I was born in Asmara, Eritrea and lived there till I was four years old. We moved to America and back then, we did not have Tewahedo Orthodox churches. The closest church we had to our faith, was a Greek Orthodox Church. All of my childhood and adolescent years, I grew up learning only about the Greek Orthodox faith. When our Eritrean people (including my parents) decided to start an Eritrean Tewahedo Orthodox church, of course my family and I started attending regularly. However, EVERYTHING was new to me and I had no idea where to begin.
Every time people asked me what my faith was, I was so scared to tell them. Not because I was ashamed, but because I knew a million questions would follow about the Tewahedo Orthodox faith, which I was not prepared to answer. Our priest came straight from Eritrea and he did not know English. We did not have any deacons at our church that I could learn from. We had no resources to help me to better understand my faith. Nothing was available on YouTube at that time. I was in despair and prayed for God to help me, so that I could help the youth at my church.
After a year of praying and hoping, God answered my prayer. I was informed of a Deacon who lived in Canada and was born and raised in the diaspora. Everyone was impressed with this Deacon from Canada, because he spoke English, Geez and Tigrinya fluently. His mission was to help the youth in North America. By God’s grace he was also selected to be the Sunday School Director for the five Eritrean Orthodox Churches (Tentawit Tewahdo/Archaic Faith) in America and Canada. He created a prayer book in English and a Sunday School Youth Handbook. It was amazing!!! God provided me with someone who would change my life forever.
After learning the basics of Tewahedo Orthodox, I was so happy to tell people about my faith and I was truly proud to be a “Tewahedo Orthodox Girl.”
If you are wondering what happened to the Deacon from Canada, stay tuned!
Author Selam Seyoum
Tewahedo Orthodox Girl 
Keep up the good job.
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Amazing blog im eager to read whats coming. God bless you for having this out for us tewahdo youth.
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Hey Selam!
This website is great, lots of great info already! God bless!
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Thank you so much for blogging…we need more of this personal stories so to relate with diaspora…God bless your service
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Amen Aron haway. You are absolutely right. God willing many more of my personal stories from being single to getting married and becoming a priest’s wife are coming soon. Stories to help encourage our youth to stay strong in our beautiful Tewahedo Orthodox faith. Stay tuned!
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Yes indeed…I hope and pray more of your kind…meaning those who kept themselves pure for marriage, born or raised here, devoting their lives for God in faith need to speak up more about the challenges of this times….With all the pressure young girls go through…it is not the time to stay silent for fear of being too open…we need to speak and encourage…on how it can be done…I hope more with both of you like a video conversation and step by step guide…Dellila from ATL has also started to talk about her personal experience and on what to do with relationships…I believe it is the fundamental event that could damage a girl’s spiritual life if not dealt with at early age….God bless your service…
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Amen Aron haway. Thank God and Kesis Hermon for encouraging me to start this blog. I never thought about it, but he realized there is a huge need for it. I hope what Dellila and I are doing will help and impact the life of other girls and helps them to stay strong in our Tewahedo Orthodox faith! God willing in the future, we will implement your ideas. Keep us in your prayers!
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Hi Selam,
Thanks for your blog. It’s really nice to see someone sharing the faith from a young woman’s perspective. Would you send me an email or let me know how best to get in contact with you?
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Hi Rahiel, it’s my pleasure and hope it helps other young girls to stay strong in their faith. You can email me anytime, my email is tewahedoorthodoxgirl@gmail.com.
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