Ezra Gebremedhin (B.A., M.A., B.D., D.Th.) was born and brought up in Ethiopia, where he was also ordained into the ministry of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). Ezra's parents moved to Ethiopia from Eritrea (then an Italian colony) in the latter half of the Nineteen-twenties. He and his siblings received a deep and the lasting impression of the Evangelical Lutheran faith which had nourished their parents in Eritrea when they were young. A retired Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Uppsala, the author has also served as a pastor not only in the Church of Sweden but also among the Eritrean Diaspora and Ethiopians of Evangelical Lutheran and other Christain persuasions. This present work reflects experiences accumulated in the course of his academic research and teaching, his pastoral ministry, and everyday contacts among Eritreans, Ethiopians, and Swedes. Since 1994, the author and his wife, Gennet Awalom, are Swedish citizens and residents of Uppsala. The couple has three children, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.