Strategy
August 27, 2009
Last Saturday Karyn and I participated in the first meeting of Children’s Home Ethiopia’s strategic planning for the next 3 years. I was honored to be a part of such an amazing group of people. Present were six CHE beneficiaries, six mothers who are on the parent committee for the SAFE Project, all the CHE staff, the chairman of CHE’s Board, and two representatives from The Forsaken Children (Karyn and me). It was exciting to hear all the ideas that this diverse group had swimming around in their minds. They saw problems I never knew existed and presented solutions that were profoundly insightful.
I was reminded on that day of the importance of pure knowledge. Why do I call the information exchanged in this meeting pure knowledge? Because it was not given by trained experts, read from any book, or derived from scientific calculations. Rather, it came straight from the people living, working, and experiencing life in the area of Addis Ababa where CHE operates. These are the true experts of what problems exist there and of the potential solutions for these problems.
Next weekend the strategizing will continue over a three day period. I am eager to participate and see how the strategic planning shapes the way the CHE staff, volunteers, beneficiaries, and especially I approach the challenges and opportunities before us
Maruf’s Choice
August 10, 2009
For some time now the staff of Children’s Home Ethiopia has been praying for Maruf, one of the boys in the halfway home. Since coming to CHE’s Drop-In Center Maruf has been challenged to consider where to put his faith, in Allah, the god of his family or in the one true God and His son Jesus Christ. About a week ago Maruf stormed out of a devotion time that Abezu (the halfway home’s house mother) was leading and went to sleep. That very night he was tormented with dreams about whom he would choose to follow. The next morning he told Abezu about his restless night and that soon he knew he had to make a choice.
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| Maruf |
Today Maruf made his choice. After stating that he knew he had to choose Christ last night during prayer time at the halfway home, today he joyfully confessed Christ as his Savior. Feeling a bit skeptical, Abezu had her eyes on him during church today. She was overjoyed to see him lifting his hands in worship to our Lord and Savior. At that very moment she began trying to call Nega and anyone else she could think of who had been praying with her for Maruf’s soul. Eventually she reached Zede, CHE Drop-In Center’s former night guard, who is now living in Chencha, Ethiopia and working as a guard for the Kota Ganate Project. Just 20 minutes ago we (Karyn, Jonathan, Nega, and I are currently in Chencha visiting Kota Ganate) sat speechless as Zede relayed the exciting news.
I had to pass the news on ASAP so you can praise God with us for His work in Maruf’s life. Please continue to pray for Maruf as he grows in his faith.
Kota Ganate Here We Come!
August 6, 2009
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| Jonathan with Children’s Home Ethiopia children |
Two days ago we picked up Jonathan (Joe’ brother) from the Addis Ababa airport. Tomorrow we load up the car with supplies, babies (Jack and Mac are coming!), Nega (Children’s Home Ethiopia Director), Jonathan, Rosa, Karyn, and me. We are going to Chencha, Ethiopia where the Kota Ganate Agriculture Project is officially starting. Our main purpose is to accompany Jonathan who will be staying in Chencha for one month to work alongside Terikine, the Kota Ganate Project Assistant Manager.
I am so excited about this trip. There are many reasons I’m excited, but the main one is because Kota Ganate is such an integral part of Children’s Home Ethiopia’s future. Kota Ganate will eventually not only fund the work CHE is doing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with at risk children, but it will also help prevent more children from meeting such a fate.
Chencha and its surrounding villages are known for its manufacture of textiles and many children are sent to Addis Ababa to work in textile mills. These children endure harsh living and working conditions and are denied their basic human rights. The “better future” these children and their families are promised is never realized and in fact, many of the children will end up escaping from these sweatshops only to be trapped in a life on the streets.
It is our belief that the primary causes of child trafficking in this area are hunger and poverty. Therefore to reduce the incidence of child trafficking we should focus our efforts on increasing food and economic security. Kota Ganate will do just that as well as partner with other organizations that are fighting to end child trafficking.
So, Kota Ganate here we come!
Check out Jonathan’s blog spot to get to know him and his passionate investment in this project.
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| Jonathan and Nega on KG future land |
