Watching the Drop-In Center children play “Nega Says” (think Simon Says, but use CHE’s Director’s name, Nega, instead of Simon) last week was hilarious. Every time Kelly, Central Church short-term team member, would give a command without saying, “Nega says” I would laugh as I watched the CHE staff and other Central team members wrangle kids out of the game. Even those who blatantly followed the command would kick and scream when called out.

He approached Asrat and my jaw must have hit the ground when I saw Tamrot reach out his hand to not punch, but rather congratulate the winner.

At the end of the last game of Nega Says for the week I saw something amazing. There were two boys left in the game, Asrat and Tamrot. Both of these boys were as desperate as all the disqualified children had been to win this last game. It came down to, “pat your head” and Tamrot did it. I braced myself for some unsportsmanlike behavior from this 14 year-old street boy. He approached Asrat and my jaw must have hit the ground when I saw Tamrot reach out his hand to not punch, but rather congratulate the winner.

You may be thinking, what’s the big deal, as I’m sure I would if I had not met these boys just 5 weeks prior to leading this short-term team from Central Church. This was one of several subtle actions I saw from this group of boys that screamed CHANGE! You see, character change is often a hard thing to measure and it’s the little, unnoticeable acts that provide the true measurement (that is if you notice them). For Tamrot to reach out his hand and congratulate Asrat was bigger than it seems. Think about it, a natural, usually unobserved and unrewarded behavior occurred when Tamrot shook Asrat’s hand. It was a pure exchange not one done to receive attention or accolades as is sometimes the case with these boys.

Pure glimpses of changing characters I witnessed at the Drop-In Center during my week with Central Church’s team encouraged me greatly.

This and the other pure glimpses of changing characters I witnessed at the Drop-In Center during my week with Central Church’s team encouraged me greatly. I was reminded of how amazingly equipped the Ethiopian ministers working with CHE are to impact the street children of their country. Such a reminder helps me to loosen my grip of control and allow the Ethiopian men and women do what they do best. They know the culture, know the language, and understand the children’s needs more than I ever will as a foreigner. They are the ones who impacted Tamrot over the last 5 weeks through their time, example, and care.

I thank God for Ethiopian men and women who care about their country’s children. The Forsaken Children is all about empowering them to reach their children for Christ.

Post from: The Forsaken Children

Nega Says

	Desse in 2008

For me, this question conjures up images of Desse, a child I’ve known for going on four years now. As the original beneficiary for The Forsaken Children’s partner project, Children’s Home Ethiopia, I have loved Desse. Honestly, I have also hated him (Is that too honest?). You see, no matter what has been done for this little boy, he always goes back… Goes back to the streets… Goes back to the drugs… Goes back to running from the staff and me when he sees us on the streets looking for him.

And then, he always comes back. When he’s back, Desse is amazing (yes, he is a pain at times, but I’m speaking in general here.). He sings beautifully, he smiles a lot, he gives hugs, and he is so repentant. In those moments, love for Desse comes easy. I know love is a choice, but when he’s back the choice seems to be made for me. Then he’s gone just like before.

I have learned so much about myself when Desse leaves. I have learned how dependent I am on my feelings. I have learned how needy I am for love in return for my own. I have learned how unlike Jesus I am and it hurts. For a moment I hate Desse for that.

Fortunately, the hate has not persisted. With a little time and encouragement my heart softens again. Before this happens I usually make broad sweeping statements like, “he cannot be allowed to come back!” “He must learn from this mistake, let him feel the consequences.” No, these comments are not necessarily wrong or bad in and of themselves, but the heart motive behind them makes them wrong. They are not based in love, in true concern for Desse. They’re based in my hurt and my selfish desire to receive love. Until I have resolved to truly love Desse no matter what he does in return, I should not make such decisions about him and because of accountability, I don’t.

In such an instance, my accountability is Nega, Director of Children’s Home Ethiopia. What a good person to keep me accountable. The man truly embodies what love is with the children he ministers to. When I think about his consistent response to Desse’s rebellion I am blown away. No, I don’t think Nega is perfect, but his heart is unmoved by Desse’s rejection. In 2008 Nega searched for and found Desse 15 different times after he had run away. Think about it. Desse is 1 of approximately 100,000 street children in Addis Ababa and Nega looks for and finds him. That’s like finding a needle in a haystack. No matter what your opinion is of such an act (maybe you think he’s wasting his time, or enabling Desse, or etc…), you have to agree that it is mighty selfless. It’s unconditional love if you ask me. Whether he stays off the streets or not, that love impacts Desse for an even greater purpose, for Christ.

I want to be more like Nega, don’t you?

Post from: The Forsaken Children

Love for Desse – It’s Not Easy

Alemayu at Drop-In Center

I think that this word, from the local language of Chencha, is an apt description of me as a child. My childhood was blissful freedom and room to roam. I was full of boundless energy and boundless curiosity. To attempt to confine me within doors must have been a miserable experience. The open woods called to me and I was bent on heeding that call. Over countless acres I would roam, content to miss both lunch and dinner. This was my domain, as many miles as I could cover and still make it home before dark. Within this domain I knew every fallen log and who had taken up residence there. I knew every bend of every creek and exactly which rock would yield a pinch from a crayfish or a glimpse of a salamander. The deer trails were my highways, always leading to newer and greater discoveries.

I would loose myself in this world. Time, a concept that I was all too aware of in the classroom, was unknown to me there. I was free and I was at home. A number of times I would find myself straining to see as I searched beneath the swift,clear water of some meandering creek. The sun had gone down on my wanderings and I was expected home.

Upon my return I would receive an adverse reaction from my parents, worry on their faces and anger in their voices. This was always surprising to me. For me the solitude of the woods was the safest place. I couldn’t possibly understand their fears.

I share a certain familiarity with the children of Ethiopia’s countryside. They are first class wanderers. They seem to be born with a natural intuition for the longest and most indirect route home. Their freedom is often restricted slightly more than mine was, as there is water to fetch and livestock to tend. However, cows and sheep seem to be surprisingly good wandering companions and there are many distractions on the way to the spring.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had the opportunity to connect with one of these kindred spirits. His name is Alemayu and though it wasn’t apparent at first,  I could sense some connection with him. As his story unfolded I understood that he too is a wanderer. However, his wanderings of late have been confined to the city streets.

Just two years ago Alemayu was free. Through the green hills of southern Ethiopia he would ramble far and wide, his only occupation to follow his fathers cows and sheep. He was bounded only by the steepest hills and deepest streams. Here the breezes and the springs flowed cool and clean. He knew no fears. His only cares were what wonderful new things might be waiting just behind the next hill.

One day, as he was out with his father’s animals, his life took a dramatic turn. He happened by a road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. As he pondered where this road came from and where it might lead he heard the distant roar of a car’s engine. For curiosity sake he waited for the car to arrive. As it drove past, to his amazement, it suddenly stopped. Two men climbed out and greeted Alemayu in the customary manner. Then one of the men grabbed him and forced him to the car. The other man rummaged in the back and pulled out a large burlap bag, of the sort that is used commonly here to transport grains or potatoes. He struggled to free himself, but a boy of just 9 years was no match for two grown men. They forced him into the sack and tied him to the luggage rack on the top of the car. In this manner he traveled to the city, a full days drive if no stops are taken in between.

When they reached the city he was introduced to his new home and family, a textile mill and dozens of other boys just like himself. He spent his days at the loom laboriously working to make another man rich. There was little food and less rest. Beatings were not uncommon. By some chance he escaped and found himself trapped in yet another unpleasant world. Instead of fresh air he choked on diesel fumes. Instead of clear streams he found only filthy puddles. This is his life on the street. I now understand the fear that I saw in my parents eyes those many years ago.

Tomorrow Alemayu will be traveling with me down the same road that he traveled two years ago. His home and family are near to the town of Chencha where I’ll be spending the next few months. Over the next week we will attempt to find his family and reunite them. Our hope is that Alemayu will once again be free to zor-zor.

Jonathan Bridges

Post from: The Forsaken Children

Zor-zor

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.

Post from: The Forsaken Children

In a Perfect World – No Halfway Homes

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

Post from: The Forsaken Children

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Do you know how some children are just lovable the first time you lay eyes on them? I have that experience a lot here in Ethiopia as I meet the children that CHE ministers to. There’s Begidu, who may possibly be the cutest little boy ever or Metu who instantly charms you with her smile and jovial personality. Love for them just came easy for me, despite some of their very unlovable behaviors.

There are other children though, who seem hard to love at first. Maybe it’s their appearance, or their expressions, or their defensiveness – I’m honestly not always sure why. One such child for me was Amonyesh. I remember the first time I met her. She came into the Drop-In Center one day in 2008 and wanted me to push her on the tire swing and I did not want to (I know, how childish!). I was already playing with some of the other children, but I decided to stop what I was doing and push her on the swing.

It was that way up until about a month ago; always choosing to show her attention and love despite not really wanting to. Then, one day in January she came up to me with her big smile and asked me to treat her already healed wound (a common occurrence at the Center, especially for Amonyesh) and something changed. I actually felt love for her. As I faux-treated her healed wound I noticed how sweet Amonyesh was and how funny she could be. I felt like I had been missing something the whole time I’d known her. I honestly do not know what changed other than the fact that I had persistently chosen to show her love despite not feeling like it and finally the feelings followed.

Just last week I got the chance to visit with Amonyesh’s mom and two sisters in their small one room home. Amonyesh told me that she wanted to be a doctor one day so she could help poor people in Ethiopia. I asked her what influenced this decision and her response surprised me. She said it was because of people, like me, who helped her with her wounds and when she was sick. All those times when I begrudgingly cleaned her minor (and I mean very minor) wounds really had impacted her. In that instant I had an ah-ha moment and the saying, “Love is not just a feeling, but it’s a choice,” finally made real sense to me. Thank God I had chosen to love Amonyesh when I had not wanted to, otherwise I would have missed out on finding her friendship and even playing a part in inspiring her to also love others.

Post from: The Forsaken Children

Love… A Choice?

We have a Halfway Home!!! For those of you who haven’t heard, Children’s Home Ethiopia has had 5 children living temporarily at the Drop-In Center. These children were ready to be off of the streets, but needed a transition home prior to being reintegrated into a family. For some, there are no existing family members available or those who are available are ill-equipped for the task of raising a child. Others simply need to learn how to live within the confines of a home and with a family before they can successfully take that big step into their families’ homes. So, in many ways the Halfway Home is a re-parenting phase for these children.

For 3 months the Drop-In Center has housed CHE’s Halfway Home. This was not an ideal location for the home because of many reasons:

1. The Drop-In Center and CHE offices are located here, so space was very limited.
2. The Drop-In Center is right in the middle of the ghetto, if you will, therefore the children had direct contact with the streets that they once called home. Separation is key in the rehabilitation process.
3. CHE’s Halfway Home Parents had no privacy. Their position is already demanding, so the added pressure of living at the Drop-In Center where many children come and go all day was overwhelming for them.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, CHE was able to rent a Halfway Home in the outskirts of Addis Ababa. I visited with the children at the new Halfway Home just the other day and was blown away by how this home accentuated their changing lives. The thing that stood out the most to me was how normal their home lives now seem – They eat dinner in a dining room rather than a spare office, they can walk outside their compound and play with other neighborhood children, they sleep without the constant noise of the inner-city (busy streets, car horns, club music, etc…), and the list goes on. Also, Abazu, the Halfway Home House Mother, looked at peace where previously the stress of living at the Drop-In Center showed in her countenance.

I am excited about this new phase in the life of CHE and the lives of the children living at the Halfway Home. I expect God to use this location to heal many wounds, restore many families, create new families, and to be a light to the community of God’s redemption in the lives of broken human beings.

Studying at the dining room table

Post from: The Forsaken Children

Home… Well, Halfway There!

Just yesterday I heard shocking news – one of the boys living at CHE’s Halfway Home, Yohannes, revealed his true history. Previously Yohannes had told us that he had been abandoned in Addis Ababa by his father and had since been on the streets. The reality came out about one week ago when Yohannes told Nega, CHE Director, that his mother, father, and siblings all lived in the countryside. He had run away from home in search of a better life in Addis Ababa. Of course, this better life was not realized, but rather a meager existence on the streets became his life.

I am not so shocked by his true story, but rather I am shocked by how long it took him to trust the CHE staff with it. For close to a year they have been showering Yohannes with love, providing for his physical needs, and basically parenting him. What I understand now better than ever is that building trust takes time and trust produces honesty. For some reason Yohannes had not fully trusted the CHE staff with his true story until this past week. Maybe now the reasons behind his lack of trust will come to light and further healing will take place within him.

This experience is profound. What does it tell us? There is no such thing as a quick fix when working to restore a child’s life. There are so many elements involved and building trust is paramount. What will come from this for Yohannes? That answer is impossible to answer with certainty, but my hope for him and his future success has increased significantly.

Please pray for Yohannes and for Sodo, CHE team member, as they are currently traveling to meet with Yohannes’ family.

Post from: The Forsaken Children

Trust Takes Time

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.

Post from: The Forsaken Children

Maruf’s Choice

About 80 anxious children from Children’s Home Ethiopia’s SAFE Project and 10 even more anxious staff and volunteers boarded a bus on Saturday.  They were headed to an Addis Ababa park to celebrate the end of the school year.

Most of these children had no idea what to expect – special outings like this are not a normal part of their lives.

When they arrived at the park they excitedly ran off the bus and seemed to bounce with delight down the path to our reserved spot.

It Was a Full Day

It began with introductions of all staff and volunteers and there was not a dull moment the rest of the day. I was blown away by Elias, our preacher, who held the children’s attention with every word he spoke.

“Even Karyn and I were captivated by Elias’s presentation of who Jesus is, and we could only understand maybe 1 out of every 10 words.”

It was thrilling to see about 10 of the children raise their hands when Elias asked who wanted to know and follow Jesus!

The Feast

Elias telling the story of Jesus

Next came the feast that Abazu, CHE’s cook, cleaner, and house parent, prepared with the help of many volunteers – even Karyn was able to pitch in (usually they refuse us foreigners to do such kind of work, so her acceptance spoke volumes of how we are becoming part of this community).

Every plate was piled high and then we still had enough food for a second meal later in the day. We even managed to feed some of the onlookers and park staff.

Oh Yeah…the Baboons

The kids were more than thrilled to get a look at the baboons that live at the park. I think most of the adults could have gone without seeing them – they’re not the prettiest or friendliest of the monkey family to say the least.

After getting their fill of obscene baboon behavior, the children (okay, and the staff and volunteers) played to their hearts’ content on the park’s playground.

“From the their expressions, I’m almost positive the slide was the first one many of these children had ever seen – PRICELESS!”

The amazing thing about the day was that it did not rain. We are in the midst of Ethiopia’s rainy season, so this was a miracle in itself. Karyn and I are so thankful to have been a part of this wonderful trip and to be representatives of the organization, The Forsaken Children, and it’s donors that provided the funds that made it possible.

Probably the first time on a slide	Karyn & Ribika helping with the feast

Me introducing the family	Nega and Sammy having some fun with the kids

Post from: The Forsaken Children

What a Trip!