written in Ethiopia on Tuesday Oct 22
“A generous man will himself be blessed
for he shares his food with the poor.”
Proverbs 22:9
Today I met friends from a church in Idaho and together we visited families with Adoption Ministry 1:27. Jason Shadrick and others from his church are here in Ethiopia for two reasons: to strengthen their church’s ties to their sister church in Kore* and to be part of the dedication of the worship center this coming Sunday in the village of Gutumuma. I am also laying the groundwork for Income Generating Activities (IGA) for a number of families in the Kore and Nefas Silk** projects. Tomorrow I will do the same in another area of Addis Ababa called Bole Bulbula.
One of our visits …
Let me introduce you to a warm, kind-hearted lady with a deep faith in Jesus Christ. Her name is Negest. She has three delightful children and has also brought a young relative in to live with her.
She was alerted we were coming, so she had popped popcorn and made rich Ethiopian coffee for her guests. Selam, her darling 10-year-old was home sick from school, Tsaga, who is 14 and goes to school in the evening was there, as was little 3-year-old Bereket. Her oldest daughter, Meret, was studying in school.
Prior to being “adopted” by Scott and Dawn, Negest led a very hard life, laboring without education or opportunity while trying to earn enough to keep her family somewhat fed and together. She said the hardest thing for her and her children was they had very little to take for lunch at school and what she could put in their lunches the other kids made fun of. Now, since Scott and Dawn support her monthly through Adoption Ministry 1:27, her family has plenty to eat every day and she can proudly send her children to school with proper lunches and she has teff (Ethiopian wheat) to bake injera (Ethiopia’s cultural bread). Before being adopted, she could never afford teff. Her biggest problem now is that the rent on her one room house keeps going up and she is expected to pay the equivalent of almost $27.00 a month! This may seem low to you, but it is generally more than she can earn in a month’s time.
Negest is a good candidate for our micro loan IGA program. She told me, “I want to work hard to rehabilitate myself.” She has shown she is not afraid of work, and she is bright and articulate. She indicated she would like to become a barber and open up her own shop one day.
We gathered and prayed together before leaving, and my own private prayer was based on Proverb 22:9 which I read just this morning, “God, bless Scott and Dawn who are giving so generously to Negest and her children. Thank you so much for faithful families like theirs.”
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Next, we went to Nefas Silk Meseret Kristos Church where Asegid, the Adoption Ministry 1:27 case manager, had food delivered for the 32 families supported through our program there. It was great to see all the dear familiar faces! After a time of prayer and worship, each one signed for their food and then Jeff Burns took their picture. Most of them were without children as they were in school, but I will send a fresh picture along with an update on each family when I can get it all typed out.
It was fun to greet them, and my interpreter said that the women were frustrated because they want to tell me how thankful they are for this food and the other things Asegid does for them. They want to be able to say thank you to each of their sponsors, but they know that is impossible. So, on behalf of each family represented in Meseret Kristos Church located in Nefas Silk … THANK YOU!! to each person, couple or family who “adopted” these families.
*Kore is a section of Addis Ababa that is home to lepers, the disabled, and the very poor. It is a community of 125,000 people tightly packed together in an urban ghetto.
**Nefas Silk is an industrial area of Addis Ababa where AM 1:27 partners with a wonderful Meseret Kristos Church
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Perhaps you would like to help a family like Negest's to become self-sustaining? Only $400 provides a small business start for a woman who is prescreened and qualifies for this help. Please contact us for more information:
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