We first met Amy and Mesfin Tefera in 2021 when they were leading a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, focusing on evangelism, mercy ministry and discipleship training. Since then, Amy and Mesfin have moved their young family back to Australia to seek the Lord on the next steps for them in their mission. Amy still maintains a leadership role with YWAM Ethiopia, but from a distance, providing support and advice to those on the ground. |
Family UpdateWe are all going ok. Loving Jesus looks so different here in Aus now with 3 little kids than to serving in YWAM in Ethiopia. It is a full and busy life but very sweet. Miench is 4, Aron 2, Ezra is 4 months. Life is full of lots of love and joy and lots of mundane, necessary tasks. But in the midst of the day to day we see the bigger kids grow in their love of Jesus and things travel from their heads to their hearts.
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2023 Review
Over the last 12 months, Amy has continued to work with an organisation called Prepare the Way, with one of their aims being the establishment of mission Hubs. These Hubs are designed to help people interested in missions to be able to collaborate with others and be heard and supported. Amy is also involved in mentoring people who are stepping into mission and Mesfin often jumps in as well, which is especially helpful where there is deep ministry with men.
Towards the end of last year, Amy gave birth to a beautiful baby boy called Ezra. Despite several health issues during the pregnancy, God spoke through various prophetic people that their son would be born and that he would be well. Shortly afterwards Amy was induced and their son Ezra was born! Recently Amy resigned from her mission work with Prepare the Way, after extensive prayer with Mesfin. She is now focussing on taking care of Ezra and is looking for work a bit closer to home, as her previous job was based in Sydney. |
In 2023 your support helped assist the Tefera family as they continue to regroup from their time serving on the ground in mission and find their feet in Australia. Amy and Mesfin have a wealth of missions experience and have a lot to teach us about being “All In” for Jesus. While in Australia they have a heart to put their missions experience into practice in their everyday life, sharing their faith with those they come into contact with.
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2024 Support
This coming year we would like to continue to support the Tefera family as they continue to settle into life in Australia (now as a family of 5!) and seek God for what the future holds for them.
Your support of $2,000 will
Your support of $2,000 will
- Provide personal support for the Tefera family
Prayer and Praise
- Prayer for Amy’s search for employment
- Prayer for the team ministering in YWAM Ethiopia
- Praise for the birth of Ezra!
- Praise that the Tefera Family moved into a bigger home
- Praise that Mesfin now has permanent, full-time work and is experiencing fewer headaches
Testimonies
God has done a complete work in our lives and you as a church have been a massive part of that. When God called me into missions, he asked me to give away my savings - which I did. While in missions for 10 years, we lived very simply and generously. When God called us back to Australia, I was pregnant with our second child and Mesfin was on an Australian Tourist Visa (meaning no work allowed). We had no savings and a very limited capacity to make money (me being heavily pregnant and Mesfin an Australian Tourist.) This is the unglamorous side of missions. It was when we were in quarantine returning to Australia that New Vine Lakes began supporting us. Your continued support has been a sign of God’s faithfulness to us. God not only called and prepared us, but he has called others to walk with us until now.
When we came to Australia we lived with my Grandma for more than a year. During this time Mesfin was granted Australian Permanent Residence and allowed to work. He had work as a landscaper but due to having too many migraines he had to resign. Then we lived in a granny flat for more than 12 months as a family of 4, then as a family of 5.
We want to thank the Lord that Mesfin now has permanent, full-time work at Jayco Caravans in Heatherbrae. In more than 6 months he has only had one day off sick. We thank God that we can now afford a bigger place to rent and that Mesfin is having fewer headaches. We are praying that one day we would be able to buy a house.
Thank you for walking with us. This has been in many ways the hardest part of missions - returning (and for Mesfin finding his way in a new culture and language), but you have lightened our load and blessed our souls more than you know. You have shown us that God cares about us as people, in seasons of great fruit and in seasons of replanting. I would especially like to thank Bel, who persisted in wanting to support us even when I wasn’t sure we were worthy (being back in Australia).
When we came to Australia we lived with my Grandma for more than a year. During this time Mesfin was granted Australian Permanent Residence and allowed to work. He had work as a landscaper but due to having too many migraines he had to resign. Then we lived in a granny flat for more than 12 months as a family of 4, then as a family of 5.
We want to thank the Lord that Mesfin now has permanent, full-time work at Jayco Caravans in Heatherbrae. In more than 6 months he has only had one day off sick. We thank God that we can now afford a bigger place to rent and that Mesfin is having fewer headaches. We are praying that one day we would be able to buy a house.
Thank you for walking with us. This has been in many ways the hardest part of missions - returning (and for Mesfin finding his way in a new culture and language), but you have lightened our load and blessed our souls more than you know. You have shown us that God cares about us as people, in seasons of great fruit and in seasons of replanting. I would especially like to thank Bel, who persisted in wanting to support us even when I wasn’t sure we were worthy (being back in Australia).
All In ...to partner with those supporting missionaries.
'All In'Testimony “Kebina”. It was the loudest I have ever heard God. He spoke so loudly (I was the only one who heard it) that it shocked me! My heart beat rapidly and it took a while for me to speak. It was a prayer time for the unreached people group called the Kebina. They are in Ethiopia, have no Bible in their language, train to persecute the church and are strictly Muslim. I asked God how I could pray for them. His immediate and strong answer was “GO!” I shared with others and it was confirmed. As a whole YWAM staff team together with all the DTS (Discipleship Training School) students we went Agena, a town close to the Kebina to pray for them and see what the Lord would do. As we evangelised in teams many in the area wanted to know Jesus. One Muslim lady was miraculously healed in the name of Jesus. The mosque heard and people gathered to attack the team. It was an all in. We knew it was a tough area, we knew Satan was at work, but we knew God was calling us. As we went all in, war broke out spiritually, but the Lord won the day. Many of us were beaten, we were in-prisoned and later almost burnt alive. Many miracles took place and we were rescued by the federal police. 2 weeks after our release the man who tried to burn us died in a traffic accident. The town started saying “it’s because we touched the Holy people”. We are not Holy but our lord is. The town went from hating Christians to respecting our God. Chains were broken and a town set free. |
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