The Meserete Kristos Church, the Anabaptist denomination in Ethiopia, has experienced remarkable growth, and a leader shared about this success Feb. 9 with Mennonite Mission Network staff.

Abayneh Anjulo Wanore, MKC director of missions, evangelism and church planting, described Ethiopia as an island of Christianity surrounded by seven Muslim nations. With more than 123 million people, it is the second-most populated nation in Africa.

Christians make up about 63% of the population, with about 44% belonging to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. But Wanore said only about 26 million Ethiopians practice their Christian faith, making Ethiopia a mission field.

Since 1951, when MKC baptized its first 10 members, the church has grown to about 800,000 congregants, making it the world’s largest Mennonite denomination. Last year, 23,426 new believers were baptized.

Wanore outlined factors that contribute to MKC’s flourishing:

— “We believe in prayers, not just teaching. We have prayer and fasting services every week. The mission department has volunteers committed to prayer. When we pray, God does miracles.”

— “We depend on the Holy Spirit.”

— “We mobilize churches to do mission, not just the mission workers but every believer, through their words and deeds and through their finances.”

— “We believe in team leadership.”

— “We encourage each member to follow the Great Commission” (Matthew 28:19).

— “We have church unity, God-given unity. Our 51 regional offices, representing 15 to 50 congregations each, follow a chain of command that comes from our national headquarters.”

MKC’s five-year plan is named “Agenda 2819,” inspired by Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This plan includes directives that all churches are expected to follow:

— Each congregation will plant a new congregation. If the locality is saturated, it will send missionaries to unchurched areas.

— Each local church will grow by 10%.

— Cross-border missionaries will be sent into neighboring countries and as far away as the United States.

“There are MKC churches in the USA,” Wanore said. “We are planning to start MKC churches throughout the world.”

Wanore concluded his presentation with a call to global church unity: “To fulfill the Great Commission, we need your prayers, your passion, your partnership for this eternal purpose.”

Employees in Elkhart, Ind., heard Wanore speak in person, and those in Newton, Kan., and other locations participated online.