Page 131 - Unseen Hands by Nona Freeman

Oppositionfrom Within and Without
dred birr to kill Tekle and Erkenesh. A teacher named Leta and his wife, Alemitu, heard of the plot and warned them that the man lay in wait for them every night after the people left the meetings. Neither the death threat nor oppressive demonic attacks stopped hungry hearts from obeying the Word. Needing all the help she could find in several dangerous situations, Erkenesh cried out "0 Wendells' God, rescue me!" Her and the Wendells' God
took care of the need.
Leaders from two groups who were losing members
brought Tekle to the police, charging that he preached without a permit, a serious offense. He produced the let ter from the emperor, and the police dismissed him and the embarrassed church leaders. After two more weeks of mixed blessings and harassment, an urgent message came from Brother Wendell that Tekle must return to Addis at once. The people who had sold his books did not hand in the money as planned, and the man who signed his note for the printing of the book had been arrested.
He had to have two thousand birr immediately. Before he could go to face that crisis, Tekle had two other problems to solve—who to leave in charge of the
work, and how to get money for the trip. The Lord im pressed him to turn the new church over to Dejene, a choice that passing years proved wise. He is still a faithful preacher of the gospel in eastern Ethiopia and is a presbyter for the twenty-seven churches he established. Alemitu brought a generous offering, and that paid the bus fare to Addis.
On arrival, Tekle learned with thankfulness that Sophia had paid the outstanding debt and solved his problem.
129