Anyuak pastor installed in Winnipeg

Rev. Oboya Ochalla is ordained and installed in Winnipeg. (Back l-r): Rev. Cam Schnarr, Rev. Brad Schollenberg, LCC President Rev. Timothy Teuscher, Central District President Emeritus Thomas Prachar, and Rev. Assefa Aredo. (Front l-r): Rev. Dr. Richard Beinert, Rev. Oboya Ochalla, and LCC Central Regional Pastor David Haberstock. Missing: Rev. Mark Just, Rev. Ward Yunker.

WINNIPEG – On June 22, 2019, Rev. Oboya Ochalla was ordained and installed as Assistant Pastor of St. James Lutheran Church in Winnipeg where he will focus on outreach to the Anyuak and Amharic communities.

“It’s a joy to be ordained into the pastoral ministry,” said Rev. Ochalla. “I look forward to continuing to serve God’s people—both Anywaa (Anyuak) and others—as the Lord opens doors and provides opportunities.”

Scenes from Rev. Ochalla’s ordination and installation.

Rev. Ochalla was ordained and installed by Rev. David Haberstock, Lutheran Church–Canada’s (LCC) Central Regional Pastor, with a number of local Lutheran pastors participating in the installation. The service welcomed several Anyuak guests from Western Canada and the United States to celebrate the occasion.

Rev. Ochalla was born in Sudan but raised in Gambella, Ethiopia. He belongs to the Anyuak (Anywaa) cultural group, a group which speaks Dha-anywaa and whose traditional lands extend across southern Sudan and western Ethiopia. Rev. Ochalla trained as a teacher in Gambella, and taught there for three years before fleeing as a political refugee in 2000. While living in a refugee camp in Kenya, he found work again as a teacher, this time for children of the refugee camp. He continued this work until 2003 when he came to Canada. Over the next number of years, he worked to upgrade his education and to bring his wife and son to Canada as well. Since the family was reunited in Canada, he and his wife have been blessed with five more children.

About ten years ago, the Anyuak community in Winnipeg came into contact with Lutheran Church–Canada when a member of the community was badly beaten. The Anyuak community connected with a LCC pastor during that time, who went to visit the man in hospital during his long recovery. This led in time to a relationship between LCC and the wider Anyuak community in Winnipeg.

Oboya Ochalla was eventually selected to participate in Lutheran Church–Canada’s Pastors with Alternate Training (PAT) program. The PAT program prepares candidates for culture-specific or site-specific pastoral ministry. PAT students participate in intensive short-term courses at LCC seminaries, take distance courses, and receive one-on-one training and education with a pastoral mentor. Rev. Ochalla was mentored by Rev. Dr. Richard Beinert, with whom he will continue to serve at St. James Lutheran Church in Winnipeg.

After five years of study, while continuing to work full-time, Rev. Ochalla has finished his pastoral studies. He received his theological diploma during Concordia Lutheran Seminary’s 2019 Convocation service in Edmonton on May 24, 2019.

In addition to pastoral ministry, Rev. Ochalla continues to work full-time with Equal Opportunity West, an organization that provides job training and social support for adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. He also continues to study, as time allows, at the University of Manitoba.

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