By Randall Johnson
Nicci Feathers, a short term missions visitor to Onesimus, spoke about her trip to the Kiwanis Club of Germantown, TN, on May 24, 2012. She shared passionately about her interaction with the children and how she immediately fell in love with them. She shared specifically the story of Fikedu and Alemayu, two boys who found their way by God's providence to Onesimus and were ministered to.
Fikedu was a boy who initially would not warm up to the team. He was very stand-offish and was obviously struggling to trust adults, especially these foreigners. But when Nicci went again a year later, Fikedu was a changed person. He had come to faith in Jesus Christ and was ready to share his story about losing both his father and mother to death and his grandmother sending him to Addis to live with an aunt. The connection with his aunt did not take place. He was only five years old and was forced to live on the streets. The director of Onesimus, Nega, found Fikedu and invited him to the drop-in center, where he has been thriving on the love of the staff and the Lord Jesus.
Alemayu's story was shared in video as he was reunited with his mother. He had been living in a rural community near Chencha when he was kidnapped and taken to Addis to work in a factory. He escaped three years later but did not know how to get home. He ended up at Onesimus, where Nega and Jonathan Bridges were able to piece together his story and make an attempt to restore him to his family. This they did successfully, and the video captured them walking down the slope to his house from which his overwhelmed mother came and embraced her lost son and all those responsible for bringing him safely home.
Nicci did a great job of relating her passion for this ministry and her hopes of one day being a teacher at Onesimus. She thanked the Kiwanis membership for their support of K-Kids at Germantown Elementary, who recently presented TFC with a check for $1,800 for Chicks-for-Change. Cicely Jordan, who co-sponsors K-Kids with Nicci, and is also a teacher at Germantown Elementary, was presented with a plaque and letter from The Forsaken Children for her efforts at raising the $1,800 and encouraging these children to open their hearts to children around the world. Kelly McGugan, who is leading a team from Central Church in Collierville, TN, to Addis this June, made the presentation.