Thanks to you…

We have MUCH to be thankful for in 2014.  And we want to thank YOU for caring for widows, orphans and at-risk families in Ethiopia. 

Ten children from Ethiopia came home to their forever families in the U.S. this year.

Six children at our Mana Gammachuu orphanage were placed in forever families in Ethiopia.



1,800 cans of formula were purchased providing the necessary nutrition for an average of 18 babies per month!



Via your YWAM Gift Catalog giving, many people received beds and bedding, Bibles, goats and sheep, food, clothing, water filters and solar lights.



99 families were ‘adopted’ this year through Adoption Ministry 1:27.  These extremely poor and mostly single mother households now have regular food to eat and hope for the future.  We now have over 350 families who have been embraced by sponsors like you!



Back to school packages, which included school supplies and registration fees, were provided for nine children thanks to your giving.



Twenty-five small businesses were begun by single mothers in five AM 1:27 project areas.



42 people went on mission trips with YWAM Ethiopia in 2014.  They ministered to prisoners, delivered food and bedding to AM 1:27 families, provided school supplies, conducted bible schools, built fences, blessed orphanage staff with an appreciation dinner, shared the gospel message and prayed with many.



Thousands of people have heard the Good News in many formerly unreached areas of Ethiopia and three new churches were established.



Five churches in the U.S. are partnering with us to support communities and our orphanage.



God has used your generosity to do so many life-changing things in Ethiopia!  We are incredibly grateful for partners like you and we look forward to what God has in store for 2015! 

Life-Saving Help for Babies

Meet Marc and Tegra Little, from Los Angeles, California…


In 2013, they began the process of adopting a tiny baby girl named Rahel. They met her in Ethiopia at an orphanage YWAM has worked with and didn’t know such a deep and profound love existed absent giving birth.


Only a few weeks into her life's journey, the circumstances of being born into poverty in Ethiopia took Rahel from this earth unnecessarily.  At seven weeks old, she passed away from a sodium deficiency (neonatal hyponatremia). In many orphanages in Ethiopia, it is common to make the baby formula last longer by adding more water than is appropriate simply because there is not enough formula to go around.  This negligent practice ended their (soon to be adopted) daughter's life before it ever really began and prompted them to found a formula fund effort – The Rahel Formula Fund.

Marc and Tegra are encouraged that with your help, Rahel’s short life birthed a legacy for other newborn babies who have a better chance because of her.  As strong believers in God's purpose for each of our lives, the Littles believe this tragedy presents an opportunity to respond to a need that is great in Ethiopia and that need is to purchase infant formula.  With your gift (any donation level helps), they continue to ensure that orphanages under the service of Youth With a Mission ("YWAM") have all they need to purchase formula and feed their newborns.

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A special message from YWAM
If we lived in a perfect world there would be no babies crying because they are hungry.  Newborn babies would not be found alongside a dusty path whimpering with only hours to live without intervention.  Unfortunately, these scenarios in Ethiopia happen way too often.   If the child is lucky, he or she will be picked up by a kind soul and placed in an orphanage.  If the child is really lucky, he or she will be fed formula that has all the nutrients necessary for optimal brain and body development.  Resources are scarce for what the nanny-mommies call "powdered gold." 'Thank you' can't begin to communicate the depth of gratitude when you donate toward a formula fund that can literally be the difference between life and death or be the tipping point between maladjustment and robust health in a tiny child.
Joy Casey
Executive Director
Adoption Ministry, YWAM

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Last year, contributions to the Rahel Formula Fund amounted to $7.915.  It costs between $100 - $120 a month for one baby.  Babies are given formula for the first twelve months and then are transitioned to cow’s milk with a daily multivitamin.  This generosity literally saved lives.  Government restrictions on international adoption have left orphanages without finances and unable to provide the quality care the children need. 

Here is how you can partner with YWAM…

If you would join the Littles in this annual effort, please go to Adoption Ministry of YWAM Ethiopia.  When you click on the DONATE button at the bottom of the page, you will see "Rahel’s Formula Fund" under the Gift Designation tab that has been set up to respond to this very unique opportunity.  We welcome your partnership and your tax-deductible donation. Please be sure to include your mailing address in your correspondence. If you prefer to mail your donation, please send it to:

Adoption Ministry of YWAM
P.O. Box 1145
Puyallup, WA 98371

Please make your check payable to "Adoption Ministry of YWAM" and designate "Rahel Formula Fund" in the Memo section of your check.

Holidays Can Trigger Big Feelings

Parenting Kiddos Who Sabotage Big Days
@jenhatmaker.com
“This is the worst day OF MY LIFE!!” (We hear this regularly on Big Days.) She will end up crying in her bedroom, devolving into shame: “I am the worst girl! I am on the naughty list! I ruined Christmas! I’m giving all my presents away!” I feel so frustrated that I sometimes snap, making it all worse. Ultimately, I dread Big Days altogether and while she is thinking she is the worst kid (bless her), I am thinking I am definitely the worst mom.

Yearly Grieving Struggles
@adoption.about.com
Holidays and birthdays can be a difficult time for many foster and adoptive families, as it may mean grieving for some children… memories are sometimes the only thing they have left of birth family.

Why Christmas Stinks Sometimes
@empoweredtoconnect.org
Try as I might to “practice what I preach,” I admit that my default reaction in situations like this is to “lay down the law.” But something told me that there was much, much more going on than simply bad behavior.

Creating A Hopeful Christmas for Your Adopted Child
@crosswalk.com
Imagine being a new visitor to a new home and being thrust into the thick of celebration their way. No one was really asking you what you wanted or cared about; however, they were expecting you to "get with it" and be happy about what was going on.

Celebrating Christmas with Newly Adopted Children
@onethankfulmom.com
Read all of the comments for some great ideas!


New Every Morning
@onethankfulmom.com

Gifts of Love For Christmas

If you're like me, you don't really remember what you got for Christmas last year.  Was it something you needed?

Have you ever spent a lot of time and money trying to make your family happy on Christmas morning?

Would you like a way to give this Christmas that extends the love of Jesus to those who really do need help and who really will appreciate what is given?

 
Our online YWAM Gift Catalog is a secure way to give to those in Ethiopia who need our help.

What a privilege it is for us to offer ways you can bless those who are in desperate need.

Here are some of the biggest needs:


$7 buys a bible for a new believer recently saved

$50 buys a personal, solar-powered audio bible for those who don’t read

$20 buys a solar light for houses without electricity





$25 buys a new shirt, pants, socks and underwear for a child

$75 buys a sheep or goat to generate income






$200 buys a bedframe, mattress and bedding so families don’t sleep on the ground

$300 buys one year of rent for families struggling to pay sky-rocketing prices







Visit our Online Gift Catalog and know the joy of giving gifts that change lives!

Giving That Empowers Others

This holiday season we are so privileged to provide you with an opportunity to invest in a single mother in Ethiopia, giving her the capacity to lift herself out of poverty.

Adoption Ministry 1:27 stabilizes at-risk families and then offers micro loans, coupled with business training and one-on-one mentoring, to start a business that will radically change the trajectory of a family.

We currently have 30 small businesses funded and operating. This means:

Kids go to school

Food is on the table

Living conditions are improving

Medical help is received

Families are being reunited

SMALL BUSINESS STARTS

$1,000 -- Cow for dairy cooperative
   $700 -- Pair of oxen for farming
   $600 -- Funding to start one business
   $300 -- Shop rent for six months
   $150 -- Water tank for agricultural production
   $100 -- Electric injera baker (injera is Ethiopia's cultural bread)
     $75 -- Livestock for a sheep fattening business
     $75 -- Moringa tree seed to plant 2 acres
     $50 -- Seeds and fertilizer to plant barley or maize
     $20 -- Solar light
Please visit our 'Send Help' webpage to donate these items and more!
 

SUCCESS STORIES

More and more women and men who have received help starting a small business through AM 1:27 are now self-sufficient! Their inspiring stories are here.