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Pumping Iron
Five million people live in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. One of the poorest and most depressed areas of Addis is near the main garbage dump. Here people forage for food and shelter in the garbage heaps. Many have lived their entire lives inside the landfill, which is also the home of a large leper colony. As was the case in Biblical times, the lepers, their families and anyone living in this community are social outcasts. A feeling of hopelessness hangs over the young people. While many of their parents are lepers and beg for a living, the young people themselves turn to theft and crime to survive. Lawlessness is the norm. One church near the garbage dump had a vision to make a difference in this dangerous place. They believed that through sports they could share the love of Christ in this forgotten community of Addis.
A Christian man who lived among the lepers had a weightlifting gym, which became the platform for building relationships. The “gym” was just a small, mud-walled building with a dirt floor. The weights were homemade – empty paint cans full of cement attached to either end of a pole; car batteries and transmissions creatively used for weights. About 75 men (ages 18-35) used the gym regularly to work out. Two men from the church near the dump as well as the Christian gym operator began to share Christ with these men who attended the gym. They rented a building (previously a drug house) next door to the gym and started to have Bible studies for men who were interested. Of the 75 men involved at the weightlifting gym, 26 placed their faith in Christ. The building they have rented has been transformed from a drug house into a new church for these believers and their families / friends, with over 100 new believers attending church on a weekly basis. The church is growing and offering hope to a community of outcasts!
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