[FONT="]Name: Tadesse Lemma[/FONT]
[FONT="]Date of birth 1940 E.C.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Church: Mulu Wongel church Debrezeit and Addis Ababa [/FONT]
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[FONT="]Tadesse Lemma is one of the prominent figures in the Pentecostal movement that shook the small town of Debrezeit. Tadesse was born in 1940 in a small rural town called Shirka in Oromia region Arsi district. He belongs to the ruling Amhara group in the area. His father is a nominal Orthodox who was feared by many of the local people. We can therefore say Tadesse was originally Orthodox Christian as he would say for many publicly. His father was the land lord who owns most of the lands in that place. Tadesse was provided with plenty of chances to attend school. He enjoyed his youth freely with his friends. He was rebellious and difficult for the most of his youth age. After completing grade 12, he joined the Ethiopian Air force which was located at Debrezeit. After taking training, he became more overt in his expression and starts to involve in different sports. The air force has different sport competitions in which Tadesse enjoys himself. He involved is sports such as Body building; Discus throwing, Weight lifting and Boxing. He was successful in his sport activity and even at one time he was able to receive a medal from Emperor Haile-Silase for a record Discus throwing in the country. He was physically given for such kinds of activity and he was feared by many of his Air Force colleagues. Tadesse later was married to a woman called Sindu Negash and was blessed with four children. But Sindu after giving all these children died and he was left alone with his four children.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Many of Christians would not witness him about Christ because of his aggressive response he could show in case of any attempt. But he has a neighbor whom he knew was a drunkard. One early morning this drunkard came to his house and knocks at his door. He opened his door and asked the man what he wants. The drunkard answered him that there are beautiful women in the Mekane Eyesus church (Entoto congregation) and asked him to go with him (Tadesse at this time was living in Addis Ababa). Tadesse did not hesitate to accept the offer even though the man is drunkard and seemed to have no value for him. On that Sunday, Tadesse went with the man but the church was not opened yet and there was nobody around. But the man insisted that the beautiful girls would come soon and begged him to wait patiently. Later on, the believers came and the worship started but he was very annoyed because he could not see beautiful girls. But the drunkard told him that the beautiful girls are among the choir. When it was the time for the choir to take the stage, there were actually beautiful girls singing. The man showed Tadesse to choose from the girls. Tadesse was ready to go and ask immediately because that is the reason why he is there. He was one of the Dergue officials and he was armed even at that time. But people told him to sit down and keep quiet. He was angry at the people around him but he did what they told him. He could not talk to one of the girls after the worship. However, from that day on, Tadesse start to visit different churches and different prayer meetings for the sake of attracting one woman whom he targeted to marry. He became a Christian in the process and one day in a dream he saw that the girl he wants to marry was in a trouble. He directly went to Rev. Belina Sarka who was the leader of Entoto Mekane Eyesus at that time and told him that he wants to marry one girl from that congregation. Rev. Belina had in mind someone for him. They wrote down the name of the woman whom they think is the right one separately. The name came to be the same, Aynalem Kebede. She became Tadesse’s wife. This is how Tadesse came to Christ and start a new life in Christ. He could not tell the exact day of his conversion but these things happened in 1975 E.C. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse became a member of the Church of God in Debrezeit (Be Debrezeit yalech Ye Egziabher Bete Christian). This church was unique in its naming. The church believes to be the only one in whatever place it is planted. Members were strict in the way they act, the way they dress and the way they express themselves. There was great revival in Debreziet and Tadesse became one of the leading ministers in that church. He was in the air force but he managed to have time to minister the church and people of God. The blind see, the deaf hear, people were delivered from evil spirit; many people were healed from many chronic diseases like HIV and AIDS. Tadesse later learnt the separatist motive of his church from other evangelicals. There were different oppositions from the people about the different discipline measures taken by the church and its naming. Tadesse one day stood at the pulpit and told the whole congregation to join other Evangelical churches because the church as he believed was not on the right path. Though many elders opposed him members joined Mulu Wongel including himself and others joined different evangelical churches. Tadesse did not suffer persecution from the Socialist regime as it was the case for many Protestants in his day because he was a Master technician in the Air Force or some other reason which we may not guess exactly.[/FONT]
[FONT="]His ministry breakthrough happened after the fall of the Dergue in 1991. He was taken captive by the EPRDF force to a place called Dedessa (a remote prison in Western part of Ethiopia) with many military commanders and soldiers of the Dergue. Tadesse saw what he can do and start witnessing for the soldiers. The fruit was tremendous. Many soldiers gave their life to Christ in the prison. He requested a place of worship in the prison; he was provided a big place and started his Church in the prison. Total number of believers reached 2800 in the prison. They only stayed for five months in the prison but the ministry was unique. All received the gift of tongue and different gifts of the Holy Spirit were exercised in the prison. They spend their time in fasting and praying which revived the prison. Many of former prisoners are now ministering in different parts of the world and many are leading ministers in the country.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse has also planted many churches in different parts of the country after his release from prison. He planted churches in Bale, Assella, Afar and Addis Ababa. He named the churches after his first church, Ye Egziabher Bete Christian (church of God). But latter he changed their names and made them to join Mulu Wongel and Mesrete Kristos churches. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse also has three spiritual children who came to Christ while he was ministering in Debrezeit. These were Lorenso Pagano, Nino Pagano and his wife Tezeru Lemma. The two Italian brothers lived in Ethiopia and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit including Tezeru Lemma, Nino’s wife. They started a church in the city of Milan, Italy after they left Ethiopia. Tadesse was invited there and ministered in Italy, Holland, France, and Belgium. He ministered Europeans and Ethiopian Diasporas. He was invited by another big denomination of an Italian church to be permanent pastor there but he declined and returned to his country. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse has nine children; four female and five male from his marriages. They are Temesgen Tadesse, Yonas Tadesse, Ammanuel Tadesse, Tsega Tadesse, Hilina Tadesse, Hiwote Tadesse, Kalkidan Tadesse, Zelalem Tadesse and Selame Tadesse. Some are abroad and some are living with him. Tadesse is now a Pastor at Mexico Mulu Wongel Believers’ church. [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Written By[/FONT][FONT="]: Yoseph Fentaw, MABTS Student at the Ethiopian Graduate School of theology[/FONT]
[FONT="]Source: [/FONT]
[FONT="]Author’s interview with Pastor Tadesse on 16/02/2011 [/FONT]
[FONT="]Phone interview with Aynalem Kebede, wife of Pastor Tadesse.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Phone interview with Pastor Bereket Assefahu (a former prisoner at Dedessa military prison who came to Christ in the ministry of Pastor Tadesse.)[/FONT]
[FONT="]Notes:[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT]
[FONT="]Dergue is the former socialist ruling government of Ethiopia.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Date of birth 1940 E.C.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Church: Mulu Wongel church Debrezeit and Addis Ababa [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse Lemma is one of the prominent figures in the Pentecostal movement that shook the small town of Debrezeit. Tadesse was born in 1940 in a small rural town called Shirka in Oromia region Arsi district. He belongs to the ruling Amhara group in the area. His father is a nominal Orthodox who was feared by many of the local people. We can therefore say Tadesse was originally Orthodox Christian as he would say for many publicly. His father was the land lord who owns most of the lands in that place. Tadesse was provided with plenty of chances to attend school. He enjoyed his youth freely with his friends. He was rebellious and difficult for the most of his youth age. After completing grade 12, he joined the Ethiopian Air force which was located at Debrezeit. After taking training, he became more overt in his expression and starts to involve in different sports. The air force has different sport competitions in which Tadesse enjoys himself. He involved is sports such as Body building; Discus throwing, Weight lifting and Boxing. He was successful in his sport activity and even at one time he was able to receive a medal from Emperor Haile-Silase for a record Discus throwing in the country. He was physically given for such kinds of activity and he was feared by many of his Air Force colleagues. Tadesse later was married to a woman called Sindu Negash and was blessed with four children. But Sindu after giving all these children died and he was left alone with his four children.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Many of Christians would not witness him about Christ because of his aggressive response he could show in case of any attempt. But he has a neighbor whom he knew was a drunkard. One early morning this drunkard came to his house and knocks at his door. He opened his door and asked the man what he wants. The drunkard answered him that there are beautiful women in the Mekane Eyesus church (Entoto congregation) and asked him to go with him (Tadesse at this time was living in Addis Ababa). Tadesse did not hesitate to accept the offer even though the man is drunkard and seemed to have no value for him. On that Sunday, Tadesse went with the man but the church was not opened yet and there was nobody around. But the man insisted that the beautiful girls would come soon and begged him to wait patiently. Later on, the believers came and the worship started but he was very annoyed because he could not see beautiful girls. But the drunkard told him that the beautiful girls are among the choir. When it was the time for the choir to take the stage, there were actually beautiful girls singing. The man showed Tadesse to choose from the girls. Tadesse was ready to go and ask immediately because that is the reason why he is there. He was one of the Dergue officials and he was armed even at that time. But people told him to sit down and keep quiet. He was angry at the people around him but he did what they told him. He could not talk to one of the girls after the worship. However, from that day on, Tadesse start to visit different churches and different prayer meetings for the sake of attracting one woman whom he targeted to marry. He became a Christian in the process and one day in a dream he saw that the girl he wants to marry was in a trouble. He directly went to Rev. Belina Sarka who was the leader of Entoto Mekane Eyesus at that time and told him that he wants to marry one girl from that congregation. Rev. Belina had in mind someone for him. They wrote down the name of the woman whom they think is the right one separately. The name came to be the same, Aynalem Kebede. She became Tadesse’s wife. This is how Tadesse came to Christ and start a new life in Christ. He could not tell the exact day of his conversion but these things happened in 1975 E.C. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse became a member of the Church of God in Debrezeit (Be Debrezeit yalech Ye Egziabher Bete Christian). This church was unique in its naming. The church believes to be the only one in whatever place it is planted. Members were strict in the way they act, the way they dress and the way they express themselves. There was great revival in Debreziet and Tadesse became one of the leading ministers in that church. He was in the air force but he managed to have time to minister the church and people of God. The blind see, the deaf hear, people were delivered from evil spirit; many people were healed from many chronic diseases like HIV and AIDS. Tadesse later learnt the separatist motive of his church from other evangelicals. There were different oppositions from the people about the different discipline measures taken by the church and its naming. Tadesse one day stood at the pulpit and told the whole congregation to join other Evangelical churches because the church as he believed was not on the right path. Though many elders opposed him members joined Mulu Wongel including himself and others joined different evangelical churches. Tadesse did not suffer persecution from the Socialist regime as it was the case for many Protestants in his day because he was a Master technician in the Air Force or some other reason which we may not guess exactly.[/FONT]
[FONT="]His ministry breakthrough happened after the fall of the Dergue in 1991. He was taken captive by the EPRDF force to a place called Dedessa (a remote prison in Western part of Ethiopia) with many military commanders and soldiers of the Dergue. Tadesse saw what he can do and start witnessing for the soldiers. The fruit was tremendous. Many soldiers gave their life to Christ in the prison. He requested a place of worship in the prison; he was provided a big place and started his Church in the prison. Total number of believers reached 2800 in the prison. They only stayed for five months in the prison but the ministry was unique. All received the gift of tongue and different gifts of the Holy Spirit were exercised in the prison. They spend their time in fasting and praying which revived the prison. Many of former prisoners are now ministering in different parts of the world and many are leading ministers in the country.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse has also planted many churches in different parts of the country after his release from prison. He planted churches in Bale, Assella, Afar and Addis Ababa. He named the churches after his first church, Ye Egziabher Bete Christian (church of God). But latter he changed their names and made them to join Mulu Wongel and Mesrete Kristos churches. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse also has three spiritual children who came to Christ while he was ministering in Debrezeit. These were Lorenso Pagano, Nino Pagano and his wife Tezeru Lemma. The two Italian brothers lived in Ethiopia and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit including Tezeru Lemma, Nino’s wife. They started a church in the city of Milan, Italy after they left Ethiopia. Tadesse was invited there and ministered in Italy, Holland, France, and Belgium. He ministered Europeans and Ethiopian Diasporas. He was invited by another big denomination of an Italian church to be permanent pastor there but he declined and returned to his country. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Tadesse has nine children; four female and five male from his marriages. They are Temesgen Tadesse, Yonas Tadesse, Ammanuel Tadesse, Tsega Tadesse, Hilina Tadesse, Hiwote Tadesse, Kalkidan Tadesse, Zelalem Tadesse and Selame Tadesse. Some are abroad and some are living with him. Tadesse is now a Pastor at Mexico Mulu Wongel Believers’ church. [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Written By[/FONT][FONT="]: Yoseph Fentaw, MABTS Student at the Ethiopian Graduate School of theology[/FONT]
[FONT="]Source: [/FONT]
[FONT="]Author’s interview with Pastor Tadesse on 16/02/2011 [/FONT]
[FONT="]Phone interview with Aynalem Kebede, wife of Pastor Tadesse.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Phone interview with Pastor Bereket Assefahu (a former prisoner at Dedessa military prison who came to Christ in the ministry of Pastor Tadesse.)[/FONT]
[FONT="]Notes:[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT]
[FONT="]Dergue is the former socialist ruling government of Ethiopia.[/FONT]
