Mesgun Tedla

Dr. Mesgun Tedla was born to his father Mr. Tedla and his mother Mrs. Teka on June 10, 1938 in the village of upper Shimanigus, Eritrea. Dr. Mesgun grew up in a Lutheran family with siblings, Semere, Abeba, Hedeat, Hagos and Meraf, the latter among us. He received his elementary education as well as the basics of Christian faith while Shimanigus. From 1953-1959 Dr. Mesgun attended and completed his middle and high school education at the Evangelical Faith Mission School in Keren, Eritrea. In addition, Dr. Mesgun came to the United States to further his education by attending Kansas City College and Bible School in two different visits and returned to his country to serve his people. Dr. Mesgun served and spirtually built the Faith Mission Church in Mai-jahjah. He traveled to many other cities in Eritrea for and he served faithfully, proclaiming the gospel boldly. Through Mesgun, God 's message of redemption was widely proclaimed and many accepted the Lord as their Savior. Throughout his years of service , Dr. Mesgun served as a teacher, evangelist and as Director of Faith Mission. Dr. Mesgun married Zewdie Tekabo a fellow orphan he grew up with on January 7, 1963 and was blessed with four children: Awet, Ephraim, Ermias and Aklilu. In spite of the fact that he had a family to raise, he continued proclaiming the gospel all over the world. He served God with his wife as a team, trusting God to give his wife the strength to raise the children and relied on her for support and encouragement in his service to the Lord. Mesgun viewed his calling as an act of worship and service - he accepted and carried the burden of his calling as a sacrifice, in that he was often away from family. He, instead, saw it as an opportunity to set an example of how to live out the purpose of life which is to worship God. He was compelled to carry the cross shamelessly and without compromise, aided by his loving and supporting wife, Zewdie. With continous prayer and driven, in part, by restricting relating to religious and civil liberties, Dr. Mesgun emigrated from Eritrea in 1978 and entered US, with his family, on January 3, 1979. In the years following his emigration, Dr. Tedla continued to attend to his calling and served as an evangelist in the US, preaching alike to Eriteans and non-eriteans. Though he saw his calling as global, Dr. Mesgun wished and prayed for a revival among his people, the Eritreans. Throughout the course of his life and ministry, Dr. Mesgun proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to souls in North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Dr. Mesgun went to be with the Lord on February 23, 2014 after dutifully fulfilling God's last call to travel and proclaim his message. Dr. Mesgun knows he will be missed, but only for a short while to those who, like him, will, in this lif, commit their heart, soul and mind to the service and worship of God. "Don't not grieve for me", he would say, "I continue to praise God even as you read this letter."