In a Perfect World – No Halfway Homes
March 10, 2010
Just yesterday I sat in amazement as a mother of one of Children’s Home Ethiopia’s beneficiaries came into the office and blasted the staff because her daughter had ignored her on the street. Not only did she pitch a fit to these staff members who are responsible for her daughter’s education, daily lunches, and general wellbeing, but she also had the audacity to express her desire that God strike down her little girl.
It turned out the incident where the mother felt ignored was a total misunderstanding. After overhearing her mother’s rants, this 13-year-old girl tearfully knelt in front of her mother to apologize for the misunderstanding. I had to bite my lip as I thought of the injustice in this situation – here this girl was, trying to restore the relationship with her furious and irrational mother. Shouldn’t the tables have been turned? Shouldn’t the 13-year-old girl have been the irrational, emotional wreck and the mother have been the voice of reason and reconciliation?
Of course such a scene is not the case for all of CHE’s beneficiaries. More often than not, I am amazed by the love and care these children receive from their desperately poor parents. But, there are those children, who need to be rescued from their own parents. The new girls’ halfway home started for children with such stories. The girls who reside there were basically pulled out of situations that were dangerous to their development and to their chances of ever leaving the streets. An abusive drunk for a father, a mother who steals her child’s clothing, and parents who let their young daughter roam the streets until the wee hours of the morning are some of the situations that the new halfway home’s residents are coming out of.
As I consider each girl who is at the new home, I have a swell of conflicting emotions from deep sadness to excitement. God has made these girls to be incredible young women despite their former home lives. One girl is brilliant and consistently top of her class. Another lights up any room she enters with a smile and her kindness. And still another has the ability to effortlessly make anyone laugh. I feel incredibly blessed to know everyone of the girls at the new home. And to think, their parents may never know what they’re missing.
In a perfect world there would be no need for halfway homes. Unfortunately this world is far from perfect, so I am happy to be a part of what Children’s Home Ethiopia is doing for the vulnerable children of this fallen world.
Thank you to everyone who gave to The Forsaken Children to see this Halfway Home become a reality!
Please pray…
- For the girls at CHE’s Girls’ Halfway Home. Pray especially that they will feel God’s incredible love for them through CHE’s amazing team.
- For God to radically change the hearts and lifestyles of their biological families.
- For Ethiopian foster families that will one day be able to provide these and other children with the families they need.
The Way, The Truth, and The Life
February 27, 2010
Picture if you will a dirty older street boy about the age of 19 years. He’s a rough and tumble youth and the designated leader of a gang of street boys ranging in age from 11 to 19 years. This boy, we’ll call Abebe, gets all kinds of ideas in his head for his “little” group of followers. This week his idea revolves around a prostitute.
Abebe decides one evening that he will bring a prostitute to their usual hangout and each of the boys can pay to have their turn with her. The price is set per boy and the protection of choice- a plastic bag.
This young girl, possibly a child herself, spends the evening allowing upwards of 15 boys violate her for 10 Ethiopian Birr a piece. (Today’s exchange rate is 13.5 Ethiopian Birr for every 1 US Dollars.) Do the math & you will see that she “earned” approximately 75 cents for each boy. That night she sold herself for $11.25 and 15 possible chances of contracting HIV/AIDS.
Folks, we aren’t talking about consenting adults! We’re talking about children- some only 11 years old. Innocence repeatedly lost! Lives constantly shattered! These kids consistently allow themselves to be abused and actively engage in abusing others. They see and do things that are absolutely unimaginable to us as adults.
This is a true story told to a CHE staff member by a drop-in center boy during a one-on-one session last week. This is the way of the street, the truth for hundreds if not thousands of boys and girls in Ethiopia, and the life that will most likely continue for their children and their children’s children.
Let’s put this into perspective for most of our contexts – these boys are supposed to be playing Little League, riding bicycles or skateboards, and pulling girls pony tails in school. The girls should be going on date nights with their dads, taking gymnastics, and dreaming of being teenagers.
Jesus answered, “I am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE.” John 14:6
I have never believed more strongly in this scripture than I do today. Jesus is the ONLY way out for these children. Jesus is the ONLY truth that will set them free from the bondage of the streets. He offers the ONLY life that will change these patterns and help these children LIVE the way God intended a child to live.
Join us as we storm the gates of heaven on behalf of these children of Ethiopia. May God by his grace and mercy open their eyes to his truths, lift their bondage and set them free!
He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight. Psalm 72:13-14
Prayer Requests
July 9, 2009
Please pray…
- for the children who raised their hands to say they want to know and follow Jesus at CHE’s recent end of school celebration (see that post). Also pray for the CHE staff and volunteers to make the time to follow up with each of these children.
- for us (Karyn and Joe Bridges) as we start language school on August 17. Pray that we will learn Amharic quickly
- for a new staff member for CHE. CHE is in great need of an additional staff member to work directly with the children in its care. In particular pray for the funding to hire this staff member and that CHE will find the right person for the job – passionate about ministering to children at risk, in love with Jesus, and meshes well with the rest of the team.
- for Jonathan Bridges as he travels to Ethiopia in August to work with the Kota Ganate Agriculture Project. Pray for efficient use of his time while he is here and for his wife, Jessica, and son, Dawit, while he is gone.
Praise God…
- for the ability to start the temporary halfway home for 5 children at CHE’s Drop-In Center. The children are thriving as they transition off of the streets and into a home! Keep praying for a permanent facility!
- for Ribika, who is the newest staff member at CHE. Ribika is the new secretary and cashier and has easily become part of the team.
