Samuel Shirongo and His Wife
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
2002-03

I would like to share an incredible miracle that happened to one of our students at the Bible school in Ethiopia in 2002. During our last term in Kenya, we were asked to assist the Addis Ababa Bible School (ABC) for six months to fill in for missionaries going home on furlough. As the acting Dean of Students, I was responsible for meeting with every student returning from the long break and collecting their ministry reports and following up their practical ministry experiences. This was my first introduction to a student by the name of Samuel Shirongo, a man in his forties, married, and father of three children. Samuel was saved out of a Muslim culture and faith and was quite radical in his newfound faith in Jesus Christ. He told me that he and another student from ABC went to a Muslim community to share the Gospel and upon arrival a funeral for a young girl was in progress. According to custom, the dead body was carried to the grave by the members of the community who formed a queue from the home to the place of burial. Samuel told the student with him that this was their chance and to follow him and join the queue. His friend asked him if he was crazy and declined the invitation and ran the opposite direction. Samuel was not to be deterred and jumped into the queue and waited for the child to be placed in his arms. He told me that the Holy Spirit gave him a boldness that was even surprising to him. When the child was placed in his arms, he lifted her body into the air and shouted out with a powerful voice commanding that she come back to life in the name of Jesus Christ. Abruptly the noisy weeping and wailing came to a stop and all eyes were immediately focused on Samuel and the child. At that moment, the little girl’s eyes opened and she began to breath. Yes, God had raised a child from the dead. Chaos broke out as the people were stunned by the demonstration of the power of the living God.

This was not the end of the story. Samuel returned to the village the following week and held a church service and preached the Gospel for the first time to this village. Samuel said that a spy had been sent to bring disruption to the service but instead, he became a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, along with the village witchdoctor and his family. The entire family of the little girl accepted Christ and 215 were baptized, 103 of which were Muslims.

If you were to ask Samuel if Jesus still performs miracles through His Church today, he would declare unequivocally from first-hand experience that He does. Jesus performed many miracles during His time on earth and according to His own words, He said that miracles would continue to follow those who believe. Jesus said, “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:11 and 12).