WCC NEWS: Ethiopian Lutheran leader says WCC’s future is bright:

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World Council of Churches - Feature

ETHIOPIAN LUTHERAN LEADER SAYS WCC’S FUTURE IS BRIGHT

For immediate release: 29 September 2010



By Fredrick Nzwili (*)

Addis Ababa, 25 September (WCC)— The leader of the Ethiopian 
Evangelical
Church Makane Yesus (EECMY) said his church is looking forward to the
future leadership role that the World Council of Churches (WCC) will  
play
within the wider ecumenical community. The comment was made during a 
23-27
September visit to the church by the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the 
WCC’s
general secretary since January 2010.

The Rev. Wakseyoum Idosa, the church’s president, said the EECMY is
convinced that under the new general secretary the WCC will assume a
larger role addressing the concerns of today, including global 
threats to
peace, unity and human dignity.

“We are convinced and feel no doubt that under your leadership, the 
WCC
and member churches will step forward in the process of doing mission 
and
diakonia, especially giving due attention to the change and renewal
process to determine the roles and functions of the WCC in the 21st
Century,” said Idosa during a dinner reception hosted for Tveit and 
his
delegation in Addis Ababa.
He said the EECMY felt honoured that Tveit, himself a Lutheran pastor 
from
Norway, had chosen to visit the church during an official tour of East
Africa. The EECMY holds membership in both the Lutheran World 
Federation
and the World Communion of Reformed Churches, as well as in the WCC.

Idosa said the gathering reminded him of Christ’s prayers for unity 
and
stressed that Christian unity needs to be paid due attention in 
ecumenical
relations today.

“Jesus prayed for the unity of the church so that it would make an 
impact
in the world, and to this end the world needs to see our unity,” he
said.

“It is demanded from all of us that we do everything possible to
strengthen the bonds of communion between all Christians and 
churches, for
unity is central to the identity, life and witness of the churches. It
enables them to promote healing and reconciliation in their
communities,” he said.

The EECMY became a member of the WCC in 1979, after working closely 
with
the World Council since 1961. The WCC has supported the church in 
building
its capacity in the areas of education, agriculture and the medical
sector.

“This is the time to focus again on the call to be one…because we have
to be one for the sake of the commission we have received from 
Christ, for
the sake of all the tasks we are called to do, not to be exclusive 
but to
bring together all churches and their leaders,” Tveit said at the
dinner.

Tveit had earlier visited the New Life Young Women’s Rehabilitation
Project in the Kazachis area as well as the Gudima Tumsa Wholistic
Training Centre. The EECMY-operated rehabilitation project aids in
restoring the lives of young girls who have been involved in the
commercial sex trade. The training centre equips mentally disabled
children with the skills to enable them to live full lives.

The EECMY started the women’s rehabilitation project in 2002. It has
since helped 190 girls and women to reclaim their freedom and equipped
them with skills that have enabled them to leave commercial sex work.

“I am able to earn at least 100 Birr a day after joining the project.
Life is better for me now,” said one of the women involved in the
project, Ms Meredes Getachew.

At the Kazachis Church, Tveit said the project was an example of how
Christians can help one another keep the dignity that God has given to
all.

(*) Fredrick Nzwili is a freelance journalist from Kenya. He  is a
correspondent for Ecumenical News International (ENI) based in the
country's capital, Nairobi.


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, 
witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship 
of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 
Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 
million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the 
Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse 
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, 
Switzerland.



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