Ethiopian Evangelical Church sees strong leadership and growth

Chalachew Eshatu came from the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia, a remnant of the Coptic tradition. This December, he was ordained an MB pastor in Calgary, and his church has been growing by leaps and bounds.

At 14, Chalachew had grown up in a liturgical denomination using the Geeze language, an ancient tongue few now understand. He asked why it was in use when people don’t understand. “I was told by the priest to be silent,” he said.

Then came a British missionary group called The Father’s Face, and Chalachew received a Bible. He came to know Jesus, and realized he needed a personal relationship with Christ. “The English people told us, ‘If the Bible says so, do that. If it doesn’t, ignore it.’ ” He received Christ and read through the Bible five times in five years.

Chalachew Eshatu with his wife Sarah at his ordination.

He felt God wanted him to stay in the Orthodox church so he organized choirs, Sunday schools for children, and other activities. “Many came to know Christ,” he says. He knew his activities were “under the radar” because his church paid no attention to children.

At age 21, he was harshly expelled. “They beat me on the street,” he says. “Then they stoned me and threw me under a bridge.” He was hospitalized, and needed stitches in seven places. “The Lord rescued me,” he says.

Chalachew attended an American-run Bible college in Addis Ababa. It was while he was there that Chalachew met Sarah Hussein, his future wife. She ultimately sponsored him to Canada, settling in Ontario.

He was invited to serve in Calgary’s Ethiopian church for one month in 2005, when most of the members had left and abandoned the MB conference. Only 16 believers remained. Since his start as pastor in May 2006, there are now 85 members and many more who attend Sunday services. “That growth gives me encouragement,” he says. “Earlier, I was afraid.”

With evangelical zeal, he calls church members to evangelize every Saturday. “Everybody participates,” he says. “We give them training, teaching, and prayer. Evangelism is the only unfinished business on earth. Each week I tell them, ‘Why are you on earth? It is not for pleasures, because the greatest pleasures are in heaven.’ Our job on earth is to tell people about Jesus.”

There are about 5–6,000 Ethiopians in Calgary. They will shop at supermarkets and gather in cafes to drink coffee together – where they encounter the members of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church. “We sit down to join them, and then we change the subject,” jokes Chalachew.

Alberta MB conference minister Merv Boschman says the May 2007 provincial convention welcomed the church back into affiliation, and it was a beautiful time. At Chalachew’s ordination in December, “people came from such diversity and worked with each other in such incredible ways.”