The Ethiopian Evangelical
Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) was formed in 1959 as a merger of
Swedish, German, Norwegian, and North American Lutheran missions.
Mekane Yesus means “dwelling place of Jesus” in
Ge’ez, Ethiopia’s ancient church language.
“The EECMY is a peace church and has joined hands with
other Christians and Muslims in the name of peace!” writes
PC(USA) mission co-worker Brian Gilchrest. EECMY is actively
seeking to build loving, enduring relationships based on mutual
respect with other faith communities while struggling hand-in-hand
for a just peace and in recognition of the dignity of all humanity
regardless of gender, class, faith, or nationality. As the Rev.
Iteffa Gobena, president of the EECMY, has stated, “Those
who profess a faith different from ours are not foreigners or
strangers; they are our brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, and
uncles, and they are fellow Ethiopians.”
Mission co-workers Michael and Rachel Weller work with the
Western Wollega Bethel Synod of the EECMY. With a grant from
the Presbyterian Hunger Program, they helped a small community
of Majangir people make the transition from a forest to a more
sustainable life as farmers.
The Wellers write, “One morning a Majangir woman, along
with her two small children, came into our community. She shared
that she had been thrown out of her own home by her husband,
who wanted a different wife. For safety she fled her village.
For three days and three nights she and her children wandered
through the forest. They were hungry, thirsty, tired, and very
scared. On that last night the woman cried out in a desperate
prayer, ‘Jesus, I don’t really know you, but I have
heard of your name, and those who know you say that you are
a God who delivers and saves. Deliver me and my children and
I will be yours.’ The next morning she found our village,
and the elders of this congregation said to this woman, ‘Let
us tell you more about this Jesus who saves.’” Michael
concludes, “Because we were able to plant corn, we planted
a community, and because a community was planted, we were able
to plant a congregation.” |