For many humans, the moral of their life’s story is ‘I should attempt to distance myself from pain.’ If horrific actions lead to someone else’s pain somewhere else, it is often more convenient to simply change the channel.
Enter Omot Aganya.
After drawing the curtain on twelve years of school, Omot, a native of the state of Gambella in the country of Ethiopia, longed to pursue a postsecondary education. The abusive environment and guerilla soldier encampments in the villages around him meant college was not an option. This prompted him to exit stage south to Kenya. His relocation in no way mirrored a western teenager’s transition to collegiate life. There was no dorm room with furniture from Ikea, no weekend visits to his parents’ home with the requisite load of dirty laundry. Omot was twenty years old, forced to leave home and live in a foreign country. His college degree dream would have to stay in dreamland.
Jesus, Please Speak to Me in Anuak
At the refugee camp Omot did not have access to books or entertainment of any kind. The next part of his life’s script found him borrowing a Bible from a friend. He began to read it “for fun.” In his quest for a diversion, the “fun” in the Bible led to truth-seeking and transforming times with God. One evening in the Walda Refugee Camp, his sleep was interrupted with a very personal encounter with Jesus. The discussion was difficult because Jesus’ words were in English. Omot had God’s boldness in him and asked Jesus to translate into Anuak, his native dialect. With more precision than a U. N. Translator, Jesus spoke to Omot in Anuak about many things. He quoted the letter found in the Bible written by Paul to Timothy telling him that the love of money is the root of all evil1 . The conversation also included Jesus telling Omot that he would someday relocate to study and learn about the Bible. Within one month this came true as Omot began the process with the American Embassy towards becoming a permanent resident in the U.S.
In 1992 the scenery in Omot’s world shifted dramatically as he moved from Kenya to the United States. He lived for nine months each in Atlanta, Georgia and Sioux Falls, South Dakota before relocating to Minnesota.
Once in Minneapolis, Omot began his studies at North Central University. Meanwhile Omot was ministering to a group of emigrants living back in Sioux Falls. These Ethiopian, Kenyan and Sudanese people were adjusting to the many changes they were facing with their new lives in the United States. It followed that Omot had to make an adjustment of his own: from Mr. Omot to Pastor Omot. The group he had been mentoring became his first church plant. Pastor Omot continued to equip the men and women in his congregation to live their lives for Christ.
The dream-only version of a diploma was exchanged for the real thing when Pastor Omot completed his undergraduate work in 2001. In 2004 he attained his Master of Arts in Christian Ministry. Jesus’ words had come to pass. The scenery had changed, the character of Pastor Omot had developed and the major climax of his life’s story was about to be revealed. The revealing was more of a shove.
No One is ‘Playing’ the Martyr
Pastor Omot’s life’s story now included the casting of his leading lady, Hannah. Hannah knew Omot from Gambella High School. Pastor Omot then became the interim pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Roseville, MN. At Calvary they worshipped in his native dialect of Anuak yet he yearned to reach more people. He made five trips back to Gambella, Ethiopia to preach and plant churches. He conducted seminars, leadership and pastoral trainings and taught the Gospel. He often noticed, “my heart is there even though I am here.” During his visits he worked alongside his wife’s father who had been a pastor and a church planter for over 35 years. Both men passionately loved preaching the word of God. As Pastor Omot stated, “Jesus Christ is the only Way, Truth and Life. I am not ashamed to be His servant. In Him I live!” Pastor Omot’s fatherin-law also drew his wisdom, energy and direction from Christ. In Him he lived too.
And in Him he died.
The stage of Pastor Omot’s set faded to black when his father-in-law was martyred for his faith in Christ. His father-in-law’s church had begun in his home. He was murdered because his church was Spirit-filled and because it had grown very rapidly. The accelerated expansion was seen as a threat to the local Churches and it also fueled the already divisive conflict between some of the tribes in the area. A total of 422 men were killed, including Hannah’s father, in one three day weekend.
Hannah had lost her pastor, her mentor, her father, her friend. Omot’s three sons and one daughter had lost their grandfather. The churches he planted had lost their leader. The atrocities of Christian persecution were not geographically or chronologically distant for the Aganya family. Pastor Omot’s father-in-law wasn’t ‘teased’ for his faith; he was murdered because of it. Images of the horrific torture and abuse that Pastor Omot had fled as a young person came flashing back.
While Pastor Omot and his family processed their grief they came to a time of decision. Should they step back and reassess the goodness of God? Should they be like most others and distance themselves from people in order to nurse their own wounds? Should they just change the channel? It would be easier.
Again the words of the Apostle Paul came to Pastor Omot. Paul was also unashamed of Jesus. Paul was also martyred for his faith. In one letter Paul wrote to the believers in Rome. Pastor Omot, nearly 2000 years after they were written, drank them in: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.2” For Pastor Omot reading these words was not enough. He needed to act them out.
I Will Not Miss the Call
Pastor Omot now has an even clearer vision for the next scene of his life. He has been given a desire to not love money. He needs those words to leave the abundance of the United States. He has been given a desire to bless those who have persecuted him. He needs these words to return to Ethiopia. Hannah Aganya is convinced that “the seeds planted in me, and others, by my dad, are still alive. He was my mentor, my pastor, my dad and my friend. He is not here physically but the mentoring he poured out is still here.” Her vision is to follow her passion as her father’s understudy while mentoring Ethiopian young women.
Ethiopia, the country of their childhood, is categorized by Voice of the Martyr’s as a “hostile nation” towards Christians.3 The countries that border Ethiopia to the north, east and west are all considered “restricted” nations. The statistics of murder, wrongful incarceration and indescribable human abuse in Ethiopia, and the surrounding countries of Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea are horrific to imagine. This is especially true in light of the fact that the men who killed Hannah’s father are still in Ethiopia. How can they bite past the gnawing fear of reentering this region? “What I can say is this, it is a call. If you know that you are called you are not afraid of anything. We are not doing this by ourselves. I know that God will protect me. He knows how He will protect me.” Pastor Omot knows that “many people are called to go or called to help, but many miss the call.” Pastor Omot and Hannah are following the role model
The churches planted in previous visits will be encouraged to see them because it is almost unheard of for someone to return to an African nation after having come to the United States. In Pastor Omot’s words, “most Africans come here to follow the American Dream.” The Aganya’s are following God’s dream. The other part of Pastor Omot and Hannah’s vision is to plant a church in the capital city of Addis Ababa. When they go back their suitcases will be heavy.
They carry with them the encouragement and lessons learned from the teachings and subgroups at Substance Church. In Ethiopia people will wonder “what if church were different?” When they meet the Aganya’s, they will discover that church can be incredibly passionate, tenaciously relevant and surprisingly fun. They will not “do church” exactly as Minnesotans do, but they will be changed forever because one man and his family decided not to change the channel. Pastor Omot and Hannah are not looking for a fictitious “happily ever after” ending to the script. In fact, they are aware that “We share in the terrible sufferings of Christ, but also in the wonderful comfort he gives.5”
This is the end of their beginning. Pastor Omot, Hannah and their four children are grateful that Pastor Peter Haas and others from Substance Church have a heart for missions. During his time at Substance Church, Pastor Omot has learned that “humility and servant leadership are the secrets of a successful leader.” Pastor Omot hopes to create churches in Ethiopia that have the same “enthusiasm and authenticity” as Substance Church.
Pastor Omot is not like many humans, the moral of his life’s story is ‘I should face the pain in order that I might bring others close to God.’ The aforementioned Nehemiah took others with him and the Aganya family is in need of some “others.” Their needs are for prayer, for finances and for partners to follow their hearts to Ethiopia where the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.6 If you think you might be one of the “others” who will join the Aganya’s please contact Pastor Omot at his email address: aganyaomot@yahoo.com. The Assemblies of God denomination has agreed to support them and Substance is contributing over $30,000 to help them with their church plant in Addis Ababa. One last thought before the curtain goes down, Pastor Omot knows that “some of you will come there one day.”
Footnote: From 2005 to 2009 Substance Church has assisted in planting over 50 churches in the U.S. More than fifteen percent of the tithes and offerings received at Substance are used to support church plants and missionaries in hostile nations and restricted countries like the ones mentioned in this article. Please consider clicking around the two websites for Substance Church (www.substancechurch.com and www.beingsubstance.com). Here you will find detailed information on how we do church a little differently including detailed subgroup information, Pastor Peter’s Backstage Pass essays and a free virtual visit.
1 From the Apostle Paul’s first letter to Timothy chapter 6 verse 10
2From the Apostle Paul’s one and only letter to the Romans, chapter 12, verse 14 thru 16
3 Visit www.persecution.com to read more about believers today around the world who face ongoing persecution
4 Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the city of his fathers. He asked for and received help because God’s favor was upon him. See the Old Testament book of Nehemiah starting at chapter 2 to read more.
5 From the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the people living in Corinth, chapter 1, verse 5 the book is AKA I Corinthians
6 These are Jesus’ words to his disciples recorded in two places: Luke chapter 10 verse 2 and also Matthew chapter 9 verse 37.
