by E. Paul Balisky
18 January 2012

Ato Lakew served with SIM for 57 years, finally retiring in 2002. During his long tenure with SIM, he assisted ten SIM Ethiopia directors in matters dealing with Ethiopian Government relations.

Gashi Lake, as he was fondly called, was the eyes, ears and mouthpiece of SIM in various government offices such as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Labour. He skillfully obtained work permits and exit visas for SIM personnel for over half a century.

Lakew could bring a smile out of the serious faces of the employees at the Ethiopia Ministry of Labour during the Communist years. One time Ato Lakew thought one government employee's mother had died because of his very sad face. Without verifying if indeed the person's mother had died, Ato Lakew said, loudly enough for all the office staff to hear, "May God comfort you at the death of your mother. I offer you my sincere sympathy." The employee immediately responded, "My mother is not dead. She is very much alive." Ato Lakew responded, "But why such a sad face?" At this exchange, the office full of employees all began to chuckle.

There is the story of Gashi Lakew's visit to North America in the early 1960's. He was a short man, a full 5 feet 2 inches. When asked if all the people in Ethiopia were short like him, he responded, "Well, have you not seen photos of our Emperor, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Haile Selassie?"

Several years later, Aba Gole and Markina Meja, two of the tallest men in the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church, visited several of those same churches in North America!

	Ato Lakew Tessema who served with excellence for 57 years

In 1 Chronicles 11, thirty renowned warriors in the army of the nation of Israel are listed. They did great exploits in battle. Gashi Lakew has been a faithful and true warrior through his many years of service with SIM. His name could certainly be placed in a contemporary list of warriors in the Kingdom of God.

On behalf of the worldwide SIM family, we offer our condolences to Woizero Menbere and the family of Gashi Lakew. May God comfort each of you.

Eulogy from SIM shared at Ato Lakew's funeral at the International Evangelical Church in Addis Ababa, 22 Nov 2011.