Date: Fri 07-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: LIBRAR

Quick Words:

church-pastor-Kessler

Full Text:

Pastor Answers Call To Heal The Spiritual Wounds In A War-Torn Country

BY ANDREA ZIMMERMANN

Each carrying two suitcases and as many books as possible, the members of the

Kessler family will board a plane next week for a 17-hour journey to their new

home in Eritrea, Africa. William Kessler, who has been pastor of Newtown

Presbyterian Church for ten years, has accepted the call to be a missionary in

the country devastated by famine and 30 years of war.

"Eritrea is in East Africa, on the Red Sea. It's arid country, dessert country

- really, the Middle East," said Pastor Kessler, who spent a month there last

year.

"In January, we saw tremendous needs - both material and spiritual. After a

war there is a great deal of guilt, grief, sorrow, illegitimate children, and

fractured families - a spiritual vacuum."

Although Pastor Kessler will serve a 30-member congregation that is without a

leader, his real mission is to train young men to be ministers and elders and

to organize an indigenous Presbyterian church in the town of Ghinda.

"As it gets organized, we step more and more into the background," said the

minister, who anticipates spending four years in Eritrea. "We don't plant

orthodox churches in other countries; we either encourage existing churches or

establish indigenous ones. It's healthy. Before God they have their own

sovereignty over their affairs, and we want to preserve that."

In 1942, the church established its first mission in Eritrea. Later, it built

a clinic in Ghinda, which closed in 1974 when the war escalated and

missionaries were called back. When the Provisional Government in Eritrea

(PGE) was formed and independence won from Ethiopia, the Orthodox Presbyterian

Church was invited back to help rebuild.

Pastor Kessler traveled to Ghinda, Eritrea, with some of the missionaries who

had served there.

"As we walked down the main street, people recognized them, embraced them

right on the street," he said.

"Right now the nation is shedding its socialism and moving to make allegiances

with the west," said Pastor Kessler. "It wants to be a constitutional

democracy and [is striving] to ratify a constitution by 1998."

Because of this shift in thinking, many of the young well-educated Eritreans

are searching for ideas on which to build the foundation of a country.

"We are finding many are endeavoring to answer these questions through the

scriptures," said the minister. Pastor Kessler believes the word of God

conveys a universal standard of right and wrong - not just a message that is

historically or culturally bound.

The minister said the religious demographics of the country is a split of

Muslims and Coptic Christians. In addition to organizing the church in Ghinda

by training native men as spiritual leaders, Pastor Kessler will visit

patients each day at the clinic, work with the staff there, establish an

evening Bible study, and invite the community to attend church.

Initially, he will have to work with the assistance of a translator, but the

entire family plans on learning the local language.

"It's hard to leave the church [in Newtown], and yet the needs are so great

there," said Pastor Kessler. "And not many people are in a position to go...

We hope we can display the compassion of Christ in deed and word, and be

useful and serve. I have a great deal of gratitude for the opportunity."

An Independent Nation

"With independence from Ethiopia on 27 April 1993, Eritrea faces the bitter

economic problems of a small, desperately poor African country," reports the

CIA Fact Book. "Most of the population will continue to depend on subsistence

farming."

Eritrea, a county slightly larger than Pennsylvania, includes only three

percent arable land; two percent has permanent crops of coffee.

The population of the country was estimated to be 3« million in 1995;

repatriation of up to half a million Eritrean refugees in Sudan has begun. It

is difficult to know exactly how many people actually live in Ghinda, Eritrea,

because some are nomadic people, and many are temporarily sheltered in a

refugee village there, said Pastor Kessler.

A definitive census is not easily obtained because "typically, Muslims will

not tell you how many children they have; they want to protect them," said the

minister. "And they will not mention their daughters at all."

A rough estimation is a town population of between 40-50,000.

The Newtown Congregation

Originally from Shelton, Pastor Kessler earned his BA in philosophy from

Florida Atlantic University, and a master's of divinity and master's of

theology from Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. While at the

seminary he served at Lansdale Presbyterian Church in Lansdale, Penn., and

subsequently was called as associate pastor and ordained there. After five

years of service, Pastor Kessler and his wife, Hazel, felt drawn back to

Connecticut and agreed to help establish an Orthodox Presbyterian Church in

this area.

"Orthodox Presbyterian is different than Main Line Presbyterian," he said,

explaining that the former is the "old school Presbyterian" and the latter is

continuously changing and trying new things.

"It comes down to, primarily, a view of the scriptures. We believe it was

inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. It was written down by men, but what we

have is God's will at face value," he said. "And the creeds and confessions of

the church are taken in a literal way - there is no philosophizing or

theorizing."

Pastor Kessler responded to a call from a group of eight believers who were

meeting in a living room and studying the Bible. The Newtown Congregational

Church had built a new sanctuary on West Street, turned the Meeting House over

to the town's Heritage Preservation Trust, which leased it on Sunday mornings

to the Presbyterian congregation eight years ago.

"It's a great place to worship - a beautiful building," said Pastor Kessler,

who said he has greatly enjoyed ministering among the congregation and

throughout the community. "It's a good place to have a church and a good place

to serve the Lord. The congregation is very loving; we consider [parishioners]

to be our closest friends, more like family. That's been the greatest joy."

Each Sunday after church, the Kesslers would invite members of the

congregation back to their home as part of the community fellowship.

"Pastor Kessler is just a great guy," said parishioner Robin Searing. "Our

church has very strong friendships - he's good at keeping that bond and giving

good council. If you need to speak with him, he's there in a minute; he's just

that kind of very sacrificing person."

Robin said the Kesslers have been role models for her. "Everyone is really sad

to see them go, but we're also joyful in knowing the work the family will be

doing there."

The Kesslers' four children are "very excited" about going to Eritrea.

Christopher, 14, Jonathan, 11, Jennifer, 9, and Owen, 8, will be home-schooled

by their mother. It will not be an easy place to live - cobras, vipers,

scorpions, as well as malaria, TB and other diseases are common in the

country, said Pastor Kessler.

"They know a lot of things will be different - dangerous, unusual, and hard -

but none of these has deterred them," said Mrs Kessler, who will reach out to

women in the community, and perhaps teach English as a second language if

invited to do so.