wfn.org | Ethiopian Mennonites gather

[Beth Hawn]

Microsoft Mail v3.0 (MAPI 1.0 Transport) IPM.Microsoft Mail.Note
To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-07-01 14:48
Priority: 3
Message ID: 9E899783E410D211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: Ethiopian Mennonites gather 

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July 1, 1998
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
219-294-7523
<News@MBM.org>

Ethiopian Mennonites gather for conference in Goshen, Ind.

ELKHART, Ind. (MBM) - "I am energized enough to jump to the moon, but I   
don't
want to stop there - I want to reach heaven. This is a little taste of   
that
heaven," said Tesfatsion Dalellew, former executive secretary of the
Meserete Kristos (Mennonite) Church in Ethiopia.

Dalellew, a member of Mennonite Board of Missions' Board of Directors and   

co-director for the Africa program at Mennonite Central Committee, and
about 100 other Ethiopians found a little taste of heaven June 19-20 at   
Goshen
(Ind.) College at the first-ever Friends of Meserete Kristos Church
conference. Former members of Ethiopia's first Mennonite church and 15
former Mennonite missionaries to Ethiopia met in Goshen, where they
worshipped together and discussed their role in the Ethiopian church.

"The whole purpose of the conference is to connect the former MKC members   

with the church and to solicit ways to participate in the church's
activities," said Dalellew, an Ethiopian Mennonite who has lived in the
United States since 1986 and the conference organizer. "We want to ask   
how we
can meaningfully participate in kingdom-building. What is our role?"

The Meserete Kristos Church began in 1946 in Ethiopia when a handful of
Ethiopians worshipped with Mennonite Central Committee and Eastern
Mennonite Missions workers. In 1982, the Marxist government forced the
5,000-member church underground.

Although the persecution was difficult on the church, the numbers and
commitment grew rapidly. "Persecution itself didn't bring growth, but it
brought us closer and closer to the Lord. "Through it all, God was   
faithful,"
said Pastor Solomon Kebede, executive committee chair of MKC. In order to   

survive, the underground church reorganized into small groups, each of
which required a strong leader.

When governmental pressure relaxed in the 1990s and the church came into   
the
open, these leaders formed the backbone for a church that was still   
growing
tremendously. Today, 191 Mennonite congregations with a total membership
of 114,400 meet in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian church also continues to grow in the United States. Many
Ethiopians immigrated to the United States in the 1970s - some as   
students
intending to learn about the American culture, many as political   
refugees.
Today, large Ethiopian congregations thrive in U.S. urban centers such as
 Washington; St. Louis; Chicago; Houston; Austin, Texas; Los Angeles;
Pasadena, Calif.; Seattle; Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pa.

Last weekend, members of these U.S. churches and leaders in the MKC in
Ethiopia discussed opportunities for U.S. Ethiopians to become involved
in the life of MKC. Dalellew called conference participants to share the   
work
of the church in Ethiopia.

"Instead of saying, 'We are here, they are there,' we need to involve
ourselves," he said. "We have several resources: knowledge, time, money,
technology. How can we use them?"

Zenebe Abebe, Goshen College vice-president for multicultural affairs,
and Dagne Assefa, pastor of Shalom Mennonite Church in Indianapolis,
introduced one such means of interaction between the churches: a   
voluntary
service program linking former members and friends of MKC in the United
States with MKC congregations in Ethiopia. Abebe and Assefa began
discussing the concept of such a program in the early 1980s.

"We've done a lot of talking about what God has done in the past. Our   
journey has
been exciting and frightening, but now it's time to press onward. We have   
a
plan of action," Assefa said.

Their proposal introduces three opportunities for interaction:
* A scholar-in-residence program bringing Ethiopian-American scholars
 back to Ethiopia to serve the church with their knowledge and skills,
 specifically by volunteering at the Meserete Kristos College.
* A fund-raising project allowing those Ethiopians who could not return   
to
 Ethiopia to assist the program financially.
* A sister-church organization linking Mennonite congregations in North
     America with Meserete Kristos congregations in Ethiopia.

Much of the discussion regarding the voluntary service program centered   
on
the fund-raising aspect of the plan. "The church in Ethiopia has a lot of   
human
resources, and the church here has a lot of 'you know what,'" Assefa   
said.  "I
think it is ethical to tap that resource - we just have to do it   
responsibly."

"If we put our hearts together, we can go a long way," said one   
participant. "I
want to go further than that. Let's put our pockets together." The group
committed itself to raising $150,000 over the next two years to buy land   
for a
Bible college in Ethiopia.

In order to continually examine their involvement in the Ethiopian church   

and keep in touch with old friends, participants agreed to meet as an MKC   

convention annually. "This is a vision I've had for five years," Dalellew   

said. "Now it's coming true."

* * *

Rachel Lewis      PHOTOS AVAILABLE