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.
Comments
4 Responses to “In a Perfect World – No Halfway Homes”
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PRAYING!!!
MISSING ET and can’t wait to be back!! Praying it is June!!!
Praying for ET, Forsaken children and now for the parents…..
Joe, thanks for posting this. A thoughtful insight into your day-to-day and the challenged you and these children face. This paints an even clearer picture for us to wrap our prayers around. So thanks, dude.
…jp
Joe it is very easy for us to forget here, that just because we offer help, help is not always welcome. I know the children have a tough time with their parents understanding all CHE does for the kids. Joe I will pray for the hearts of the parents to be softened. For pride to be set aside and the children put first. God Bless You All!
I am praying for these children and for you the staff. Thank you for giving of yourselves so that these children have a chance at a better life and to know God’s love.