A Soda Bottle and Some Glue
November 19, 2009
Life on the Streets
Yesterday I was enjoying a typical lunch with some of Children’s Home Ethiopia’s beneficiaries of injera (Ethiopia’s cultural bread) and shoro watt (chickpea stew) at CHE’s Drop-In Center. As I sat there trying to converse with the kids in Amharic about school and life, I noticed a boy at the door. The boy wanted lunch so a staff member invited him in and gave him a plate. Henok was his name, and he plopped himself down and proceeded to cram the food into his mouth as if he was afraid it was going to be taken from him if he didn’t act fast.
Henok is a handsome boy of about 14 years, with a crooked smile that can easily be mistaken as a smirk. I watched him for a while and noticed that his eyes were bloodshot and glazed over. We locked eyes for a moment at which time I knew something wasn’t quite right. There didn’t seem to be any emotion, any thought, or any consciousness in his stare. It was like I was looking into the eyes of a dead person. I looked at his coat sleeve to see if my suspicions were correct, and was not surprised to see it bulging near the cuff.
In his sleeve was a plastic bottle that contained his cure to the many pains (hunger, neglect, cold, etc…) in his street life – SHOE GLUE. An occasional swig of those fumes simply make life a bit more bearable for Henok. After lunch he staggered outside to play foosball with some of the other kids. A staff member pulled him aside and asked him to give her the bottle of glue while he was at the Drop-In Center (one rule is no drugs at the Center) and she would return it before he left. Henok laughed and then I watched him wobble down the driveway and out of the compound with the bottle of glue never leaving his sleeve. We prayed today that he would come back soon.
While on the streets children, like Henok, are easily lured to things that will dull the hunger and other pains associated with street life. Smoking, drinking, drug use, and even gas or glue inhalation are some of the coping mechanisms children begin to employ. Such things produce momentary comfort, but can severely impair their capacity to mature into healthy adults.
The realities of these forsaken children’s lives are devastating and overwhelming until you embrace the fact that there is a Savior for them and it’s not you or me. My hope tonight is that Henok will know Jesus as his Savior and will no longer need the glue to dull his pains.
Pray for Henok.
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
Recent Visit to CHE
July 14, 2009
One of the first things I heard from Joe Bridges after landing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was that there was a pre-teen girl named Metu who was giving them great concern. She was absolutely homeless and was residing at Children’s Home Ethiopia, but she was openly challenging authority and calling the staff names in front of the other children. They didn’t know what to do other than send her away, but they hated the very thought of that. The Lord put her on my heart and I began praying for her every day.
I met her one day later on Saturday as we did a two-hour Vacation Bible School for the S.A.F.E Project kids and a few of the drop-in center kids, including Metu. She was all smiles and, like all the rest of the children, very glad to see us and eager to have their pictures taken. As we drove through the city later and Joe saw the children’s hospital, he remarked that this was the only place he knew in Addis that treated children with psychological disorders and he wondered if Metu needed some care there. She never showed any sad emotions, Joe noted, and he suspected that she might have been abused. He told us her real name was Wode.
Monday through Wednesday was our VBS for the drop-in kids. On Monday we talked about how God is our loving Creator and that as such He has given us the good gifts of our bodies and our souls. We should take care of these good gifts by washing our hands, brushing our teeth and taking preventive care against germs. On Tuesday we talked about how we had not taken very good care of our souls, that all had sinned and disobeyed God, even though He gave us the good gift of His rules for our own good. We walked through the Ten Commandments and talked about how all of us had disobeyed them. Wednesday we talked about how Jesus died to forgive our sins, that He was God’s good gift to rescue us from God’s own judgment. I encouraged the children afterwards that if they wanted to receive Jesus’ forgiveness and give Him their lives, they should talk to one of the counselors.
A little later Metu mentioned to our translator, Sami, that she wanted to ask Jesus to be her Savior. So Bisrat (one of the staff) and I took her aside and I asked her what made her want to do this. She said that as I had talked about Jesus’ forgiveness it had made her very happy. I made sure she understood what was involved in making Christ her Savior and gave her suggestions of how she should pray. She prayed. She seemed very happy. I asked Bisrat if he thought she was serious and he said, “Yes, she is very serious.” We left the next day but I got to see Metu one more time before we headed home. Thank you God for rescuing those who come to you for help and salvation. Thank you for saving Metu.
Life in Ethiopia is…
May 22, 2009
Overwhelming – Needs abound here unlike anything most people experience in the developed world. Take one step onto a street in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and you are likely to see unmet urgent medical needs (at least in a Westerner’s perspective), subtle and overt child abuse (again, in a Westerner’s perspective), heart wrenching poverty, and stares so intense that you wonder if your soul is exposed.
Humbling – Despite the extreme poverty faced by most Ethiopians, you can expect to be an honored guest whenever you visit an Ethiopian’s home. Whether you want it or not you will be served their best food, provided with a beautiful coffee ceremony, and provided with any comforts they can find in their humble homes. Usually I leave such experiences blown away by the hospitality that abounds in this amazing country.
Confusing – Going to any government office to seek help (for instance, trying to inquire as to why your water is not working) will make your head spin. Not only is there no designated place to ask questions, but there are also no such things as lines here in Ethiopia. You may think you are the next person up, only to become severely disappointed when you are quickly passed by a little old lady desperate for help herself. The amazing thing is, this is not rudeness or selfishness oftentimes, but rather a mere difference between Western and Ethiopian cultures. Who am I to fault this person who has never had to stand in a line her whole life? Isn’t culture funny?
Convicting – At one moment you may be complaining that there is no electricity at your house, only to feel severely sorry for such an attitude when you see a child asleep on a street corner. Coming from a country like America where anything you need is at your fingertips makes transitioning to life in Ethiopia a struggle. Nothing is easy and often you go without, but that “without” is often meager in comparison to what your new neighbors have never had – running water, electricity, for some, a roof, and the list goes on.
Fun – Ethiopians know how to have a good time. Whether it’s joking with your friends while having a cup (did I say cup, I meant cups) of coffee, playing football (soccer) in your small front yard after dinner, or participating in an off the cuff fashion show with the neighborhood children, you’re sure to find yourself laughing a lot here in Ethiopia. I’m beginning to believe that God gives us laughter to deal with the difficulties that life often brings. Maybe that’s why Ethiopian’s are so good at laughing – life for them is very difficult, but they still find joy in the small things.
I thank God for my life in Ethiopia. I believe I will be a better man and a better follower of Jesus because of it!
God is Moving at CHE
May 18, 2009
God is so amazing how he works. Ashenafi, the unofficial leader of the current group of children attending Children’s Home Ethiopia’s (CHE) Drop-In Center, was very emotional during a recent goodbye ceremony for two visitors from America, Tom Ashworth and Kim McCoy.
For some reason I really felt like I should pull Ashenafi aside after the ceremony was over. I did pull him aside with Nega Meaza, Director of CHE, even though circumstances were not very conducive to doing so – kids were fighting, the landlord of the Drop-In Center was waiting for Nega, and Tom and Kim were in the middle of it all (I wanted to rescue them).
As soon as Nega and I started to talk to Ashenafi he began to weep. I basically just asked what he was feeling and then God did the rest. Ashenafi was so moved because he could not understand how Tom and Kim, strangers from America, could love him and the other children so much. Nega and I explained that their love for him and the others stemmed from their love of God. It was at that point that Ashenafi expressed his desire to go to church and learn how to love and follow God…
…As soon as Ashenafi said this I knew the Holy Spirit was their working on his soul and I asked what he knew about following God. His response was that he knew very little. As you may know, understanding this is a lifelong process, but Nega and I were able to explain the most important part of what it means to be a follower of God to Ashenafi – trusting in Jesus as Savior and committing to live life for him.
What was so amazing to me is that we never once mentioned heaven or hell until after Ashenafi confessed that he was a sinner and that he believed that Jesus was his Savior and wanted to follow him. So, I told Ashenafi that Jesus had indeed saved him from his sins and then I got to share some of the best news – that he now has a place in heaven because of his faith in Jesus. At that point I asked if he would like to pray to talk to God about his new faith. I offered to say a prayer and let him repeat, but he said he would pray himself…
He put his head between his legs, wept, and prayed to Jesus. It was truly amazing to witness God working on his heart.
Nega took Ashenafi to church on Sunday to get him plugged in and Aserat wanted to come too. The 3 of them went to church together and heard a great sermon. The preacher gave a invitation during the prayer.
Nega said that when he opened his eyes Aserat was down front looking nervous but raising both his hands. He gave his heart to Jesus on Sunday!
When Joe went to the drop-in center this morning Aserat ran to him telling him excitedly in Amharic what had happened on Sunday.
Please pray for Ashenafi, Aserat as they are entering into this new relationship with God. Nega and the CHE staff truly have an important place in their life now as disciplers. The time constraints of running CHE will be a hindrance, as I’ve seen it be in many other areas, so pray that they will have the time and make the time to spend with Ashenafi and Aserat.
Meet Bizrat…
April 29, 2009
Bizrat has been employed by CHE since early 2008 and serves as an assistant to the director as well as a social worker. His responsibilities include:
- meeting with the parents or guardians of both the Drop-in Center and SAFE Project beneficiaries
- visiting schools
- checking in on the students
- paying school fees
- talking with and caring for the Drop-In Center children
- teaching Amharic to the beneficiaries
- facilitating the Saturday SAFE program,
- and helping the Director with administrative and financial issues as needed
Bizrat is a true asset to the CHE team. He will not only perform any task that’s asked of him but he will do it with a cheerful heart.
Bizrat was raised in an Ethiopian Orthodox monastery by his blind dad, who is a monk, and his blind mom, who is a nun. When Bizrat was about 13 years old two visitors came to the monastery and shared the gospel with him.
Bizrat became a believer!
On the next visit, the visitor brought him a bible and he fell in love with Jesus and His Word. When he was 18, he began to boldly tell others in the monastery about Jesus. He was thrown into jail for 3 days without food or water. After 3 days he was placed on the top rack of a car, escorted out of the monastery, and taken to Addis Ababa.
Bizrat was not allowed to ride inside the car because it was believed that he would curse it. He knew one man in the city who was also forced to leave the monastery and Bizrat eventually found him. They began a bible study and Bizrat became employed by Young Life Ethiopia.
Bizrat definitely has a gift for evangelism…
Shortly after coming to Addis Ababa, he began visiting a leper colony. He started a church, which has now planted other small churches within the colony. Many of the families eat from the garbage left over from local hotels. Bizrat, knowing where the meals come from, eats whatever is offered him by the families. In his words, “if you don’t eat with them then you can’t share the gospel with them.”
As you can imagine, there is a stigma attached to leprosy. Bizrat works to displace the stigma of leprosy by loving the “unlovable” just as he works to displace the stigma of being HIV positive, an orphan, a widow, or a child living on the streets by loving the children and parents associated with Children’s Home Ethiopia.
Life In Ethiopia
March 13, 2009
Life in Ethiopia is interesting to say the least. There are so many things that differ from what we’re used to in the States. For instance, there is no Wal-Mart! I know this sounds trivial, but what I’m talking about here is that there is no one-stop location to get everything you need. Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of mom and pop businesses thriving, but in the States there is a convenience (you can easily find what you need) to such locations that is not offered here in Ethiopia. For example, we have been here for two months and we just found some hooks to hang in the bathroom for towels and clothes. Again, you may be thinking, trivial, but when you come from a culture where anything you need is readily available, not being able to find a simple wall hook can make you crazy at moments.
Although there are moments of insanity within the Bridges household here in Ethiopia, Karyn, the kids, and I are really doing well. There have been moments of illness (Karyn and I have had our fill of dodging our children’s vomit), marital tension (talk about a marriage boot camp), and disgust (a sure sign of culture shock), but all these things pale in comparison to knowing that we are in God’s will. There is no doubt in our minds that Children’s Home Ethiopia needs us here in this time and that is why God brought us from normal (to us) ole’ Memphis, Tennessee to a crazy place called Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Really, when it all comes down to it, the reason we’re here is to love. Love our children. Love each other. Love the Ethiopian street children. Love our Ethiopian friends. Love the staff of Children’s Home Ethiopia. Please pray that we succeed!
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Recent Article About The Forsaken Children – The Sanford Herald
November 11, 2008
Local man joins mission to feed neglected children in Ethiopia
By FAITH SWYMER
SANFORD — Joe Bridges approached short-term missionary trips with an open-minded love of traveling and embracing foreign cultures.
But then he arrived in Ethiopia.
During that trip in late 2004, Bridges was shocked to witness the abuse and neglect of the country’s estimated 4.6 million abandoned children who wander the dirt streets, often the victim of Africa’s AIDS epidemic and economic despair. Many fell victim to businessmen who promised their parents they would attend school and have a better future, only to end up in sweatshops, if they haven’t escaped.
“Seeing children living on the dangerous and dirty streets without an adult guardian in sight was totally life-changing,” said Bridges, a Deep River native who moved to Memphis, Tenn., upon college graduation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “This actually began a three-year journey for my wife, Karyn, and me to explore why Ethiopia, and really the world, is full of situations where children seem to be the target of Satan’s energy.”
Inspired by the lives he touched on a short-term mission, Bridges teamed up with missionary Michael Granger of Indianapolis, Ind., and Ethiopian Nega Meaza to form the Children’s Home Ethiopia in the capital city of Addis Ababa, a non-government organization that works with street children to meet their physical, emotional, developmental and spiritual needs before ultimately placing them with an Ethiopian family.
To help fund the initiative, Bridges returned to Memphis to jumpstart The Forsaken Children, a humanitarian non-profit organization that looks to build awareness and funds to aid projects that benefit Ethiopia’s orphans.
“One thing I realized while in Ethiopia was that I, a man who had never made more than $25,000 in a year, had great financial wealth in the eyes of most Ethiopians,” he said. “Now,The Forsaken Children’s mission is to advocate for Ethiopia’s children at risk by building sustainable financial support… and helping these organizations to develop into strategic, long-lasting interventions.”
Through the organization, two additional projects emerged to complement the work done at the Children’s Home, one of which Bridges used to reach out to a close resource to lead — his older brother, Jonathan, a Sanford resident.
Jonathan Bridges, who was working at Wyeth Vaccines in 2006 after serving as the Fish Barn manager with the N.C. Cooperative Extension, left his post to head the organization’s Kota Ganate Agriculture Project at the urging of his brother, the youngest of four Bridges siblings. The project aims to boost the country’s farming economy with hopes the financial benefit will lead to less children being abandoned because of economic hardship. The project includes a small for-profit farm that will be operated out of southern Ethiopia to provide an additional source of income to fund the organization’s projects.
For Jonathan Bridges, the opportunity came as a surprise that was met with immediate hesitance to someone who had never traveled out of the country or had any ambition to.
“However, during that first visit to Ethiopia I got the confirmation that I needed,” he said of his first trip in January 2007. Jonathan Bridges has since returned to the country several times to work for the organization, including a recent trip over several months this past spring and summer with his wife Jessica, when he interacted daily with the orphans.
“It’s shock, honestly,” he said of Ethiopia’s living conditions. “There’s just poverty and disease there everywhere.”
The agricultural initiative was inspired partly by Ethiopian 13-year-old Ephrem, who was abandoned in Addis Ababa and has no recollection of his birthday — his age is an estimate — or where he comes from.
“There’s so many tragic situations you see there,” said Jonathan Bridges.
In addition to the Children’s Home and the agricultural initiative, the organization is also currently involved in a Student and Family Education Project to send children to school.
“Put simply, The Forsaken Children’s plan of action is to work with Christ-centered Ethiopian projects that fit into one of our three strategies — rehabilitation, prevention and sustainability,” said Joe Bridges. “We believe that hope is available to Ethiopia’s children at risk through hearing and understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ, leaving the streets, and becoming part of a family.”
Although his path into humanitarian aid and mission work was not foreseen, Lee Christian School Administrator Stephen Coble was delighted to learn that Joe Bridges, a 1997 Lee Christian graduate, ventured down that path.
“I knew they were involved in their church… and their church was very mission-oriented,” said Coble of the family’s membership at Flat Springs Baptist Church on Deep River Road in Sanford. “I was pleasantly surprised to hear he got involved in the mission field… it’s definitely its own service that has its own blessings and blesses others.”
The school will host the Bridges brothers as special guests as its weekly chapel service at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 21. Coble has also taken the initiative to spread the word of The Forsaken Children to local pastors during the school’s Pastor Appreciation Day.
“I would like to see more young people involved in this sort of business,” said Coble. “It gets people’s minds off their own problems. We’re still among the most blessed in the world.”
As for Joe Bridges, although he no longer resides in the Sanford area, he feels he brings the Christian roots he was raised with to the Memphis-based organization.
“Sanford provided me with a foundation for the faith I now have in Jesus,” he said. “The staff of Lee Christian School, the Flat Springs Baptist Church, my own family, and many others from Sanford cultivated who I am today.”
http://Sanford.southernheadlines.com/index.cfm?section=48&story=5987
© 2008 by sanford.southernheadlines.com. All rights reserved.
Introducing the Student And Family Education (SAFE) Project
November 4, 2008
I am thrilled to introduce you to The Forsaken Children’s newest partner project, the SAFE Project of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The SAFE Project represents an important component of our 3 strategies for fighting the orphan and street child epidemic in Ethiopia, PREVENTION. By the way, the other 2 strategies are rehabilitation (see Children’s Home Ethiopia) and sustainability (see Kota Ganate).
Over time we at The Forsaken Children have found that focusing on education and family support is key in preventing more Ethiopian children from turning to the streets as their home. Therefore, we are thrilled to become the SAFE Project’s partner because it revolves around these two important issues while also sharing our foundational purpose, to point people to Jesus as their Savior.
Mission: The SAFE Project exists to afford poor families the ability to send their children to school, preventing these children from turning to the streets for their livelihoods. In providing school fees and family support the SAFE Project team creates relationships and opportunities that point the students and their family members to Christ.
Basic Project Details:
Beneficiaries: 80 children and their families
Schools: The children attend 14 different schools
Activities: Home visitation and Saturday programs for students
Project Potential: In the future we hope to help the SAFE Project create micro-enterprise solutions to the families’ economic crises.
Follow these links to learn more:
Student And Family Education (SAFE) Project
Meet Yohannes Belihu, a SAFE Project Student
What Is God’s Heart for Children?
October 1, 2008
These number are simply staggering…
- There are approximately 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia.
- Many of these children live on the streets of this impoverished country.
- Estimates of children living on the streets throughout Ethiopia…as high as 500,000.
So the question is…
What Has Caused This Travesty?
While there are many theories about what has caused such devastating conditions for children in Ethiopia, I have my own theory.
I submit the core issue that has produced so many forsaken children in Ethiopia (and worldwide for that matter) is this: Society as a whole does not share God’s heart for the children He has created.
I was recently drawn to a description of God’s heart for children I read at Viva.org:
- God creates every unique person as a child with dignity.
- Children need parental love in a broken world.
- God gives children as a gift to welcome and nurture.
- Society has a God-given responsibility for the well being of children and families
- Children are a promise of hope for every generation.
- God welcomes children fully into the family of faith.
- Children are essential to the mission of God.
So what do you think? Do you agree with me, or have your own views to share?
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