Watch: A look inside Meserete Kristos College
This past March, we published a story about Lynell Bergen’s sabbatical at Meserete Kristos College in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Bergen, who is the lead pastor at Hope Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, spent her sabbatical teaching at the college. Now, you can watch a video exploring the time Bergen and her husband, Brian Dyck, spent at MKC. The…
Exploring God’s call
Werner and Joanne DeJong faced a challenging decision. After many years of pastoral ministry with Edmonton’s Holyrood Mennonite Church, they felt called to consider ministry in East Africa. The call, however, was not equally clear for each of them or for their congregation. In many ways, the call was not surprising. In the last 15…
A vision for growth
Meheret Evangelical Church has been meeting for worship in Kitchener for 20 years. Founded by four families, the church of about 15 saw slow growth over the years, as refugees from Ethiopia—who dispersed to South Africa, Greece, Sudan, Egypt and elsewhere—made their way to Canada. But after hiring Pastor Yared Seretse directly from Ethiopia a…
Video: Christ at the coffee shop
In the spring of 2015, Pastor Kassa Lemma of Rehoboth Evangelical Church in Toronto invited Mennonite Church Canada Executive Director Willard Metzger to speak at an Ethiopian evangelistic conference. Metzger admits that his first response was hesitant. “We don’t do that anymore as Mennonites.” But he says the more he thought about it, the more…
Ethiopian Church grows in maturity
As Fanosie Legesse and Steve Brnjas were driving through a small village in rural Ethiopia, their car slowed to pass through a narrow street when suddenly a boy darted into the car’s path, and was hit. His body flew and landed a few feet away. The driver stopped, though hesitantly, sensing there might be trouble.…