Saron Kebede’s Testimony

Saron Kebede’s Testimony

  1. How did you know about EGST and decided to join its programme(s)?

I had a friend who was a student at EGST and he encouraged me to join. It took a bit of time for me to decide because EGST is a theological institution and I didn’t have a good understanding of theology. In many churches, theology was or still is portrayed negatively and I grew up listening to these thoughts. However, my friend did a very good job in convincing me to join. I first applied to the MALM program, but was offered to join the PGD. I hesitated whether that was what I wanted, but eventually started my study with the PGD program in 2012. However, life took me off this track for a short while and had to withdraw after a year. Returning in 2019, I was able to join the Leadership and Management Program. It was a ‘two birds with one stone’ kind of situation for me, as I’ve always wanted to pursue the field of project management. I graduated from this program in July 2022.

  1. Share about your experiences, challenges, memorable incidents, …during your stay at EGST.

Many things have changed in my life during the course of my stay at EGST. There were many exciting moments, sad times, aha moments, ups and downs, challenges meeting due dates for paper submissions, and most importantly, a time that I had an encounter with God through the Word and studies. The journey was absolutely worth it. Apart from the professional experience I gained in terms of writing academic papers and expressing my ideas with confidence, EGST is also a place where I had the chance to meet wonderful friends. One incident that impacted my life in particular and was related to the ‘triad group’ I was assigned into in the Personal Development Course.

As we started the triad meeting, the first thing we realized was that we had almost nothing in common, except that we are Christians and same department at EGST. Our backgrounds, the churches we attend (3 different denominations), our professions, where we live (three ends of Addis), and ministries at church are just a few of the areas in which we differed. But practically we had a lot of fun, fellowship, harmony and love. It was a perfect combination; we have become more than just triad mates who meet once week. The two, who still remain my very good friends, have made a difference in my life by taking care of and comforting me and my family during the saddest time of my life- the time my dad went home to be with the Lord. We have been praying about each other’s families and in particular, my dad who was sick for a long time and whose situation was getting worse by the day. When he was admitted to a hospital, they came and visited him and I do not forget the triad meeting we had there at the hospital’s cafeteria just before the night he went to be with the Lord. Because I was so caught up with the things there, I was stressed out and tiered after spending the other night attending him. I was barely walking and when they came, they got me out of my condition, and they prayed for me and my family. Despite their busy schedules and many engagements, they took the time to walk that extra mile. This is something I will never ever forget. I am ever grateful for that to God and to the people who obeyed to make that difference in my life.

There are many times in life that I had an exciting experience in discovering a new thing, having more perspective and new thinking all along. My stay at EGST gave me more perspective, a new worldview, but also a new excitement in my life that had been lacking. It was my prayer for quite a long time that God would open me up; make me explore and understand Him in a new way. Because I was born and brought up in a Christian family, I know the Bible and the stories in it are quite familiar. As I was growing, I started to search for new or rather enhanced thinking about God. There were many glimpses in the middle though. Looking back and connecting the dots, the burning desire I have to know God and the need to understand the scriptures in a fresh and new way was what I have been searching my whole life. Coming to EGST was the right thing to do.

I can say that literally God has opened my eyes to see anew and afresh. Though I cannot ever know him fully, everything I know about him is beyond my imagination and the fact that there is still a lot to know blows off my mind. How vast is He?!

  1. Share about your ministry after graduation and how your education at EGST helped you to make a difference in your own life, family, workplace, church ministry…

Among the many ways EGST impacted me, I want to emphasize the intentionality aspect. My stay here has wired me to be very intentional, knowing the principles of this field of study (Leadership and Management with Biblical perspective) to internalize and customize it to my everyday life professionally and holistically. It also put me on a conscious edge to make use of whatever was gained for the purpose of building the Kingdom of God as well as to be of help to people around me.

  1. Your career development and future vision in brief.

As one gains actual experience in any area of study, climbing the ladder to assume leadership position becomes apparent professionally or in any context. The knowledge gained at EGST is intended to help that growth and momentum.

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