In the early 1930s, as the EMM launched its mission in Tanganyika, Ethiopia became a parallel interest. Struggling under Italian occupation from 1935, Ethiopia saw Emperor Haile Selassie I flee in 1936, only to return five years later to continue modernization efforts. Post-World War II, the Mennonite Church initiated a relief program in Nazareth, Ethiopia, marked by the establishment of the Haile Mariam Mammo Memorial Hospital in 1947. EMM deliberated on missionary work in Ethiopia, eventually sending Daniel and Blanche Sensenig in 1947 to lay the groundwork under a mandate that included educational and medical services alongside evangelism.