Changing Seasons and an Unchanging God

By Britainy Sholl,U.S. Director of The Forsaken Children The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created spring. - Bernard Williams

I love this time of year.  Everything is in bloom, the sun shines brightly and every sunset looks like a painting.  I often wish the weather would stay just like this.  But we all know that summer comes, and then winter.  While I love Christmas time, I truly miss the beauty that spring brings.  That’s the time I begin to once again look forward to March and April.  And this cycle continues,  the beauty of spring and the grey of winter.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

We live in an ever-changing world.  What can we know for certain?  The Bible answers this question for us in Isaiah 40:8.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.

The homeless children in Ethiopia are always on my mind.  Their lives are unstable and their futures are uncertain.  Like the changing seasons, these kids tend to go through ups and downs.  But thankfully, they can know that the promises of God stand forever.  His word is always true and never changes.  While everything else in this world may fall apart, God doesn’t.

When the kids walk through the doors of our TFC Drop-In center each day, this is the message that they are given over and over again, God’s love endures forever.  They receive meals, showers, clean clothes, tutoring, counseling, and care- but the most important thing we can offer, is the love of Christ.

Nothing else is certain and no one else can change our hearts like Jesus.  While the beauty of spring is on display now, we know this season will end.  But I’m glad my future is in the hands of my Lord and Savior.  That’s something I can count on.  And, that is what the kids in Ethiopia are counting on.  This is why TFC exists.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8

Transforming Nebiyu...

A snapshot of Nebiyu's journey off of the streets and back with his mom...

My New Reality

Liz, Misty, and Anna are serving with our amazing Ethiopian team in Addis Ababa this summer. A key part of their work will be to provide training on basic counseling techniques to the men and women who work directly with the street children. The team will be blogging about their experiences, allowing us to get a taste of the amazing ministry God is using to rescue so many children from the streets.

By Anna Gray

It is no longer articles that I have read on street children, nor is it a population that TFC's Ethiopian team struggles to work with, but these children’s lives are beginning to become a reality to me.

In our first couple days of visiting the Drop-In Center, we were the “FERENGIES!!!” (foreigners) It was an exciting time as we were meeting these silly boys, and in the initial weeks, it was a time of utter and complete chaos as we attempted to reign in 20 young teenage boys. But as each day goes by, visiting the Drop-In Center each morning, leading English lessons, joining the boys in soccer games, creating with Legos…, I am getting to see each boy’s personality.

It is a transition in my heart from statistics into a unique set of boys that have chosen to share their lives with us...

Zeden loves to joke with visitors and Haptu is very shy but loves to participate in the programs, and Challa is a natural leader among the boys and tries each day to control his behavior before the younger guys in the group, and I have never seen a boy so hyped up as Yelgacho who is constantly smiling from ear to ear when we sing songs and dance. In getting to know these boys at the Drop- In Center, I am beginning to know their stories, which is giving a deeper, broader, and more extensive appreciation for the team of men and women who work with them each day.

Let me tell you about Abdisa. His mother died a couple years back and his father has remarried. There had been a financial burden within the family so Abdisa’s father made the decision to utilize his son's help by removing him from school and beginning him as a shoe shiner on the streets. Abdisa worked at this career until his father began to take the money Abdisa earned but he was not using it to feed the family. Abdisa soon took all the money in the house and abandoned his family to live on the streets. Abdisa had only been living on the streets for nearly three months when the Ethiopian team took him under their care in the Drop-In Center.

Abel, on the other hand, has found his home on the streets for 4 years. And, he's only 12 years old. Years back, his father was sick and was receiving treatment injections to aid him; meanwhile, his mother had found a new lover. It was discovered after the matter that the new lover was inserting poison in the treatment to end Abel’s father’s life. To escape this home after his father’s death, Abel ran away. Abel has expressed continual misbehavior throughout his involvement at the Drop-In Center, no doubt related to this family struggle. The multiple issues that the staff faces with this single child alone indicates the degree of their efforts on behalf of these children.

And Temazgay is one in the program who has not created an issue the entire 4 weeks I have worked with these children. His family experienced turmoil when his brother died, causing neither his mother nor his father to overcome their grief to provide the basic needs of the child they had left. Desperate to receive education, Temazgay ran. His ambition will melt your heart one second and the battle he faces will break your heart the next.

We were practicing praying and encouraged the boys to write letters to the Lord. Temazgay asked me what he should do because he could not write. I responded, “It doesn’t have to be in English, you can simply write in your own language between you and the Lord.” He states, "I cant. I don’t know how.” – I think, Nothing? Unable to read or write even the simplest statements? Taken back by this fact, I told him he can draw what is on his heart. This day the focus was thankfulness and I look over and see a vague image on Temazgay’s paper. Through translation, I ask and am told it is a book, because he is thankful for schooling. He is so behind at the age of 14 and the only education he is receiving is nearly an hour of schooling at the Drop-In Center in either English or Math and he is thankful for it.

These street boys are children battling against the environment and circumstances that surround them...

Whether it is a physical fight to defend themselves on the streets so that they do not return to the Drop-In Center with a new bump or bruise, or if it is a fight from the emotional distress that engulfs the memories of where they come from.

At this point, 4 weeks in, they are no longer just faces that greet us as we enter the Drop-In Center, but they are children with character and personality, strengths and weaknesses, and dreams and ambitions. Knowing their stories is a testament for how TFC's Ethiopian team works on behalf of these children to secure them a suitable environment that will allow them hope and a future.

Impact - A Conversation with Farm Hands

It is so exciting to see how the Kota Ganate Hatchery is impacting lives even before the first chick has been sold! This is exactly what the “Chicks for Change" campaign was all about.

Recently, we sat down and talked with the farm’s two hatchery technicians, Markos and Yacob, and asked them a bit about their lives and work. Both 22, their stories are common throughout the rural areas of Ethiopia.

Yacob, as the eldest child, quit school to help his family financially. He spent years doing strenuous farm labor for just 5 birr per day (5 birr equals a quarter in American money) before coming to Kota Ganate. He has worked with the farm for three years and is enthusiastic about his new position as hatchery technician.

However, it isn’t all about the money for Yacob. He is seeing his spiritual life changed as well. In his own words Yacob said, “Now I believe this will change my life. Not only the money, we (the staff) also do bible study and pray together, which will also change my life. It makes me closer with God.”

Markos also worked in agriculture before coming to Kota Ganate, and he prefers the atmosphere at this farm. He commented that because the work isn’t as laborious as what he has done before at other farms, he has strength for other activities and isn’t worn out at the end of the day. He enjoys this because it allows him time to read, both his Bible and other subjects of interest. Markos is excited about the impact the farm can have on the community. He sees the farm as a way to show God at work in the community. He commented, “Because the staff believes in God and pray, people who don’t know God from the community will come to know Him.”

Yacob and Markos have learned new skills in their new positions that will serve them both now and in the future. They understand and are excited about the impact that Kota Ganate can have on the community both financially and spiritually. Here are a few responses they gave to the question, “How will Kota Ganate benefit the community?”

• Direct support of beneficiaries – especially giving them access to education. (Something he missed out on)
• Increased job opportunities.
• People will learn about God through the example and witness of the staff.
• Provision of better, cheaper supply of poultry products – Chicks to raise, as well as, eggs and meat.
• Supply of other farm products – apples and seedlings, grass (used as hay for milk cows), electricity (we allow neighbors to tap into our electrical lines).

We are so thankful for the opportunity Kota Ganate affords us to invest in the spiritual and material lives of our farm hands as well as the community. And we couldn't do it without the support of people like you! Thank you for donating, and please pray for us as we share the Word and the love of Christ at Kota Ganate.

Nega Shares Desse's Story

In this video Nega Meaza shares Desse's amazing story of leaving the streets forever.

Visit the Permanently His page to learn how Nega's visit to the U.S. will impact many more children after he returns to Ethiopia.

Famous

Recently some good friends of mine asked their kids, “What Christian do you know that should be famous?" One of their children answered, “Mommy and Nega Meaza.” This child had met Nega during his recent visit to Memphis and had heard him share many testimonies about how God is transforming the lives of street children through his team. She also has a mommy who has visited Nega’s ministry in Addis Ababa and is an amazing advocate for what God is doing there. So, from what she has heard and seen, she thinks Nega deserves recognition and fame.

Can I just say here that I agree with her! But I would add a few more names to the list…

I would add Fetla, the spiritual mother to dozens of children who have left the streets. She has made such an investment in each child. You see, Fetla prays hard, serves hard, and, most of all, loves hard. She is a member of Nega’s team who sees things through spiritual eyes and boldly shares the Gospel to the lost children she serves.

I would add Mesfin to the list of Christians who should be famous as well. Mesfin has grown into the team member who knows each child’s situation, where they can be found, and what needs they have. I think of him as the worker bee who gets little recognition for all he does.

I would also add Taye to the list. Taye is the one on Nega’s team who swells with excitement at the prospect of equipping the church in Ethiopia with strong, biblical teaching and discipleship. He longs to see churches willing and able to join his team in caring for the children no one else wants anything to do with.

Abazu should also be on the list. She spent years being a mother to many children who otherwise were without a family. As a house mother at one of our halfway homes for children who have been rescued from the streets, she was the member of Nega’s team that showed many children that they were indeed worthy of love. So many children have seen Jesus in the flesh because of Abazu’s example.

I would add Jonathan and Jess Bridges to the list as well, a couple who have left the comforts of the U.S. and planted themselves in the remote village where the Kota Ganate Ag Project is located. They raise their two precious children in this place because they have seen how their skill sets can further the Gospel if they are willing to give up creature comforts and invest in what Nega’s team is doing.

And, finally, (I could actually go on and on!), I would add my wife, Karyn, to the list of Christians who should be famous. For years she has sacrificed her natural desires for putting down roots, for owning nice things (we do have some of those), and for so many other things so that we can pursue God’s call to minister alongside Nega and his team. Everyday she pours herself out for our family so I can focus on TFC and it can continue to impact Ethiopia’s street children with the Gospel. She’s amazing!

Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them. ~ Job 29:11-12

The Permanently His Campaign needs your help to see Nega's amazing team establish a permanent drop-in center for the street children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Check it out!

This is Christmas

By Rachael Burnett So it’s here. The lights, the trees, the music, the parties and family dinners, the shopping and the gifts. These symbols are the so-called staples of the American Christmas scene, and they seem to ever increasingly blur the connection between Christmas and that dirty Bethlehem feed trough that was graced with our Creator God in the smooth, pink skin of a baby.

It seems so long ago and far away, doesn’t it? And really, was that “holy night” that big of a deal? Of course, we know that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and that GOD taking on flesh is a pretty big deal. Yet, somehow, we still often manage to miss it—to miss the BIGNESS of that event.

-The backwater carpenter, Joseph, and his unassuming bride, Mary, chosen to parent the God-Man through divine conception

-The Sovereign Creator bringing to fruition His redemptive plan that began back in the Garden when the “s” word severed us from our sole/soul joy and purpose—communion with our Father

-The Servant Son—knowing full well the agony He would endure—humbling Himself from the splendors of heaven to a straw-filled manger and eventually brutal death— bearing the separation for us

Not only did He bear the separation from the Father that we each deserve, but He completely conquered the breach so we could be fully and permanently restored to right relationship with Him—adopted and cherished as our Father King’s son or daughter.

Have you experienced that glorious grafting into God’s family? If you haven’t, you can; and if you have, won’t you just take a moment to revel in the peace that comes through knowing you are fully and permanently His? Nothing—no thing—is able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

That fact is cause for “tidings of comfort and joy,” don’t you think? And what if we could let that comfort, joy, and peace spill out of us just a smidge (or maybe more!)? What if that unshakable peace and hope we know is just what our hurting neighbor, or the tired store clerk, or the lonely child needs?

Because, really, just what are we doing if we aren’t sharing the blessings (both spiritual and material) that have been lavished on us? I’m reminded that hoarding is toxic to the soul, while giving of ourselves and our resources allows us to take hold of that which is truly life.

While in Ethiopia with TFC this past summer, God graciously let me be part of sharing His great news of everlasting love with precious children like Metu and David, many of whom have nothing and no one that remains constant in their life. One of the primary reasons I love TFC is because they are committed to changing that norm.

Through the “Permanently His” Campaign and sustainability efforts such as the Kota Ganate Agricultural Project, TFC is working diligently to establish a sense of consistency and hope in street children’s lives by offering them a safe place to gather (recently, our drop-in center location was closed down due to a government reconstruction plan. The need is great for a new, secure facility), quality educational opportunities, healthy family structures and, ultimately, the eternal permanency of a relationship with Christ.

With the freshness of His coming in mind—the Father’s incredible example of sacrificial giving— would you consider partnering with TFC?

And would you consider refusing to give into the seemingly obligatory “holiday stress”? (It’s a worn out cliché anyway.) This is Christmas. HE—our Breach Repairer and Soul Redeemer— is Christmas.

O Holy Night

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining, It is the night of our dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, 'Till He appeared and the soul felt it's worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices, Oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born. Oh night divine, oh night, oh night divine.

Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother, And in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord Christ is the Lord, oh, praise His name forever His power and glory ever more proclaim! His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices, Oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born. Oh night divine, oh holy night, oh night divine.

Putting Down Roots

This year's “Permanently His Campaign” has me thinking a lot about our work in Ethiopia. More specifically, I've been thinking about  the Kota Ganate Agriculture Project - something we started almost six years ago - because permanency is what this project is all about. Where we're from, “putting down roots” means to establish yourself permanently somewhere - to make a place your home. You make friends there, make a home there, start a family there - you become part of the place just as much as the place becomes a part of you.

I guess you could say my family and I have put down roots in Ethiopia in more ways than one. With Kota Ganate we're “putting down roots” for a generation of children who desperately need the permanency TFC provides, children like Abel, Sossina, and Metu.

Kota Ganate provides long-term sustainability to ensure these kids and many others will find the permanency they need.

As we literally put down roots with each crop we plant, pray with us for God to deepen our financial roots through Kota Ganate so we can continue to offer street children in Ethiopia the chance to become Permanently His.