Page 31 - Then Came the Glory

CHAPTER FIVE
AMARE'S RETURN
In a time of peril, conflicting rumors, ignorance,
misunderstandings, and misguided ambitions coupled with the
difficulty Americans had understanding a strange, ancient
culture; division blitzed the young church in 1974. Confusion
developed during a board meeting with missionary
Superintendent John Harris and Missionary Don Ikerd (from
Kenya) and Amare walked out followed by several friends. Tekle and his dear wife Erkenesh felt devastated by
the loss of their fellow-laborers and prayed constantly
beseeching the Lord to restore unity in His church. After a
time, the Lord assured them, "Have patience. One day you will be one flock again."
Though the break-away group took the finance
brought by the missionaries to underwrite the expenses of the conference and felt pleased about their possession of the
building left by the missionaries, they did not grow and before long the State confiscated the building, the group
wrongly thought Tekle and Erkenesh caused all of their
problems and reacted with animosity while the blessings of the Lord caused Tekle's church to flourish in the Holy
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