by Jonathan Bridges I sat on the bank of the Concho River this week with a young man who just graduated from college. We lounged in plastic lawn chairs loosely gripping fishing rods, not expecting to have to use them. We talked idly and seriously off and on as darkness fell on us. I remember being that age, thinking you knew the direction that you would take, but not knowing where in the world that direction would take you. The future was out there and it was yours for the taking.
In one of our idle moments he told on his friend. His buddy had bought a new car on the promise of a high paying job following graduation. Of course, my wise counsel was “don't count your chickens before they hatch”. However, I then realized that though his actions were presumptuous, his motivation was actually a gift from God, hope.
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love
has been poured out into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5
Isn't hope what we all thrive on? We all need to believe that tomorrow will be a little better than today, that our present troubles will be resolved, that our future will be brighter. Without that kind of hope what do we have to live for? Maybe my counsel was incomplete. Maybe it's okay to count your chickens, just don't bet the farm.
The Forsaken Children serves in the midst of hopelessness. There are thousands of children without any hope for the future. Our business is to give these children hope. One of the ways that we intend to do that is to hatch some chickens.
We are gearing up to start a chicken 
hatchery as part of the Kota Ganate Agriculture Project. This hatchery will be the first step in making our partner, Onesimus, a self-sustained organization. The hatchery itself has the potential to provide as much as 20% of their current operational costs. As we phase in other parts of the project that percentage will increase until Onesimus is primarily self-funded from within Ethiopia.
So I guess that you could say that we are counting our chickens before they hatch. Our motivation is the hope that we have in God to heal the children and families of Ethiopia. Please join us in making this dream a reality by joining the Chicks for Change Campaign.