ethiopia partnership
About Our Partner
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY)
The Presbyterian Synods of Ethiopia
The EECMY was established as a national church in 1959 and now has over 10.5 million Presbyterian and Lutheran members, 3,000 pastors, and nine thousand congregations. The Bethel Evangelical Synods were founded by missionaries from the United Presbyterian Church in 1869. Dr. Thomas Lambie, a missionary doctor, came to Ethiopia from South Sudan when missionaries there were expelled. In 1974, the Bethel Synods became part of the EECMY.
The Impact
2.1 million Presbyterians are found in eight synods in Ethiopia. They do incredible Kingdom work which includes Bible distribution, Bible instruction, trauma healing, Christian schools, and more. Within these synods are six United Nations Refugee Camps composed of 352,000 South Sudanese refugees who fled the civil war in Sudan in 2013. The synods enable 178 churches to minister to the refugees.
The Outreach Foundation works with the following partners in Ethiopia:
Bethel Evangelical Synods
Bethel Synod Schools
Presbyterian missionaries established the Bethel Synod School for Girls in 1902. Today it educates 1,100 students in grades K-12 for $192/year per student. Housed in a 100-year-old building, the school relied on one well with a hand crank to supply water. Through generous gifts from donors, Outreach was able to fund the renovation of the well. This is one of many schools operated by the synod.
The OPPORTUNITY
The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts to support the mission and ministry of our partnership with the Presbyterian Church in Ethiopia. Your gifts help enable ministry to continue in this difficult region of the world. There is every imaginable need including food insecurity, low wages, lack of medical care, and general unrest. Likewise, there is a need for Bibles, Bible instruction, and trauma healing.