These kids bought a house!

Last year, after Mike and Dinah Monahan returned from their first trip to Ethiopia with our Ministry Director, Joy Casey, they gathered the Heritage House staff and shared their impressions of life in Ethiopia and the ministry YWAM is doing there.

One of the HH staffers, Missie Mata, was so moved by their stories that she invited Dinah to come and share a presentation of their trip with the kids in her Awana group at her church in Snowflake, Arizona.

Calvary Community Snowflake Awanas

Dinah showed the children pictures taken in a rural village. There were many shots of children and Dinah explained how these children are from extremely poor families, many without enough food or shelter. Her presentation was very moving and the kids in the group hung on her every word!

At the end of the presentation, Missie stood up and asked the kids if their Awana group would like to purchase a house for a family in this village. They all said, "Yes!" Missie and the Awana director immediately took the money they had with them and started the fund. And then... child after child began coming up to add their money to the fund - one dollar at a time. It was awesome to see the hearts of these kids moved to help children clear across the globe.

On the way home from Awanas that night, one eight year old boy named Braydon asked his mom, "Would it be okay if I give all the money in my penny bank to the kids in this village so they can buy a house? I was just thinking, there is really nothing I need money for and they need it so bad." He brought the money the next week - it was between $35 - $40. He had been saving that money for years. After Braydon shared his story with the Awana group, others brought all their change in as well.

Braydon

The commander of the Awanas built a little house that looks similar to one of the huts found in Ethiopia. A slit in the top provided a place for the kids to insert their donations and the collection continued over the coming weeks.

It only took about 6-8 weeks to collect all the money (about $400) to provide materials for one house! These kids saved and did odd jobs to earn a little extra cash to bring in. One little girl even colored pictures and sold them to teachers at school (her mom didn't know about it until she brought the money home!). Missie shared that all of the kids loved being a part of this effort to make a real difference in the lives of children and families in Ethiopia!

Way to go

Calvary Community Snowflake Awanas!!