A shock to the system

I have had many “shocks to my system” since I have been in Ethiopia; different ways of life that I’ve had to adapt to that have made me step into the uncomfortable but that have also brought much needed change to my life.

There is a term, mainly used in the youth culture in South Auckland that says “Changes” – like it’s a bad thing.  The thing is that, most of the time, change is a good thing – if it’s change for the better or change that comes with growth.  People use it because they are uncomfortable with other people changing, but people need to change in order to grow, to find their place in this world and to be able to move into their purpose in life.

Anyway, back to my point…I have had to change in many ways here.  One of the “shock to the systems” for me, was realizing that I had to cook three meals a day for my family.  This has come because of the lack of cereals available for breakfast (the only really affordable breakfast meal here is Oats-so porridge is our main breakfast), the culture of having cooked food for lunch (which means sandwiches and bread are usually exclusive as breakfast meals-and also lack of sandwich fillings available also) and cooking dinner probably became more intense when we had visitors stay with us for 6 weeks.

This has meant that my sleep in time while Asaua gets the kids ready for school (which I am ashamed to say has happened for quite some time) has slowly evaporated into thin air.  It took a while…I would ask Jamal to cook breakfast and I would get up in time to cook lunch…I would make the kids pack their own lunch and I think even for a period, Asaua was cooking breakfast because he was getting up early to go for runs – I mean, who does that??

Me.  I have started now getting up early to go for runs.  It was really hard at first and at the same time I was doing the Daniel fast so energy levels weren’t so good-especially when I cut out the coffee!  But now it’s become a habit, and it gives me time to compose myself in the morning so I’m not drooling over the breakfast pot or trying to see through my sleep as I cut onions. 

Food here is something you have to get used to.  A trip to Kenya to stock up on spices and dairy is not a bad idea either.  There are limits to what you can buy, but there is also an abundance of really good vegetables and now fruit!  Plums, mangoes, bananas and strawberries are now in season and  they are all so cheap and taste soooo good!

You can also get fresh juices, that at the moment are avocado (yes, avocado), pineapple, mango and guava all mixed together.  Oh, these are so good.  Fresh vegetables to make salads are also available.  I just finished a 21 day Daniel fast which eliminates sugar, yeast, meat, dairy, and processed foods from your diet.  I thought that doing the Daniel fast here would be so hard, but it was actually easier than I have found it in New Zealand.  There are so many natural foods here that are prepared, and fasting these types of foods are done by Orthodox Christians twice a week, so there are alternative options available at every café and restaurant.  There are peanuts, fresh chickpeas, barley, injera (which is made from Tef), lentils and beans which are all locally grown and are so fresh.  I can see your mouth drooling right now lol. 

         See that Beet(root) ^ it's not out of a can- who knew!?

Another shock to the system I experienced here was more than literal.  Earlier here, I had eaten some Ethiopian food and immediately started feeling nauseous, which lead to sweaty, which lead to my head down the toilet numerous times in a period of 24 hours.  Not long after, I had the same experience and concluded that I was allergic to Ethiopian food.  I have since narrowed down exactly what I am allergic to and haven’t had any such bad experiences since. 

So I am back to eating Ethiopian food- loving it actually and thinking that if I keep the Ethiopian diet up, that maybe I will have an Ethiopian figure haha-or even just a healthy heart-as long as I limit the amount of oil that I use in the cooking. 

Other minor/non-food adjustments we have had to make are as follows:

Having a daily skin Vaseline bathing routine (to keep the kids skin from drying out due to the cold mornings and hot days)

Not having instant coffee, but rather having coffee that takes a good hour to prepare and consume.

Sporadic power and water outages =T.I.A

Squatting toilets at the most unconvenient times

Not having washing machine (for more info on this, check out my friend Jonnett's blog here

Shoes and clothes shops not having my size –more importantly in the shoes

Not driving myself or family around for the last 5 months (sometimes very frustrating)

But who said adjustments weren't part of moving to another country? No-one. It's all part and package of the life we signed up for and I love it!

Christmas in Ethiopia

It’s been a while since I have updated my blog…I’m not a blogger, really, I just want to share what’s going on here in our new home.

There have been so many things that have happened over the last month.  We celebrated Christmas and went all out with the locals to show them what our Christmas is like.  We made Roast Beef with some good salads, chicken, cheesecake, chocolate cake and plenty of punch made with homemade ginger beer.

There are many foods here that we need to make from scratch and although it’s time consuming, the product of our hard work is always worth it-especially knowing what the process of cooking has been. 

After celebrating a really dry New Year’s with our friend Jonnett and Mussie, we looked forward to celebrating Ethiopian Christmas.  There is no school Christmas holidays here which is very different from New Zealand where everyone enjoys about 6 weeks of holidays. Instead, we spent the week at school where the children passionately dressed their classrooms with Christmas decorations, made of the last of our art construction paper, balloons, and toilet paper – which actually looked amazing. 

There were also drama rehearsals happening and poem reciting that would be blurted our randomly in class to my surprise.  We had no idea how this would evolve but I jumped on the spirit of Christmas band wagon and helped to put together some props- only one which successfully made it to the stage, but that’s okay. 

So two days before Christmas here, on the 5^th of January 2012, everybody came to school in their best dress - including the teachers.  We set up a stage in the library and after gathering everyone together, we sat around the library waiting for the MC to come out and welcome us.  Out came Kiara Tiatia, introducing each item in English.  We had newly arrived visitors from the States here so there was extra excitement in the room.  Kiara, with the help of the teachers, shyly introduced the students who were about to impress us all. 

Firstly came the choir who sang Joy to the world in Amharic and English, followed by four girls from Grade 3 who came out each holding a balloon and they recited a beautiful poem about balloons- in English!  There was a preacher who came and spoke about patience – something we all need encouragement in, and then the crowning glory of the whole day, the Christmas drama!

There were about 20 children who participated in this drama.  They spoke so clearly in English as their English grammar teacher had coached them through this process.  The whole thing was memorized so well, there was no need for prompting lines. 

I am always blown away with the children at our school.  Although not all of them are part of the BCI program, many of them suffer or have suffered with such difficult circumstances in their lives, but they still manage to smile and play and learn in a way that makes me happy I do what I do. 

After this production, the children went home and we got to celebrate Christmas with the staff at BCI.  There was firfir, drinks, great fellowship, and gift exchanging.  It was a great celebration time and it led us into the weekend where we celebrated Christmas three times over in three different homes.  This definitely left me feeling like I had an over-extended eating fest at the end of the day...We were so blessed and were so happy to finally be spending Christmas in Ethiopia after our failed attempt two years ago.  God is a God of second chances and this was so much better than spending it away from our kids. 

Perspective

This past week, Asaua and I had the privilege of going to Kenya for 8 days for Visa purposes.  We were amazed at how different Kenya is to Ethiopia.  While still Africa, it displayed many characteristics of the Western World- Malls, Supermarkets, Civilization, Development.  Although we were able to visit the slum area of Nairobi and see the poverty that exists there, we were also able to enjoy the benefits of its colonialism.

This was a benefit yet also a resurgence of our materialistic nature that comes with being brought up in a country that is full of it.  How can we help it when reminded that this is Christmas season and spending and eating is what you are meant to be doing? 

It kind of made me frustrated on our return, being tempted to ask, what are we missing out on?  Should not Ethiopia be more like Kenya, availing everybody to the “spirit of Christmas” that exists “everywhere” else in the world?  But then I did ask the question and was questioned in return about the purpose of all this festivity and celebration so early before the Christmas day that is celebrated on a totally different day in Ethiopia. 

Why do we celebrate Christmas for so long?  I am not totally sure of its reasoning.  Perhaps because of the Advent season that leads up to Christmas day that is celebrated by Catholicism.  Most probably because of the commercialism that comes with the season and the high retail dependence on this time of year.  I know that I have always enjoyed celebrating many different Christmas and End of year “feasts” to have an excuse to have that get-together that all year, we have promised we would have with friends and family. 

The truth is, though, that Christmas is about Jesus, who was born into this world, not in the form of a rich man with many material possessions, but in the form of a baby with no place to stay.  He was born in a home, more like the homes many of the children in our programme are born into-with hay for bedding, sharing his room with donkeys and animals. 

From day one, Jesus was resonating with the poor and the needy.  He invites us into His world and He has asked us to follow Him.  Sometimes, well many times, that means that life will be uncomfortable.  We can choose to work with the rich or the poor.  Sometimes, working with the poor isn’t appealing, and I’m not saying that working with the rich is bad- but it definitely demands less stretching for our human nature.  Would you rather work with the rich, or work with the poor? They both mean totally different things.  Working with the rich, more often than not, means that you yourself are rich.  Working with the poor, however, means getting to know people who have stories and lives that will break your heart.  It means lowering some standards that you may previously have held.  It means that life can get uncomfortable and dirty.

There is a song I’m sharing below by Leeland.  This song is so powerful.  It is more often a tragedy for us to turn away from the opportunities God gives us to serve those who need it most.  He turns our attention to the broken, the needy, the orphaned, the fatherless and the widowed-those who can’t fend for themselves-those who don’t have a government to look after them- these are those in whom the Church has the opportunity to rise up and work with. 

There is a greater perspective that we can have-not an earthly one where we just live life for ourselves and for this life- but we can live life for others, for eternity, like Jesus did.  Jesus only had 33 years here on earth.  He lived each day with purpose.  He has asked us to live like Him, follow Him, and to be USED by Him..  We don’t know how long our life will be here on Earth.  What you got for Christmas in 2011 is not going to matter when you die, but what you GAVE for Christmas in 2011 might.  Give Your All!

Heart

Not long before we left New Zealand I was asked what it was that attracted me to Ethiopia.  I felt almost dumb-struck by this question.  Just on the weekend, my niece, also asked me why we came to Ethiopia.  And so without sounding super spiritual, I often find it hard to explain WHY exactly why we decided to do something crazy like leave our beautiful country and come to a country that is displayed on the media as drought ridden and poverty stricken.  And why we would leave our families and friends to go where we know virtually nobody.

But this morning during my talk at church, I was able to articulate to the people there why we came to Ethiopia-something which I have found hard to do in the past.  Two years ago I came to Ethiopia for two weeks and a year ago Asaua also came.  On our visits here, we both returned feeling like we had to return. 

My way of explaining what happened came to me as I sat in church during worship.  It was almost like God took all the love he had in heaven for the people here, and poured it into our hearts.  So much love He had for these people- that for us to contain it was difficult. 

So we went back to New Zealand full of love for Ethiopia.  Like a bottle that was about to explode, overflowing with no appropriate outlet for us to let out what was in our hearts.  God wanted us to come to Ethiopia and share that love with the people he intended it for.  This for me, explained why it was so hard for me to stay in New Zealand after that, and why at every mention of delay of our return I felt like a pipe that was about to burst. 

I also explained this morning to the congregation that for us to come here, looks like a sacrifice to most– but actually for us to stay in New Zealand would have been a greater sacrifice.  For to stay in New Zealand would mean that we would have been sacrificing something that is far greater than material possessions- it would mean sacrificing our dream.  This is not your typical dream, of course.  Most people dream of luxurious lifestyles and jobs that bring great success and fortune, but our dream was to outpour the love that was placed inside us for the people here.  Sacrificing that would be too much to bear. 

So right now, we are in Kenya, desperate to renew our visas to get back in and stay in Ethiopia.  The mission is not accomplished yet.  There has been some relief in our love pipe as we have shared some love, but there is so much more to give.  Please pray for us to get our visas this week. 

Patient

To live a life like the one I'm about to describe, you must be patient.  Patient for the breakthrough, patient for the promise and patient to see freedom like you could never have imagined.   Maybe that's why her mother named her Tigist.  Meaning Patient.

Tigist was eight years old when she was taken from her home by a band who was visiting her rural township in Oromia.  She was taken from her place of safety and familiarity to be the house slave of people she never knew, people who never appreciated her and people who never gave her anything in return for the tireless hours she worked as a little girl.

So ten years later, after being tired of having nothing for herself, Tigist ran away.  On her journey to freedom, however, she found herself once again imprisoned in a rape attack that left her pregnant.  At 18 years of age, she gave birth to a beautiful son she called Philemon.  Her hope she found to get her through this horrible ordeal was in God.  She recovered and raised her son.  She attended church and started to work- earning good money to support herself and Philemon.  Attracted by her confidence, beauty and wealth, Tigist was soon married to a man in her local church who seemed to have it all together.  He attended church regularly and displayed commitment to the work of God.  But after marriage, that changed.

Soon her husband became abusive, regularly drinking alcohol and chewing jutt (a local drug).  He had no respect for Tigist or her son and would spend all the household money going out with friends to eat and drink while Tigist and Philemon were left at home with no food.  She knew this wasn't right.  She knew she deserved better, but once again, she found herself trapped.  And once again, she found herself pregnant - with twins!

Nothing changed with her home situation- in fact it got worse.  Not only did her husband stop going to church but he refused to let Tigist go to church- the only place she felt supported and nurtured.  She was isolated, trapped and heavily pregnant.  The only support she had for her family was the money Philemon was getting from his sponsor in Canada through Compassion.  But soon she would have 3 mouths to feed and she didn't know what to do.  So the babies were born and the next day, her husband left her.

Desperate now with no support, she had two new born babies, living in the slum and very little resources.  She prayed and she prayed.  Then one day, when the babies were two months old, she had a dream.  In her dream there was a man with a white robe and a face, shining like the sun.  He ordered two boys to give her many things- Ethiopian Birr, clothes, gifts.  He ordered the Compassion people to release to her what she deserved.  Encouraged by this dream, Tigist shared it with her Compassion social worker.  She had been patient for so long and now it seemed like God was sending her a message- that good things are coming her way.

A week later, she received a visit from her Canadian sponsor.  He was surprised and distressed to see her living in such poor conditions and troubled by her situation.  He bought her a months worth of groceries then headed to Debre Zeit where he was about to spend two weeks with Blessing the Children.  After he left, however, the landlord saw all of Tigist's gifts and immediately doubled her rent- far exceeding what she was able to pay.  So she was out on the street.  She was given a week in a temporary accomodation, but she didn't know where she would go after that.

Ignorant of what was going on in Tigist's life, Brad, her sponsor from Canada, had shared her story with the team in Debre Zeit.  After much thought, he asked the director if they could move the family to be a part of Blessing the Children.  Phone calls were made, and it turned out that Tigist's Compassion Co-ordinator was good friends with the director.  They were happy to release her family to go to Debre Zeit but there were arrangements for accomodation that needed to be made first. 

On his way out of Ethiopia, Brad made one more stop to visit Tigist.  When he arrived, he found out that she only had four more days to move out.  They hadn't found a house for them yet, so they were left questioning what to do.  The twins were also in jeopardy as the father's family wanted to take them off her hands against her will.  So the team in the van that day, talked about what they could do.  She needed to leave town right away.  God had been working in the heart of a man, who was not about taking people into his home, but had been convicted by the verses that say "When you do this for the least of these, you do it unto me."  So he and his wife, briefly agreed that they should take them in.  That they could make room, because they knew what it was like to have twin baby girls and that a slum was no place to raise babies.  So that night, Tigist went with her family, to Debre Zeit.  Every thing was set up for her when she arrived.  A double bed for her and her babies.  Clothes that were left to be donated by a missionary.   Money was given for nappies and milk.

After all her waiting, Tigist was able to see the breakthrough.  God has blessed her for her patience.  We are so blessed to be a part of her life and the life of her children.  They are beautiful and we now have four boys and four girls in our home.  The even number I have wanted for a while.  Thank you Jesus.

Mission

I was 6 years old when I announced to my mother that one day I wanted to be a missionary to Ethiopia.  Back then, my parents had bought a vinyl record called “Psalty’s Worship Workshop: A heart to change the world.”  It was basically an audio theatre production that not only had music about “going into the world” and being a missionary but it also had verbal scripted conversations happening between each song.  I do believe that the word “missionary” was used in there somewhere for me to desire to become a “missionary” at such a young age with no model of what that looked like around me.

Over the years, however, my view of the word “missionary” has changed.  Through taking various Missions classes and being involved in church life in New Zealand, I came to realise that being a missionary wasn’t just about long distance travel or  pioneering new churches or programmes across the ocean.  When I moved to South Auckland and started getting involved with the children’s ministry in our church, I remember my mother saying to me “this is your mission field now.”  Perhaps, I thought, that this is how far I will go in terms of leaving my homeland (the North Shore) and going into “all the world.”  South Auckland was, indeed far from the culture that I was brought up in and these children that we picked up off the street were very needy and somewhat “poor”.

A song we used to sing with the kids in Otara was a song that went “Be a missionary everyday…” and we encouraged people to reach out into their community, into their family and not think that they had to spend a lot of money to evangelize the world.  This started to be comfortable with me, especially as I read and heard about “missionaries” who had ignorantly colonized different countries including our own.  So called “missionaries” who had done more damage than good as they intruded on foreign lands with the intention of imposing their own culture on the indigenous people without thought or care to preserve the rich culture that already existed.  Yes, I was happy to drop my ambition to be a “missionary” but I was not ready to drop my desire to go to Ethiopia to help the needy.

I was left however, with no other option but to do what I wanted to do, under the guise of a “Mission Trip”.  Even though a short term stint, the fact that you come under the umbrella of a “Mission organisation” and are on a “Mission Trip” somehow, makes you a Missionary.  I wonder if one day, we will be able to rename this phenomenon that is the “Mission Trip” to something a little more Post-Modern.  I guess, yes, we are on a mission.   But we were on a mission before we left New Zealand also.  We look at the New Testament and see Paul’s missionary journeys and we compare that to today.  Yet I’ve just found another journey that is a little closer to home, and a little more reflective of what I see here happening today.  It’s found in 1 Kings 10 and it comes straight out of Ethiopia. 

Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.  She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her. And she said to the king, "The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.”

 Today, what I see is people, like us, coming here to Ethiopia because of what they have heard.  We came here, not only because there is need here, but because we found this great organization on the internet and we wanted to be a part of what they are doing.  We only knew of what we had read on their website, but it all sounded great to us and resonated with so much of what we believed to be good and wise.  It was an organization that worked with widows and orphans (something that the Bible says repeatedly that we should do.)  They worked holistically to meet the needs of the orphans while working alongside their church.  They had plans for a Children’s Centre that would function to help meet the needs of the community.  Their motto was “Excellence in Everything” and they were all about equipping people to be effective in the ministry and in life in general.  They were not under one church but partnered with five churches.  There was a great model being utilized here and they were open to more vision. 

So like Queen Sheba, we packed up all our belongings, and we see others bring many gifts and great resources to see what is happening here.  Now after being here 8 weeks and having visitors join us from overseas, we get to see others witness the great work that is happening here and then leave even more supportive than when they have come.  There is a saying that I coined when I came to Ethiopia on my first trip that says “You don’t know until you Go!”  This is what Queen Sheba experienced and articulated when she said “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.”  Even though she was leaving Ethiopia to visit Israel and even though she went to find prosperity and add to it, she experienced many of the same emotions that we see others experience here. 

This is the kind of mission I like.  The mission where there is not a discovering of lack, but a discovering of fulfilment.  Where the impact of your visit is an encouragement to those you are visiting.  That it isn’t about creating something new, but adding to what is already going well.  This is what we are experiencing now.   We came to find that Ethiopia is progressing forward, that the people here are using wisdom in finding solutions to help meet the needs of the poor.  

Hearing great things about what is going on here, we encourage people to come and see for themselves because you really don’t know until you go.  And so we press forward and say, what more can we do?  How can we give, like Queen Sheba, a gift of blessing to endorse the work that is being done here and the wisdom that is being displayed?  In the last month we have seen people come and give generously to the work here and it encourages people to keep on going forward.  This is the feeling that should be left after such a trip.  Not a feeling of lack or discontentment.  So we also remain encouraged and move forward with great anticipation of what God is going to do in the future. Amen!

It takes a village to raise a child

Let me take you into the home I visited on my first home visit.  We walked through the gate of Sara’s house.   To the right we saw that their home was back dropped by one of the seven lakes that provide an oasis from the hustle and bustle of Debre Zeit.  We walked up a few stairs and into a dark room that was their home.  There was no natural light or lamps that lit up the home but I could see that it was made out of mud clad walls that were mixed with hay.  It looked old and was rented by the family from the government for only 2birr per month (the equivalent of NZ14c).  There was one bed on the left that we were welcomed to sit on.  The bed that slept all three females in the home, doubled as the lounge suite and Betty, their social worker sat on their wooden chest that doubled as their storage.  There were two of us visitors, Mariana from the Netherlands had come to see if there was a place for her at BCI.  She was asking many questions to Betty and also to myself.   As they talked, there were cockroaches running up and down the wall.  It was evidence of the lack of hygiene standards that existed in their home.

Like many houses, there is no bathroom.  The bath is a bucket and the water supply is not on site so water fetching is a daily ritual. The toilet is an outhouse with a hole in the ground.  It had been raining that morning, very heavily and I noticed that there were gaping spaces between the tin sheets that made up their roof.  I asked them if they had water coming through their roof, and of course the answer was yes.  A missionary had fixed her roof the year before but it still left room for improvement.  The smell of the house was also unsanitary, like cat urine on dirt.  There is no maintenance requirement from the government as she pays so little in rent so she is left to fend for herself.

The mother was beautiful.  She was young and had two daughters.  Her husband had died so she was left to care for her children on her own.  She worked when the girls were at school but this was as much as she could afford for her girls.  The girls are 7 and 5 and now able to attend school because Sara is sponsored through BCI.  They also get a monthly food budget.  She provides for her family by making and selling injera and also by cleaning houses.  She obviously has a great love for them and desires the best for them, but in Ethiopia, if you don’t work, you don’t get any money.

Another home we visited was of Siam.  Siam and her mother have HIV.  At the time we visited her, she was also sick with Tuberculosis.  They rent a home on the back of another property along with others who can’t afford their own homes.  The size of their whole house was the size of mine and Asaua’s bedroom here.  And our bedroom isn’t that big.  Yet their home did not have tiled floors with painted walls and an ensuite.  Their home was one room with one bed for their mother and 7 year old Siam and her 6 month old baby sister who Siam often has to look after while her mother goes to work.  See, if her mother does not work, she cannot pay the rent on her home.  She is in a desperate situation yet she is managing well.  She prepared for the five of us visiting her, a coffee ceremony.  Even though they hadn’t eaten all day, she had saved some coffee beans and popcorn for our visit.  Her baby sat on my lap, wet from her urine, and Siam sat on one of the two couches that they owned. 

Siam's mum and Betty outside their home

Siam's home.  With her social worker Betty and visiting Susan from America

Most of the homes of our children are like the ones I have just described.  There is a gap here in the care that we provide for these children and it is a very important one.  If the home environment is not good,  sanitary, or a place where the child feels safe and warm, then the rest of their well- being will suffer.  Studies show that seven out of ten children who live in such conditions will not succeed at school.  We can see the disturbance in these children.  They are restless at school.  They don’t sleep well and they are given more responsibilities than they deserve at their young age.

 

Some suffer with HIV or other diseases, and in the developed world, we would provide a sanitary environment for them, ensuring they are offered the best care.  Here, they have no choice but to keep living in the same environment they subsist in.  The mud floors should be tile like mine.  Their kitchen should have wipe-able benches so that they can ensure hygienic preparation of their food so as to not cause more illness.  The government provides medicine for HIV infected children so that they can live on with their disease.  But is it enough for them just to survive?  Should they not be protected from other potential diseases that exist?  Should they not be allowed the light of the sun to shine into their homes and welcome healthy minds and healthy bodies?  They are entitled to it as much as we are.

 

My desire for this area is to build a village.  A village like unto the Watoto Village in Uganda where one mother (usually a widow) cares for 8 orphans.  We can build many homes so that mothers like the ones I have described can have purpose and vision.  The village will be near the school so that the children can walk to school.  They will be purpose built and provide a warm, healthy environment for our children where they can be supported by others in the village and by the community around them- rather than isolated in remote areas where some who are disabled have to rely on the delivery of food and other necessities from other people. 

Will you pray about this vision with me?  With us?  Maybe you can help with making this dream a reality for our children.  We have 120 something children on our program right now, but this will mean that we will be able to take in more orphans and care for them as they deserve to be cared for.  But for us to take in more children, we will need more sponsors.  Really, a little does go a long way here.  It’s just a small sacrifice that we all need to take to show these children that they have value and that they too can be leaders In their families, community, city and nation.  We are here to raise leaders.