History of WS

Background- the town of Boojjii(WS) One thinks of Jerusalem as a Holy City in the world. The city carries a big name as it bears the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, as a place of humiliation and ultimate glory. It is the Holy City of the global Christian community and one that unifies all believers around the globe. Jerusalem and Boojjii, what connects them? Boojjii is a rural town, a poverty stricken, forgotten and impoverished town in Oromia region in Ethiopia. Unlike its features, it is the city of Evangelicals in Ethiopia, as it is the birth place of the Evangelical Christianity in Ethiopia. It is where the first fruit of Evangelical Biblical Christianity was planted. Among Evangelicals, Boojjii is the City of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church MekaneYesus. It is the birth place of the church, the same as Jerusalem where the 1st church was formed on Pentecost Sunday after the wave of the Holy Spirit rained upon the disciples. Boojjii is the emblem of unity and the foundation of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus as the 1st fruit and as the mother of all the seeds, the trees and the branches of the EECMY emerged from. The Seed The birthplace of modern Ethiopian Evangelical Christianity is Boji-Karkaro in western Ethiopia, where Swedish missionaries and indigenous leaders like Onesimos Nesib and Daniel Debela first introduced Protestant (Lutheran) faith in the late 1800s/early 1900s, leading to the formation of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) The seed of Evangelical Christianity in Ethiopia was 1st planted in Boojjii. It was from here that the seed dispersed to the different directions in Ethiopia bringing new souls and new harvest fields of evangelism making the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus as the biggest Evangelical Church in Ethiopia and a fast-growing evangelical movement in the world. This growth was the result of Daniel Debela, Gebreestatewos, Onesimos Nasib and Aster Ganno, who planted the seed under immense persecution, poverty and multifaceted challenges a century ago. If they are living today, they will be astounded by the tiny seed they planted and how it became a huge tree. Moreover, they will be astounded by thousands of those workers that bear witness to the gospel. Indeed, Boojjii is a Historical city, a Jerusalem and a Galilee from where workers came out defying fear, odds and challenges. It is indeed a place from were martyrs of the Gospel, the Late Rev. Gudina Tumsa emerged. Upon the martyrs’ blood, the growth of the church was witnessed and an institution, the Western Synod came out. Out of this, the Ethiopian Evangelical church Mekane Yesus was institutionalized as a church in 1959. The Western Synod and the Western Synod Support Group The western Synod out of which many synods and area works emerged is today situated in Boojjii town keeping its name and its legacy but financial constraints have incapacitated its operations. To alleviate the problem, descendants of Boojjii from the world came together and formed the Western Synod Support Group. The WSSG licensed in state of Illinois as non-profit organization and tax exempted by US IRS since 202. WSSG is currently raising money to help the Western Synod in its mission for Holistic Ministry. It has so far assisted the Church based Boojjii Clinic, and assisted the Synod empowering workers, woman’s and youth ministry. WSSG has also bought a bank share to alleviate the Synods problem from its root. It has also installed a Wi-Fi- internet services for the Synod, and 2 high schools and the community around are using for free. As a future plan, the Western Synod Support Group, is planning to continue to support Boojjii Clinic to give basic medical services to the community, to alleviate the financial problem of the synod through purchasing income-generating buildings, looking for donors through project helps and a home land sustainability project. It is also planning to start a bible school in Boojjii, a multi-trading center in a place where the seed of evangelism started a century ago. For this and other matters pertaining to offering holistic service, we are accepting any support from individuals, groups and organizations. We, the western synod support group give a robust report for any amount of donation or support we receive.