Tesefa Burka

Isaiah 57:1-2

"Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die."

Tesfa Assefa Burka beloved child of God

Tesfa Assefa Burka was born on March 21, 1989 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is from a family of eight; father, mother, two sisters and three brothers.

Tesfa is known for his ability to love and express love from early years of life. When he was four years old he had a gift of saying, "I love you" to his family members, visiting relatives, and friends. Shortly he started going to school and would say, " I love you" to his teachers and friends repeatedly. They initially responded with surprise and expressed their delight towards it. As he was persistent, the response started wearing off and even started ignoring him at times. He noticed the difference and came home to talk to his mother about it and asked, "Is there anything wrong with saying I love you?" His mother quickly informed him that there is nothing wrong with this form of affection. However, just for his protection she advised him to say it just to his immediate family members and relatives.

This was the nature of his upbringing, full of love as cultivated by family core values. God was touching his heart and leading him to a life that would influence others in a positive way. The family used to have nightly worship and teaching the Word of God that further strengthened his spiritual growth. He used to lead worship just like his brothers and sisters on his assigned day of the week. He used to preach the Word of God even before the age of ten and one of his preaching's was on Luke chapter 1:45 "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord".

Tesfa's family has been through hard times in Ethiopia and overcame challenges with fervent prayers and intersessions. Although he was the youngest of four boys he had played a big part in displaying great faith in seeking God for answers to a number of prayer requests. One of the miracles received by him along with his family was receiving the answer of a prayer request of coming to the United States and reuniting with his grandmother, uncles and aunts.

Coming to the United States in 2002 was an exciting opportunity for Tesfa and his family. As ordained by God the family moved to Kansas to settle and start the new life in the land of opportunity. Although this was a new way of life, Tesfa continued his family core values and faith in God by spreading God's love and influencing everyone he encountered. At the age of 12 he started Trailridge middle school and embarked on his educational journey in America. From the start, Tesfa had excellent academic strength. He attended Olathe North high school, and was active in track and field together with his brother Tsega. He also played wide receiver for his high school football team as a senior. He then went to College at University of Kansas in Lawrence. With God's grace he graduated with a Biochemistry degree and went on to work at a Clinical Reference Laboratory and he even received a recent promotion in his career.

Tesfa has many attributes that are exemplary, which include strong faith in God, discipline, hard work, and dedication that helped him succeed in all his pursuits. He led a life style full of integrity, humility and love as a role model in the Body of Christ.  One of his disciplines was his ability to physically train himself with passion and consistency, which helped him lead a healthy life style.  He had a special interest and talent in art such as drawing pictures and painting.  In fact, one of his contributions to the Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church is an abstract design that left his prints telling a story of the cross and the relationship of Christians in the Body of Christ. This is the design you see displayed in the backgrounds of the youth and main stage of the sanctuary.  He was actively involved in youth ministry as a strong leader for Sunday night college Bible study. He also labored in the spread of the gospel in rural Ethiopia by monthly supporting a missionary evangelist for a year.

The past three years Tesfa was battling with epilepsy, a medical condition that caused him to have seizures from time to time. He was still able to excel in everything he did despite his illness. On Sunday morning October 29th 2017, he had a seizure in his sleep and never woke up. This is a rare complication of epilepsy and the condition is known as Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. Although the nature of his passing is unforeseen his family knows that he is in a better place with our Lord Jesus Christ. The past few weeks prior to his passing he had been meditating on a few verses from the Word of God. The last verse he wrote on his meditating board in his room is John 17:21 which talks about Jesus's prayer to his disciples before he was crucified and he summarized it as "BEING ONE WITH GOD" which was really the conformation that it was God's timing for him to be one with his God.

One of the main reasons he will be missed is for his dedicated fellowship he had with God and his people. His most favorite quote of scripture is in Mathew 22:37, which says "Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." The verses after that add about loving ones' own neighbor as oneself, which was really his burden to live out. He really loved the Lord and people, which you could see displayed in his lifetime. He will always be remembered for his legacy of love and faith he imparted to his loved ones and those he encountered. If he was here today he would say first love God and then you will be able to love one another since God is love.

A visitation will begin at 9 a.m., Thursday, followed by funeral services at 10:30 a.m., at the Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, 14345 W. 119th St., Olathe, KS. Burial will be In Pleasant View Cemetery, Shawnee, KS.