Page 155 - Then Came the Glory
P. 155

 A Report to Teklemariam
their opponents got permission to destroy the building. The church appealed and God used the Administrator who summed up the situation, "This is simply religious competition and no one is to tear down the church."
Since they have outgrown the hall anyway Hezkiel reminded the authorities of the letter from the Security Office and boldly asked for a place to build a church and a graveyard. He received both and enjoyed a short time of relative peace.
Getting ready to build, he bought stone to begin his church. The priests falsely accused him of stealing the stone
from their churches and had him arrested. The court released him on surety, and the case drug on for four years.
During this time the Derg fell and EPRDF took over the country. Hezkiel had a relative high in politics who fell
in disfavor. Hezkiel's enemies built fantasy on that fact and
reported, "Hezkiel is an anti-revolutionary who is training young men to overthrow the government. He should be arrested and killed. These efforts failed because the EPRDF checked his records and found him blameless.
Then the Priests arranged a demonstration with the
villagers who marched through town screaming as they denounced Hezkiel with slogan placards advising EPRDF to
remove him.
God dispersed the parade with all their yelling like
the wind, but in January 1989, enemies of the true gospel made another plan to eliminate Brother Hezkiel. Fearing to be accused of a crime if an individual killed him, they planned the dark deed for a holiday so the people could be the their scape goat. Epiphany is a widely celebrated holiday and they thought to dash in the church, disturb the program, kill Hezkiel, and escape in the confusion. They reckoned the
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