Why Africa? (Guest blogger – Jenny Beard)

Jenny recently traveled to Ethiopia with the January P61 2012 team.  We asked her to share thoughts and experiences.  This was written as she traveled home from Ethiopia.

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As I sit on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic I have a heavy heart for the country of Ethiopia and people that I left behind.  The questions I have been asking myself since my first trip are: Why me? Why Africa? Why so far away?  Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with a country closer to home or even my own country?

If anyone had told me 3 years ago that I would be called to go on a Mission Trip to Africa, I would have laughed and told them “God knows how scared I am of going out of the country since 9-11, he knows that I am terrified I would end up on a plane bound for some National Monument so he would never do that to me”……… Wrong.  Don’t ever say or think that God won’t call you out of your comfort zone, three years later and 2 trips to Africa, here I sit on a plane crying because it was time to leave.

The past 10 days have been nothing short of amazing for me and I still have lots to process. There was good and bad, things that made sense and nonsense but we went with a purpose to love on the people and share the good news of Christ and I believe we did that ten-fold.

We spent time in Shashemene and Korah getting our socks blessed off and then we went to feed the homeless in Addis…. I have always had a heart for the Homeless, I remember my dad telling me that when I was a little girl and we would go to Nashville I would ask so many questions about why they didn’t have a home and I remember him telling me that I would be in tears begging him to give them money or our “take-away” if we had been out to dinner.

I stood in amazement as hundreds of men, women and children, a large part of them blind and crippled filled table after table to get probably their only meal of the day.

It’s bad enough to be homeless but to be blind, crippled and homeless in Ethiopia is beyond anything I can comprehend. As they filed in and I began to serve them something that I am ashamed to say I probably wouldn’t eat, my heart became very heavy, I had to step away and take a minute because I starting to melt down.  After I calmed down (with the help of Pastor Duane:) These people had the sweetest faces and biggest smiles and when I was standing among them serving the food and one of the older gentlemen grabbed my hand and said “Thank you!  Jesus is so good.”  I thought, “this is it, this is why I am here” If one person knows that Jesus is good and Jesus loves them, then all the preparation and hard work was totally worth it.  I am honored to have that man grab my hand and Thank me but really I should have been thanking him.

Family and friends told me that they admired me, and told me that I had such courage to go so far away.  I don’t have courage, courage is the men I saw that were so crippled they could only walk on their hands and drag their legs behind them, the blind that had to depend on others to help them out, the women in the countryside that carried huge water jugs on their heads back to their families, the men, women and children pilfering thru the trash dump to find food for their families…  That is courage.  I am nothing, people…I only did what God called me to do and if I live my life from here on with the love and appreciation that the people of Ethiopia showed me, then I will be a much better person because of it.

Below are some of the lyrics to a new Casting Crowns song, it was my “Battle Song” for the week:

Jesus, friend of sinners, the one who’s writing in the sand
Make the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands
Help us to remember we are all the least of these
Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees
No one knows what we’re for only against when we judge the wounded
What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and loved like You did
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks yours
You love every lost cause; you reach for the outcast
For the leper and the lame; they’re the reason that You came
Lord I was that lost cause and I was the outcast
But you died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet

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The GROWING Reading List

We recently asked for advice from FB friends(https://www.facebook.com/project61).  The question was, “What books or resources do you recommend for people to read prior to traveling oversees to do missions work?”  Below are some of the responses.  One or more of the Project 61 team have read each and gained some great insight from the book.

There is not a definitive list as I am sure there are many more books out here that are great resources.  Let us know what you think and give other recommendations in comments.

Choose one to start or read them all!

-Shawn
Shawn@p61.org

BTW – Each image connects to the books Amazon.com page.

When Helping Hurts

The Hospital by the River

Live-Dead.org

The Hole in the Gospel

Crazy Love

Kisses from Katie

Hope Lives

 

There is No Me Without You

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When is Christmas in Ethiopia? (Hint: Wrong!)

When is Christmas in Ethiopia?  Well, you ask a great question….

It is actually January 7, 2012 by your calendar.  For the many sponsored students at Boarding School, the Christmas celebration will be a fun one. The January P61 team is traveling (very) light with their own gear and carrying crates of sponsor gifts to the students.  It promises to be an amazing day and produce some great pictures.  We will share the experiences here with pictures and stories.

(Just trust me, this calendar says it is January 7.)

We are often asked, “How can I help P61 other than sponsor?”  Well, here is your answer – GIVE A YEAR END GIFT!  

Almost everyone reading this blog is radically blessed and giving is a way to say “thanks.”  You provide some small miracles in a child’s life and  get a tax benefit (double whammy!).

Donations to Project 61 are tax-deductible, and gifts received before December 31 will be reflected on your 2011 statements.  Any contribution is always appreciated and will be used to cover recurring costs of boarding school and Brighthope students.  (There are other costs beyond sponsorship funds.  For an explanation, click here.)

You can give online now at www.p61.org.  Or, you may mail a check to the address provided at the same link.

As always, we commit to use your donations in the best way possible.  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Shawn at shawn@p61.org.

Merry Christmas!  (Dec 25 and Jan 7)

-Shawn

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Last year I had the privilege of leading a Project 61 team to Ethiopia for a grand Christmas celebration or what I now like to call Ethiopian Christmas Extravaganza!  It is such a joy for me to spend this day with our boarding school kids because this is the anniversary of the day we first met these precious children.  If you would like to read how it all began, click here.

 Angela and Sumer at the dump on Ethiopian Christmas 2010

We loved passing out stockings filled with the gifts that you sent them last year.  It’s so fun to see the joy on their faces as they look through their goodies, read your letters and look at your family pictures.  It’s such encouragement for them to know that someone cares for them and prays for them.

Sumer getting the stockings sorted for Ethiopian Christmas 2011

I’m even more excited to do it again this year! This year, we are placing all of their gifts in a drawstring backpack. Sponsors don’t forget to send in your items.  We don’t want any child to be without a Christmas gift!

My sponsored child Birhane with her stocking

Here are the items that we would like each boarding school sponsor to send:

• 6 pairs of socks (gray and dark colors are good)
• 6 pairs of underwear (boxers for the boys)
• 1 pair of leggings for girls (dark colors)
• 1 package of sleeveless undershirts for boys
• 1 personal goody bag (no larger than a quart-size ziploc) – appropriate items include Christmas card, photos/photo album, gum/candy,
  chapstick, lotion, pens/pencils, bandana, small inexpensive items. Please DO NOT send electronics, money, jewelry, fingernail polish, or expensive items.  Please label the Ziploc with your child’s full name and your name.

Here are the items we would like each Bright Hope sponsor to send in:

• T-shirt (Please estimate size according to your sponsored child’s age.)
• photos/photo album of your family
• pens, pencils, other school supplies
• toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, lotion, chapstick, or other hygiene items
• gum/candy
• other fun, inexpensive items

Please DO NOT send electronics, money, jewelry, or expensive items.  Please pack all items into one GALLON-SIZE ZIPLOC bag. This is very important, due to space restrictions.

Please mail all packages by December 1 to:

Project 61 Ministries,  Attn: Angela Spencer, P.O. Box 126, Thompson’s Station, TN 37179.  If you are local, you can bring them by the church office
anytime. Please direct all questions about the items to Angela@p61.org.

Merry Christmas!

Angela

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MUST WATCH! Powerful new Project 61 video…

Sam Nuttmann is the president and founder of Session 7 Media.  He created this short video to highlight P61 and the work that is being done in Ethiopia.

You MUST watch!  It is beautifully shot, and it conveys the need and energy of Korah.

Thank you in a huge way, Sam and team, for this work.  God bless!

Project 61: Spreading Hope – A short documentary from Session 7 Media on Vimeo.

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Why spend your vacation on another continent?

Hirchie & Sara Schaffner, of Dyersburg, TN, recently spent a week in Ethiopia discussing leadership skills and spiritual growth with the men of Great Hope Ministries.  Update below……

Our latest trip to Ethiopia was once again amazing but in an all new way. As we left Korah in July, Sara and I both knew we needed to come back to Ethiopia soon to work with the Great Hope leaders and the kids we love so dearly. So, we set the dates which fell on her schools fall break and it was right in between all other teams and gave us an opportunity to meet with the leaders without them being spread all over the place.  Not only did the dates work but our tickets were buy on get one free – how awesome is that! (special thanks to Alicia Jordan and Sabrina Freeland.)  (Alicia oversees all P61 trips and Sabrina is a resident travel agent / expert.)

Because of the blessings of God, we were able to take the leaders of Great Hope off to Awassa for a retreat.  It was such a privilege to spend the week with these great men of God, we had some wonderful times in the word, amazing fellowship and a powerful time in prayer together.  Along with this opportunity, we spent each afternoon with the kids at Shashemene which compared to Korah resembles the Garden of Eden.

Surrounded by the beautiful green landscapes and the smiling faces of children who now have a hope and a future was beyond satisfying.  We spent time just hanging out with these kids who have stolen our hearts, it was fun to just watch them laughing and enjoying life and knowing it was because of the generosity of sponsors like you.  We passed out letters and gifts, shared meals, took tours of the classrooms and most of all we loved on these “gifts from God.”

As amazing as this time was and as hard as it was to leave our sponsored child Yohannes, God still had one more job for us and it was life changing.  We went to Korah on Friday morning about 12 hours before we were set to fly out.  I have to say the empty street in front of Great Hope is a beautiful sight because those kids who packed that street this summer were now safely tucked away in Sheshamene, Akaki and in class at Bright Hope.  We were in Korah for a reason though – we had brought gifts with us for some of the sponsored kids and when we arrived earlier that week Sumer informed us that one of the kids (Zarahun) sponsored by some of our church members had not gone to school but was back at the dump.  So that morning Sumer arranged a meeting with Zarahun and his best friend Habtamu at a home on the edge of the dump.  We arrived with Sumer, Mastewal and Murad to find two 10 year old boys in tattered clothes, covered in the grime and dirt of the dump and afraid they were in trouble. When Sumer asked why they didn’t go to school they replied “we didn’t think anyone would really want us.”  Our hearts sunk as Zarahun, whose parents are both dead, said he couldn’t remember his parents and Habtamu shared how his mother was poisoned and his father was raising the two boys in the dump.  We shared with the boys that they both had sponsors and asked if they still wanted to go to school, they both said they wanted to go to school and leave the life they had in the dump.  After some discussion about where they could stay until they would be able to leave for boarding school, Saylia Murad (One of the Great Hope Leaders) offered to rent a place and keep the boys with him so they would not return to the dump.  As we left this home with the two boys I realized what it felt like to change a life, it was exhilarating to say the least. As we made our way back to the church I told Sumer that this is one of the coolest things I had ever been a part of and I could only imagine what it was like to take over 200 kids out of the wasteland of the trash dump to give them a real shot at life.  Words cannot express the joy I felt walking along side these two precious children who just hours earlier were rummaging through garbage to find their breakfast.

When we arrived at Great Hope we took their ragged clothes and watched as Worldu and Maste scrubbed the boys clean!.  We gave them new clothes, fed them lunch but more than anything else we witnessed how generous hearts of sponsors and taking some time to care for these children now gave them joy they had never known before.  Jesus said “You clothed me, fed me and gave me what I needed, when you did it for the least of these.” And, we were witnesses of that scripture in action.  We left Korah that day with a sense of fulfillment and overwhelming humility that God would use us to be His hands and show His heart to those boys.

      

Many people have asked why are we so wrapped up in Ethiopia, why spend your vacation on another continent, why do we love this place so much and the answer is simple – It’s because God has made it a part of our heart and a part of our purpose in life, and it is a place that God has used us to help save some lives!

Please continue to pray for the precious children and families of Korah. And don’t forget to pray for Sumer and Corey and the men of God at Great Hope Ministries – they truly are working miracles every day.

Your gifts and support are truly saving lives!

God Bless You All!
Hirchie & Sara Schaffner

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My heart was in Korah before my feet touched those muddy streets

In October 2010, I was scrolling through my Facebook status updates and noticed a blog post from Sumer, a childhood friend of mine.  I clicked on the link and stumbled into Korah through Sumer’s words.  I was immediately captivated and shaken to the core at the images and stories of the kids surviving from the dump.  The following days were spent Googling every photo, reading every blog, and watching every video I could get my eyes on … my heart was in pain and in love for this forgotten place on the other side of the world … I couldn’t stop talking or thinking about Korah.

After a week of feeling God pushing me to GO, I sent the email to P61 … how do I get there?  My willingness to run in obedience to what God placed on my heart came to a screeching halt.  I had to wait 9 ½ months before my trip?!  I was initially confused thinking ‘God I know you want me to go, here I am saying yes … so why the wait?’  Despite my initial dismay, God taught me so much in the 9 months of waiting and planning … most importantly that waiting was the biggest part of His plan as my growth, trust and faith in relationship with Him grew.  He is so good, isn’t He?

I wish I could say my first encounter with Addis and with Korah were as captivating as the “research” I had done prior to my trip.  As much as I planned and prepared and prayed like crazy for my trip, I was not prepared for the overwhelming culture shock of just driving through the streets of Addis for the first time.  Leaving the airport, the van was full of chatter and excitement, but I was silent for a while. Looking out the windows and taking in the mind-blowing sights of poverty everywhere (and I’m convinced there must me a better term, “poverty” just doesn’t give justice).  I’ll never forget I said to Sumer, “I cannot believe what I am seeing!”  Sumer said, “This?”  Then she tilted her head back with a laugh and said, “Wait til you see Korah tomorrow.”  I was immediately sick and confused.

My stomach hurt and I fought to appear “normal” as thoughts went through my head; “God why am I here, why did you call me here?  I thought I was ready!  I don’t think I can do this.”  I couldn’t eat at meals due to the sick feeling in my stomach.  As much as God had shown Himself to me and confirmed this mission trip over and over again, I still found myself in doubt that first day.
But undeniably, I was exactly where God wanted me to be….

Korah the next day was a sight, to say the least, and it was uncharacteristically, overwhelmingly smelly that first day.  I approached my leader with panic building inside me, trying to make the nausea and tingling in my jaw ‘no big deal’, as I told him I might get sick.  He said, it usually doesn’t smell this bad….  The sweet faces that greeted me were also accompanied by dirty hands all fighting
over a simple touch by me.  I was overwhelmed!  It was everything that I had expected it to be and everything I had ‘prepared’ for and prayed at times non-stop about … but you can never fully prepare for Korah until you are standing there – seeing it, smelling it, and feeling it.

We lead summer camp that morning and I noticed an older boy in the back of the room, in the last row, several rows behind the other kids, he was sitting alone staring down at his feet.  I sat beside him and we ‘talked’ (as much as I could understand my 1^st day hearing their language, Amharic).  His name was Sentayhu, 16 years old, a quiet and handsome young man.  I asked him where he lived; he said “shelter.”  I asked where his mom was; he said “dead.” I’m not sure if it was all the emotion wrapped into that one simple word or if it was the total detached lack of emotion that rocked me.  A wave ran through me and I could only put my arm around him and beg God for the tears to stop falling.  Suddenly nothing else mattered, the smell didn’t matter, the filth didn’t matter. All that mattered was this child.  “This is why I am here God.  I get it.”

Sentayhu is only one of the many precious kids that took a piece of me that week in Korah.  I found myself the next morning excited again.  This time excited because my love and passion for this place no longer existed through the words and experiences of some stranger’s blog I had Googled.  Excited because the kid’s faces were no longer in someone else’s photos  or a video I had watched on-line, but a real-life welcoming embrace, a precious hand to hold, a brilliant smile just because I had looked at them, the most beautiful accent calling my name over and over “Becky J, sit”….  I found myself truly in love with these children and in love with this dirty and at times smelly place called Korah.

More than EVER in my life I felt the presence of God while there.  Just as you can feel the presence of any human being … God was with me as I sat in my room at night crying – allowing myself the much needed emotional release of the day.  He was there while I tossed and turned attempting to process all I had seen and heard and smelled.  It wasn’t until I was home that I realized God answered all my prayers while in Korah … the Holy Spirit became my guide (as I had prayed countless times for while preparing for mission).  My flesh was in shock at the initial sights and smells and I started to shut down and feel lost and confused, but the Spirit in me took over and showed me to love bigger than I am capable on my own.  The kids in Korah, the families we visited and even those we just passed on the streets all hold a piece of me now.  To feel complete, I will return to Korah to give love and to be loved again and again…. Words cannot express how much I love that place.

Becky Jane

Visiting Orphans Team, August 2011

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Meseret

She was only 7 years old when she started going to the dump.  Mesret’s mother would take both her and her sister to the dump to eat and to collect things to sell.  This would allow them to have just enough money to buy uniforms, school supplies, and to pay the minimal fees to attend the local school.

She was 9 years old when her dad died from leprosy.  He had another wife and many children.  One is in America, another in Israel, and one brother is a doctor in Addis.  She, her sister and mother asked their father’s children for money for a house, but they always said no.

One day, her mother became sick and her leg started swelling so she and her sister would go to the dump alone to provide for the family.  Most of the children in Korah are expected to provide for themselves and their families.  In many cases it is due to an illness, but it is also just desperation that causes a parent to put that type of pressure on their child.  Children grow up quickly around here.  So Meseret and her sister would go to the trash dump one day and school one day.   On the days they went to school, they would always go straight to the trash dump so they could have their first meal of the day.

Eventually, the family got kicked out of their house because they couldn’t pay and Meseret remembers that her mom cried a lot.  Their mother married again, but her husband is missing one leg so he depends on begging to help them get by.  They do have a house now but it is very small, and although it is a good distance away it has the distinct smell of the trash dump due to her bringing work home with her often.  The house has one bed for the five of them, and it leaks in the rainy season. Meseret and her sister sleep on the muddy floor.

In her words, she is “so happy to be at Shashemene because she wants to finish school and get a really good job so she can buy a big house for all of them to live in.”  Thank you so much, Malia, for giving Meseret a chance to be a kid and to provide hope for their family in the future.

We still need sponsors for this coming school year, please contact Erin erin@p61.org for more information!!

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Student Needs – UPDATE

This is a re-post of a recent update on our students’ needs.  With summer plans and trips, it is sometimes difficult to place priority on needs.  But, the students’ school year is fast approaching, and we are working hard to meet all needs prior to the start.

If you can be of help individually OR as a group to take ownership of an area, it would be huge for the kids of Korah.

-Shawn (shawn@p61.org)

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I have 4 kids, and they use a lot of stuff!  Multiply that by 250, and you have much, much more stuff.  The handy graph below depicts the amount of stuff.

(Ok, that graph isn’t real, but you get the point.)

With the rising costs of caring for the students at the boarding school, P61 made the decision to keep sponsorship costs almost unchanged and break-up the remaining needs into smaller “projects.”  We are remarkably blessed with so many friends and fellow organizations determined to help.  And, our hope is to partner with others to meet these remaining student needs.  (Thanks to TSC for already meeting the needs for shoes – an expensive project!) Because the cost of shipping is high, it is best-case for organizations to raise the funds for the individual projects and the items will be purchased in Ethiopia. Here is the current list of projects:

If you or your organization are interested in assisting P61 meet these needs, you can let us know here.  Wes Sellers is overseeing the process of filling these needs.  Wes’ email is wes@p61.org.  Feel free to email him with questions or to volunteer for a specific need/project.

As always, we appreciate all of your support and your passion to care for the people of Ethiopia!

-Shawn (shawn@p61.org)

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I Am Not Forgotten

Just over a year ago I was sitting on my couch when my wife showed me a video of people waiting in a dump for garbage trucks to arrive so they could find a meal in the trash.  For the next few days the image of a young boy, around my sons age, eating a sugar packet he found in the garbage ran through my mind.  We decided that we would join Project 61 and sponsor a child and give them a chance at a life outside of Korah and the dump.  Our church joined with us, and we became the sponsors for a 14 year old young man named Yohannes.  He immediately became a part of our lives.

Flash forward to July of 2011.  My wife Sara and I are two days removed from a mission trip in Arizona and on a plane headed to Ethiopia.  We left with a group of aquantances and returned with a group of life-long friends.

The first thing that hits you (other than jet-lag) is the smokey smell of the land, the masses of people everywhere and the knowledge that God has put me here “for such a time as this”.  When we arrived in Korah the surroundings were worse than any I had experienced before, but the smiles on the faces of the children were brighter than any sunrise I have witnessed.  We were met with throngs of people hugging us, asking our names and holding our hands.  Since the trip I have told people that if you are insecure or have low self esteem then go to Korah – because everyone is a superstar in Korah!

The week we spent in Korah and some orphanages around Addis was life changing to say the least.  We met our boy Yohannes hugged him, kissed him and showered him with affection.  It was the craziest feeling loving a child I just met as if he were born into my family, we love him as one of our own, because he is!  (My wife would insert that leaving him there was the hardest part of the trip and the reason for many tears, but he wouldn’t fit in my luggage…)

There are so many events from the trip I could share, things that touched me, broke my heart and gave me joy.  From serving Wat, to eating Injeera, teaching lessons, loving on people, rocking tunes with the kids and even killing sheep (sorry PETA).  But what I leave with is new friends that I spent ten of the greatest days of my life with, my brother from another mother Mastewal Asefa, a sense of God’s hope where there had been none and a calling in my life to do all I can to help serve Project 61 and Great Hope Ministries.

I miss my son Yohannes, but I will see him again soon and I know he is in good hands with Sumer, Cory, Maste and the church leaders.  And in the midst of the tears I shed missing those beautiful children of Korah I am filled with joy as I can still hear hundreds of little voices singing “I AM NOT FORGOTTEN, GOD KNOWS MY NAME!”

A huge thanks to Project 61 and the best mission team EVER for an amazing Ethiopian Adventure… Let’s do it again real soon – I’ll buy a round of Frapoooochinooos at Khaldi’s!

-Hirchie Schaffner is the pastor of The Gathering Place of Dyerberg, TN.

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