The love shown by World Vision staff opened Regassa’s heart to Christ.
Regassa was recently selected as the "best model farmer" in his community. (Jon Warren/WV)
Regassa was recently selected as the "best model farmer" in his community. (Jon Warren/WV)
By Rich Stearns
God has called us to love our neighbors, even when those neighbors despise us. World Vision serves in many places where Christianity is not the majority religion and is not always welcome. In those places, we can be respectful and still be faithful, fruitful witnesses.
Regassa Boset was a farmer and a local government official in Ethiopia. He hated Christians and persecuted churchgoers. When World Vision was starting an irrigation project in his community, we needed his approval, as he had the responsibility of assigning land to businesses.
Because he hated Christians, he hated World Vision. So instead of giving us the land we requested, he gave us a piece of land in the cemetery, a terrible insult. But that wasn’t enough. He started a smear campaign, going from farmer to farmer to speak against World Vision and the irrigation project.
Then Regassa’s life took a tragic turn. He became sick and lost all of his assets. He hit rock bottom when his wife died. Poor, sick, and grieving, Regassa did not even have the water to wash his wife’s body and prepare it for burial, an important tradition in his culture.
World Vision heard about his plight, so staff members went to Regassa and said, “We can help you.” They uncapped a new well so he could bathe his wife’s body and bury her. Then they helped him get back on his feet with his farming.
His heart began to soften as World Vision staff came alongside him. They invited him to a Christian conference, where he decided to follow Christ—in large part because of the people he had seen, the way they had loved him, and what he had learned about God through that period in his life.
I met Regassa in 2009 during a trip to Ethiopia. He had remarried, had two more children who became sponsored, and received benefits from World Vision’s programs: a cistern and a treadle pump, along with agricultural help. He was growing fruit trees, raising cows for milk, and building a new house. He had recently been selected as “best model farmer” in his community and was once again a leader. And as a follower of Christ, he attended church each week.
It was the integration of Christian witness and love in World Vision’s development work that first opened Regassa’s heart. Then he was ready to receive the gospel, which resulted in his acceptance of Christ. Today, he is a man transformed.