Conquering Lion Ministries is a missional outreach to the Rastafarian communities in the West Indies and throughout the diaspora. Based in New York City, Conquering Lion Ministries shares the gospel via personal relationships, service evangelism and the distribution of gospel literature at cultural events, reggae concerts and in West Indian neighborhoods in an effort to win Rastafarians to the way of Jesus Christ.
The name of Conquering Lion Ministries is drawn from Revelaton 5:5-6,
“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain.”
When John the Revelator hears the elder tell him that the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” will open the scroll he looks and sees a slain Lamb. The Lion is the same as the Lamb slain for the sins of the world. The Conquering Lion and the Slain Lamb is Jesus Christ.
Many Rastafarians are drawn to the image of the Conquering Lion because of it’s connection to the lineage of Christian kings in Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s traditions, recorded in a 13th century treatise called the Kebra Negast, assert descent from a remnant of Israelites who returned with the Queen of Sheba from her visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem, by whom she had conceived the Solomonic dynasty’s founder, Menelik I. Both Christian and Jewish Ethiopian tradition has it that these immigrants were mostly of the Tribes of Dan and Judah; hence the Ge’ez motto Mo`a ‘Anbessa Ze’imnegede Yihuda (“The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered”). This title is included among the titles of the Emperor (King of Kings) throughout the Solomonic Dynasty.
The imperial flag of Ethiopia is emblazoned with the Lion of Judah carrying the cross of Christ’s crucifixion. It is a symbol of the death, resurrection and victory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is for the glory of His name that Conquering Lion Ministries goes forth into the world to share the good news that Christ is come to save all who trust in His name.
