Over the years, I have seen our Orthodox Tewahedo children leave our church using the same doors they entered for several years. As first generation children, our church is struggling to maintain our youth within the faith let alone the church. As a congregation we are unaware or unwilling to accept the issues facing our youth growing up in America. We are not special; issues that are a difficult to any other young children affect us on a daily basis. Surprisingly, these issues are affecting kids at a younger and younger age. The only solution is for the church to teach the youth about the narrow gate and tell them how to enter. This mission was accomplished through United Orthodox Tewahedo Youth’s 2nd Annual Conference: Enter Through the Narrow Gate (Mathew 7:13).
Alongside 160 guests (children and adults) from all over the United States, we learned about the narrow gate and what each of us must do to get through. Having attending all of the sermons on Saturday I was blown away and must share what I have learned with you. Deacon Dawit Muluneh gave a profound sermon on the narrow gate. He described the two roads: one is a wide road leading to destruction but is the road of comfort for the flesh and the other is the narrow road leading to salvation. Drawing on his own life experiences and the experiences of others, he grasped our attention and encouraged us to find the narrow road. Taking it a step further he had each of us write down what is one thing we would like to work on over the year and what spiritual step we will take to accomplish this. Watching an auditorium full of youth take part and write in their notes their goals and actions was very powerful.Deacon Ephrem Megenta and Kesis Sayefa gave powerful sermons on the “how” to travel the narrow road and enter the narrow gate. Deacon Epherem shared the 5 important pillars of living an orthodox life: liturgical life, fasting, contemplation of holy books, self-control, and living a life of charity. Kesis Sayefa, identified 5 rules of spiritual warfare: loving all people, using a spiritual eye, forgiving, not loving the world, and being doers of the world not just listeners. Attendees asked deep intellectual questions and received answers directly from the bible without judgment. Witnessing Zemari Yilma and Zemarit Fanut’s children, Zemarit Egzihariya and Zemarit Tsion, I am eternally grateful to those who thought of organizing the youth in such a way. I am thankful for the committee members, to TASK Sebeka Gubea and our fathers who worked hard to organize this conference this year. Seeing our own Sunday school members, who were once the young taking on the responsibility of playing host gave me hope? The unity our church congregation showed to make this conference successful was beautiful.
Attending this conference truly clarified many questions about my own spiritual journey. Although many argue the use of English as the primary language, it is important to realize we must meet our youth where they are. Their spiritual journey within our faith is crucial. We must not watch our children leave through the same church doors they entered all through their childhood. May God help and protect us all.
By Lelna Desta
