Ethiopia has a long-established church. It is estimated that 18% of Ethiopia’s 129.4 million people are evangelicals (about 23.3 million).
But, reportedly over 90% of Ethiopia’s evangelical pastors lack formal training – though there is a growing number of seminary-trained pastors (including Langham Scholars).
Significantly, there hasn’t been a credible, indigenous Christian publishing house, so gifted authors have written in English to be published externally. The result? A dearth of quality resources, contributing to theologically weak churches and vulnerability to cults and prosperity gospel preaching.
That was until Langham’s Colin Macpherson met a man called Tekalign Duguma, from Ethiopia, in 2022. That’s when everything changed.
‘That’s my dream!’
When Tekalign applied for a Langham Writers’ Grant, Colin responded that he would need a publisher. Tekalign’s surprising reply was: “I want to be a publisher, that’s my dream”!
Colin arranged to meet Tekalign to discuss him starting a publishing house. After speaking to his peers from across denominations, Colin sensed that Tekalign was a man “that God is calling into publishing”. Tekalign, 45, has been on a remarkable faith journey.
Although coming from a Christian home, by his twenties Tekalign had rejected God, was drinking heavily, using drugs, and had no hope.
Tekalign left his home to live on the streets and ultimately destroy himself. A few days later, he had the rope in his pocket and was looking to hang himself, when an uncle recognised him.
He invited Tekalign to come with him to a prayer meeting. When they sat down, the preacher spoke about God’s loving second chances, and that he believed there was someone in the congregation who was planning to kill themselves but for whom God had better plans. That caught Tekalign’s attention.
He encountered God that night and submitted his life to Him. Over the next three weeks, he read every Christian book he could find, and applied to Bible college. He said he wanted to write Christian books and publish them. That was the beginning of 14 years of academic study through various certificates, diplomas, and degrees. As well as writing books, he is currently a lecturer at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, and an exegetical consultant for Wycliffe Bible Translators in Ethiopia.
Onesimus publishing house launched
With support and encouragement from Colin, alongside seed capital from Langham, the first seriousindigenous publishing house in Ethiopia, called ‘Onesimus’, has been launched. An event was held in October last year, with some 400 people from across denominations in attendance.
Three books were released at the same time. Tekalign said the reason he wanted to start a publishing house is because other publishers focus mainly on translated works rather than contextual books:
“Translated materials often fail to fully address the unique cultural, social, and spiritual realities of Ethiopian communities. By publishing works authored by local scholars and practitioners who deeply understand these contexts, we aim to provide more relevant and impactful resources for the local church and theological community.”
With your support, last year Langham was actively involved with 28 indigenous publishers, in 23 different countries, in the production of 61 local language titles. But ideally, Colin wants to work himself out of a job: “The Western aspect of [Onesimus Publishing House] is my friendship with Tekalign and the capital to get it going. Everything else is his. It’s his ministry.
Less dependence
“We want other people to take ownership. In every country I work in, that’s my goal. And the less I am needed, the better. The less dependent they are, the better.” Colin explained why contextual resources written in the local language are so vital: “We wouldn’t like it if we were told in our churches that we must have the latest Southern Baptist books from Memphis!
“How would you like it if you had to preach everybody else’s sermons and never one of your own?
“One of the reasons I believe wholeheartedly in indigenous publishing is that they have the chance to pick the materials that they need. They are so vulnerable to all sorts of outside interests, particularly those that come with money. And I try to buy them a little bit of editorial freedom to do what they want to do because with money comes control.
“And if publishers simply edit books that others want them to publish, you’re not a publisher anymore. You’re not a prophetic voice. You’re just a service provider to somebody else. You’ve lost your voice.”
Onesimus is laying a foundation for a generation of future Christians in Ethiopia. They have plans to publish a staggering 90 books in the coming years.