Ethiopia- Coffee and The Gospel

Ethiopia is largely believed to be the “birthplace” of coffee. The leading story tells of a goat herder named Kaldi, who noticed his goats got energetic after eating the berries. When he relayed the story to others, they made a tea with the berries and enjoyed the effects of caffeine that coffee is so famous for now. While this story may or may not be true, genetic studies do point that coffee is from this region. The coffee we enjoy today has been spread across the globe (grown in regions near the equator). New strains from intentional and accidental crosses that have been found to have desirable traits, such as flavor, drought resilience, speed of growth, and plant production rate have been cultivated for hundreds of years.

Today coffee is still the primary export of Ethiopia, however there is another seed that was planted in Ethiopia that has flourished and changed lives more than anything else…. “Behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me?” Acts 8:27-31

Prior to this Phillip was preaching the gospel in Samaria and there was great conversion to Christianity, and many were baptized in the Name of Jesus. When the Apostles heard that the people of Samaria accepted the Gospel, they sent Peter and John. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers to receive the Holy Ghost, and when they laid their hands upon them, they received the Spirit. During this great time Phillip was instructed of the Lord to go into the Desert, while there he met the Ethiopian eunuch mentioned in the scripture above. Phillip Explained the Scripture and how it was about the Lord Jesus, then preached to him the Gospel. They came to water and Phillip baptized him. While this is the end of the account of the Ethiopian mentioned in the Bible, it was just the beginning for the country of Ethiopia.

It is believed that the Eunuch went and preached the gospel to Ethiopia, and within 300 years Christianity was the official religion of Ethiopia. This is 1300 years before slavery began in America where it is often thought in Western culture that Christianity was a European religion and was taught to African Slaves by their masters. This account shows how one man's humbleness to be taught what the Word of God means, as well as another man’s obedience to do as he is instructed of by the Lord can change the fate of an entire country.