About

The Mission

Master Builder Center provides spiritual, educational, emotional, moral, financial, and skill support to less fortunate families so that they may discover and develop their unique spiritual, mental, creative, and physical gifts for the glory of God and betterment of their fellow men.

The Vision

The children and family of Master Builder Center will be pillars of excellence and commitment in developing intellectual, spiritual, social, economic, and moral leaders who are founded on Christ, The Master Builder.

Board of Directors

Who We Are

The Master Builder Center (MBC) was founded by Rev. Dr. Tilahun Mendedo in 2008 alongside a dedicated group of God-loving and mission-minded individuals to address serious needs of the people of Ethiopia. MBC’s initial outreach is “Feeding His Lambs,” a program to integrate children into their larger family groups.

Tens of thousands of 0 to 6 year olds in Ethiopia are from families that are afflicted with AIDS/HIV, and many of these children are orphaned at a young age. These children are destined to be street kids. By integrating the children into their larger families until after their graduation from high school, “Feeding His Lambs” facilitates their emergence as leaders of their nation and church. They can feed the next generation of lambs.

Africa is home to the fastest growing Lutheran churches in the world. MBC programs are supporting seminary students in Africa, so that there are sufficient workers for the great harvest. We are also working to foster self-sustaining ministries that are able to plant new ministries and business entrepreneurship.

With the world economy on the slide, there is no more opportune and needed time to join MBC and become a leader in shepherding these lambs, the great churches and nations in Africa. Build them up.

From The Founder

Little hands, streaked with dirt, stretched out. Begging in bare feet. These street orphans wore rags torn and dirty. Their hair was matted, voices crying, were hungry. It was 2007, and I was visiting beloved Ethiopia with my children Hawii, Yeabsira, and Amen, and we had just gathered together at a favorite restaurant in the capital city Addis Ababa.

Hearing the noisy street kids, my oldest asked, “Why are they begging? Why can’t they come and eat with us?”

Soon five orphan children joined us for pizza and began talking with my children. Hawii asked their names, their ages, and finally, “Where do you live?”

“We live here,” they said, waving their hands toward the mud-soaked streets of the city, drenched and cold during this rainy season. “In the rain?” Hawii asked. “We have some plastic to cover us,” they said. Then came the question with no answer: “Where are your parents?”

Silence.

These children, like so many hundreds of thousands of children throughout Ethiopia, have lost their parents to the ravages of poverty, disease, and war.

They are orphans raising themselves in the mud and dust of the street. They have been there in all my travels to my homeland. There are so many of them, I thought, it is not possible to help them. Then my children opened my eyes. Their urgent pleas to help the orphans of the street, even 3-year-old Amen chiming in with, “Yes, let’s do it”—gave birth to this ministry, Master Builder Center.

As my children reminded me, “With God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

— Rev. Dr. Tilahun Mendedo

The Mission

The Vision

Board of Directors

Dr. James Michael Wyss

Mark Polzin

Solomon Woldeyes

Dr. Kathy Helge

Martha Cade

Rev. Robert Guy

Rev. John Karle

Rev. Dr. Tilahun Mendedo

Karen Moser

Emnet Saari

Who We Are

From The Founder

General Info

Tax Information