MISSION MINUTES
Tewolde Gebremeskel and Hanna Woldeyes
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tewolde Gebremeskel and Hanna Woldeyes
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
For generations, men and women who were willing to leave behind their homes and go to distant lands among peoples of foreign languages have played a major role in advancing the cause of God Almighty. In East Africa, brothers and sisters with that same heart of missionary zeal and revolutionary faith are helping to lead churches and to serve God in the various countries of this geographic region.
In a series of interviews with those guiding the congregations in East Africa, we will have a chance to get a closer look at who they are and what they are learning. Even if we may not be in the same missionary position that they are, as disciples of Jesus who seek to live out his mission, prayerfully we all will be inspired and called higher in our walk with God. Let us also continue praying for our brothers and sisters throughout East Africa, and for the continued advancing of the kingdom in this region.
This week we spend time with Tewolde Gebremeskel and Hanna Woldeyes (photo), who lead the church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Tewolde Gebremeskel was baptized in Nairobi, where he was a refugee, in January 1992 and returned to Ethiopia on the mission team to the capital city, Addis Ababa, in August of the same year. Hanna Woldeyes was baptized in Addis Ababa in 1999, at which point she was a secretary at an advertising agency in Addis.
Q. Prior to coming into the full-time ministry, was it your dream to do so?
Hannna Woldeyes: Initially no, but then I was sent to Nairobi for one year of ministry training and from then on I really desired to be in the full-time ministry.
Q. How did you become a Christian?
Tewolde Gebremeskel: I became a disciple in Nairobi. I was brought to church by Mekdes, and Addis and Alcides studied with me. It was not easy to change because though I had not been very religious, I was brought up with Orthodox traditions. Also I had become very politically minded due to the situation in Ethiopia at the time, which was what forced me to flee my country in the first place.
(At the time, a resistance movement, led principally by former university students from the Tigre region, from which Tewolde hails, was engaged in armed conflict against the military government in Ethiopia. Students at the Addis Ababa University, where Tewolde was studying, who were from Tigre, were being persecuted and executed. This is what prompted Tewolde to escape to Kenya).
But with the help of God and friends I made it and I was baptized on January 1st, 1992.
HW: I was invited to church by Simret Abera. She used to try to be my friend and she introduced me to disciples. Many of them would call me and invite me to church and so I decided to visit the church. Simret Bekele (Tewolde's late wife) and Caroline Mukenya (she and her husband, Steve, were leading the Addis church at the time) studied the Bible with me. It was really difficult for me, to give up what I have and to trust God. I was insecure about confessing my sin, even though that is necessary to become a disciple. It took me almost one month to study the Bible, but finally God helped me to make it and to overcome.
Q. What for you is the most challenging aspect of leading the Addis Ababa church?
TG: Working a full-time secular job while leading. I work in an advertising company in Addis Ababa and so I am in the office throughout the day. There are obvious time constraints but this is the least I can do for God. (Tewolde is now in the full-time ministry)
HW: Loving people even when they are critical.
Q. What do you feel has been the greatest personal victory for you while leading the church, and what do you feel has been the greatest victory for the church?
TG: Maintaining the faith of the disciples.
HW: I feel that having (the late) Dan Kuria was a great victory both for me and for the whole church here. His walk with God and with people was very inspiring. Dan was very warm and loving. He was constantly serving others, and created a great family spirit in the church.
Q. What or who has inspired you most in your Christianity and in your work leading the church?
TG: God. When I was studying the Bible I was inspired by the Scriptures. As I saw Scriptures and then saw people living them out I was inspired. The example of Alcides and Leslie de Morais and their marriage was great. I was also inspired by Addis Keleta.
Since then, it is simply the truth that keeps me going. I have learned that people will fail me - disciples are not perfect - but that through it all I need only to stay close to God. So many people around me today are an inspiration, like Steve and Carol Mukenya and Herve Fleurant, but the outstanding thing is God.
HW: Dan Kuria was and still is a great inspiration to me and to many of the Christians in the Addis Ababa church.
Tell us about the disciples in Dire Dawa (a city 500 kilometres from Addis Ababa). There are two brothers and five sisters and the seed group began two years ago.
How did it begin?
By Mulugeta Tadesse's being restored while working there.
Who leads that group?
Mulugeta. After he got restored, he started a Bible talk in Dire Dawa and it is from there that the others have become disciples.
Mulugeta, like Tewolde, was baptized in Nairobi and was one of the members of the original team that planted the church in Addis Ababa. He was fruitful in the early days of the church planting but unfortunately fell away soon after that. While working in Dire Dawa where he practices law, Mulugeta, an advocate, returned to the Addis Ababa church, which he'd visit while in Addis for work purposes, and it was exciting and emotional when in March 2001 he was restored to the Lord. Mulugeta has gone on to lead many to Christ in Dire Dawa.
Q. How do you manage to disciple them from Addis Ababa?
HW: We go out to visit them as often as we can we have our discipling times over the phone every week.
TG: Apart from that, I get with Mulugeta when he comes to Addis Ababa, which is not infrequent. Since the major law courts are in Addis, Mulugeta has to come over for work purposes rather regularly.
Q. What is your vision for the future of the church in Ethiopia?
TG: As God showed Abraham the uncountable number of stars and promised him his descendants will be as numerous as the stars, I would love to see the spiritual descendants of Abraham being as numerous as the stars. That is what I'd love to see. Which also means having disciples all over the country - in each region, town and village. I dream of the gospel being preached in all the tribal languages of Ethiopia.
HW: To be many disciples in Addis Ababa and in the whole country and to be known by everybody by our deeds.
Let us continue praying for the disciples in Ethiopia.
For a general background of the Addis Ababa church, click here.
For other interviews in the "Mission Minutes" series, click here.
For a testimonial about Tewolde, click here.