Ethiocross Blog

LS Journal:-Tamrat Layne camped out in the mountains of Ethiopia for 15 years, one of the leaders of a rebel communist army.

At one point, he says, he had command of 100,000 soldiers.

An atheist, he lived by this creed: "Freedom comes out of the barrel of a gun."

By 1991, his group, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front took control of the Ethiopian government, and he was elected prime minister.

Buy six years later - after a round of political infighting in the struggling government - he went to prison.

He didn't come out for 12 years, and now lives by an entirely different creed: "Freedom comes out of the barrel of the gospel."

Layne, 55, whose ministry is based in Denver, shares his message today through Sunday at a revival at Church of God International Outreach Ministries, 4125 W. St. Joseph Highway in Delta Township.

He'll speak at 10 a.m. Sunday.

"We're just honored to have the former prime minister here at our church," said Pastor Charles Benson, who leads the church along with his wife, Jannet. The church has about 200 members, but they expect up to 450 people at revival services.

Benson said the church made the connection with Layne at the recommendation of a member who is originally from Ethiopia.

Layne was convicted after a closed trial with no legal representation and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

He was bitter at being imprisoned by former friends and concerned about the plight of his wife, Mulu, and two small children.

They fled Ethiopia, achieved refugee status in Kenya and were resettled in Denver in 2003, unsure whether they would ever see him again.

During his incarceration, Layne said he read a lot of philosophy.

Just as he had absorbed communist ideology during his teen years, he now investigated the Hindu and Muslim faiths and various forms of philosophy.


He wished for salvation from a life that was going nowhere.

Then, he said, Jesus himself came to him in the middle of the night.

"I was curious, surprised, and very much scared," he said.

He later found out this his wife had become a Christian at the same time, in the refugee camp in Kenya.

"He promised me that I would be out of that prison, that I would go out in the world and witness about him for the world and for the church," he said.

After that, Layne discovered a feeling he had long forgotten: Hope.

"It was obvious to me and to others around me that I was being changed, like a new person," Layne said.

"It washed away all my communist ideas, my atheist views."

He was released early from prison in 2008 and spent a month at his sister's house in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, before emigrating to the U.S. to reunite with his wife and children, now 13 and 17.

His ministry began soon after. "Jesus gave me a purpose, to transform nations," Layne said. "Especially Africa." He has forgiven those who imprisoned him, and he prays for forgiveness from those he wronged.

He hopes to raise money in the United States and return to Africa to preach, as well as sharing his inspirational message with those in the U.S.

Source:- LS Journal