About ECE-FOC
The EECMY Finfinnee Oromo Congregation came into being twenty years ago, in 1992, a little after the EPRDF replaced the Communist government. There was a burning desire to begin worship service in Afaan Oromo in Finfinnee for our fathers, mothers and children who come from the countryside and do not understand Amharic language, the language of worship service in Finfinnee, but love the Lord. At the height of this burning desire the Constitution of the new government made provision that nations and nationalities living in Ethiopia could develop their own respective cultures and languages. This was a radical change as the previous government policy imposed the Amharic language as the national language of Ethiopia. The churches were required to use only Amharic for their worship services and the preaching of the gospel.
Considering this favorable condition, a few concerned Oromo Christians came together and began worship service in Afaan Oromo in the chapel of Louis Harms Hostel Sunday afternoon after the morning worship service in Amharic. Sunday afternoon was chosen purposely not to interfere with the regular Sunday morning worship in Amharic as all of them were members of their respective congregations in Addis Ababa. The number of people increased from week to week to the point that the Louis Harms Hostel chapel could not hold the people who come for worship service. Lack of space to accommodate all the people who flocked to the chapel became a serious concern of the leaders with the result that they determined to make a request to the mother Congregation in Gulallee Bethel Mekane Yesus that the worship service in Afaan Oromo be moved to the church and be given one shift in the morning and if that is not possible to allow them to use the church building in the afternoon. The request was turned down. The number of worshippers continued to increase and people had to stand outside in the sun and sometimes in the rain to listen to the word of God. Thus, it became absolutely necessary to erect a larger shelter with canvas and galvanized iron sheets in the compound of Louis Harms Hostel.
The congregation continued its ministry in this temporary shelter on a borrowed property for which it has been paying rent. This small beginning grew to the extent that it spread throughout the world in a very short time. In 1990, sometime before the birth of this congregation, a German Pastor, serving a Congregation in Berlin, Germany, saw a vision about the Oromo people, of whom he has never heard. This vision came to him repeatedly until he was forced to find out about this people. He saw a spark splashing from the center of Oromiya which spread far and wide throughout the world. Thus, what we witnessed some years later was the fulfillment of this vision. This shows us the plan God has for the salvation of the Oromo people. Praise be to His Holy Name!
Lack of proper church building did not hinder the Congregation from spreading the Good News – the saving gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ - far and wide. Our priority from the very beginning has been to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have not heard this saving gospel in Finfinnee and its surrounding and invite them to God’s Kingdom. The congregation has been running a number of outreach places of which four have grown to congregation level and they too have their own outreach places. At present there are 14 outreach places including Harar, Dire Dawa and Khartoum bearing all the financial burdens to run them. The new converts are counted by hundreds. The Congregation also initiated University Students’ Ministry focusing on Oromo students at Addis Ababa University. Today the ministry has grown and running under its own Board serving Oromo students in more than 200 campuses throughout the country.