Abagole was born in 1894 at Dubancho in the Hadiya region, southern Shoa Province in Ethiopia. His mother was called by the affectionate name of Adeye and his father, Nunemo, was a killer who wanted to satisfy his desire to be famous. Later on, Sofebo grew up to be a brave young man and his name was changed by his fellow cattle herdsmen to "Abagole" meaning "he who has the ability to gather people around him." In his early life he was a sorcerer, an idol worshipper, a known rebel, a slave trader, and a murderer. Due to his ability to manipulate the spirits, his relatives and neighbors brought him the firstborn of their domestic animals and "chuko," a delicacy made from the flour of roasted barley mixed with butter and salt to form a tasty thick paste. During the Italian invasion of Southern Ethiopia from 1937 to 1941, Abagole, with his compatriots from Hadiya, fought the colonizers. He also helped fleeing SIM missionaries by giving them shelter and food as they cautiously made their way to Addis Ababa. He heard the Gospel through them but did not respond initially. One day a marauding army burned and looted his house, taking his wife and children. He pursued the looters to Wolaitta, attempting to reclaim his lost possessions and his family. While negotiating with the bandits he spent the nights on the vacated SIM compound near Soddo, where he was befriended by the guard who enthusiastically testified about Christ. One night in November of 1936, God gave Abagole a vision and the next morning he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He was soon reunited with his wife and children and returned home to Dubancho in the Hadiya region. A friend gave him an Amharic alphabet chart which he took home. He soon mastered the complicated Amharic alphabet with the help of friends, learned how to read and began teaching. But as usual, local people, including his relatives, began to pressure him to continue his former spirit work. Instead, he told them about his conversion to Christ and the peace and joy he had experienced in his own life. He grew spiritually and became knowledgeable in religious matters and wise and skillful in government affairs. He was filled with the Holy Spirit soon after his conversion and began to preach the Gospel in his home district of Dubancho. God helped him open up the Scriptures to others even though he lacked formal training. His evangelistic outreach began extending beyond his own district of Dubancho, to Ololicho and then to Amburse. He ministered not only in the Kembata and Hadiya regions but also in many other parts of Ethiopia. He preached all over Ethiopia, except in the region of Wollega. He continually encouraged those who became believers in Christ to learn the Amharic alphabet, to read and write, and to become teachers in their own villages. Abagole traveled down to the western lowlands of Ethiopia, near the Omo River, and preached to the nomadic people. They were a people of traditional religion and their culture was very different from the highland Ethiopians. He observed that they used sharp basalt stones for shaving their hair. God gave Abagole special wisdom so that on his second visit he purchased razor blades which he gave them free of charge. This gift won their friendship and some were won for Christ. Abagole was God's instrument for establishing churches inside and outside Ethiopia. He was given the opportunity to preach in America and in Canada. When he was in Nigeria for nineteen days, many believed. Two incidents stand out in his mind as he was preaching in Wolaitta. While on a preaching tour, over a hundred people came to Christ and they formed themselves into one local church. The second incident occurred in 1983 when again ninety-four people came to Jesus Christ in a day. Like other believers in southern Ethiopia from 1935 to 1991, Abagole faced persecution. First, he was ostracized by his own relatives in Kembatta and Hadiya. Then he was persecuted by the government officials because of his incessant preaching. During the Italian invasion, the invaders built gallows on which to hang him in Hosanna town because they feared he was enlisting people as members of what they thought was a political movement. Abagole's response when he heard about his impending death was, "If it is the will of God, I too shall drink this cup." But God preserved his life in a miraculous way. In the 1940s and 50s, the administrative center for Kembatta and Hadiya was Assela, on the eastern edge of the Rift Valley. In January of 1945, there was a proclamation to all the citizens of southern Ethiopia that they must convert to Orthodox Christianity. When the leaders of the evangelical movement refused to obey this order, they were taken to the Assela prison. Four of the believers died in that prison. Most of the believers became strong in their faith during the persecution. Abagole traveled by foot or rode a mule day and night and slept outside during those days. For about five years, Abagole took food to the prisoners and tried his best to intervene for the prisoners by consulting various government officials. Abagole described those hectic days of constant travel saying, "My home was the back of the mule." He played a significant role as one of the founders of the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church (EKHC). He was a EKHC leader for twenty-eight years in the regions of Kembatta and Hadiya. He was one of the founders and first chairman of the Fellowship of Evangelical Believers' Association (founded in 1963), in which organization he served as the first president for four years. He was also one of the decision makers when the name "Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church" was chosen in 1971. As a EKHC leader, he sent many evangelists to preach in various geographic areas of Ethiopia such as Arsi, Keffa, Mareko, Wollo, Tigray, and Gurage. He also coordinated operations and raised funds to build churches in Bobicho, Mochia among the Gurage ethnic group and at Geja in Addis Ababa. He did the same in Hosanna town and in the Dubancho district. Abagole also helped to establish primary schools both in Hadiya and beyond. At first, elementary schools began in local Kale Heywet churches and then developed into recognized public and government schools. One such school was the KHC/SIM Bobicho primary and secondary school (near Hosanna town) which was a prime mover in breaking the bo***ge of illiteracy. This school produced many who became professionals, who are now scholars, doctors, and ambassadors. Abagole cared for the physical and spiritual needs of the people and played a significant role in encouraging the building of the hospital at Hosanna from 1985 to 1987. He collected over 12,000 U.S. dollars from Hadiya and Kembatta believers and government workers from as far away as Harrar, Nuralla, and Shone. Many SIM missionaries residing in Addis Ababa remember Abagole asking for donations for this worthy project. All these donations were a great help in constructing the impressive Hosanna hospital. Abagole also helped widows, orphans, evangelists, and the sick with the gifts and offerings he collected from believers. He bought mules for evangelists so that they could avoid having to walk to distant areas. He also helped the drought-stricken victims in Wollo by donating grain and cash. As a founding father of EKHC, Abagole left a proud and enduring legacy. Dirshaye Menberu
Sources:
Mulugeta Angissew and Lemma Ferenje, "Biography of Abagole Nunamo" (February 1997). Wendiye Ali, The Church Which Flourished through Persecution, Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church History, Vol. I, (Amharic), pp. 233-243. This article, received in 2004, was researched and written by Dr. Dirshaye Menberu, retired professor from Addis Ababa University and graduate of the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST), a DACB Participating Institution. EGST liaison coordinators are Dr. Paul and Mrs. Lila Balisky, DACB Advisory Council members. Hakalla Amale was the first woman to be converted in the region of Kambatta Hadiya. She stays in memory because of the force of which it in shown during the persecution which took place in the first days of the church. It is born in Kaburbaya, Ballessa, Hosanna Shoa in Ethiopia, girl of Amale Kassamo (his father) and Faysse Lamonko (his mother). She spoke Hadiya. She became the third woman of Ato Jate Malegu, who kidnapped it and made to marry it. His first two wives had given him only of girls, and he thought that Hakalla would give him threads. It gave him, in fact, three threads: Assefa, Estefanos and Eshetu. Hakalla heard the Gospel for the first time thanks to son of his uncle, Shigute Dadda, and she made a confession of creed in Jesus at the age of eighteen years, the same year when she gave birth to his first son. She learnt to read the Bible - a very rare accomplishment for the men in this epoch. When Hakalla was pregnant of his second son, persecution became more strict. The ancient of the village came to her, made it go out, and asked that she rejects Christ, threatening it with curse if she refused. This day there, it was preparing a traditional medicament which had to return easier delivery. In front of them, she drank this medicament in the name of Christ. Having made it, the men cursed it. Hakalla was ready to die rather than to reject Christ. Later, this same day, it gave birth to a second son in full health, and people saw that the power of Christ had gained the upper hand on curse. They then ordered Hakalla to have no communication with his neighbours. In spite of it, the number of believers did not cease augmenting. When a member of his family, Ato Aba Gole, became a convert, persecution diminished. Later, her husband also, became a convert. Hakalla testified in Hakalla is known for the powerful evidence which she had within her family, because her children, her husband, and her grandchildren became christian. It was the first woman to serve when the church of Dubancho was established. A big supporter of the literacy tuition of the women, Hakalla went to Lemu, Kambatta, Shone, S**e, and Wolayta, and to visit assemblies to Ambo and Addis Ababa to teach reading the women. When the feminine group was organized, it gave them a lot of support, and she was invited to the General meeting of the women at national level, to give his evidence. It was also the only woman who showed enough force and determination so that they let it enter in prisons. It served the Christians in prison by going through long distance to bring to them of the cool food. It was also a model of hospitality, and it often accepted christian visitors and students, there At the age of eighty five years, she said to her children one day that she did not feel well. Two days later, she died. Belaynesh Dindamo
