About Pastor Melkamu Negeri

Pastor Melkamu Negeri is an ordained minister who has faithfully served the church for more than forty years. Born in rural Western Oromia, he was the youngest of seven children in a farming family; like his eldest brother before him, he was called to the ministry.

He served in the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, leading congregations and youth for nearly two decades. Under Ethiopia's communist Derg regime — when faith was persecuted and teaching children about God could mean prison — he refused to abandon his calling, and was jailed for his work with young people.

In October 1995 he came to the United States with his family through the DV-95 diversity visa lottery, settling in Minnesota. There he became lead pastor of Our Redeemer Oromo Evangelical Church, helping grow it into the largest Oromo congregation in the diaspora and one of the largest immigrant congregations in the ELCA. He retired from active ministry in 2018, leaving a lasting legacy of leadership, faith, and service.

Throughout his ministry, Pastor Melkamu has devoted himself to strengthening families and nurturing marriages — counseling countless couples through their joys and challenges with wisdom rooted in Scripture and guided by compassion. His writing flows not only from study but from lived experience as a shepherd among his people.

He is married to Ebise Gari Wase, with whom he has shared more than forty-five years; together they raised six children and rejoice in the blessing of grandchildren.