The Burning Bush Vol 9 No 2.pmd - Far Eastern Bible College

THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD IN MY LIFE
away. My goal in life was to complete my studies and make money. Yet,
the Lord convicted my heart to continue on in the refugee camp.
It was in September 1991 that God expressly called me into His fulltime
ministry. I was perplexed. I had to decide to follow either my will or
God’s will. But, did not Jesus say to His disciples, “If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”
(Matt 16:24). By His divine grace, I gave up my personal ambitions, and
decided to answer God’s call. That was the crucial turning point in my
life, from fishing for mammon to fishing for men. But who will take care
of my aged mother and my young brother? That was a genuine concern,
but who is better than God to take care of the widows and the orphans?
So, my heart was comforted, and I continued to live in the camp for about
four years serving in the Ethiopian Refugee Christians Evangelical
Church. Let me say a word to those whom the Lord is calling to serve
Him: Put your genuine concerns into the hands of the Almighty Father
and answer His call. Remember that once you lose this great opportunity,
you will lose it forever, for you can live only once in this life before
eternity comes.
From the School of Ordeals to the College of Prophets
As soon as I realised the divine call into full-time ministry, I began
to pray for God to open a door for me to study His Word and be fully
equipped to do His great work. And God gave me the privilege of
studying His Word at the Bible College of East Africa (BCEA), Nairobi,
Kenya, from 1995-1998. There I perceived that the call to a preaching
and teaching ministry requires me to be grounded in the Bible and in
Theology. I continued to pray that God would open a door for me to
further my studies. The Lord used my teachers to arrange for my studies
in Singapore at the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC). I was a student at
FEBC from January 1999-May 2003 where I graduated with a Bachelor
of Theology (BTh) and a Master of Divinity (MDiv). This is truly grace
upon grace. Just imagine from where the Lord has lifted me up! He is a
great and glorious God. He is a faithful God and is no respecter of
persons.
Ephrem now teaches at the Bible College of East Africa, and hopes
in future to set up a fundamental ministry in his home country,
Ethiopia.
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