In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God Amen.

When it comes to building up the diaspora youth to love their Orthodox Christian faith, many churches are coming across the same phenomenon. We see another generation go off to college and we wonder, “will they still come to church when its not convenient?”, “will they overcome the tempting world of campus life?” “will they keep the faith?”. The honest answer for many of the youths in the churches is simple- no. No, they will not come to church when it is not convenient, no they will not overcome the temptations of campus life, no they will not keep the faith. You will see them on Fasika (Easter), a baby’s baptism ceremony and other major events -that is the extent of it. But why? Why is this the case when they have been coming to church with their parents since they were children? Why does it seem that the child in the front row singing mezmur grows up, goes to college and never returns? Why does yet another generation of high school graduates go to college and never returns to the roots of their Tewahdo faith?

I am an Eritrean American young woman, who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia one of the Habesha capitals of America. I am a Debre Tsion Qidisti Mariam Sunday School member, teacher in Saturday School program for teens and I sing the choir. Although I enjoy being in the church, as someone who was born in the U.S, one of the questions I often ask myself is “why don’t see any Eritrean -American young adults at church?”. Is it because they are not in Atlanta? No, this is a place where there is one of the highest counts of Eritrean-Americans. Is it because their parents don’t go to church? No, many of the parents attend church. Is it because the youth have no interest in religion? No, that is not what I have seen and heard from the ones I have spoken to. The question remains: where are my 20- something-year-old peers now? We must face the reality that their absence in itself is speaking very loudly. Their absence speaks to us about what the church has offered them until this point. In order to save the future generations of diaspora youth, we have to find the answer to why they are not attending and implement changes in our churches.

Relationship with God vs Knowledge of church
There is a fundamental gap between the youth’s relationship with God and knowledge of the church, and bridging the gap is a vital step to fostering a love for the church in the youth. I will be referring to my own experience as a youth who was born and raised in America to give voice to the struggles that my peers have gone through. Growing up as children we were taught to memorize mezmur, memorize without even being taught the meaning (unfortunately this is still happening in many churches today). We were told to stand in Qidasse (Holy Liturgy) when we had no idea what was being said. We were taught information about the church “Tewahdo 101” but not who God is, how much He loves us and how to grow closer to Him. What we as clergy, parents, and teachers must understand if we desire to see fruit in the church is that the youth need a relationship with God in order to appreciate and grasp the knowledge of the church. This is not going to happen on its own, we have to be intentional about helping youth understand how to grow closer to God. How to pray, how to confess, what is the meaning of repentance?  An example of a great way to do this is teaching the  Holy Sacraments (knowledge of the church)  and incorporating into it, relationship with God, I will explain how this can be done. We should teach the Holy Sacraments while using each sacrament as an opportunity to teach about how God has a relationship with us, His children through the sacraments. We can explain how God suffered and died for us and each Sunday we have the blessing of uniting with Him in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. You could explain how God wants us to be part of His family so we gain the Holy Spirit through the sacrament of Baptism.  In all of these examples, I make sure to include how God’s love is seen through the sacraments.  When youth have No background about God, the information has nowhere to land. It is like planting seeds on rocks which are not likely to bloom into fruit. When the youth understand why and how to develop a relationship with God- the soil will be fertile and ready to accept the information or knowledge because they match it with what they know about God.You can teach the knowledge of the church while always nurturing and helping them Grow in their relationship with our Beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we help them understand who God is and how to fast, how to pray, how to confess to a priest and how to connect to God, we are teaching them how to be Christians. When we teach the meaning of the mezmur and how they all connect us back to His love then suddenly the Orthodox church makes sense and it is the place they can experience God and feel at home.

Eritrean Orthodox Diaspora Youth’s Parents and the Church 
The way many of us  have experienced church  is through our parents. Many Eritrean parents came to America in the early 1990’s, this is when the foundation of the Habesha diaspora was created in America and since then has been built upon. These 90’s second-generation immigrant children like myself are now adults in their mid or early 20’s. Some of us are now married, many of us have successful careers but it is notable that none of us can be found in the church. Let’s take a look at the parents of my generation. Eritrea had just gotten out of the end of a long war for independence from Ethiopia. Our parents spent their impressionable years- their late teens and early 20’s living in “media” (the battlefield) they did not spend the vital self-building time of their life the way their parents (our grandparents) did living in the traditional community. They were essentially built around an atmosphere of political strife and war. At this time the motto “hade hizbi, hade libi” meant that religion was put on the back burner in the name of victory for Eritrea. Faith and religious belief were not on the forefront of the minds of these young freedom fighters. These are the people who then escaped and came to America and had children (of whom I am one), they began to build churches and become Sebeka gubae members (church board) using the bits of Orthodox Christian understanding they had left over from their parents and elders. They did not teach their children the meaning of Orthodox Christianity or why things happen in the church because honestly, they themselves do not know. They went to church on Sundays, and their actions in their daily life did not reflect that there was a connection between church and God. The youth are then left not connecting the gap between church and God.

Diaspora Youth Experience of Church 

Now that we know there is a gap between the idea of “Tewahedo Church” and God in the minds of diaspora youth, let us delve into the youth experience of church. I can describe my experiences as a teenager attending the Tewahdo Church as a tedious, cultural experience, lacking a relationship with God. I saw it as a traditional event every Sunday. From what I could see, there was nothing transformative happening there. I saw people standing up for hours at a time, a priest chanting something and pictures of all these people on the walls - but there was one huge factor missing- I never once experienced God. We did not learn how to pray, we did not learn how to connect with God. Many of us did not have Sunday School teachers that took Holy Communion and taught us about Holy Communion. We did not learn about how God sent the sacraments to the church so that we could experience Him.  We were not explained the meanings to the mezmurs, we were simply told to sing them each week. The key to understanding the Tewahdo youth experience is to understand that the church functioned as a community center, it is weekly meet up for Eritreans, it is where we remember our customs, it was where people keep up to date with what is happening in the community. As a youth, I saw the church as a place where we go to remember our traditions and come back home exactly the same. Why is it that youth have this cold impression of the church? It is because most of them have never experienced God at church. What do I mean by “experience God”? I mean feeling, and participating in the nature of God, being moved by Him, and becoming familiar with Him through your surroundings.  Most of the youth do not see the church as a place to grow closer to Christ, learn about Christian character, renew one’s faith. Why? Because we saw the adults around us attend Holy Liturgy, not take Holy Communion, simply having tsebel after church and go home with no true change of heart. Some churches even have arguing separation that repels the youth even more. Christ meant for the church to be a place of true change, uniting with Him through the sacraments and renewing one’s heart and mind, we must make sure our youth are experiencing Christ every Sunday through the Orthodox  Tewahdo teachings.

Part 2 next ......click link below

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For clarification on this article, resources  or other assistance contact me at my email : Dellila Tesfay: dtesfay1@gmail.com.
For Translated resources or assistance on  how to help your youth or Sunday school class can be provided by the English Youth Outreach Program (EYOP)  Eotyoc@gmail.com.

Glory be to God

And to His Virgin Mother

And to the Glorious Cross

Amen.