Millions around the globe are mourning the loss of their loved ones after an Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet on Sunday crashed en route to Nairobi from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board.
Derick Lwugi, 54, an accountant and pastor from Calgary, was among the victim, CBC News reported.
Derick is described as a “pillar” of Calgary’s Kenyan community.
Further still, the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Monday mourned another identified victim, Pastor Norman Tendis.
Tendis, who was a Lutheran pastor in Austria, worked as a consultant for the WCC in its work to help churches invest their resources in making a better planet and had been on his way to the UN Environment Assembly, which began on 11th March.
He had been due to present to the assembly a roadmap for an ‘economy of life’ for congregations, communities and churches that he had worked on with WCC colleagues.
His previous work had included supporting small-scale agriculture, ethical investment, climate-friendly mobility and other practices aimed at sustainable living.
WCC general secretary the Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit paid tribute to him and all the victims of the crash, saying that the world had lost many experts committed to global sustainability.
“We express our deepest condolences on the passing of the all the people on board the aircraft, and we have particular anguish upon the loss of our own Rev Norman Tendis, who was passionately carving out a path for economic and environmental justice,” he said, according to Christian Today.
‘This had been his compassion and vision for years.’
