Mennonite Weekly Review

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — So many languages were spoken among participants at the World Missions Institute that worship in a common language was impossible.

At the Ethiopia World Missions Institute, Alemu Checole lectured on the history of Mennonite mission work in Africa. As a small boy, Alemu came to the Blind School run by EMM missionaries in Ethiopia, then went on to a lifetime of teaching and writing. — Photo provided by Richard Showalter

The 32 mission leaders from seven East African nations tackled the challenge by having worship in a different language each morning, learning one another’s songs, then clustering in language groups for prayer.

“A common faith in Christ and good fellowship helped to bridge the cultural gaps and forge new friendships,” said Anna Ralph, an Eastern Mennonite Missions worker and a planner of the Nov. 23-Dec. 5 institute.

This WMI, co-sponsored by EMM and the Meserete Kristos (Christ Is the Foundation) Church of Ethiopia, was the second such training to be held in Africa. The training culminated in three days of outreach led by four local MKC congregations.

As WMI ministry teams fanned out across Addis Ababa, 94 people made decisions to place their faith in Jesus Christ. Dozens more expressed interest but stopped short of commitment.

MKC, with its strong Anabaptist emphasis on discipleship, plans to link the new believers into local MKC churches, which will disciple them and follow up with the seekers.

“The WMI participants came back amazed at what God had accomplished in and through them during these three short days,” Ralph said. “They headed for home excited to apply what they had learned.”

The WMI instruction came primarily from church leaders and professors at the Meserete Kristos College, supplemented by several EMM-connected North Americans.

The curriculum included foundational teachings on the biblical basis for missions, the history of missions, faithful witness to Jesus in a pluralistic world, cross-cultural understandings, and strategies of mission undergirded by prayer and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Carl Hansen, an EMM worker who teaches at MK College and previously served as a missionary among the Maasai of Kenya, taught on cross-cultural ministry.