Prayer Campaign

Etsubdenk - age 11

Ever since we attended the Children's HopeChest conference a couple of weeks ago, my heart has been increasingly burdened for the 25 kids at Merkato that still need sponsors.  I confess – in the past I have often fallen into a place of apathy, seeing the unsponsored kids more as something I need to get done and less as souls loved by the Lord and needing our help.  

We sang several songs during our worship time at the conference that focused on how much God loves us.  As I sang the words, I fixed my mind and heart on how much God loves THEM.  I shed tears as I sang words of his unfailing, overwhelming love for Our Kids.  And now I absolutely can’t get them off my mind.

Anwar - age 15

So here is my idea:  Let’s have a Prayer Campaign for the unsponsored kids at Merkato.   We are looking for volunteers to PRAY for all of the kids who do not have sponsors.  This is a great way to bless a child even when you are not currently in a financial position to commit to sponsorship.  Many of these kids may not have ANYONE who specifically prays for their needs.  Will you help? 

Pray for them like you pray for your own children:  For protection, for provision, for positive relationships and influences, for success at school, and most of all for salvation.  Pray that God will lead someone to sponsor them. 

We are NOT trying to guilt you into sponsoring this child!  But do pray that God will lead someone else to do so. 

Abudilmejid - age 15

If you are willing to participate in our Prayer Campaign, please leave a comment with your contact info (or a comment on Facebook or email me) and I will send you a photo and information about the child that you are to pray for.

“He upholds the casue of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets prisoners free,

The LORD gives sight to the blind,

The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,

The LORD loves the righteous.

The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and widow,

But he frustrates the ways of the wicked.”

-          Psalm 146:7-9

Break our hearts, Lord, for what breaks yours.

A Visit to Merkato

The following was written by one of our sponsors (we'll call her CC), who traveled to Ethiopia about a month ago. She got to visit with her sponsored child at Merkato while she was there. Be sure to watch the YouTube video of her singing Jesus Loves Me with her child, Fikrte.  It will make your day.  :)

God is good! It blows my mind when I think that last June, I was chatting in a park with a stranger (Daniel) who told me about the precious kids in Merkato, and less than a year later I was standing in Merkato meeting my sponsored child, Fikrte!!!! What an incredible experience! 

Two very kind staff members from Children's Hopechest accompanied me to the Merkato Care Point. They told me Fikrte was waiting for me and was very excited. I was so eager to meet her, that I didn't even stop to look at the outside of the building or take note of the surroundings, I just quickly followed them through a small room with benches and into a much smaller office. A tiny, beautiful girl was sitting in a chair and the translator introduced us. The girl in the picture that I had prayed for and thought about so many times was real!!!! The love I felt in that moment was overwhelming. I grabbed her, wrapped her up in my arms and told her that I loved her. 

We spent the next hour talking via the translator and playing with the goodies I brought her. The joy on her face as she opened each surprise was one that I will never, ever forget. My eyes are filled with tears just thinking about her sweet face. I took a Polaroid camera and a little photo album and we had a blast taking tons of pictures. I printed them out, put them in the album and gave it to her. She was elated! Fikrte told me she wants to be a doctor. I applauded her.  I asked her if she prays to Jesus and she started singing a song about Jesus in Amharic to me. It was beautiful! I told her that I am a vocal teacher and asked her if she wanted to sing with me. She did, so we sang Jesus Loves Me together…so special! 

The time flew by and the facilitators told me she had to walk home. I asked if I could walk her home and meet her grandmother who cares for her. They said yes! Fikrte and I walked hand in hand all the way to her home. Prior to the trip, I considered myself fairly educated about the extreme poverty in Ethiopia, but you can't truly understand until it is staring you in the face. It was shocking. We weaved through rocky, dirt pathways and eventually arrived at her "house." It was one tiny room made of tin. The facilitators introduced me to her grandmother, who graciously invited me in. Fikrte's grandmother had decorated the dark room with posters of Jesus and I could see that she had taken great care to make it a home. As I looked at the dirt floors and tried to ignore the almost unbearable smell of sewage, I noted that their entire house was the size of my closet. We have so much. Through the translator, Fikrte's grandmother thanked me for all I am doing for Fikrte and said she loved me. She said she asked God to bless me. 

He already had. 

It was soon time for me to say goodbye and I couldn't hold back the tears as I held Fikrte in my arms. I told the translator to tell her I was crying because I was happy, and she told me she loved me. When we were walking away, she ran out of her house, smiled the biggest smile, and yelled ciao. I memorized her face.  As we walked the narrow path back to the Care Point, I cried the ugly cry. I kept saying over and over, "We have so much." 

I was broken. I grieved for the people who have so little and repented for taking for granted all God has blessed me with.  

The meeting with Fikrte was life-changing for me, and I'm praying I can return to Ethiopia and see her again soon.


Your sponsorship money is life-giving to these kids and their families. Thank you for giving. If there is any way for you to meet your sponsored child in person, I urge you to do it! Your little one will know, without a doubt, that there is someone who loves them, who believes in them, and who is praying for them. It will change you. I'm praying that God will bless each of you and your sponsored children. 

Thank you Daniel and Sarah for your passion for the children in Merkato. I'm thanking God for that conversation in the park.

Video of Director of CHC Ethiopia!

This past weekend, Daniel and I were blessed to attend a conference at the Children's HopeChest headquarters in Colorado Springs.  Awesome, encouraging, equipping, inspiring...just a few words that sum up our experience there.  We got to meet many other couples who do what we do for different CarePoints in Africa.  We also attended sessions that equipped us to plan better mission trips, get more kids sponsored, and accomplish more to help the children in Ethiopia.  It was helpful and affirming in so many ways.

A definite highlight of the conference was meeting the Super Star Director of the CHC CarePoints in Ethiopia.  Tesfa!  This guy has accomplished amazing things in service to the Lord in the last couple of years.  The Ethiopia program has exploded to include 23 different CarePoints now, and it is continuing to grow fast.  This guy has worked extremely hard to make that happen.

We got to ask Tesfa questions about what is going on with Our Kids at Merkato, and Daniel shot some video of him.  Be blessed by watching the short video below of our friend Tesfa talking about Our Kids.



We now have sponsors for 123 of our 155 kids at Merkato.  Woo hoo!  Go to this website if you would like to join our awesome team of sponsors:  http://www.hopechest.org/community/merkato/sponsor/

School Supplies

School supplies were recently purchased for the kids at Merkato using sponsorship money.  All of the kids received exercise books, pens, pencils, erasers, and paper to start the new school year.  What fun to see these photos of their happy faces!  Thank you, sponsors, for making this possible.

45 New Sponsors!

It has been an exciting month!  God has heard our pleas to bring more sponsors for the children at Merkato, and he has answered our prayers.  Currently 106 of the 152 have sponsors to love them, pray for them, and help provide for them.  Praise God!

Let me back up...  Shortly after our kick-off event in March, the "K Family" from Virginia traveled to Ethiopia with Children's HopeChest on a Vision Trip.  They visited several different CHC care points on the trip and saw many needy and hurting children.  However, their hearts were most moved by what they witnessed at Merkato.  The poverty and desperation was more extreme than anywhere else they visited in Ethiopia.

When the "K Family" returned home, they sensed that God was leading them to help the children from Merkato.  They agreed to take on the same role that we have and are helping to coordinate more sponsorships for the kids there.  In June they hosted a kick-off event and have gathered about 45 more sponsors!

Joy, relief, and thankfulness are just a few of the emotions that we have right now.  We still hope and pray that every single child will soon have a sponsors (46 more to go!), but we are overjoyed to be 2/3 of the way there.

By the way, congratulations to Cameron - the winner of our giveaway last month.  Thank you for sponsoring one of the kids at Merkato!

Giveaway!

60 of the children at Merkato now have sponsors!  This is great news, but we want to see ALL of the 150 kids sponsored.  Sooooo.... From now until June 15th, for every child that you sign up to sponsor you will be entered into a drawing for a gift basket that contains the following:

• A $40 gift certificate to FashionAble (www.livefashionable.com)
• A $30 gift certificate to Red Earth Trading Company (www.redearthtradingco.com)
• A bag of Ethiopian Harrar coffee from Just Love Coffee Roasters (www.justlovecoffee.com)

Pretty cool, huh?  We will announce the winner here the week of June 25th.  Head over to the Children's HopeChest website now to check out the profiles and sign up.  

Also, please help us to spread the word about this giveaway by sharing links on Facebook telling your friends.  We need to find sponsors for every one of our kids!  

Meet Pastor Getahun

This is Pastor Getahun Shume and his family.  The sponsorship program at Merkato is the product of his passion, prayer, and hard work over the last several years.  He and his wife are rock stars in my book.  Here is a little bit more about his story:

17 years ago he began attending a small Ethiopian Orthodox church (the predominant religion in Ethiopia).  Gradually Getahun began taking on increasing leadership roles, eventually coming to lead the church.  Over the next couple of years the church grew.  However, as they prayed and studied together they became increasingly devoted to Jesus and less devoted to the traditional theology of the Orthodox church.  Because of this, the church came under sharp criticism and persecution from other Orthodox churches.  Eventually, they were completely cut off from the Orthodox church.

Undeterred and driven by passion for the Word and for orphans and widows, Getahun and his wife planted an Evangelical church in the middle of the roughest part of Addis Ababa - the Merkato area.  The church there is comprised of some of the most vulnerable people in Ethiopia.  The economic hardships that they face are indescribable, and the church, compelled by Jesus' love, has a burden to care for the many orphans in that area.

We first met Pastor Getahun two years ago.  He told us how his church members, though in poverty themselves, were giving to fund the care of 25 orphans.  They were providing food, clothing, and education to these kids.  They were also personally involved in their lives, mentoring them and teaching them about Jesus.  Getahun saw the difference that they were able to make in the lives of these 25 children, and he desperately wanted to expand the program to include more children.

Pastor G and several of the sponsored children

Now, because of sponsors here in America, 60 more children are being helped.  They now have a regular source of food and medical care and are receiving an education to help break the cycle of poverty.  60 more kids are being taught about Jesus!  For that we praise God and thank all of the sponsors for their support.

Would you consider making a difference in the life of a child today?  Click here to view the profiles of children who are waiting to be sponsored.

http://www.hopechest.org/community/merkato/sponsor/