The dream of a Sheikh

The birth of the Adventist Church in north-west Ethiopia can be traced back to a dream sent by God to a Muslim sheikh named Zachariah in 1900. Sheikh Zacharias was a trader and spiritual leader of about 500 Muslims. The sheikh faithfully and conscientiously followed the teachings of Muhammad and was highly respected in the Ethiopian district of Debre Tabor.

One night he had a dream that included the entire Advent message: the inspiration of the Bible, the duty to keep the Sabbath, the state of people after death, baptism by immersion and the return of Christ. He was also told that three missionaries would turn up to teach his people more Bible truths. He was instructed to buy a Bible and study it thoroughly. Then he was to pass these contents on to his people. Finally, he was told that he did not have long to live.

Sheikh Zachariah was shocked by this dream because he thought of the consequences that such a belief would have for a Muslim. He initially refused to follow God's instructions because he knew that he would ultimately have to give up Islam - and that could easily cost him his life.

But the Holy Spirit would not let him rest. Finally, he gave up his resistance and decided to obey. He did not find the three missionaries. So he was baptised in the Coptic Church and became an effective evangelist. Around 3,000 people were won for Christ through him.

But his witnessing service did not go unchallenged. His former Muslim friends regarded his new activity as a betrayal of Islam. He was dragged to court seven times for some trivial matter that had been blown up. Finally, he had to appear before Emperor Menelik II, the ruler of Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa. At the trial, Zacharias described his case to the emperor and a committee of religious judges with great eloquence, proving his point with the help of the Koran. In the end, he was acquitted.

Emperor Menelik allowed him to preach throughout the country. To the great annoyance of his opponents, the sheikh was given a bodyguard of 100 imperial soldiers to protect him from future persecution.

Three years after his dream - in 1903 - the successful evangelist fell ill. As Zacharias suspected that he would soon die, he brought his family to his bedside to say some last words to them. He had a special message for his son-in-law Mote Binet. „In my dream, I was told something else that I haven't told anyone yet. I was told to look for a church where three men would be preaching. I could recognise from this sign that I had found the true kind of Christianity. But I haven't found these three men yet. Now I will die soon. When I'm dead, you'll have to keep looking in my place.“

Mote Binet took this request seriously. He visited many mission stations throughout Ethiopia. In his search, he spent more than a year at the headquarters of the largest interdenominational Christian body in the country. He spoke to all the Protestant church leaders, but they all kept Sunday holy. None of them supported the biblical teachings that had been revealed to Zechariah in his dream. And in the end he had to say again and again: „I'm sorry, but you are not the people I'm looking for.“

During a stay in Eritrea, Mote Binet was sitting outside the house one morning. Mote was discouraged because he still hadn't found the true way of Christianity. While he was reading, he was startled by footsteps - a stranger was coming along the path. He saw the open Bible on Mote's lap and asked, „Would you like to know more about the book you're studying?“ Mote replied: „Of course I would.“

„Then come with me,“ said the stranger. They walked a little further together until they reached a clearing where a chapel stood. It was built of mud and had a thatched roof. When the stranger entered with Mote, they saw three men standing at the front of the podium: a missionary from the USA preaching in English, to his right a Norwegian missionary who translated his words into the main Ethiopian language Amharic, and to his left an Ethiopian preacher - Pastor Okuboxkey, who translated the sermon into the local dialect.

Mote's heart almost stopped when he saw these three men preaching!

He could hardly wait for the service to end. Afterwards, he ran to the front and bombarded the preachers with countless questions that had built up in him during his long search for the true way of Christianity.

A short time later, he rode back to Ethiopia on his donkey to pass on the good news in his home village deep in the interior of the country. He called all the villagers together and told the people what he had seen and heard. They chose seven men to accompany Mote to Eritrea. There they wanted to ask for a missionary to teach them further. The Swedish preacher Gudmundsen returned with them to Ethiopia. As a result, almost all the villagers were baptised and became members of the Adventist Church. Gudmundsen bought a plot of land from the provincial governor of the region, on which a mission station was built.

Mote diligently followed in his father-in-law's footsteps and proclaimed his newly discovered faith throughout his homeland. Time and again, other Christian church leaders tried to silence him. In doing so, they developed a fervour that would have been worthy of a nobler cause. Over the next three years, Mote was repeatedly thrown into prison. Finally, he was tried with several others and sentenced to death.

The night before the execution, the provincial governor had a dream in which an angel warned him: „Release these men or you will be in trouble!“ Worried, the governor tried to release the men. But the resistance of the other „pious“ men was so strong that he was only able to delay the execution a little.

On the day of the execution, two of the governor's soldiers got into an argument. One of them was killed. The governor was so upset about this that he completely forgot about the execution. When Mote's enemies reminded him of this unfinished „duty“, the governor suddenly realised that God was trying to tell him something. Now he was determined to release Mote and the others, which he did.

But Mote's enemies would not rest. In 1921, they succeeded in bringing Mote before the new emperor, Haile Selassie I (1892-1975). At this time, the Danish Adventist missionary Toppenberg had begun evangelising in Addis Ababa. He had also already made the acquaintance of the emperor. Haile Selassie had gained a good impression of the work of the Adventist missionaries and appreciated Toppenberg. He therefore released Mote immediately and authorised him to preach throughout Ethiopia. The emperor also ordered that any hostile action against this man was to be refrained from immediately.