In September of 2014 I was introduced to Rode Molla, who was an Ethiopian student at Western Theological Seminary (WTS). Rode had completed her M.A. in Children, Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. She had planned to go on for her PhD, but the program at Luther had been temporarily discontinued. After returning to Ethiopia to work in children’s ministry, Rode received a scholarship to get her M.A. in Theology from WTS. Last summer she returned to St. Paul, MN to complete her clinical studies for CPE. She is now heading to Denver, CO to work on her PhD at Iliff School of Theology.
In getting to know Rode and her husband Endrias Assen, I learned a great deal about her country and the plight of her people, particularly the vulnerable children. The children of Ethiopia are at risk due to early marriage, female genital mutilation, harmful traditional practices, orphaned, rape and mingi (abandonment of a child perceived as cursed). In working with the children through her church, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), Rode saw firsthand that many children were slipping through the system. The church ministers to the spiritual and educational needs and the NGOs work with many of the children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic and are geared toward social development. She saw a need for changes in the congregational structure and the education provided to the pastors. Rode explained that parental presence does not guarantee the safety or protection of children in Ethiopia. She asserts that some of the main causes of risks to children are poverty, patriarchal and sexist traditions, pietism and the instability of the economy and the political systems.
Rode’s vision is to eventually be able to teach in the Mekane Yesus Seminary and explain pastoral theology in the context of holistic care, grounded in practical theology, bringing together insights from scripture, tradition and the social sciences. Currently the seminary and most of the EECMY Bible schools are not designed to train pastors for public and holistic care. She draws on Bonnie Miller-McLemore’s pastoral theology in the “living human web” which refers to the social, economic, political and spiritual forces that shape communities, cultures, traditions, systems and structures. It is a broadened concept of pastoral care moving from the individual to the communal approach of a more public and liberating ministry, rather than merely the shepherding of individual persons.
Rode did a presentation at Hope Church shortly before leaving for St. Paul and explained her vision to the congregational members that were present. She also met with members of the Reconciliation Ministry and Health Ministry who were moved by her vision and message. Each step of her journey has been a leap of faith and not without its difficulties. She has asked that Hope Church continue to support her in prayer as she moves forward towards being able to return to her people to help lead them to a new understanding of scripture and ministry.
~Barb Knoops, Senior Elder