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Tens of thousands of Ethiopians, forced to flee from Tigray to neighboring Sudan since last November, found temporary solace with the Jan. 7th commemoration of Christ's Nativity
The refugees celebrated Christmas in the church built 42 years ago by Tigrayan migrants. (Photo by ABDULMONAM EASSA)
By Augustine Passilly, Um Rakuba | Sudan
Dozens of white silhouettes advance in the night. After making the sign of the cross three times, they prostrate themselves, sometimes even kissing the ground, and then enter the gate leading to a church in Um Rakuba.
This Sudanese village lies some 70 kilometers from Ethiopia and is the main permanent reception camp for the nearly 57,000 Ethiopian refugees.
They fled there from Ethiopia's Tigray Region, which has been locked in a civil war since November 4 when federal forces loyal to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched an assault on their region.
But the Christmas Eve liturgy (Jan. 6) provides a brief respite and moment of hope for these shell-shocked displaced people, members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which has been autocephalous since 1959.
They sit on straw mats and listen to a deacon preach in front of the building with its white-and-blue painted walls.
They can hear the intonations of a choir coming from inside. There, priests, monks, deacons and young men celebrate the birth of Christ until dawn, standing with a stick (mequamia) in the left hand as their only support.
Their chants are punctuated by three tom-toms as well as small metal instruments, tsenatsls, which they shake in unison. Their bodies sway to the music.
On the right side of the building, with their hair covered by scarves, women and nuns also pray all night long.
Yohans Nguse is the main priest of this community and a fellow refugee. He reprimands the young men who lean against the wall during the ceremony. It's called kidase, and commemorates the songs of the first witnesses of the nativity.
"We must remember, on this occasion, the patience of those who waited for Jesus and the goodness that he taught us during his life," says the priest, trying his best to encourage his fellow exiles.
Yonas Solomon, who is just 17, also believes that "all we can do is rely on God".
He appears tired from the vigil, which he interrupted for only two short hours to sleep on the concrete path next to the church. Solomon, who is preparing to go to university, hopes to obtain "God's forgiveness since (he) has sometimes lied or fought, and (did) not respect the fast".
Members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church fast for 43 days before Christmas, allowing themselves only one vegan meal a day.
And Solomon makes the 15-minute walk from the refugee center to the church every morning and evening.
He prays for his father and stepmother, who have remained in Tigray, and asks that he might be able to join his brother in Ireland, where he hopes to become a deacon for the local Ethiopian community.
On Christmas Day, he shares injiras (large Ethiopian pancakes) and chicken with a 47-year-old woman named Kndehafti Huluf.
"I think of her as my mother," Solomon says.
"We will never lose our faith"
Huluf, who worked as a supermarket cashier in Tigray, continues praying despite an impaired eye.
She walked several hours during the night to reach the Sudanese border. Her husband and one of their two daughters stayed behind.
A few tents away, Balatou Brhanu prepares coffee for her mother, brother and some friends.
Behind her big smile, the 21-year-old accounting student regrets the absence of her father, who could not follow the rest of the family.
"We will never lose our faith in God," she says.
"We know God will help us, so every day we will continue to pray to go home in peace," she vows.
Although the Ethiopian prime minister announced the end of the offensive on December 7, the refugees are certain that hostilities will continue.
But they have found some temporary consolation by joyfully celebrating Christmas at the church here in Um Rabuka, which Tigrayan migrants built 42 years ago.
Father Nguse, the refugee priest, say he was pleasantly surprised to find an Ethiopian Orthodox Church building in a country where 97% of the population is Muslim.
He says that as soon as he saw it, he had "the feeling of being reborn".
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