Before Christmas last year, we put out a gift catalog for people to buy various things for the poor in Ethiopia. We had a great response and raised close to $3,000 to buy chickens, goats, donkeys, bio sand filters, soccer balls and other things. Money to buy fourteen sheep or goats was given and we had the privilege of going to the village of T’ede to see the fourteen families Adoption Ministry sponsors receive the precious gift of a sheep. But not only one sheep …. all were pregnant and two had already given birth with twins tagging along behind one ewe and one lamb behind another. The names of the families were written and folded on sheets of paper and the children drew the names for each to have a turn to select the sheep they wanted. It was a joyous day for these very poor families to be blessed with such a huge gift and their faces reflected their appreciation and their hugs to all as they left no doubt of their gratitude. I wish every person who gave money for a goat/sheep could have been there! It was such a unique time that one of the people traveling with me commented that he felt we were in a National Geographic story.
Soccer balls were given to the pastor of this village, also. He has a sports ministry with the children and soccer balls have a short life span so he is constantly in need of new balls. The dirt fields they play on are full of rocks and the balls don’t last long. But soccer is the draw for the children so we make sure Pastor Zerahun has plenty of balls. We noticed many of the children were in desperate need of shoes, so some shoe money was also given to the pastor to meet that need. The money donated for uniforms was given to our YWAM Children’s Director as he has a huge ministry to the community children in one of the poorest areas in Addis Ababa.
A bio sand water filter in a home in the village of T'ede
For those who gave money for life giving bio sand filters, we are in the process of having sixteen made! This is a huge gift that will bring clean water and health to sixteen more families (we previously installed fourteen) in a very remote village. There is a shortage of cement right now, so we are waiting on supplies, but hope to have them done and installed soon.
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