The Good Fruits of an International Partnership

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At its Eighth General Assembly in January 2009, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus elected the Rev. Dr. Wakseyoum Idosa as its new church president.
 

Wakseyoum Idosa. Photo by Jarkko Viljanen.

Prior to his election, Idosa had served his church in different leadership positions for nearly 20 years as a seminary teacher, president of the Central Synod and as general secretary.
 
As always, Idosa is modest when speaking about his achievements. "Whenever God calls you to a ministry in this church, you have to pick it up and serve."
 
What he does assert is that "good fruits" have come from his partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
 
Idosa received his doctorate in ministerial leadership from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago with the support of an ELCA International Leadership Development scholarship.
 
He is grateful for his church's partnership with the ELCA and for the support of its congregations and synods.
 
"Our hope and prayer is that we'll continue to be in God's mission together and strengthen our partnership in mission."
 
The Ethiopian Lutheran Church is currently the largest church in the Lutheran World Federation in Africa and second only to the Church of Sweden in global membership. Idosa gives full credit to the members, who work hard at evangelizing in their villages.
 
"Each person is committed to passing on the faith," he observes. "Young and old Christians, women and men, are ready to share with others so that they can experience the grace of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
 
"People are thirsty for the word of God and want to be instructed in the Bible."
 
Idosa remembers the people of the ELCA in his daily prayers. "May God bless us, all of us, as we labor in his kingdom until he comes again."