Eight dead after flash flood at Ethiopian seminary

ETHIOPIA - Eight people, including three children, are dead following flash flooding at Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa on August 17, 2021.

Flooding at Mekane Yesus Seminary.

“We request your prayers in this tragic moment,” the seminary writes. “It is with heavy hearts to lose eight and say goodbye.”

In addition to the tragic loss of life, there is extensive damage to seminary property, including residences. The seminary reports damage to 21 buildings, to roads, and to other infrastructure. Multiple families and students have been displaced, and the seminary was forced to suspend classes in the aftermath. Mekane Yesus Seminary is a theological institute of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), the world’s largest Lutheran church body.

In a letter to leaders of the EECMY and the seminary, General Secretary Timothy Quill of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) expressed condolences and assured the Ethiopian church that Lutherans around the globe are naming them in prayer. “Our shared grief over the loss of life and property is deep,” he wrote. “However, for those who died in the flood, the Apostle Paul reminds us that we do not grieve as others

who have no hope. Our hope is in Jesus who died and rose again, and at His coming He will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).”

“Our prayer is that you will find encouragement and strength to meet the challenging days ahead, knowing that it is our Lord’s Church and that He loves His Bride and her seminary,” Dr. Quill continued. “He promised to be with you always to the end of the age. It is our ascended Lord who gives the gifts of pastors for works of service to His Church (Ephesians 4:7-12). The Lord has given the EECMY the gift of a marvelous seminary in which faithful pastors will continue to be trained to preach the Gospel to the lost and give evangelical pastoral care to His faithful baptized children.”

ILC News