From living on the street to studying at university

We first told you about Tesfaye in 2011. Now he’s in his third year of uni and he’s still reading the Bible.

We met Tesfaye when he was 17 years old. Having grown up on the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, Tesfaye came to faith after he was taken in by a children's home run by Christians. Here he heard the Bible for the first time, on a Proclaimer – a radio-like device that plays an audio Bible.

Tesfaye Zemelak, 17, at The Light House children's home in 2011.
Photo credit: Bible Society/Clare Kendall

At that time, as 90,000 people were thought to live on Ethiopia’s streets, mostly in the capital. Two thirds of these were thought to be teenagers. Tesfaye was one of them. His mother had died and he began living on the streets at the age of 13 having fallen out with his father.

Shocking change

After sleeping in an electricity station to keep warm, Tesfaye was electrocuted and ended up in hospital with serious burns. Here he was visited by the team from The Light House, a children’s home run by Christians.

When we met Tesfaye he was sitting with a group of boys debating a Bible passage. ‘My life has changed totally,’ he told us. ‘God has a plan for me. I’m trusting in Him now. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, but I believe that God has a plan.’

Hopes fulfilled

Five years on, Tesfaye is in this third year at university. We don’t have any up-to-date pictures of Tesfaye but we’re happy to say he took his Proclaimer with him!

In fact, Hanna, who runs the children’s home, says that every time a young person goes to university, they take a Proclaimer with them.

‘This is a community of believers that is really growing fast,’ explains Endrias Kacharo, project coordinator in Ethiopia. ‘The young people are committed, faithful, and they are witnessing to the role of the Bible and how it has transformed them.’

Join us in prayer for Tesfaye and for our Faith Comes By Hearing projects, bringing the Bible to life in audio form across Africa. 

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