From the Bagasao Children:

Every week we learn about a different country or group of people needing prayer. We study their situation and then pray for them throughout the week.

Please join us in prayer for the Falashas.

The Falashas are black Jews in Ethiopia. The Falashas had a hard life in Ethiopia. For a long time they could not eat because there was not enough rain for their crops, and nobody there had invented a Wal-Mart. After the Communists took over Ethiopia, they had even more trouble. Markets were only open on Saturdays, which was the Jewish Sabbath. Many people had to move from the country to Addis Ababa, the the capitol city.

The Falasha believed that God would return them to Israel based on the writings of the prophet Isaiah. During the Ethiopian civil war, several thousand Falasha were carried to Israel on a plane during Operation Moses. Other people heard what they were doing, and the flights were stopped, so many people were left behind. That was 1984. In the 1990s, rebels fought to overthrow the Communist government. Falashas were once again evacuated to Israel during Operation Solomon. All together almost 30,000 Falashas were taken to Israel where they had to learn Hebrew and begin a new life. There are about 20,000 Falashas remaining in Ethiopia and about 60,000 in Israel.

Falashas are Jews who believe that the Messiah has not yet come. They follow the laws of the first five books of the Bible and follow the Sabbath. Missionaries to Ethiopia, Ethiopian Christians, and Israeli Christians are all reaching the Falashas, and many are becoming “Jesus Jews” or Messianic Jews.

Hannah and Elisabeth ask that you please pray that the Falashas remaining in Ethiopia who still wish to return to Israel can do so without all the trouble there was in the past. Marissa asks that you pray that God will send rain for the crops of all Ethiopians. Marissa and Emily request that you pray that the Falashas come to know Jesus as their Savior, realizing that he already came and will come again. Elijah wants you to pray that God will please let the children have more Bibles.

For more information, check out the following:

• A brief article about Falasha origins.

• A bit more information about Falasha religious customs.

• Three encyclopedia excerpts about the Falasha.

Thank you,

Hannah, Marissa, Elisabeth, Emily and Elijah

I Timothy 2: 1, 3: I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.