He had grown up with the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC), attending a Mennonite-run elementary school in his down-country hometown, Bedeno, and graduating with the first class from the Nazareth Bible Academy in 1963 – but he had spent the last 20 years outside formal MKC circles.

Kebede says, “[The invitation] was unexpected, but somehow it feels right. I know it might not always feel like a good fit to everyone, but I’m seeing how God has uniquely prepared me for this huge task.”

Before being tapped for this post Kebede taught math and science at the International Community School in Addis Ababa and attended the International Church.

As Kebede reflected on why the church called him to this challenging role, he added, “I am surprised to see how equipped I actually am.”

Kebede cut his “administrative eye teeth” first as academic dean and then later director of his alma mater in Nazareth from 1970-75. From there he was invited to serve at Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) headquarters in Salunga, Pa., as associate director for East Africa.

While living in the U.S., he earned a master’s degree in education at Temple University and taught at Locust Grove Mennonite School in Smoketown, Pa.

But Ethiopia called, and Kebede returned to again direct the Bible Academy from 1979-82, by which time the school had grown into a strong four-year high school with an enrollment of 300.

“Ethiopia has gone through great hardships – famine, war, economic disparity,” Kebede said, “Marxism grew in this context, and Ethiopia continues to be a battleground for the hearts and minds of youth. What you feed grows. At MK College we want to provide quality Christian liberal arts education that equips young people to be agents of transformation in Ethiopia and beyond.”

Kebede’s comments about Marxism were not merely academic observations. During the Marxist era of the 1980s, many churches were closed and their properties seized – including the campus of the Nazareth Bible Academy which Kebede headed until his own imprisonment in 1982.

After four years in prison, Kebede was eventually released and quietly took up math and science teaching at the International School. “I was tired and disoriented,” he said. “I needed time to heal and understand where I fit.”

While the church was outlawed and leaders imprisoned, it experienced unusual revival, reorganized into home groups, and grew rapidly.

Since coming “above ground” in 1991, Kebede said that the MKC and other evangelical churches have continued to grow rapidly. The MKC now has 144,000 baptized members, many of them young people who are eager for education.

“We must not become satisfied and complacent in the good things that have happened in the revival,” he said. “We need vision to impact the nation. Better administration and education can equip young people to grow in their faith and to understand the world more broadly.”

As president of the fledgling college, Kebede has the enormous task of continuing the development of the new campus in Debra Zeit. Classes began there in the newly-completed educational building February 6, and they are scrambling to complete kitchen and dining facilities for the 100 students. Two dorms and a guest house are urgently needed.

“I believe the college is reaching equilibrium,” Kebede said. “We want to grow slowly from the grassroots in a way that is largely self-sustaining through tuition paid by middle class families. We have a long way to go to become ‘The Anabaptist University of East Africa’ but that is our goal, and we welcome others to walk with us in this mission.”

Kebede and EMM worker Carl Hansen visited the U.S. in June to attend a global consultation on higher education in Fresno, California, and to continue their efforts in fund-raising.

Kebede is married to Janet Shertzer, a former EMM worker in Ethiopia, and they have two young adult children living in the U.S.

-Jewel Showalter

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