💭 Coordinated Clandestine Training by The USA in Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea
(Isaias Afewerki (real father Abdullah Hassen) + TPLF’s Debretsion (we suspect he too has Muslim ancestors) and Abiy Ahmed Ali are all CIA agents.
USA is training Somali Jihadists who participated in the Massacre of 1000 Christians at Holy Axum, Ethiopia. These Orthodox Christians were brutally murdered while defending The Biblical Ark of The Covenant from US, Russia, Ukraine, Arab, Turkey, Iran, Israel and Somali backed soldiers of the fascist Oromo regime of evil Abiy Ahmed Ali.
500 years ago Somalis & Oromos were trained by the Ottoman Turks to wage Jihad agains Christians of Ethiopia – and 80 years ago by Mussolini’s fascist Italy – and now, again, by Turkey and USA.
Adding war criminals clan militias into Somali National Alliance (SNA) is the biggest mistake ever for both sides. In 2004 CIA armed and financed clan militias who killed innocent civilians which then led to creating Alshabab terrorist organization. The same mistake over and over again.
Please do watch the 2012 movie, “Prometheus” from Ridley Scot. No coincidence here! Ridley Scot also made the movie ‘Black Hawk Down’ (2001) on Somalia.
💭 “Men of action must cease being men of action to write history, which demands a certain tranquility.”
❖ March 2023 marked 127 years of the historic victory of Ethiopian Christians over an aspiring imperial power, Italy, soon after the shameful Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 that cut up Africa and divided its territory and resources.
On March 2nd, 2023 Ethiopia was celebrating the 127th anniversary of Victory of Adwa in 1896 by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians over Italian invaders. It was THE VICTORY of The Almighty Egziabher God + St. George + Northern Ethiopian Christians over evil.
👉 Addis Ababa, 03. March 2023 – The Historical St. George’s Church
To divert the World’s attention from the ongoing genocide in the Tigray region, the fascist Oromo Army/Police of Black Mussolini a.k.a Abiy Ahmed Entered Illegally The Church Compound and fired tear gas and live bullets inside the historical Orthodox Christian Church at worshipers, just like its Fascist Italy predecessors. The Fascist police also blocked all way leading to the Church which is unprecedented. A Priest was shot dead. Many Parishioners attending church services were injured.
❖ Little girl inside the church compound:
“Your faith will save you,
Saint George will save you,
Don’t run. Saint George the knight will come,
We will not remain crying like this!”
The cowardly world media is silent, the many international Organizations, The UN, The AU, Western and Eastern embassies all risk being complicit in conspiracy of silence. They see and know what’s going on, but, a susual, they say and do nothing!
🏴 Unholy alliance: Edomite West + Ishmaelite East (ESAU & Ishmael)
💭 Roman agents; TPLF + EPLF + OLF + EZEMA and Amhara and Galla groups have massacred and starved to death over a million Ethiopian Chrisians of Tigray for their Western Luciferian Overlords, Arabs, Turks and Iranians in under two years.
👉 13 – 15 December 2022
The U.S. welcomed black Hitler a.k.a Abiy Ahmed, who slaughtered over a million Orthodox Christians. Joe Biden watched the World Cup with genocider Abiy Ahmed Ali.
💭 US SoS Anthony Blinken, The Son of a Holocaust Survivor Shaking Hands With the Devil aka Black Hitler
👉 27 December 2022
Chief of Staff of Army of Ethiopia ‘Field Marshal’ Birhanu Jini Jula pays
an official visit to Turkey. A second visit in six months. By the way, this genocider got the ‘Field Marshal’ title after killing a million Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia.
👉 The Franco-German visit, 12 and 13 January 2023
Mme Catherine Colonna, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs pay a joint visit to Ethiopia with Mme Annalena Baerbock, the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs.
♀️ Female European Ministers Meet Black Hitler Who Massacred Over a Million Orthodox Christians
❖ 200.000 Christian Women Raped
☆ Yesterday Nazi Ukraine – 🐺 Today Fascist Oromo of Ethiopia
😲 Just Unbelievable – Reel Mockery! What a wicked world!
👉16 – 18 January 2023
One of the responsible actors of TigrayGenocide, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed receives Jihadist PM Abiy Ahmed. A day earlier, Anti-Orthodox and evil Abiy Ahmed Ali visited the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church under construction in Abu Dhabi. Wow!
👉 6 February 2023
President Giorgia Meloni of Italy meets with Black Mussolini Abiy Ahmed Ali
💭 Italy Invited a Genocider, the Black Mussolini aka Ahmed Ali | Woe to Italy, Mount Etna is Boiling!
💭 Giorgia Meloni in 1996: “Mussolini Was a Good Politician, in That Everything He Did, He Did for Italy.” Wow!
👉 18 February 2023
Genocider Abiy Ahmed Ali meets Sultan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi – Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar.
Genocider Abiy Ahmed holds a phone conversation with the dictator of Antichrist Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
👉 05 March 2023
Genocider Abiy Ahmed Ali meets with Turkish-Drone-Financier Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha.
😈 The Genesis of Italo-Oromo Fascism
🔥 Ethiopia: Where Two World Wars Began — and Where the Third Is Brewing
The First Italo-Ethiopian War[a] was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate. Full-scale war broke out in 1895, with Italian troops from Italian occupied Eritrea achieving initial successes at Coatit, Senafe and Debra Ailà, until they were reinforced by a large Christian Ethiopian army led by General Ras Alula Abanega.
The Battle of Adwa (29 February-1 March 1896) is of huge significance for Africa in that the decimation of the continent could not be completed. Ethiopia turned out to be the last man standing.
After this Italian defeat the Roman Italians, French and Germans begun infiltrating the Ethiopian state. They initially killed the great Christian Emperor Yohannes IV, his son Ras Mengesha and General Ras Alula – and gradually put the Oromo warlord Menelik ll and his Oromo /Oromara associates into power, who treasonously gave them the historical Ethiopian territories like Eritrea and Djibouti. Just like today, with the help of the Oromo Menelik II, the Romans were able to massacre and starve to death over a million Northern Ethiopian Orthdoox Christians who were the main forces behind the Italian humiliation.
Yes, with this the 1st World War started in Ethiopia – and a few years after the Ethiopia adventure, the Romans/Europeans had to pay a very heavy price for their Jihad against Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. Between 2014 and 2018, the total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I, was around 40 million. There were 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded.
👉 The Romans-Italians came back to avenge Adwa 1896
🔥 Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935-1941)
Italians using Chemical Weapons on Ethiopian Christians
During the Second Italo Abyssinian war the invading Fascist Italians attempted to colonize Ethiopia to avenge the Adwa humiliation of 1896. However the Ethiopians fought tooth and nail to free their country from the white army.
When the Italian operation even with it’s superior weaponry, war planes and tanks started being defeated by Ethiopian patriots, Mussolini in a panic authorized the Italians to use mustard gas, a deadly chemical weapon that causes horrible burns. The League of Nations had banned it’s use but the Italians decided to break the rules of war.
The Fascists finally took Addis Ababa using this cruel cowardly illegal tactic and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians including women children and the elderly. This video also shows the two armies as they head to war and then images of Ethiopian civilians killed by the poisonous mustard gas. The wounded survivors are shown being treated for their burn wounds.
Like 40 years earlier, and like today the traitor Gala-Oromo & Oromara Soldiers were associated with the enemies and the traitors mixed in disguise with the forces of Fascist Italy to Massacre, Gas and starve to death million of Ethiopian Christians.
The Romans brought another Oromo Ras Teferi a.k.a Haile Selassie into power. He too did the Italian job for them, massacring and starving to death millions of Northern Ethiopian Christians.
Yes, with this the 2nd World War started in Ethiopia – and a few years after the Ethiopia adventure, the Romans/Europeans had to pay another heavy price for their continued Jihad against Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. Between 1939 to 1945 some 75 million people died in World War II, including about 20 million military personnel and 40 million civilians.
🔥 Third Roman/ Italo-Ethiopian War from 1970 till Today
Edomite Romans + Ishmaelite Muslims vs Ethiopian Christians
👉 History repeating itself:
Oromos, Oromaras, Romans, Arabs, Turks and Iranians are bombing Axum Zion again. These evil forces use siege, rape, hunger & forced resettlement tactics in their Jihad against Orthodox Christians of Ethiopis. Their evil agents Menelik ll + Haile Selassie + Mengistu Hailemariam, Isaias Afewerki (actually his real father is Arab Muslim, called ‘Abdullah Hassan’) Debretsion (we suspect he too has Muslim ancestors) and Ahmed Ali all do the Italian job for the historical enemies of Ethiopia. What we are witnessing in Northern Ethiopia the continuation of the Antichrist’s Jihad campaign that begun in stages, 1400, 500 and 130 years ago:-
😈 Menelik ll: Half Oromo + Half Amhara = Oromo (Crypto-Muslim / Man of the flesh)
😈 Haile Selassie: Half Oromo + Half Amhara = Oromo (Crypto-Muslim / Man of the flesh)
😈 Mengistu Hailemariam: Half Oromo + Half Amhara = Oromo (Crypto-Muslim / Man of the flesh)
😈 Abiy Ahmed Ali ´= Half Oromo + Half Amhara = Oromo (Crypto-Muslim / Man of the flesh)
🐷 1. Menelik II. (1844 – 1913)
The genocidal Menelik II Oromo regime was installed by Anglo-Saxons + French + Italians + Germans – after murdering the last true Ethiopian and Christian Emperor Yohannes IV, on 10 March 1889.
The Great Ethiopian Famine of 1888-1892
The great famine is estimated to have caused 3.5 million deaths. During Emperor Menelik’s Reign, Tigraywas split into two regions, one of which he sold to the Italians who later named it Eritrea. Only two months after the death of Emperor Yohaness lV, Menelik signed the Wuchale treaty of 2 May 1889 conceding Eritrea to the Italians. It was not only Eritrea that Menelik gave away, he also had a hand in letting Djibouti be part of the French protectorate when he agreed the border demarcation with the French in 1887. Some huge parts of Tigraywere put under Gonder. The Southern part, places like present day Alamata, Kobo etc were put under Wello Amhara administration.
🐷 2. Haile Selassie (1892 – 1975)
The genocidal Haile Selassie Oromo regime was installed by Anglo-Saxons + French + Italians + Germans.
In 1943, at the request of the Emperor Haile Selassie, the Royal British Airforce bombed two towns – Maekaelle and Corbetta. Thousands of defenseless civilians lost their lives as a result of aerial bombardment. It is recorded that ‘on 14th October [1943] 54 bombs dropped in Maekaelle, 6th October 14 bombs followed by another 16 bombs on 9thOctober in Hintalo, 7th/9th October 32 bombs in Corbetta’.
Between 2 and 5 million’ people died between 1958 and 1977 as a cumulative result. Haile Selassie, who was emperor at the time, refused to send any significant basic emergency food aid to the province of Tigray,
🐷 3. Mengistu Hailemariam (1937 – )
1979 – 1985 + 1987
The genocidal and Antichristian Oromo Dergue regime was installed by the United States. Declassified CIA documents reveal that Dergue was an Oromo regime.
Due to organized government policies that deliberately multiplied the effects of the famine, around 1.2 million Christians of Northern Ethiopia died from this famine. Mengistu & his Children still alive & ‘well’ while Orthodox Christians are starving again.
🐷 4. Abiy Ahmed Ali (1976 – )
The genocidal and Antichristian fascist Oromo regime was installed by the United States.
2018 – Until today: over 1.5 million Orthodox Christians massacred by this evil monster. 😠😠😠 😢😢😢 Unlike the past famine there is no natural or man-made drought, rather, Abiy Ahmed Ali simply uses war and hunger as a weapon. Abiy Ahmed Ali sent his kids to America for safety and better life, while bombing & starving Christian kids to death.
☆ Soldiers of the fascist Oromo regime of Abiy Ahmed are deploying rape and famine in their war in the Tigray region.
☆ Genocide in Tigray: Over a million Christians Massacred
☆ 200.000 women, girls, even Nuns systematically raped
☆ The already three-year-old siege of Tigray is Causing Starvation for Millions.
☆ Six million People Silenced: Four months since the so-called “Peace Accord” was announced, yet Independent investigators, journalist or humanitarian workers can not gain access to Tigray. The genocidal regime of Abiy Ahmed and its collaborators, the TPLF + ELF + PP + EZEMA + ANM are exploiting the total media blackout, medieval-like siege and humanitarian blockade with aims to buy enough time to hide their genocidal acts, and other egregious crimes they all have committed on the Orthodox Christians of Tigray.
❖ The region of Tigray is the cradle of Ethiopian Christianity and civilization.
❖ Everyone who accepts Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity is part of the Family of God Egziabher, and He or She is Ethiopian! It is a great honor to be called a child of God Egziabher and to be a part of His family. No matter where you go or who you are, you will always be part of God’s family. All believers are children of the Good Lord God Almighty Egziabher.
Only those who place faith in Jesus become part of God’s family. John 1:12-13 says;
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
If you are a Christian, then you are a child of God and you are part of God’s family. You will never lose your place in God’s family as once a person is saved; they are always saved. Nobody can lose their salvation as salvation is a gift from God. Salvation is not based on anything we do, but rather on placing faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Unbelievers are not part of the family of God because they have not placed faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. If they become a believer, then they too can become members of God’s family. Becoming a member of the family of God is a wonderful thing. There is nothing greater than being part of the family of God.
It is a great honor and privilege to know God as your Father. Being a member of the family of God includes knowing that you are eternally and forever loved by God Almighty. It means that you can never lose your place in His family. The concept of being part of “a family” can be foreign to many of us.
Broken homes, hatred between family members, or never knowing your parents can cause an individual to be skeptical of the idea of a “family.” In God’s family, there is no abandonment, hatred, or abuse. Only love, forgiveness, and grace abide within God’s family. He will never cast you out or turn you away (Isaiah 41:10).
Since we have God as our Father, we can freely talk to Him in prayer any time we want. God is the Holy Trinity, which is the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Three distinct Persons — One God. As children of God, we can pray to Him anytime, anywhere.
You do not have to use eloquent words, lengthy prayers, or rehearse your words in order for God to hear you. Jesus’ death on the cross enabled us to become children of God. If it was not for Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, we would not be children of God. This is something worth reflecting on as we owe our entire beings to God.
It is only by His mercy that we are privileged to spend eternity with Him. God loves us so much that He willingly sent His Son to die for us (John 3:16-17). There is no greater love than the love God has for His children.
Maybe your father, mother, or siblings did not treat you very well growing up. Even if our earthly families have hurt us or abandoned us, we know God never will. Psalm 27:10 tells us, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” God will never forsake you. He can be fully trusted.
We Are the Family of God
Every Christian in the world is part of the family of God. Whether the believer lives in Africa, America, Europe, Asia, or Australia, they are part of the family of God. God’s family is not restricted to any culture, ethnicity, age, or gender (Galatians 3:28). Every person within the family of God is equal (Romans 2:11).
Likewise, each person is strongly beloved by God, and He wants all people to know Him. Once we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become eternally part of God’s family. As part of God’s family, we inherit thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ.
😇 Commemoration of the Archangel Saint Michael- የሕዳር ሚካኤል
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church honors Saint Michael (Kidus Mikael); the Angel of mercy; on the 12th of each month of which two of them are great annual feasts of the saint – on Hidar 12 (November 21) and Senie 12 (June 19). His name Michael means “who is like God”.
Saint Michael is one of the seven Archangels, who is always standing besides God’s throne and is honored for defeating Devil at God’s command (Rev.12:7-9).
In addition to the Holy Bible, “Dersane Michael” contains the miracles of St. Michael. Archangel Saint Michael is powerful and the guardian of the souls and fighter against evil. He is often painted in the walls of every Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church followers with a flaming sword and spear, which pierces the devil.
❖ On Hidar / ሕዳር ፲፪/ 12 (November 21):
1. Crowned and became the Arch of the Archangel’s
Saint Michael is one of the seven Archangels, who is always standing besides God’s throne and is honored for leading the army of Holy Angels and defeated Satan and the rebellious angels into Hell. Revelation 12:7 On this day God crowned him with his glory and mercy and become the Arch of the the Archangel’s
2. The Commander of the Lord’s Army
Joshua, the son of Nun, saw him in great glory and was frightened by him and fell on his face to the earth and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” So he said, “No; but as Commander of the army of the Lord… I have given Jericho into your hand, … and its king.” (Joshua 5:13-15, 6:2)
3. The Exodus of Israel from Egypt through the help of the Arch Angle Michael
Exodus 14:19-22:
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed[a] the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward[b] it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Michael, is the commander of the angels, came down from heaven, and rolled back the stone from the mouth of the tomb, and announced the women “Christ is risen from the dead”.
St. Paul observes that the Hebrews “ all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:1-4; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27).
There is a common ritual practiced by the devotees in order to commemorate, worship and give thanks. Ethiopian traditional bread – Difo Dabo, roasted barley – Kolo in the name of St. Michael are being prepared and shared in the church.
May the prayer of Archangel Saint Michael be up on us!
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on October 23, 2022
✞ At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis appeals to political leaders to find solutions for lasting peace in Tigray
Pope Francis called on political leaders “to put an end to the suffering of the defenceless population” in Ethiopia, and “to find equitable solutions for a lasting peace throughout the country.”
The Tigray region of Ethiopia has been racked with violence since war broke out almost two years ago. Earlier this month, the UN expressed grave concerns over a surge in violence beginning in August, after a five-month humanitarian truce.
Pope Francis on Sunday said he is following the confict in Ethiopia with “trepidation,” and repeated “with heartfelt concern that violence does not resolve disagreements, but only increases the tragic consequences.”
He expressed his hope that the efforts of the various parties in the conflict “for dialogue and the pursuit of the common good” might “lead to a concrete path of reconciliation.”
The Holy Father concluded his prayer with the hope that “our prayers, our solidarity, and the necessary human aid not fail our Ethiopian brothers and sisters, who are so sorely tried.”
❖ Addis Ababa – Saturday, October 22, 2022 (Week 42) St. Michael, St. Mattew
💭 We are in a war with satan directly as he ‘seeks his kingdom/ emirate/ ummah’ and the total annihilation of christians.
Today mankind is faced with 2 completely different persons:
The Sinless Jesus Christ and the false prophet Muhammad who suffered from sin, and 2 dramatically different Gods – The Almighty God of Moral Perfection Jesus and Allah (the AntiGod/ Antichrist.) By calling for more genocide of Christians and supporting Islam these wicked Aba Gedas/Ministers/Pastors have renounced God and have embraced Allah (the AntiGod/ Antichrist.)
Mankind has a choice between 2 Dramatically different Gods. On one hand The God of all peace, love, mercy and goodness (A God of Moral Perfection) or an evil Allah (the anti god/ Antichrist) of Extermination, genocide, assassination, murder, hate, Terror, torture, brutality, slavery, rape.
And 2 Completely Different Prophets
JESUS VERSUS MUHAMMAD
Jesus Christ was a true Prophet of peace and love, goodness and mercy.
False prophet Muhammad was a true prophet of extermination, murder, slaughter, rape, terror, torture, hate, slavery, child molestation. These are crimes
against humanity. These are crimes against The Almighy God.
Allah embracing Muslims terrorizing Christians, killing them, destroying their churches, kidnapping & raping their women, as divine, holy laws of Allah (the AntiGod/ Antichrist). What would God feel about Aba Gedas/Ministers/Pastors allying themselves with Islam which seeks the total annihilation of ancient Christians/Jews – the total obliteration of the Bible/Torah, – the total destruction of Jesus as divine, promoting eternal laws of Allah (the AntiGod). There is no brotherhood in islam. To Muslims – all non muslims are “The Other” and must be murdered.
So, there is no moral equivalence between Christianity and islam. Christians are Sanctified by the body and blood of christ received at HOLY COMMUNION. Muslims are sanctified by the blood of murdered kafirs guaranteeing accession to a virgin delight paradise.
Even if we ask that God exists, then Islam is a total and complete rejection of God and His teachings. Again, those Muslims who kill and are killed in the service of this bogus Allah are not going to ascend to paradise but will descend and join their founder Muhammad and his master Satan in the fires of hell.
Tears And Joy As Egyptian Christians Killed In Libya Laid To Rest
Tears mixed with joy on Tuesday as the remains of 20 Christians were laid to rest in Egypt’s Minya province more than three years after they were kidnapped and beheaded in Libya in an attack that provoked rare Egyptian air strikes.
The return of the bodies of 20 Egyptian Copts has brought families in rural Egypt a chance for some closure after years in mourning with little hope of having the bodies of their loved ones being recovered for burial.
“Everyone stood beside the martyr that belongs to him and cried a little, but they were tears of longing, nothing more,” said Bishri Ibrahim, father of Kerolos, one of the victims, at the funeral service at a church in the village of al-Our in Minya province, where they were all laid to rest.
“But we are happy and joyful that they have returned to the village. This is a blessing for the country and to all Copts all over the world,” he added.
Thirteen of the 21 Libya victims came from al-Our, a rural town of around 10,000 people south of Cairo.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ordered the Church, named The Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland, to be built soon after the incident and dedicated in their memory.
Sisi also ordered a wave of air strikes on the Islamic State’s militant bases in Libya.
The remains of the victims, who were flown from Libya about a private jet to Cairo on Monday night, were placed inside cylinder-shaped containers covered in velvet cloth with the names of each victim and interred under the church altar.
Families said the burial place would be opened as a shrine for visitors.
The victims had been among the many poor Egyptians who risked their lives to find work in the lawless chaos of Libya following the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and civil war.
A video posted by Islamic State in January 2015 showed 21 people — 20 Egyptian Copts and one Ghanaian Christian — lined up on a Libyan beach in orange jumpsuits before they were executed.
“I wanted to see Milad come back from Libya on his feet after his struggle and hard work to earn a living in a harsh life abroad,” 55-year-old Zaki Hanna, the father of one of the victims.
“But thanks be to God, he died a hero, did not beg anyone to spare his life and he and his brothers, the martyrs, did not abandon their faith or homeland.”
Bashir Estephanos, whose two younger brothers were killed by Islamic State in Libya, said all Christians in al-Our village had been praying for the past three years for the bodies of the “martyrs” to be found.
Libyan authorities recovered the bodies in October after the area where they were buried was recaptured from the militant Islamist group.
“Our prayers were answered, so thanks be to God from the bottom of our hearts,” he said, speaking before the bodies arrived in the village.
The head of the Coptic Church in Egypt, Pope Tawadros II, was at the airport to receive the remains when they arrived in Cairo on Monday night.
Ethiopia Is An Outlier In The Orthodox Christian World
Ethiopiahas the largest Orthodox Christian population outside Europe, and, by many measures, Orthodox Ethiopians have much higher levels of religious commitment than do Orthodox Christians in the faith’s heartland of Central and Eastern Europe.
The country in the Horn of Africa has 36 million Orthodox Christians, the world’s second-largest Orthodox population after Russia.
Religiosity
Nearly all Orthodox Ethiopians (98%) say religion is very important to them, compared with a median of 34% of Orthodox saying this across 13 countries surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe. About three-quarters of Orthodox Ethiopians say they attend church every week (78%), compared with a median of 10% in Central and Eastern Europe and just 6% in Russia.
Religious Symbols
Orthodox Ethiopians are more likely than Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe to wear religious symbols (93% vs. median of 64%), to saythey believe in God with absolute certainty (89% vs. 56%), to fast during holy times such as Lent (87% vs. 27%), and to tithe (57% vs. 14%). Indeed, these gaps between Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia and Europe mirror broader differences in religious commitment between people living in sub-Saharan Africa, where religious observance is relatively high among all major religious groups, and those in more secular societies in Central and Eastern Europe.
Moral Issues
Orthodox Ethiopians also tend to be more conservative on social issues than are other Orthodox Christians surveyed; they express higher levels of moral opposition to homosexuality, prostitution, abortion, divorce and drinking alcohol. For instance, Orthodox Ethiopians are much more likely to say that having an abortion is morally wrong than are Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe (83% vs. median of 46%).
Orthodox Christians do not make up a majority of Ethiopia’s overall population: 43% of Ethiopians are Orthodox, while approximately 19% are Protestant and 35% are Muslim. Still, in 2010, the 36 million Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia made up about 14% of the world’s total Orthodox population (compared with a 76% share in Central and Eastern Europe), up from about 3 million in 1910, when Orthodox Ethiopians made up 3% of the Orthodox total. This increase is owed mainly to natural growth in Ethiopia’s population, which rose from 9 million to 83 million between 1910 and 2010.
Ethiopian Orthodoxy is part of the Oriental branch of Orthodoxy, which accounts for approximately 20% of the global Orthodox population and is not in communion with Eastern Orthodoxy, the larger branch, largely due to theological and doctrinal differences.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on May 27, 2017
Christian Copts are the most stubborn Christians on earth. You will never find a Coptic Christian convert to Islam under duress. So how did the Christians of Egypt react when Muslim terrorists attacked a bus full of Christians killing twenty eight Christians traveling on the road to the St. Samuel Monastery in the Minya? In the Middle East and from ancient times, in a wedding they make this sound they call “Zaghareet” (Ululation):
Of course, the bodies are brought into the church at the sounds of women making these very sounds while mothers wail and the priests sing with joy. The Martyrs brought in the church then the procession is a joyous one. Copts show Muslims that their martyrs are in a wedding of a different type than Muslims having weddings with virgins with carnal joys. Here is how they present the bride of Christ:
And of course, the funeral for the Christian martyrs presenting them to Christ:
While some in the West might see these scenes as foreign to them, I remind; being made in God’s image and likeness means that we have within ourselves the creative nature of God. Copts bow to the martyrs. They make icons of them.
Yet I have people comment that icons and bowing are acts of worship.
I chuckle at such statements from people who are oblivious to the Bible. God creates, so we create and is why God required the Israelites to make 3-d icons of angels on the Ark and even Joshua bowed face down towards it:
Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed face down to the ground before the Ark of the LORD until evening (Joshua 7:6).
If bowing was worship, why then when two angels approach Lot in the gateway of the city of Sodom, Lot sees them and he “bowed with his face to the ground.”
No objection from the angel. Why? Because you are supposed to bow.
“When Abigal saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet.”
And I ask; did Lot get rebuke from the angels? Did David rebuke Abigal?
NEVER.
“Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown” (Numbers 22:31).
No rebuke.
I can show several examples.
There are even verses that speak of human statues and God ordered it (hint, its in Ezekiel’s temple).
This alone blows away all what the scoffers say. Every day I read poorly written comments and its sad.
But will these people heed? I guess not. Why? Because perhaps they are tares. A tare thinks its wheat. Us saying this diminishes our donations, but who cares.
People kiss the hand of the priest and the priest washed my feet.
Is that an act of worship? No.
“May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you.” (Gen 27:29)
There are a ton of verses that debunk these claims:
“The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, ‘The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.’ And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.”
“When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne.”
So what say the tare? Are these so westernized that they lost the postures of respect, honor and duty?
Did they forget “blessed are the meek and humble at heart”?
The issue is not scripture, the issue is the lack of desire to search the scripture.
So likewise, all of these martyrs are icons of Christ, just like all of the martyrs of old who were depicted in Christendom’s paintings.
But in the West many object to having icons of martyrs. Where are the statues of the martyrs, where are the paintings of their contests, over which they conquered and for which they received their crowns of glory?
EVERYONE HAS ICONS. Why do we have statues of presidents, politicians, feminists and explorers, yet we do not dare inundate the society with the images that would reminds us of the most important thing? that is, the realization that we are not here for ourselves, that our “bodies are members of Christ” (1 Corinthians 6:15), that “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19), that we are given a destiny that breaks through the physical, the beautiful purpose to stand in the midst of this capricious world, as a beacon of order, as an exemplifier of harmony, as a living candle that shines with the unseen light that repulses the infernal spirits naked to the eye, and pulls in those whose souls are parched by the waves of the watery abyss, into the bright rays of the Holy Cross, so that we can say with the Gospel, “people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16) It is that sublime purpose, to be an icon.
As icons, we fight the idols by creating beautiful art, art that teaches the Faith through wonder and majesty. Look to the Church, and you will see beautiful paintings and images of Crosses. Oh, how the devil’s hate such art, because they — with their immaculate imagery — instill in us a sense of Christian identity, and constantly remind us that we are in Christ, and are not to be dictated by the trends of this world. This is why the wicked and evil atheists and Muslims are always pushing for governments to censor any sort of Christian imagery and expression. They want us to be devoid of icons, to forget our hope, and to place our faith in idolatry of the self. I have heard people say that crosses, church bells, Christian paintings and statues, are idols.
But the hatred against the icons is the real idolatry. For to make a society devoid of Christian imagery, is to enable the enemy to replace the icons with true idols, with the worship of celebrities, of buildings, of politicians, of false prophets. Man, by his very nature, venerates. Take away the icons and he will venerate himself, he will venerate other men, he will venerate Mammon, he will venerate the devil. But restore the holy icons and you will see Christendom revive. The icons will be everywhere, and even the least religious person will see it and feel within himself a small measure of awe, enough to compel him to express his gratitude to the One Who died for Him. Embellish the earth with holy icons, and man will be reminded of what is sacred, man will come to contemplation, and with contemplation comes wonder and inspiration, and from this does the person know that he is but an icon himself, a window into Heaven, who is to shine so brightly that men will worship their Father in Heaven.
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