Reta Gutema grew up in a Christian family in Ethiopia. His father, a first-generation Seventh-day Adventist in their village, was illiterate, yet the Holy Spirit used him to reach the people in his community. Gutema always admired what his father did. As he grew up, however, he strayed because of peer pressure. When Gutema was about to leave for university, his father prayed for him as he never had before—not knowing that his prayer would be answered in such a powerful way.
God’s Answer to Prayer
“While pursuing my master’s degree at the university, I met Anteneh Yalew, the leader of Parousia Mission, a member ministry of Outpost Centers International (OCI),” Gutema shared. Gutema explained how Yalew had been living comfortably in the United States, yet after studying medical missionary work, he left his comforts behind and returned to Ethiopia. “His passion for the gospel caught my attention, so whenever I had the chance, I began working with them,” he said. “A strong desire to become a missionary started to grow in my heart.”
Gutema shared how he eventually met Gemadi Bekuto, who had also studied medical missionary work. “We prayed together about starting a ministry to do evangelistic work in Ethiopia. I decided to quit my job as a university lecturer and cofounded the Heavenly Physician Ministry in 2018,” Gutema said.
What the Ministry Does
The ministry’s main goal is to conduct comprehensive evangelism in hard-to-reach areas, using the health message as an “entry point,” Gutema shared. “We have been active in educating communities through health expos, conducting evangelism, and training church members in medical missionary work. As a result, about 13,000 people have received free medical services, and 257 people have been baptized,” he reported.
The ministry plans now include establishing a medical missionary school and training center. “We are prayerfully searching for suitable land for this purpose,” Gutema reported. “We also plan to open restaurants and bakeries to serve as centers of influence for urban evangelism.” According to Gutema, they have already begun preliminary work on their first location this year in Nekemte, a city in the East Welega Zone in western Ethiopia.
In 2026 the ministry has a tailored plan to host evangelistic meetings in seven locations, along with a three-month medical missionary training program. “To advance our work in the city of Nekemte, we have purchased nearly half of the necessary equipment to launch our restaurant ministry and expect to begin operations within a few months,” Gutema reported. “With regard to our literature ministry, I have successfully translated the book Steps to Christ into a local language, and it will be printed soon. Last but not least, our church planting projects are underway, with four missionaries serving at two mission sites.”
Moving Forward in Faith
Gutema explained that as the ministry team travels across Ethiopia, they spend at least two to three months at each location. “A three-month mission trip requires a lot of equipment, including chairs, sound systems, tents, and generators. Currently our only option is to hire transportation, often paying inflated rates,” he reported. “We pray that God will bless us with our own vehicle.”
The ministry is also raising funds to purchase land and build humble places of worship at their two current mission sites. “We are prayerfully waiting to move forward with these projects,” he said.
About Outpost Centers International
Outpost Centers International networks and nurtures hundreds of Adventist supporting ministries around the world. These ministries represent a significant portion of the organized gospel outreach conducted by the laity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide.
According to the ministry leaders, OCI is “a community of lay ministries striving toward the common goal of taking the gospel to the world.” They added, “By partnering together, our ministries are strengthened to achieve outstanding results.”
Currently OCI encompass 432 lay-led ministries in 95 countries.
The original version of this story was posted by Outpost Centers International, a supporting ministry not affiliated with the corporate Seventh-day Adventist Church.
