Help us buy a Church : Holy Trinity EOTC Baltimore

In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen!

“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6

The Baltimore city Debre Berhan Kidist Selassie (Holy Trinity) Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church was established in 2002. Our church is part of the DMV EOTC Archdiocese and Ethiopian Synod. Since its inception, the church has provided spiritual guidance, worship, social and communal support and, cultural celebration and reaffirmation. The church also teaches children and the youth, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Ethiopian language, and the different customs/teachings of our Orthodox Tewahdo Church. Most importantly, the church is the backbone for the formation of brotherhood and sisterhood between its members in the Baltimore area. 

Our congregation has been growing steadily over the past few years. Currently, we share a church-building owned by Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Due to restrictions put on by the owners (who also actively use it), we are unable to fully use the church to carry out the liturgical services. We use the church for about 4-6 hours per week. One of the major shortcomings from this arrangement is that we are not able to properly educate our children and youth to become spiritually and morally mature human beings. In addition, this arrangement has made it difficult to reach out to the Baltimore city community to show/teach the rich history of the Ethiopian Orthodox church that has existed since the beginning of Christianity.

The church is primarily run by volunteers. We have exhaustively used volunteers to raise money by working in places such as stadiums during football games. However, the money we’ve raised over the past few years is not enough to purchase a church building in Baltimore area. Most churches that are currently out on sale in Baltimore area cost, on average, around 600-900K. We have already established a 7-person team who would oversee the purchasing of the building. We hope to raise at least $150K which would be sufficient to cover part of the down payment to purchase the church building. Anything you can give us, no matter how small it is, would make a big difference for us.

As of August 2020, we have already found a magnificent church building and are in the middle of price negotiations. We are a little short on cash and we are asking for your help. 

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10

Ways to help:

1.   Please donate, even if it’s just $5.

2.   Simply share this GoFundMe page on the social media of your choosing (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter).