Marta Gabre-Tsadick, the daughter of poor missionary parents, was born in Ethiopia in 1932.   After completing her secondary education, she studied abroad at Adams State College in Colorado, where she completed her Bachelor of the Arts degree in 1958.  After graduation, Marta returned to serve the Ethiopian government in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where she held several different posts.

Marta with Yetebon children

In 1968, Marta was appointed to Parliament and became the first woman Senator of Ethiopia.  As Senator, she was entrusted to travel with the Emperor and his wife on their official foreign trips as well as accompany distinguished international figures on their state visits to Ethiopia.

After the communist coup in Ethiopia in 1975, Marta and her family became a target for persecution and were forced to seek asylum in Kenya and Greece.  Thanks to the sponsorship of a church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, she and her family were granted visas to the United States.  Upon arriving in the U.S., Marta dedicated her efforts to raising awareness and support for Ethiopian refugees.  She later wrote about her family's remarkable journey in her book, Sheltered by the King.

In 1977, Marta Gabre-Tsadick, and her husband, Demeke Tekle-Wold, and their dear friends, Pastor Charles and Fran Dickinson, established Project Mercy, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing emergency relief aid, educational assistance, and refugee relocation help to African refugees.  In the 1980s through the 1990s, Marta initiated innovative food and sewing programs that enabled Project Mercy to distribute food and clothing to hundreds of thousands of starving, needy refugees from Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, and Ethiopia.

In 1993, Marta established a partnership between the elders of Yetebon, Ethiopia and Project Mercy, paving the way for the current community development program.  Under Marta’s leadership, Project Mercy has helped create a holistic community development model in Yetebon.  With the help of volunteers and the staff of Project Mercy, she has directed the construction of a school, state-of-the-art hospital, skills training classes, agricultural development programs, clean water delivery, all-season roads and countless other initiatives. 

Due to the prayers and the support of the many friends of Project Mercy, Marta has helped to feed, clothe, and educate countless people.  She continues to be an impassioned and knowledgeable advocate for the destitute, as well as an author, challenging speaker, businesswoman, mother, grandmother, and servant to all those in need.