Page 51 - Unseen Hands by Nona Freeman

Moving On
is set before me. Make me like all kinds of food, and strengthen me with what I eat. Make me strong to serve You." Tekle felt something leave him as he prayed, and a desire entered into him for food—any food.
A t once he asked his host to serve him anything they had. His wife brought him a glass of sour milk. The glass, encrusted with filth, looked as though it had never been washed. Even worse, four dead flies floated on top of the thick milk. Without hesitation he drained the gleiss, flies and all. Prayer made the difference. From that time on, partaking in faith, he never considered the condition of food or drink set before him.
Tekle traveled widelyin Sidamo, preaching in villages and towns. In Yirga-Alem, the capital of Sidamo, the police arrested him for not having a preacher's license. They kept him at the police station, giving him a handful of raw chickpeas three times a day for food. When they released him after a week, he heard that Emperor Haile Selassie would soon visit Wando-Ghennet. On April 13, 1968, Tekle waited for the emperor at a clinic and presented his problems and hindrances in preaching.
The emperor gave orders that Tekle should be per mitted to preach anywhere he liked in Sidamo. When news and written orders of the emperor's permission for him to preach reached other districts, all doors freely opened to him.
With permit in hand, he preachedin hospitals, schools, army camps, police stations, churches of different faiths, markets, and public squares. Because he sent the converts to join the church of their choice, all of the churches in the area showed great progress during his stay. He had no desire to form his own organization and eat of its finiit.
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