Page 126 - Unseen Hands by Nona Freeman

Unseen Hands
ly undisciplined. Many quickly fell into errors of immorali ty; of inconsideration of others; of unwise and openly ex pressed scorn for government authorities and the state church; of blatant false doctrines such as never-die, unreasonable fasting, and reading demon possession in to a sneeze or the mildest pain.
A painstaking witch hunt began to ferret out Pente- costals. Receiving no consideration and according to the whim of local authorities, they were beaten, subjected to indignities, and jailed. In the midst of legal atrocities, the Wendells planted the United Pentecostal Church of Ethiopia. Government officials called Brother Wendell in and asked two things of him: "Do not accept the Pente costal radicals into yovur fellowship, and change the name of your church."
He readily agreed on the first point, but felt he had to refuse the second requirement. He carefully explained, "This is the international name of our church, and I do not have authority to change it. Surely you can make a difference between our God-fearing, government-respect ing church and these fanatics."
However willing the government might have been to show consideration, the persecution became an uncon trollable landslide. With the word Pentecostal in the middle of the church name, being identified as a Pentecostal was inevitable.
The Rehabilitation Center became an expense beyond the Wendells' means, besides being a hindrance to the growth of the church. Many objected to sharing the bap tistery with those who had the dreaded disease of leprosy. Brother Wendell wisely rented a house in the western part of the city to serve the family as a residence and contrived
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