Physical
Ethiopia is located in Eastern Africa west of Somalia. It spans an area roughly twice the size of Texas. Ethiopia's climate is one of great variation depending upon changes in elevation and landscape, but heavy rainfall and humidity can generally be found in southern regions with a substantial decrease in both as you travel farther north. The terrain consists of a high plateau with a central mountain range divided by the Great Rift Valley. Natural resources include small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash and natural gas. Deforestation, overgrazing, and soil erosion are Ethiopia's primary environmental concerns.

People
Nearly 59 million people reside in Ethiopia. Amharic was previously used as an official language while many Ethiopians also speak Tigrinya, Orominga, Guaraginga, English, Arabic, and Somali. Ethiopians exhibit a diverse ethnic makeup including Oromo (40%), Amhara and Tigrean (32%), and Somali (6%). The religious beliefs and practices of citizens there can be categorized into four main branches: Muslim (45-50%), Ethiopian Orthodox (35-40%), animist (12%), and other (3-8%).

Government
The country is officially known as the Republic of Ethiopia with its capital city, Addis Ababa, located southeast of the Nile River. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and only recently defeated the authoritarian Mengistu regime on May 28, 1991. The new government then adopted a new constitution in December of 1994. Ethiopia is a federal republic with the president elected by the Council of Peoples Republic for a six-year term. The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is the country's primary political party with a number of political pressure groups surfacing such as the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the All Amhara People's Organization. These political organizations are spread throughout nine ethnically-based administrative regions.

Economy
Ethiopia remains relatively underdeveloped among third world countries. Its inhabitants constantly suffer from poor road conditions, impure water outlets, and an infrastructure harshly neglected during years of civil strife. Its economy revolves around agriculture which accounts for more than half of the GDP, 90% of exports, and 80% of all employment. Coffee generates nearly 60% of export earnings. More than 90% of large-scale industry is state run, but the government is currently considering selling a portion of its state-owned plants to coincide with the gradual liberalization of the economy.

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus was established in 1959 with the merger of Lutheran and other groups established by the missions mentioned above. The EECMY began with 20,000 members. In 1991 it had over a million members and in 1997 it had almost 2.3 million members. This phenomenal growth is both miraculous and challenging, as the church struggles to provide effective ministry with very limited resources. The country is one of the poorest in the world, and its people have as many as eighty different languages.

With assistance from the ELCA, the Lutheran World Federation, and European churches and mission organizations, the EECMY struggles to meet the many needs of its country=s people. They feed the hungry and provide health care services, child and youth programs, special schools for the physically challenged, HIV/AIDS control and prevention programs, educational activities, water development programs, and rehabilitative rural development programs.

The needs continue to be overwhelming on all fronts. For example, it is expected that 600,000 children will be orphaned in the next five years due to the death of their parents by the AIDS epidemic. The EECMY has a very deliberate twofold witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in word and deed, and the social needs of people are not forgotten in the midst of evangelizing and building hundreds of new church buildings.

The EECMY has experienced a 15% per year growth rate for many years. In order to provide pastoral care and instruction, the EECMY trains as many pastors and other church leaders as possible. Its primary site for theological education is the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa. Dr. Debella Birri, the principal of the seminary, received his advanced degree through an ELCA-DGM international scholarship. The seminary has an enrollment of 150 students, including about twenty women. The seminary does not have adequate teaching staff for its many programs, and needs new staff from overseas.

In view of the rapid growth of the church, diploma programs in theology and a variety of short courses are being developed in the synods. Thus the Mekane Yesus Seminary will not only be a training school for pastors, but will prepare teachers for Bible Schools and training centers in the synods. In order to adequately prepare these professors and teachers, graduate theological education is being developed at the seminary.