Scaling Church and Community Transformation in Ethiopia!
A new partnership with Wolaita Evangelical Seminary is paving the way for thousands of communities to be transformed.
In March 2025, members of our program team visited Wolaita Evangelical Seminary (WES) in Ethiopia to teach and lead a discussion with staff and students on the principles of Church and Community Transformation. Over 500 students currently attend WES and come from various denominational backgrounds, all united by a shared passion for seeing God’s Kingdom transform lives in their communities. The discussion was highly lively and encouraging. At the end of the session, one of the Seminary’s academic leaders, Workineh Abraham, shared, “To be honest, I am in love with CCT!”
This session marks an exciting milestone with the introduction of a new CCT course at the seminary, designed to equip students with both theological depth and practical skills to bring sustainable transformation. At its core, CCT is about restoring relationships—with God, one another, ourselves, and creation. It is about empowering churches to not only preach the Gospel but to live it out in transformative ways—meeting both the spiritual and physical needs of their communities.
This new course focuses on:
- Work Ethics in a Biblical Context – helping students understand that serving God includes both ministry and hard work, following the model of Jesus and Paul.
- Holistic Development – teaching students how to examine transformation at personal, community, and church levels (Luke 2:52).
- Stewardship of Creation – recognizing that caring for the environment is a biblical mandate (Genesis 2:15).
- Community Engagement – training students to mobilize local resources to meet the needs around them rather than relying on external aid.
- Becoming Change Agents – Empowering students to lead CCT initiatives in their churches and communities (Matthew 5:13-16).
The seminary is also working on a local CCT manual designed to help individual churches implement these teachings in practical ways. Imagine the impact when hundreds—perhaps thousands—of congregations have access to this resource, equipped to bring transformation in their unique contexts.
Looking ahead, there’s a strong desire to integrate CCT more deeply into district-level theological schools, ensuring that even more leaders are trained to bring transformation to their churches and communities. There is also a growing emphasis on Creation Care as an essential part of the CCT curriculum, reinforcing the biblical call to steward God’s creation well.
At the heart of this is a simple but powerful belief: CCT is as essential to the church as preaching, prayer, and Bible study. It is not an add-on or a side project—it is the essence of the Gospel at work in people’s lives. WES’s leadership is deeply committed to this vision, and we are excited to see where God will take this movement in the coming years.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Your support makes it possible for churches and communities to experience transformation—not just in theory but in real, tangible ways. Together, we are witnessing a movement of restoration, empowerment, and hope that is only beginning.
