Persecution has intensified in the last few years against Ethiopian Christians who proclaim the gospel and plant their churches in that country.
Muslims comprise roughly one-third of Ethiopia's total population and the majority concentrate in the southern Oromia region, where several large-scale attacks have accompanied the growth of Islamic extremism under the rules of Wahhabism, an especially violent form of Islam. Saudi Arabia and other Middle East Muslim countries are funding new mosques, Islamic schools, and the restoration of Islamic Wahhabi rule in the region. This rule is quite intolerant and intransigent and with its spread in the region have come devastating attacks on Christians, who in addition to losing homes, businesses and church buildings have been beaten and killed by the hundreds.
Although nearly 60% of Ethiopians identify as Christians, only about 20% are biblical in faith. The rest belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), whose teachings differ dramatically from Catholic or Protestant doctrine or even from other Orthodox churches.
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