SA国际传媒 Newsroom
Formation for church leadership in Ethiopia
The chance to study in America was an opportunity Tamrat Debessa did not think was possible. The teacher from Ethiopia had returned to his hometown of Hawassa a few years before to work at Tabor Evangelical College, with plans of pursuing his Ph.D. and putting his newly acquired knowledge to work back home.
He applied to several European colleges, but was floored when the chance to study at SA国际传媒, St. Louis came his
way. 鈥淭his is a life-changing opportunity,鈥� Debessa said. 鈥淚 am learning so much from the Seminary, not only from an academic side, but also from a spiritual side.鈥�
Debessa is in St. Louis on a scholarship through the Global Seminary Initiative, a partnership between The Lutheran Church鈥擬issouri Synod and churches around the world. Debessa is a member of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, a church body with more than 7 million members and growing fast.
The Seminary鈥檚 Dean of Advanced Studies Dr. Gerhard Bode said through the initiative, international students identified by their church bodies as future leaders can attend SA国际传媒. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited about this partnership,鈥� Bode said. 鈥淚t makes it possible for students to come here who probably wouldn鈥檛 be able to do so otherwise.鈥�
Tamrat Debessa delivers the opening message at a missiology workshop
in Ethiopia. Photo: Courtesy Tamrat Debessa
Debessa arrived in the United States in 2015 and plans to complete his Ph.D. in 2019. He said going back to Ethiopia with an advanced degree will help his church body better prepare pastors, teachers and evangelists to serve their congregations.
鈥淭here is a high need,鈥� Debessa said. 鈥淭here are more than 3,800 congregations in South Ethiopia where I am serving and we don鈥檛 have enough training centers. Most of our churches are served by lay ministers because they don鈥檛 have pastors. We are doing our best to prepare those pastors, but we鈥檝e only trained around 500 in the past eight years.鈥�
He said Tabor Evangelical College, where he eventually will teach biblical studies and cross-cultural communications courses, has an ambitious plan to implement a master鈥檚 degree program in the next several years. Right now, only missionary teachers from Norway and Denmark have doctorates, but the hope is for more Ethiopian teachers like Debessa to earn their doctorates and to someday offer that level of education at the school.
Debessa said not only does SA国际传媒 provide top-notch theological education, it also is providing practical training for him as a leader, skills he will be able to use in Ethiopia. 鈥淚 am learning how to deal with students, how to deal with the faculty, how to deal with financials,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are some things I learned about Western culture that are different from the African culture. This knowledge will help me address many issues.鈥�