We have chosen a new way to communicate in this wonderful technological Alice in Wonderland world. Amazing!!! Now we can post letters and pictures from Ethiopia and anyone can view them, even if they have slow or small email capabilites. In fact, they don't even need email. I will just drop you a note when new blogs are posted.
God has really been at work since we came home 3 weeks ago. Our non-profit Heart for Ethiopia was approved by the U.S. government as a 501(c)(3) organization. That means that all donations are tax deductible. This was the result of the work of a wonderful board of 8 volunteers who worked hard to formulate a constitution, by-laws, fill out paperwork, etc.
A major focus of Heart for Ethiopia is child sponsorships. In October Ray and I took pictures of 50 children in each of 5 remote mountain towns north of Addis Abeba. Churches were begun in each of these towns at the time of Southern Baptist famine relief work. The believers are strong but the churches have remained small as these areas are almost entirely Orthodox or Moslem. The church members chose the 50 neediest children they could find in their communities. The average income of a rural family is $10 per month. Because of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Ethiopia there are many orphans or orphan vulnerable children who have a parent who is HIV positive. Most orphans live with some relative but this often puts a big strain on the family--especially if the relative is an elderly grandparent.
Child sponsorship helps children go to school and get medical care. It helps feed and educate families. Sponsorship is implemented through the churches. They receive the money each month and buy uniforms, notebooks, clothes, shoes, medical care for the child, and provide grain and other basic food for the family. They also give regular classes to the parents on health, sanitation, child care, and much more. Most of all they show Christian love in a very practical way. Typically about half of the children and their families become believers and contributing church members. For $27 a month you can save the life of a child.
Also my bookstore on Ebay has been certified by Mission Fish Giving Works as a nonprofit organization. All of the proceeds go to Heart for Ethiopia. Our house has bookcases on nearly every wall and business is good. Many people have donated books and those I buy are very cheap. God is blessing the business. Listing and shipping keeps both of us busy. One side of the garage is full of books ready to be listed. That is a good project for cold winter months when there are no garage sales.
Ethiopian Addis Kidan Baptist Church has a web page too. Links to all of these web sites are at the right. Soon I will post previous emails and pictures.
God has really been at work since we came home 3 weeks ago. Our non-profit Heart for Ethiopia was approved by the U.S. government as a 501(c)(3) organization. That means that all donations are tax deductible. This was the result of the work of a wonderful board of 8 volunteers who worked hard to formulate a constitution, by-laws, fill out paperwork, etc.
A major focus of Heart for Ethiopia is child sponsorships. In October Ray and I took pictures of 50 children in each of 5 remote mountain towns north of Addis Abeba. Churches were begun in each of these towns at the time of Southern Baptist famine relief work. The believers are strong but the churches have remained small as these areas are almost entirely Orthodox or Moslem. The church members chose the 50 neediest children they could find in their communities. The average income of a rural family is $10 per month. Because of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Ethiopia there are many orphans or orphan vulnerable children who have a parent who is HIV positive. Most orphans live with some relative but this often puts a big strain on the family--especially if the relative is an elderly grandparent.
Child sponsorship helps children go to school and get medical care. It helps feed and educate families. Sponsorship is implemented through the churches. They receive the money each month and buy uniforms, notebooks, clothes, shoes, medical care for the child, and provide grain and other basic food for the family. They also give regular classes to the parents on health, sanitation, child care, and much more. Most of all they show Christian love in a very practical way. Typically about half of the children and their families become believers and contributing church members. For $27 a month you can save the life of a child.
Also my bookstore on Ebay has been certified by Mission Fish Giving Works as a nonprofit organization. All of the proceeds go to Heart for Ethiopia. Our house has bookcases on nearly every wall and business is good. Many people have donated books and those I buy are very cheap. God is blessing the business. Listing and shipping keeps both of us busy. One side of the garage is full of books ready to be listed. That is a good project for cold winter months when there are no garage sales.
Ethiopian Addis Kidan Baptist Church has a web page too. Links to all of these web sites are at the right. Soon I will post previous emails and pictures.
