Shimeles Retta, son of a wealthy Catholic family in Addis Ababa, was forced to leave Ethiopia in 1977, after the Communists had taken control of his homeland. First he took refuge in the neighboring country of Sudan, where he was hosted by a Muslim family. They encouraged Shimeles to convert to Islam, but he declined their invitation.

After spending four years in Sudan Shimeles left for the United States to make his home there. En route to North America, however, he stopped in Germany to visit a friend, and this resulted in his deciding to stay there. He has now lived in Germany for nearly 20 years.

In Germany he was introduced to the Christian faith, and he and his German-born wife, Yotta, became believers and were baptized. They became part of a Mennonite Brethren church which had recently been started in the community of Warendorf. These Mennonite folks (Aussiedler) had come recently from the USSR. "In this church, " says Shimeles, "we found a good spiritual home."

As his faith deepened, Shimeles' concern for the spiritual welfare of the people in his homeland grew. In 1994 he returned to Ethiopia for the first time in 17 years. He was accompanied by Heinrich Sawatsky, a member of the Mennonite Brethren church in Warendorf.

In Ethiopia he was introduced to the fast-growing Mennonite Church, the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC). Among the first persons he met was Bedru Hussein, an MKC leader and the vice-president of the Mennonite World Conference. One Sunday Shimeles attended an Ethiopian Mennonite worship service in Addis Ababa in what he describes as a "crowded, tent-like church."

Shimeles felt a strong call from the Lord to work in his country of origin. He observed how bad the situation was for Christians in the countryside, especially in the eastern part of Ethiopia. In 1996 Shimeles and six men from the Warendorf church went to Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia to help complete a church building project which had been started but for which the local believers didn't have the resources to complete the task.

Between 1994 and 1998 Shimeles traveled to Ethiopia annually to help build churches, to preach and to assist the local Christians in other ways. Each time he was accompanied by some Mennonite brothers and sisters from Germany who wanted to help with the building projects and to see mission work first hand.

A sponsorship program for children in very poor families was initiated, and financial support was provided for students who wished to attend a Bible college in Addis Ababa.

In May 1998 Shimeles and his wife started a full-time ministry related to Ethiopia. It is called Ethiopian Gospel Service. They will be going to Ethiopia twice a year, usually staying for two to three months.

Shimeles and Yotta Retta have five children. Their address is Dwasweg 9, 26532 Grossheide, Germany.

In his letter introducing MWC to Ethiopian Gospel Service, Shimeles writes: "In 1996 Bedru (Hussein) invited me to take part in the 1997 MWC Conference in Calcutta/India. He also gave me the address for Courier (a MWC publication). I was not able to take part in the Mennonite World Conference in Calcutta, but I read a lot about it in Courier.... In Volume 13 No. 1 of Courier you wrote a bit about Ethiopian Mennonites and a lot about German Mennonites. These are the two churches we are working with. "

When Bedru Hussein saw the above article he immediately responded by email. He wrote:

"It was a divine appointment to meet Shimeles and Heinrich Sawatsky in my local MKC congregation (in 1994). From there on our relationship grew. I had a chance to visit the Warendorf church in Germany and preach and teach there two times.... I think the MKC church (in Ethiopia) has a better opportunity to work closely with the German Mennonites now...."