Interview with Dr. Abe Gebeyahu, part 2
www.CrossCulturalVoices.org
Feb 17, 2026
John Yoder: Hi everybody, and welcome to Cross-Cultural Voices. My name's John.
Robin Karkafi: Hi, I'm Robin.
Maisee Vang: and I'm Maisee.
John Yoder: Last time we met Dr. Abe Gebeyehu, who told the story of coming to the United States as a young adult, how he and his wife had their two sons here, and how they planted their Amharic language church, and how they've begun to reach in the English language to others in the community.
But in addition to being a husband, a dad, and a pastor, Dr. Gebeyehu is also a counselor, and that's what we want to talk about today. Dr. Gebeyehu, what was it that led you into going into the field of counseling?
Abe Gebeyahu: Yeah, thank you Pastor John, my brother Robin and Ms. Vang. I really appreciate you for having me again.
This is a great conversation to talk about, what mental health looks like in our community. But to start with your question, what led me to come to become a part of the mental health field.
It's a very personal thing. I lost my oldest sister because of an undiagnosed mental health complication. My oldest sister is two years older than me. She had a reactive attachment disorder, which I didn't know about until I entered graduate school.
She had that reactive attachment disorder, because my mom and my dad separated when my sister was six years old and I was four years old. I didn't know that much about my dad, but my sister knew him very well. After my mom and dad divorced, that attachment disorder really affected her whole life. She was unable to enjoy life at all.
She had two kids, but really messed up her life. If I had known this, if my sister had received support at early age, she would not gone through all this crisis. She would have been enjoying life. She would have not died at such an early age.
Her death led me to enter the field of mental health. So in 2013, right after I finished my graduate class, I moved into the graduate school for community counseling. I graduated in 2017, and right after that I started working as a mental health professional with SPMI. This refers to a population with serious persistent mental health crises.
John Yoder: In your church, you work with first generation Ethiopians who were born in Ethiopia and came here as adults. You also work with the second generation who were born here in the US. What difference do you see in those two in terms of their readiness to even talk about mental health issues?
Abe Gebeyahu: For the first generation, we don't believe in mental health. We think discussing mental health is a sign of weakness. We think our mental health is a negative spiritual influence, like demonic influence. That's what the first generation thinks. There is a taboo or stigma about discussing mental health.
So we prefer to deny our feelings, denying the emotional part of our lives. But that’s part of who you are. It's just the way it is. No one is permitted to say, Oh, I am sad today. I'm depressed today. I'm not motivated today. I am down today. No one is permitted to talk like that, because as I said earlier, it's seen as a sign of weakness. Or it's a sign of being cursed by an outside spiritual influence. That's how the first generation sees it.
And the second generation is different, because many of them have gone to school and learned a lot. So they're okay to talk about mental health, to talk about their feelings and their emotional struggles. But still there is an influence from the first generation to not talk about those things. Don't go to counseling, don't see a therapist, don’t connect with a psychiatrist or psychologist. It's not good.
They think that having any kind of mental illness means you’re crazy. So we have this taboo, this stigma, and this stereotypical approach. That's why there's a huge difference between the first generation and second generation.
John Yoder: I remember chatting with a young woman who was born in the US. Her parents had come from Africa. And she had a bachelor's in some form of mental health. And as she dealt with patients, she would often recommend first of all, talk therapy just to discuss your issues with someone, and often medications.
But her parents were absolutely clear that depression is from demon possession. And the solution is to cast out the devil. How do you respond to parents like that?
Abe Gebeyahu: The important part is education about psychology. We need to educate the community. You're right, Pastor John, in our community, the only solution we see to mental illness is prayer. We don't see a need to go anywhere. We don't have to see psychiatrists, we don't have to seek medical care, we don't have to seek any mental health therapist. We don't have to see anyone, let's just pray about it.
So this is how we manage things, because we think that a prayer is a master key that opens any and every door. Now, I believe in prayer. Prayer is the most important thing. Prayer is a part of our spiritual life. It’s part of healing. I understand that.
But prayer can also be an opportunity to talk about your feelings. That’s one form of prayer. It’s an engagement, a connection. It doesn’t mean just to close your eyes and kneel down and pray. It’s communication.
We need to educate our people. This is what I shared in my short video broadcast two or three weeks ago. I discussed how important it is to bring this conversation into the church. The church has to open up, to have a stage to discuss mental health, including our feelings.
There are so many people in the Bible who dealt with mental health issues. Elijah, David, John. They’re human beings. God has a feelings too. Not only people, but God has feelings too. He doesn’t deny feelings. But unfortunately, we are teaching our church members to deny their feelings. So we need to begin a conversation. We need to open up and bring the conversation into the church community.
We need to train our people to accept the existence of mental health issues. People are not afraid to tell others they’re diabetic. They openly say, I’m diabetic. I have back pain, I have a kidney problem.
But when it comes to mental health, people are ashamed of that. Because of that, we are losing so many people due to complications of mental health issues. We are losing so many youth and young adults to suicide and overdosing. It’s because we're not open to talk about it. We don't have a space in the church to talk about mental health, to talk about how to deal with feelings and emotions.
John Yoder: I speak with pastors who are absolutely brokenhearted because some of their adult kids are addicted or have other issues. But they don't see a path forward. Some have spent their entire lives never talking about emotions, (and it's not rewarded in their social circles). They’re trained to just say, Praise the Lord and tough it out. What helps those people make the transition to say Yes, we need to be discussing our feelings and mental health issues.
Abe Gebeyahu: As I said earlier, it's better to create awareness. That's why I started my broadcast talking about facts and truth. The truth is the biblical part. The Bible is truth. And we have facts too. Politics is a fact. Finances are a facts. Marriage is a fact. Relationships are facts. Business is a fact. So we need to balance both of those things. We need to have a balanced approach between facts and truth.
That's my podcast, which I started to create an awareness for the East African population and for my community population. Hey, let's deal with it. Let's not hide these things. Let's not deny these things. Let's deal with it. Let's talk about it. So that is how I challenge church leaders.
A month ago, a close pastor friend right here from the Ethiopian community shared that a 23-year-old in their church died because of an overdose. That kid was born and raised here in the United States, grew up in church, was a part of the Sunday School, went to college. And now he's gone. So I think it’s really important to create awareness.
John Yoder: Dr. Abe, where is your broadcast? Where can we find it?
Abe Gebeyahu: You can find it through the East African Wellness and Resource Center broadcast. We talk about truth and facts. And I talk about my clinical perspective balancing both views. We have it on YouTube. I also I have it on TikTok and Instagram and some other social media platforms.
John Yoder: So you're on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. If in those platforms they just look for your name, will they find it?
Abe Gebeyahu: Yes, they can find that, or they can put in the East African Wellness and Resource Center.
John Yoder: Okay. We want to encourage everybody to look that up. Because if somebody comes from an African background and they don't want to deal with emotions, one of the best things you can do is find an Ethiopian Ph.D. who's a pastor, believes the Word of God is truth, and is a role model.
Same for Latinos, same for Asians. I know marvelous Latino counselors, Asian, Russian, African counselors, licensed therapists, committed to the word of God as truth. And people need to tune in to their blogs, podcasts, whatever it is they have, because that validates these things for the Christian community.
Maisee Vang: Dr. Abe, thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. My question for you is, after creating these videos and the education that you've been putting out, what are some of the changes that you have seen, whether from the first generation or second generation? Or I guess my question can also be, how receptive have they been of this?
Abe Gebeyahu: It's been about two months since I started this broadcast. The outcome so far is very encouraging. It's my intention to be very short and clear. I’m just creating an awareness.
Robin Karkafi: Thank you Maisee, for asking that. 'cause I feel like communicating to the younger generation and trying to understand, and help them understand their feelings and the things they're going through, and the things they need to grow.
I find that in the older generation, what I've found is that especially coming from a Middle Eastern background, there is definitely that callousness. There's a sense of shame and sometimes pride that a person needs to uphold.
That’s to both men and women, and I feel like it falls heavier on men. I feel like women tend to support each other better when they talk to each other. When people of the younger generation deal with older generation that still struggle with that pride and shame, what would you say to them?
They love their leaders. They want to connect with them. They want to see them as someone that they could come to and be vulnerable with. But there's still a bit of that callousness. And if there are older generation leaders listening right now, what would you tell them towards, taking a good first step in that direction of allowing God to soften their heart?
Because that's what I've really seen with the older generation is God either does it through an easy way or a hard way. But he will soften hearts whether you like it or not. And I've seen it happen the hard way. It's never fun.
Abe Gebeyahu: Yeah. Thank you, Robin. I think that's a great word. The words that you mentioned, that pride and shame is one of the challenging parts, especially for the older generation. The first thing is, let's just swallow our pride. And then also let's not be judgmental about it. Please don't judge anyone, regardless of what we see as the weaknesses or the struggles of others. The reason why God shows us the things our brothers and sisters struggle with is not to judge them.
It's about having compassion and welcoming them. That's why he showed us. It's not about judging them. Maybe they are disobedient. If they sin, they will harvest the consequences of that sin. They face those consequences even if we don’t judge them. That's enough. God has his own way of dealing with each person.
So let's not be judgmental. Our first generations are very judgmental. I'm sorry to say that. We are. We don't have to be judgmental, regardless of what others have done, how they dress, what they’re like emotionally, physically, socially, financially, or the struggles they have. We don’t have to judge them.
Let's be open. And that is the space the second generation is looking for. That's the space everyone is looking for, by the way. You know what I mean? Using Bible verses to judge others doesn’t endear us to them. So let's swallow our pride and not be judgmental.
John Yoder: So if there's a young person listening in, and in their middle school and their high school, they're constantly talking about mental health issues. They've got a lot of vocabulary to talk about it. But in the church, the people who speak for God don’t address these issues. Young people conclude that God is irrelevant, that Jesus does not understand them, and that Christian faith has no meaning for their personal lives. What would you say to that young person?
Abe Gebeyahu: I would say that there are so many biblical stories that I can share. Starting from the life of Jesus and the life of David, the life of Jeremiah, the life of John, the life of Samson, the lives of so many of the Bible’s great men of God's, people who had been dealing with mental health issues, emotional crises, but God never judged them.
He never judged them. He never cast them out. He welcomed them. He comforted them. You know what I mean? He gave them a way out and he supported them. He was with them every step of the way, rather than pushing them aside.
We need to share these stories. How David was up crying all night. How Elijah said it was better for him to die than to live. He was afraid, and he was suicidal. Hearing these stories can give our youth and young adults a sense of relief.
Maisee Vang: Thank you for bringing that up. Dr. Abe, I love how you brought up King David, right? I think he is the prime example of the right way that we should be counseling with God. He went to God in everything with lamentation, right? That is the correct way that we should go to God and in our anger, in our sadness and everything.
And I think that the one word that comes to mind is restoration. I believe that when we go to the rest of the world, we can express our feelings of how we feel. And I believe that it makes us feel better. But eventually, who is the one person that can truly bring us restoration? And I believe that is only possible through our Almighty God.
Abe Gebeyahu: Amen. Amen. That's right. Let me add one more thing to this, Ms. Vang.
It's great how we can connect with the people in a Bible story. You know that widow lady, the prophet Elisha prayed for her and she had a baby? Her child died at the age of five or six. And then she brought him to the bed at Elisha’s house. And she left him there and she walked out to look for Elisha the prophet. He was the one who prayed for her, and who gave her family the promise of God. She went out to look for him and her husband.
In the middle of the street he found her. He asked, Where are you going? What are you looking for? Where are you going? Is everything okay? She said that everything's okay. Why did she say that? Because she was looking for the right moment. There's no way she could hide this thing from her husband, but she did for the moment.
This teaches us that we need to be very careful the way how we communicate. In our difficult times, who do we need to connect with? How do we connect with them? These are biblical principles, and they are examples of the principles of relationships we can share with our young people from the Bible.
Maisee Vang: Yeah. Amen. Thank you.
Robin Karkafi: Speaking of learning things from the Word of God, one common idea that pops up here and there is the Sabbath, and respecting the Sabbath. Do you feel like there is, because of all the pressures that the younger generation is experiencing, there's a lack of consideration for the Sabbath? And can you see that transfer over to their married life or their future life as adults? Like if they don't take the time to properly rest, or they're not taking the time to process the emotions in their life, the way they're thinking, their issues and problems, like what triggers conflicts between, let's say a married couple.
Do you feel like for the younger generation and the older generation, there's a problem with doing too much? You need to slow down and focus and steward the relationship that God's given you. That comes with meditating on the Word of God and respecting rest in the Sabbath. So how do you see that?
Abe Gebeyahu: Robin, this is a great question. Let me say this. The word disciple came from the word discipline. Disciple means someone who has disciplined his or her life to something. That's why we call it discipleship. Discipline is very important to be a good disciple of Christ.
So we need to discipline ourselves. And the first generation has good discipline, a disciplined life. In the first generation we do see that the commitment. There is a prayer time. Everyone has a prayer time. Hey, this is my time to pray. This is my time to read the Bible. This is my time to have devotions.
I think right now, social media is ruining everything. For many people, there used to be a family prayer time, a family devotional time, a family Bible study time, a personal prayer and Bible reading time.
I remember that we have had those disciplines. But right now, everybody is full of busyness. This social media is running everything. People are missing that great disciplined life. To answer your question, the second generation needs to have this discipline of a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus.
Let me repeat that again. A personal relationship is not collective only. As a group, we can come together and worship with music and other means. We can worship together. We can scream, we can yell. That's great. That's good. But that doesn't define where you are in your faith unless you have a personal, intimate relationship.
That's the most important thing that helps this generation grow up in Christ, and live out the true Christian faith. But I am afraid, Robin. Does our second generation have this discipline? I doubt it.
We are living in this instant gratification of social media’s interactive environment. This is a very challenging thing. Of course, we need to pray for our youth and young adults, for the second generation. We need to pray because everyone has to have this personal encounter with Christ daily. That's the one thing which is really important.
Robin Karkafi: Oh yeah. And I feel like distraction is the enemy's biggest weapon right now. Even people in ministry, I would go ahead and say when things go well and they're pushed, that they become workaholics. They become too obsessed with the next thing. And outside of ministry as well, it happens all over. It is this distracted generation, young and old, everybody.
Abe Gebeyahu: The way the devil is distracting us. We’re missing the whole Christian life in the name of busyness. I'm busy. I'm busy. I'm busy. So we are losing our ground.
Thank you very much for the things that you guys are doing to support the youth and young adults, especially the immigrant community. This is great. I've been listening your audio podcast you send and, I've found it very helpful. And having this kind of genuine timely conversation is really important. We need to have this more and more for our community. Thank you very much for what you're doing. You guys, may God bless you. We'll keep in touch and I really enjoyed my time with you guys.
John Yoder: Just to remind everybody, Dr. Abe's podcast is available on YouTube, on Instagram, on TikTok. His name is spelled Abe Gebeyehu. Look for him, and we just really appreciate you joining us today. We'll talk to you next time.
