The following post is provided by Rev. Dr. Albert Collver III, LCMS Director for Church Relations, as found on the LCMS Witness, Mercy, Life Together Blog. The original is posted here.
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Ethiopia: MYS
(Left to Right: Dr Albert Collver, Deaconess Sandra Rhein, Emily German, Rev. Shauen Trump, Dr. Belay — meet at Mekane Yesus Seminary)
A group from the LCMS met with leaders at the Mekane Yesus Seminary (MYS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss how the EECMY and the LCMS can work together on theological education to train future pastors. The EECMY curre you has about 3,000 pastors, and has a goal of having one pastor per congregation or 10,000 pastors over the next five years. The LCMS has committed to providing assistance in curriculum development and to provide theological educators to teach courses. For the part year the LCMS have had theological educators at MYS to assist in their programs.
These books from CPH are some of the materials used by students in the graduate study lounge at MYS. Obtaining theological study materials is one of the greatest challenges in providing theological education in not only Ethiopia but through out Africa and Latin America. The challenge lay not only in the cost of the materials but also in shipping, transport, and storage. Although the rise of electronic books and Internet resources is common place in North America and Europe, electronic resources are generally impractical or entirely unusable in Africa and other parts of the world. (The hotel where we are staying only had Internet access for a few hours yesterday.) It is not uncommon for electricity to be shut off for parts of the day. Printed books are a necessity despite the rise of electronic resources. The question in many cases is which resources to provide and how to get the materials where they are needed — a challenge that the Chemnitz Library Initiative is trying to address.
A letter of greeting from Concordia Seminary, St Louis is presented to Dr. Belay at MYS. With now 7 regional seminaries and 40 Bible colleges in the EECMY, there is tremendous opportunity for theological education. The EECMY requested that representatives from both Concordia Seminary St Louis and Concordia Theological Seminary come to Ethiopia to discuss face to face how further collaboration could be made.
Construction on the dinning hall at Mekane Yesus Seminary continues and nears completion. Approximately, one year ago the LCMS became involved to assist in its completion.
In Ethiopia, every meeting takes place over coffee, where it was first created.
Deaconess Sandra Rhein, Beza Tefera, and Church Musician Emily German tour the MYS campus. Deaconess Sandra and Emily are visiting to explore the possibility of assisting in the development of worship materials particularly for the youth and for mission outreach. Part of the project will include the gathering of indigenous Ethiopian hymns and songs, as well as working with traditional Lutheran hymns that have been translated. Dr. Berhanu, EECMY General Secretary, stated that this project is one of the most needful items now for the EECMY.
Today we meet with other leaders of the EECMY. The next several days will be packed with activities.
– Posted on 19 July 2014 by Dr. Albert Collver
Location:Addis Ababa,Ethiopia