Growing a Seminary in Ethiopia

At the invitation of the Meserete Kristos Church, the author and his companion leave comfortablepositions in Nairobi, Kenya, to assist in establishing a 'Christian liberal arts college' in Ethiopia.They find a nation in abject poverty, slowly recovering from seventeen years of war and Marxistrevolutionary misrule.They find a nascent church, growing at 17% per annum among a deeply depressed and disillusionedpopulation. Stripped of all her institutions and physical assets by the former Dergue regime, theliberated church was starting over. Opening a small Bible institute in 1994, the church envisioned itbecoming a tertiary-level college.This autobiographical memoir is a missionary story of expatriate participants attempting to relate to anestablished church in a culture vastly different than their own. They find that assisting local leadership toachieve their goals can be challenging, especially when visions change, and disagreements arise.It is a human story of cultural clashes, personality conflicts, misunderstandings, changing visions,adapting to changing external developments over a thirty-year period. It is a Christian story of 'goingthe second mile,' of repentance, of forgiveness, of reconciliation. It is a faith story, of relying uponGod, of God’s timing, of God’s faithfulness in protection and provision.This is a success story; the small Bible institute becomes a seminary with thousands of graduatesleading and blessing a vibrant growing church that is blessing the nation.The events of this story took place in the environs of Addis Ababa and Bishoftu, Ethiopia, over athirty-year period, between 1994 and 2023.