Ethiopia - Former PM meets Jesus in prison

‘What was it like in prison? It was a blessing! I mean it. I was born again and now I belong to Jesus forever.’

Tamrat Layne, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia and imprisoned for 12 years, describes his 'miracle' transformation from atheist to discovering the love of Jesus - while in jail.

'I spent fifteen years in the jungle fighting as a Communist soldier. Later I became Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 1991-95. Then, in 1996, I was imprisoned for political reasons.

I lost myself; I was nothing

‘In prison I lost faith in Marxism. I lost myself; I was nothing. I became just a vacuum, imprisoned in a special compound almost alone. But I had access to the Bible and a radio. Every night I followed a program about witnessing that you air in my language. It helped me to know what Christianity is.

‘This program is heard in prisons widely. It's heard in Arab countries by families. Radio is a good instrument and you must expand it. It can be heard in the remotest areas, in closed houses and where there's nothing but the radio. It was a blessing.

‘In prison who was I? I had no purpose. I turned to Islam. But God told me to stop, I think. I wanted something I could accept, not just a jumble of words. I didn't know the Bible then.

A hospital nurse gave me a small text about the love of Jesus, and I read it. I bowed my head and said, 'OK. If you are here Jesus, then come to me.' That's all. And he came.

Later the nurse gave me a pocket-sized Bible. Then I prayed very much. I read and loved the Bible, always trying to personalise verses to myself. I believe the Holy Spirit taught me to know Jesus when I was alone in the 'desert'.

‘While I was in prison my wife and two daughters became refugees. On my 47th birthday, I became Jesus' servant.

And then, a miracle... Christianity has spread through my family

And then, a miracle. I wrote to my wife, an atheist, saying I now believe. She wrote that on the same day she also found Jesus! Now I know God is omnipresent. Christianity has spread through my family.

Then, another miracle. I came out of prison proclaiming Jesus' name. Every newspaper wrote about me and Jesus. For the first time ever in this country, Jesus' name came over national television. God did a wonderful thing. I believe a new era for the gospel has been triggered in Ethiopia.