Students from Meserete Kristos Seminary gave the De Jongs a painted hide as a good-bye gift for their three-year terms as witness workers in Bishoftu. Photo courtesy of Joanne De Jong.
When asked what they’ve learned from their time working at Meserete Kristos Seminary in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, Joanne and Werner De Jong say it’s more about their own transformation.
The couple began their term as Mennonite Church Canada International Witness workers in Ethiopia in January 2022. Werner, a former pastor of Holyrood Mennonite Church in Edmonton, taught peace theology and spiritual formation courses at the seminary. Joanne organized English chapel services. Their term ended in December 2024.
Joanne was inspired to commit to praying more often after seeing the passion for prayer at the seminary where students prayed before classes, families prayed blessings over visitors, and congregants gathered in prayer before services. “There’s lots of spaces where if you’re in a rush [and] oh, now you’re in a new place, it’s time to pray. Somehow it’s built in,” she said. “My prayer life really deepened.”
Joanne organized “Testimony Tuesday” and recalled the miraculous stories people told. One person who had been mute shared that they were able to speak after accepting Christ. Another was threatened and imprisoned by the communist regime and then released following a vision from God that he would be freed.
Werner De Jong preaching his last sermon as MC Canada International Witness worker at Meserete Kristos Seminary. Photo courtesy of Joanne De Jong.
“Eventually you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, okay, so there’s a living God. He’s active, he cares, he’s doing stuff, we can trust him. We don’t have to … do all this stuff on our own … and then we kind of leave him out of the picture,” Joanne said.
“I learned that not only does [God] want to be in the picture, he’s already doing stuff, and we just have to pay attention.”
Werner agreed that the slower pace of life and more space for prayer helped him become more attentive and alert to the presence of God. While visiting Canada during their term, Werner preached a message an Ethiopian pastor friend asked him to give to the Canadian church: “God is real. God is good. And we can trust him.”
“That [testimony] is based on real life,” said Werner. “It doesn’t come from mere theology. It comes from the experiences of hunger, persecution and ethnic conflict.”
Ethiopia faces ongoing civil unrest. During the De Jongs’ term, a war broke out in the Tigray region from 2020 to 2022, and conflict between the Oromo and Amhara militias continues. Werner said kidnappings are regular occurrences due to the desires of ethnic groups for independence.
“There are students who show up late or go home early every semester because the roads are closed because of conflict,” said Werner. “They are separated from their families and can’t go home because of conflict, so it affects their daily lives.”
Despite this, Ethiopia has the fastest growing Anabaptist church in the world, with tens of thousands of new believers baptized each year. Students at the seminary are eager to engage in peacemaking. This past spring, in response to Werner’s class, “The Biblical and Theological View of Peace,” a Masters student arranged for leaders of their Oromo church to speak with Amhara leaders, to engage in a process of reconciliation. Both groups now shop at a market that is open to both tribes.
More important than their teaching was the De Jongs’ presence with their students, said Jeanette Hanson, MC Canada International Witness director. “The relationships that they fostered will live on as Mennonite Church Canada seeks other creative ways to connect with [Anabaptists in Ethiopia].”
Though the De Jongs had the option of renewing their contract, which concluded at the end of 2024, they have chosen to relocate to Kenya. “We were ready for a new adventure,” said Joanne. At the beginning of January 2025, they moved to Nairobi, where Werner will begin work as lead pastor of Lavington Vineyard Church, a congregation of around 350 people, attended by Kenyans and ex-pats from 25 different countries. The De Jongs have already made connections with members of the Kenyan Mennonite Church in the Migori region, while the Mennonite Central Committee Kenyan directors will attend church at Lavington. Werner said Meserete Kristos Seminary has invited him to teach courses in the summer.
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