A Concert for Food

Lisa has never been to Ethiopia, but her friends have. Their stories and pictures broke her heart into little pieces and she determined to do something about it. Music is her passion, so she decided to gather some artists together and put on a benefit concert to raise money for food that would be used by Adoption Ministry of YWAM to feed the people they serve.
 

Basic Food
$15 will buy one month of basic staples for a family of four, and another $15 will see that the family has fresh vegetables and teff flour (Ethiopia wheat) for bread.
 

Formula for babies
One medium can of formula costs $5.50 and $93.50 will feed one child for a month. The demand for formula is high because mothers infected with HIV whose baby is not HIV+ cannot breastfeed due to the high risk of infection, so it is extremely important that we get formula, bottles and bottled water to these women. In the capital city of Addis Ababa, formula is available for sale, but no poor person would have the ability to pay for it. In the outlying areas, it is not possible to find formula at all.
 

The trouble with food is …. it runs out! People have to eat every day, and babies demand a lot of formula to fuel all the growing they do. Each month, Adoption Ministry needs about $2,000 just to supply food to babies, families and the elderly; that includes the transportation cost to purchase and distribute the food.

On December 1^st musicians gathered at a church and offered their talents to the Lord. A very talented jazz band highlighted the evening, and the band director said afterward, “Seeing the faces in the slides and hearing their values caused me to appreciate the things I already have with less focus on the things I don't have.  That's my Christmas present.”

Lisa Boyle-Davis (our hostess) and Miriam Aflakian added their beautiful voices to several of the band’s numbers and made the evening extra special. The little children were called forward and a jolly man in a Santa cap read The Night Before Christmas to their delight. An 8-year-old girl played the piano with amazing maturity, and a mother/daughter duet with the flute and violin was also very lovely. It is always joyous when children perform, and we were not disappointed with the rendition of The Lord God Made Them All performed by Cornerstone Classical Academy students. The evening ended with an acapella group harmonizing Christmas carols that ushered the audience into December with all the wonderful sounds of the season.
 

January 7^th is Christmas in Ethiopia according to their Julian calendar. Every penny of the money given at this concert will go towards making their Christmas month extra special. We will supply meat and basic food staples for 100 families and formula for at least 12 babies.  (Meat is rarely, if ever, available for the poor.)  The extra boost from this concert might allow us to give a Christmas treat of coffee and sugar to many of the elderly and sick that are so dear to God’s heart. Of course, if there are more babies that need formula, fewer people will get the luxury of meat and coffee. Our policy is to collaborate closely with the people working on the ground in Ethiopia to make the final determination of where the finances should best be used.

“Thanks” doesn’t begin to express our deep appreciation to all the people who came out on a chilly December Saturday to offer their “fishes and loaves” to the Lord. Mark Wolbert, Adoption Ministry’s Mission Director, and Joy Casey, the Executive Director, shared poignant stories of elderly widows, throw-away malnourished children, and mothers unable to feed their children. It is these unfortunate people that the proceeds from this concert will serve.

We give our Lord Jesus Christ all the glory and honor. We thank all the musicians for sharing their talent. And we are extremely grateful for those who attended the concert and gave generously.