This entry is mostly for Ethiopian adoptive parents. I have had our driver interpreter guide on my mind for the last couple of days. These are pictures of him. Ephrim is his name. There are two young men that the House of Hope orphanage uses as drivers for families going to Addis that are adopting from the orphanage. The other driver’s name is Tesfu. We saw him at the orphanage but did not officially meet him. By circumstance, or otherwise, we were assigned Ephrim. I believe his name is actually Ephrem, but for his email address, and other things, he changed it to Ephrim. I don’t really know which is correct or proper.
Ephrim is by self admission and proud to be a born again Christian. If you are unfamiliar with that term, it’s OK. It just means he has experienced a complete yielding of his life to the worship of Jesus Christ. I won’t get into all of that here, if you understand it, great, if not, Ephrim is still a wonderful driver, interpreter and guide. I presume Tesfu is just as good.
Being what is known in many circles as a born again Christian myself, the term and Ephrim resonated with me. I did not discuss theology with him, and he did not press the issue. He is a part of the African evangelical revival that is growing, but he won’t try to proselyte you in any way. He is just a great young man, in his 30s, whom you can trust implicitly and enjoy being under his protective hand.
Ephrim was at one point a taxi driver in Addis so he knows how to get from point A to any other point, regardless of the alphabet. English you only have 26 options, in Amharic you have hundreds. And Ephrim knows all of them. He knows how to find you the best deals on everything from baby formula to Coke to Internet access. He will lend you a phone if you would like to stay in touch with him or call home even. He is just an amazing person. Not like anyone you could find here in the US as a tourist.
I just wanted to introduce you to Ephrim as more of Ethiopia begins to filter through my sub consciousness to expressible words.
I will be posting pictures and more narrative on the experience, but as each person’s experience will be somewhat different, I don’t want my personal take on things to overshadow what you will experience. Africa is an amazing place. For those of us who have no issue with blending creation with evolution it is the birthplace of the human race. And even if you ascribe to one camp or the other, it is still where it all began. So if you are going, be patient, go with the flow, and soak everything in.
Ephrim is by self admission and proud to be a born again Christian. If you are unfamiliar with that term, it’s OK. It just means he has experienced a complete yielding of his life to the worship of Jesus Christ. I won’t get into all of that here, if you understand it, great, if not, Ephrim is still a wonderful driver, interpreter and guide. I presume Tesfu is just as good.
Being what is known in many circles as a born again Christian myself, the term and Ephrim resonated with me. I did not discuss theology with him, and he did not press the issue. He is a part of the African evangelical revival that is growing, but he won’t try to proselyte you in any way. He is just a great young man, in his 30s, whom you can trust implicitly and enjoy being under his protective hand.
Ephrim was at one point a taxi driver in Addis so he knows how to get from point A to any other point, regardless of the alphabet. English you only have 26 options, in Amharic you have hundreds. And Ephrim knows all of them. He knows how to find you the best deals on everything from baby formula to Coke to Internet access. He will lend you a phone if you would like to stay in touch with him or call home even. He is just an amazing person. Not like anyone you could find here in the US as a tourist.
I just wanted to introduce you to Ephrim as more of Ethiopia begins to filter through my sub consciousness to expressible words.
I will be posting pictures and more narrative on the experience, but as each person’s experience will be somewhat different, I don’t want my personal take on things to overshadow what you will experience. Africa is an amazing place. For those of us who have no issue with blending creation with evolution it is the birthplace of the human race. And even if you ascribe to one camp or the other, it is still where it all began. So if you are going, be patient, go with the flow, and soak everything in.
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