By Sarah Levesque
Onesimus (own-ESS-ee-mus) Nesib was born around 1856 near Hurumu in Ethiopia. His parents named him Hiikaa Awaaji; or “translator”. At a young age, Hika was stolen from his widowed mother, renamed Nesib, and sold or stolen multiple times before being liberated by the vice-consul of the French Consulate, Werner Munzinger. The boy began his education in 1870 at the Swedish Evangelical Mission mission school, graduating five years later. During that time, he converted to Christianity and was baptized on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1872. He took the Christian name Onesimus after an early Christian bishop. Even as a young student, Onesimus’ greatest desire was to return to his home to spread the gospel. But before this could come about, he was sent to the Theological Training Institute of Johannelund in Sweden, where he spent another five years studying.
Finally Onesimus was able to return to Ethiopia, where, in 1881, he set out on the first Oromo expedition along with his wife Meheret Hailu, her father, and a few others. Unfortunately, this expedition failed due to military action in the area, but a second expedition was quickly planned. The missionaries set out on a trek to circumvent the violence, but were set back again and again by political strife, sickness, decrees against “foreigners”, and the death of some of their companions. Onesimus and Meheret reached Imkullu in July 1882, where they stayed for a time, waiting for permission to continue their mission. There, Onesimus translated hymns, Luther’s catechism, and some other Christian works into Oromo. He also took a trip to Shoa, where he preached for a time, then returned and began translating the Bible into Oromo. Meheret died in 1888, and Onesimus married Lidia Dimbo; with her encouragement, he finished his translation.. In 1904, Onesimus finally returned to his people as a missionary, along with some companions. He was given some land, where he built his family a house and built a school. As he preached in the Oromo language, the Orthodox religious leaders who spoke only Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia) brought charges against him, resulting in an order that he not preach. In 1916, Onesimus was once again allowed to preach, which he continued to do until he died on June 21, 1931, at the age of seventy-five.
May we, like Onesimus Nesib, always preach the Gospel, persevering through adversity and setbacks.
Sources:
dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/onesimus-nesib/
researchgate.net/publication/325679038_Onesimos_Nesib_Ethiopian_Evangelical_Pioneer
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