Featured Story
Our national partner — let’s call him ELO — recently carried 150 children’s books (created in the local language) into the Afar Region of Ethiopia, a place where printed materials must be approved by Islamic leaders before distribution. By God’s grace, the books were approved! Fifty went to a school, fifty to nomadic families, and others to the Compassion International Church.
After returning home, ELO learned that two principals and a teacher had been “taken”. Their driver, had scanned the QR code on the back of one of the books, watched The Prophet Story, and reported it out of fear of being associated with a Christian organization. ELO had to change his phone number and go into hiding for two weeks — yet even through this, God was at work. The same leaders who investigated him watched the video, heard the Gospel, and the books continue to circulate among children. When asked to return them, many children were heartbroken, reluctant to give up their treasured gifts.
Today, ELO continues to serve faithfully in a new area of Afar, working with a local NGO, “Center for Street Children,” building schools and relationships, preparing the soil for CREATE Seeds-HoA.
About Christine
Christine Friedrich serves as the Coordinator of CREATE Seeds–HoA (Horn of Africa). Her team develops culturally relevant storybooks, coloring books, animations, and interactive apps that share the love of Jesus with children in Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Their special focus is on children from unreached people groups (UPGs) — communities with less than a 2% Gospel presence.
The Vision
Christine’s passion is to equip and lead a creative team of national believers who will carry this work forward — producing Gospel-centered media in their own languages and cultures, multiplying its reach across the Horn of Africa.
As Christine puts it,
“My vision is to one day step back and settle into the role of mentor & ‘cheerleader’ for this CREATE Seeds-Horn of Africa team.”
Current Needs:
Prayer for CBU-Live Course (Creating Children’s Books for the Unreached), Ethiopia, July–August 2026: Pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare students’ hearts and for the right campus and ministry partners. Partners needed to provide support for travel & cost of living while in Ethiopia, estimated at $5,000.
Gosha Bantu People (Somalia): Pray for creative strategies to share the Gospel with the children of this nomadic and often marginalized group.
Children’s Media Broadcast: Pray for wisdom and discernment as we create content for a TV station in Ethiopia, through a partnership with Great Commission Ministry.
CREATE Seeds–HoA Team: Pray we remain Spirit-led and united as we develop ways to share the hope of Jesus with the nomadic Afar and Somali refugee children in Ethiopia.