2023-2024 Grant in Aid of Research

From Devout Follower of Muhammad to Committed Disciple of Jesus: Understanding the Process and Challenges of Transition-Phase Discipleship among Adventist-Muslim Background Believers in Ethiopia.

Temesgen Besha

Islam claims more than 34 percent of the over one hundred ten million population of Ethiopia. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has not been successful in reaching Muslims in its nearly a century of existence in the country. However, the recent Adventist-Muslim Relations initiative began bearing fruits. Hundreds of Muslims joined the Church in the last decade from North-central Ethiopia. More recently, over a thousand Muslims accepted Christ and were baptized in the southern part of the country.

Discipling the new believers is the challenge the church is facing. From the perspective of this researcher, this is particularly true during the “transition phase.” “Transition phase” discipleship is not unique to Muslim Background Believers (MBBs). However, their “transition phase” is very different from converts from other backgrounds. First, MBBs struggle with new theological issues, culture shift, and social tensions. Second, there is lack of readiness on the receiving end. Churches may not be able to appreciate the radical transition the MBBs go through and disciple them accordingly.

This phenomenological study will focus on understanding the “transition phase” of MBBs’ discipleship in terms of its process, challenges, and discipling principles. Using faith development theory in conjunction with narrative theory approach, data will be collected from purposively selected 20-25 MBBs through in-depth interviews. For the purpose of triangulation, more data will be collected through three focus group discussions. Each group will be comprised of 5-8 MBBs. Finally, the collected data will be analyzed and interpreted by the process Yin suggests for qualitative studies: compiling, disasssembling,