The leaders of East African Mennonite churches held a summit April 2-5 at Meserete Kristos Seminary, Bishoftu, Ethiopia. The gathering was hosted by Meserete Kristos Church. The theme of the conference was the sharing of experiences among East African Mennonite churches.

Among the participants in Bishoftu were two leaders of the Kenya Mennonite Church (KMC): Bishop Samson Omondi, who is the moderator of KMC, and Deaconess Christina Adhiambo, who is the treasurer for KMC. From Tanzania, also present were two leaders of  Kanisa la Mennonite Tanzania (KMT): Bishop Nelson Kisare, who is the presiding bishop of KMT, and Pastor Emmanuel Hagai, who is the secretary general of KMT.

From Ethiopia, two leaders of Meserete Kristos Church (MKC) attended: Pastor Desalegn Abebe, who is the president of MKC, and Pastor Kelbesa Muleta, who is the vice president of MKC. From Uganda, two leaders of Uganda Mennonite Church (UMC) were also present: Pastor Asaba Godfrey, who is the chairman of UMC, and Bishop Simon Okoth, who is one of the bishops in UMC. The East African representative of the Mennonite World Conference, Deacon Jumanne Magiri, also participated in this summit.

This summit was a follow-up to an earlier meeting in the town of Migori, Kenya, in August 2023, when Desalegn Abebe was one of the invited guests by the Kenya Mennonite Church (KMC) for its national convention. During the five-day gathering in Migori, the leaders had brainstormed some ideas together, and Abebe invited all of them to come to Ethiopia to continue the discussion.

The leaders’ discussion in Bishoftu focused on how to share the gospel truth to the rest of the world through collaboration in the changing world and in the African context. The leaders also discussed Agenda 28:19, which has become the language of the missional work of Meserete Kristos churches.

A few months back, MKC drew a guide map called Agenda 28:19, derived from Matthew 28:19, focusing on fulfilling the Great Commission in today’s generation. In order to implement Agenda 28:19, MKC designed a five-year strategic plan with goals.

According to Agenda 28:19, each individual MKC believer is expected to be involved both individually and communally in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The leaders of East African Mennonite churches discussed ways to improve Agenda 28:19 and have reached an agreement on how to implement it according to their local contexts and realities.

Desalegn Abebe encouraged the leaders to send their young future church leaders to Meserete Kristos Seminary for further theological studies, emphasizing the young peoples’ readiness to fulfill the responsibilities of the church.

The more detailed aspects of the discussions held by these leaders and the agreements made to move forward were included in their memorandum of understanding, signed by leaders from each national church, including the East African representative of Mennonite World Conference. They agreed to meet for prayer and to share experiences each year on a quarterly basis. The memorandum emphasizes the need for contextual ways of doing theology that work for East Africa. This could also contribute to and strengthen global Anabaptist theology.

The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for the last week of June 2024, and the gathering will be hosted by the Tanzania Mennonite Church. They emphasized that this kind of gathering would naturally strengthen their fellowship in the East African context. They also agreed to collaborate on identifying mission areas where the team could reach out and engage in mission work together. Additionally, at each gathering, more youth leaders, including women, will be invited to attend and brainstorm ideas.

In the long run, there is a desire to form an East African Mennonite Conference as a way of bringing East African values to the global Mennonite Church family as a gift. This includes sharing and maintaining those values and norms.

The leaders concluded their meetings by encouraging each other, praying together and holding their respective country flags as representatives.