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The government official baptized by Philip in Acts 8: 38 returned home to Ethiopia. And then what? Did he spread the gospel?
Did other Ethiopians become Christians? Perhaps a few did. But the large-scale evangelization of Ethiopia did not occur until three centuries later. And it happened by accident.
The accident involved a man named Frumentius, from the city of Tyre (in modern Lebanon), sometime near the beginning of the fourth century. The account that survives is sketchy. But it seems that Frumentius took a trip through the Red Sea. Unfortunately, his ship sank near the African coast. At the time, this must have seemed like an unmitigated disaster. But it turned out to be a fortunate event for Ethiopia. (Is there such a thing as being shipwrecked in the Spirit? See Acts 27.)
Frumentius got to shore and traveled inland to Aksum, the capital of Ethiopia at that time. There he met the emperor and his son. Frumentius was…
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