looks down its nose at the rest of conquered Africa, even that rationale is unavailable for Ethiopia. Let’s model a shift from that unsightly view of Africa and take some Reverse Missions Trips. Shall we?