The Rev. Dr. Bruk Ayele Asale
The Rev. Dr. Bruk Ayele Asale serves as President of Mekane Yesus Seminary (MYS) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
He was born in Ethiopia and raised Lutheran by his family. Bruk has been involved for many years in the leadership of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), including Sunday school, youth ministry, junior secondary school, Mekane Yesus Seminary’s (MYS) Theology Department, and other ministries. He eventually became the President of the MYS. In addition, he is active in teaching, training, preaching, and church planting. He also leads several congregations. He began his ministry as a volunteer minister while also teaching in a public school in the northern part of Ethiopia during the time of the communist regime; he went through severe persecutions and miraculously survived the ordeal.
After completing his first and second degrees in theological studies in Ethiopia, Bruk went to the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa for his Ph.D. in Biblical Studies, focusing on the connection between the Ethiopian Church, the New Testament (especially the Epistle of Jude), and the Book of 1 (Ethiopic) Enoch. He has published several journal articles, including in The Bible Translator, and a monograph related to his Ph.D. dissertation, 1Enoch as Scripture: A Study in the Reception and Appropriation of 1 Enoch in Jude and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Canon.
Besides his main teaching career for several decades at several levels, Bruk served as Bible Translation Coordinator of the EECMY, Radio program producer and coordinator, Academic Dean of the MYS, member of several Boards, and income generation scheme promoter and leader for sustainable development. As President of the main theological institution of the EECMY, Bruk envisioned and implemented a Bible Translation program at Batchelor and Master degree level. The first cohort of the B.Th. completed their studies and graduated recently.
At the international level, Bruk is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE), the Association of Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA), and the Advisory Board for Lutheran World Federation Theological Education and Formation (LWF-TEF).
Bruk is married to Tseganesh Kassa (Charis). They have two sons: Behulum (23) and Tamagne (18). Bruk likes reading, running, traveling, and doing outreach.