Reprinting and translation of Yonas' book
Donation protected
Thanks to David Ford for helping to coordinate the financial side of this request.
My birthday wish this year to see Yonas' book reprinted in time for the 4th anniversary of its release, and to start the translation of the book into English. Yonas' book is titled Bet Yataw Betegna, which means "home, but not my home", in reference to the church. It is only in Amharic.
Yonas spent most of the 2013 and 2014 writing a book about music in the Ethiopian church. Music is his passion and his God given talent. During his many years working in the music department of the church, as a leader of a Christian singing group and a choir director for several congregations, he heard the experiences of many other Christian musicians and their struggles. His book is a work of research that talks about the reformation, slavery and history in relation to music around the world. Most importantly, it talks about mesur (the Amharic word for music) and zefen (the Amharic word for secular music).
In Amharic these two words have very different meanings and within the church these words have caused immense division and controversy. In the Amharic translation of the Bible, mesmur is the word used in place of music while zefen was used to translate words, that in English and other languages, has no reference to anything musical, but is used in Galatians 5: 19-21. Many Christians struggle because of the Biblical references to mesmur and zefen. Based on the Bible, most Ethiopian Christians believe that mesur must specifically mention God or be sung in the church, otherwise all other music is zefen, a sin. That often includes Beethoven and other great classical composers, jazz music, traditional music and even children's songs. Thus, when a Christian musician searches for work to provide for his family, if he does anything but music in the church or performing Christian music, he must choose between his talent and his membership in the church.
It has been three years since his book has been available as we have not been able to afford to have it reprinted and to manage the costs of personally distributing it (as there is no distribution system in the country). During 2019 his book has been brought up in very public discussions three times, each time unexpectedly after a significant event in Ethiopia relating to zefen. One example was with the singing of a beautiful Ethiopian song about peace (written by one of Yonas’ students) that did not specifically mention God at the Noble Peace prize presentation to Prime Minister Dr. Abiy in Oslo, Norway. Another was following the death of a famous singer, who was a Christian but forced to leave the church when he started to sing beautiful zefen songs.
Yonas has been spending a lot of time explaining his book to those who cannot find it, and to those who want to argue and who have no desire to even read it. His intent is not to push anyone to his point of view, but to give Ethiopian Christians the information they need to think critically and to make an informed decision for themselves about the value of music and valuing Christians who choose to play the music they are gifted with, even in the face of rejection. The time for us reprint his book, and to translate it into English, is now. At the end of January a new book was released here by an Ethiopian pastor who lives in DC, in opposition to what Yonas wrote about music for fear of how it will destroy the younger generations in the Ethiopian church, without speaking clearly or expanding on the argument, or providing solutions. Yonas' book is therefor in demand, particularly as many people are now looking to the facts and history in his book to understand his viewpoint and try think more critically on the issue.
We need your help to have the book reprinted! This go-fund-me will allow us to reprint 2000 books and to begin the wok of translating it into English, which will be valuable to the younger generation of Ethiopians who live abroad and face these struggles with their parents, but who do not read Amharic.
This is a surprise for Yonas so I will not be sharing this via social media links, but you are welcome to share this link.
Thank you for support!
This photo was taken during the official release on April 27, 2016.
My birthday wish this year to see Yonas' book reprinted in time for the 4th anniversary of its release, and to start the translation of the book into English. Yonas' book is titled Bet Yataw Betegna, which means "home, but not my home", in reference to the church. It is only in Amharic.
Yonas spent most of the 2013 and 2014 writing a book about music in the Ethiopian church. Music is his passion and his God given talent. During his many years working in the music department of the church, as a leader of a Christian singing group and a choir director for several congregations, he heard the experiences of many other Christian musicians and their struggles. His book is a work of research that talks about the reformation, slavery and history in relation to music around the world. Most importantly, it talks about mesur (the Amharic word for music) and zefen (the Amharic word for secular music).
In Amharic these two words have very different meanings and within the church these words have caused immense division and controversy. In the Amharic translation of the Bible, mesmur is the word used in place of music while zefen was used to translate words, that in English and other languages, has no reference to anything musical, but is used in Galatians 5: 19-21. Many Christians struggle because of the Biblical references to mesmur and zefen. Based on the Bible, most Ethiopian Christians believe that mesur must specifically mention God or be sung in the church, otherwise all other music is zefen, a sin. That often includes Beethoven and other great classical composers, jazz music, traditional music and even children's songs. Thus, when a Christian musician searches for work to provide for his family, if he does anything but music in the church or performing Christian music, he must choose between his talent and his membership in the church.
It has been three years since his book has been available as we have not been able to afford to have it reprinted and to manage the costs of personally distributing it (as there is no distribution system in the country). During 2019 his book has been brought up in very public discussions three times, each time unexpectedly after a significant event in Ethiopia relating to zefen. One example was with the singing of a beautiful Ethiopian song about peace (written by one of Yonas’ students) that did not specifically mention God at the Noble Peace prize presentation to Prime Minister Dr. Abiy in Oslo, Norway. Another was following the death of a famous singer, who was a Christian but forced to leave the church when he started to sing beautiful zefen songs.
Yonas has been spending a lot of time explaining his book to those who cannot find it, and to those who want to argue and who have no desire to even read it. His intent is not to push anyone to his point of view, but to give Ethiopian Christians the information they need to think critically and to make an informed decision for themselves about the value of music and valuing Christians who choose to play the music they are gifted with, even in the face of rejection. The time for us reprint his book, and to translate it into English, is now. At the end of January a new book was released here by an Ethiopian pastor who lives in DC, in opposition to what Yonas wrote about music for fear of how it will destroy the younger generations in the Ethiopian church, without speaking clearly or expanding on the argument, or providing solutions. Yonas' book is therefor in demand, particularly as many people are now looking to the facts and history in his book to understand his viewpoint and try think more critically on the issue.
We need your help to have the book reprinted! This go-fund-me will allow us to reprint 2000 books and to begin the wok of translating it into English, which will be valuable to the younger generation of Ethiopians who live abroad and face these struggles with their parents, but who do not read Amharic.
This is a surprise for Yonas so I will not be sharing this via social media links, but you are welcome to share this link.
Thank you for support!
This photo was taken during the official release on April 27, 2016.
Organizer and beneficiary
Gail Gorfe
Organizer
Thunder Bay, ON
David Ford
Beneficiary