Shamaya's Joy

When I first moved to Ethiopia and would tell people my name, Teresa, they usually ask me what it means. I thought that was a strange thing to ask, but soon I came to know that in   They were kind of embarrassed for me too!

Ethiopia, everyones’ name means something. I was kind of embarrassed to say “umm, nothing.”

                                                                                

Typical ones I hear are Genet which means “Blessing” or if born near a holiday like easter Tinsai (means “Resurrection”), Ferris (means horse), and if the baby looks like the father- Hulemaya (“Seems like me”)

I have already told you about my young friend Zakarias. He is the 14 yr old boy with the terrible infection on his head. I first met him through a tragedy in his family. His father contracted malaria and it went cerebral-made him delirious and violent and one night with

his machete he killed his own 8 yr old daughter, Hannah. After a short time in the hospital and then some jail time, he was released. As horrific as this was, Shamaya(his wife) allowed him to come back into their home. When friends asked her about this decision, she told them that she is a christian and God still loved him. (although lots of this explanation was lost in the translation-basically she said she loved him.

I could not fathom reacting like that. But life went on...I continued to take Zak to the hospital 3x week for dressing changes...and then came the news that his mother was pregnant. Wow. I was stunned. But nine months later, the baby was born. It was a girl and she was named,”Asserasach”, which means “because of you my sorrow is forgotten”. Shamaya, a strong Christian woman, had prayed to the Lord to give her another child-a girl-to ease the sorrow in her heart. And so there she was! Shamaya was holding her baby and was beaming, her face was radiant with joy and peace-and a broken family was healed.