Kebena Adventist Mission was established near Kebena (Kebenna) River in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1921 by V. E. Toppenberg, an Adventist missionary from Denmark. Toppenberg’s first destination in Africa was Eritrea, where he faced many challenges from the Italian colonial powers and the leaders of established churches. These challenges forced him to leave Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea, and go to Ethiopia. He left Asmara and boarded a ship that headed to Port Massawa in Ethiopia. From Massawa he proceeded to the French Red Sea port of Djibouti. Continuing his journey by train, he arrived in Addis Ababa in July 1921.1 On his way from Djibouti to Addis Ababa, Toppenberg met the secretary of the English legation, obtained the address of this person, and planned to make an appointment to meet him at some time in the future.2
When he arrived in Addis Ababa, he was not welcomed by anyone, and there was no one to guide him as to where he should go, except for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After he landed in Addis Ababa, he looked for a house to stay in. For some days he had to stay in the Imperial Hotel, the only hotel in the city at that time. Due to the discomfort caused by rats and the high price of the hotel, the missionary was forced to look for a house. After an intensive search for a house, walking on foot from dawn to dusk, he found a two-room oblong house near the bank of the Kebena River. Unfortunately, Toppenberg was welcomed by fleas and passed sleepless nights in the rented house.3
Later on, Toppenberg went to the British legation to register, since there was no Danish legation in Addis Ababa. Fortunately, the secretary of the British legation, after learning of the challenges the missionary faced, provided him with a decent house that was not currently occupied. After some time, Toppenberg was able to buy property from the British legation secretary and he established the Kebana Adventist Mission.
The newly purchased property was located near a road that led to one of the two schools in the town. Students who used the road to go to school were impressed by the new people and the music played in the house of the strangers. This enticed them to enter the compound and approach the strangers. Toppenberg used this opportunity to befriend them. Then he began to teach them subjects like mathematics and the Bible. Some of these students joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church through baptism.4
The interest of these students motivated Toppenberg to begin a school in the Kebena Mission compound. He built some houses for classrooms and for boarding students to live in. That was how Kebena Seventh-day Adventist Mission School, the first Adventist School in Ethiopia, was established.5
When the Kebena property was purchased, there was no water in the compound and the Toppenbergs had to fetch water from Kebena River and transport it on a donkey’s back. But the water from Kebena River was totally unsafe for drinking. So Toppenberg took the initiative to dig a well in the compound. Even though the work was tedious and slow, he managed to drill a well which provided water to the Adventist community in the compound for many years, not only for drinking, but also for their gardens.6
The Kebena Mission compound served for many years as union headquarters and the first boarding school for boys and girls. Currently it serves as a day school for the community, as the home for the Ethiopian Adventist Press, and as a residence for workers from the East Ethiopia Union Mission headquarters and the Central Ethiopia Field.
Sources
Dolicho, Mulugeta, Alemu Haile, et al. Brief History of the Establishment of Kebena Adventist School. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Ethiopian Advent Press, 1986.
Wolde Selassie, Tiruneh. Adventism in Ethiopia: The Incredible Saga of the Beginning and Progress of the Seventh-day Adventist Work in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Finfine Printing & Publishing S.C., 2005.
Notes
-
Tiruneh WoldeSelassie, Adventism in Ethiopia, the incredible saga of the beginning and progress of the Seventh-day Adventist work in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Finfine Printing & Publishing, 2005), 237.↩
-
Mulugeta Dolicho, Alemu Haile, et al., Brief History of the Establishment of Kebena Adventist School (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Ethiopian Advent Press, 1986), 1.↩
-
WoldeSelassie, 238.↩
-
Ibid.↩
-
Dolicho et al., 2-3.↩
-
WoldeSelassie, 239.↩