News from Matt and John

Today was the first day of the Seed Adoption Conference in Addis Ababa. Matt and John were in attendance along with over 150 pastors and wives from Ethiopia. There were 44 people from Zeway at the conference!

Matt reports that it is amazing to see the teaching of orphan and adoption care in Addis. Here are a couple highlights that he reported:

• The speakers have not shied away from being very direct about who is called to care for orphans.
• The speakers have been extremely knowledgeable, professional,and influential in the community including a member of parliament from the Ethiopian government.
• There have been breakout sessions including the psychological challenges of children who have had difficult and traumatic pasts
• One speaker was very direct in speaking to the men about the importance of their involvement as fathers
  

The conference was a full 9 hours with little time to talk with the Zeway pastors Matt said. They did have a special time of greeting as representatives of our church are very welcomed by the Zeway pastors. The conference will be all day Wednesday, and then Matt and John will travel to Zeway on Thursday where they will have a full day to debrief with them.

Please pray for continued strength and energy for everyone.
Please pray that God would move in the hearts of the Zeway pastors to care for the children with compassion and grace.

It was a great day for Matt and John and exciting to see God moving

Orphan Care Is Not Enough

Orphan care has many different forms. It could be providing for them physically and academically with additional food, shelter and educational supplies. Orphan care is also providing children with mentors or adult support. It can also look like building an orphanage or setting up group homes.

These are all important steps toward caring for children who are without families and parents. But it is not enough.

In the Book of John, Jesus says "I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you."

Orphan care is necessary and a great step, but it leaves children as orphans. And as Jesus does not leave us as orphans, we shouldn't stop there either.

Which is why when the Zeway pastors said they would like to learn more about adoption of the Zeway children two years ago, we were in full support. When we heard of Seed Adoption, an adoption and orphan care conference, sponsored by many great organizations, we told the Zeway pastors about it immediately. They were also very excited to attend.

Orphan care is a step toward the ultimate form of caring for these children and that is making them beloved sons and daughters. In this Partnership, we want to strive for all the children to have forever families. Orphan care just doesn't seem like enough in Zeway.

Seed Adoption: 2011 in Addis

Here is a short video about the conference the Zeway pastors are attending.

Seed Adoption - Ethiopia Project from Wiseacre Short Films on Vimeo.

Goals of the Partnership

One of the most important goals of this partnership beyond caring for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of orphans and widows is to to ensure sustainability. There is constant evaluation of how much dependency is on us and how much responsibility is being taken on by the orphans, widows and the Zeway church. Our ultimate goal is that the care of orphans and widows is fully sustained by the Zeway church and by the orphans too, but we provide them with a "boost" until that happens.

Sustainability looks very different for all kinds of relief and development. I'm by no means fully knowledgeable on this, but I do know what it means for the Zeway Partnership.

In full agreement and partnership with the Zeway Evangelical Church Fellowship (ZECF -about 10-14 united churches in Zeway), we have agreed to work with them to visualize and come to practice what the Bible says about orphan care and adoption. This is the ultimate way we believe God has revealed sustainability for orphan care in Zeway. The local churches will do it.

One big step in doing this is for the ZECF to understand what orphan care and adoption looks like on a theological and practical level. On May 31 and June 1, an orphan care conference hosted by Seed Adoption will be in Addis. From the help of many sponsors, we are funding 31 pastors and their wives to attend this conference in Addis. They will be attending some amazing sessions on orphan care and adoption taught by local Ethiopians and curriculum provided by Together for Adoption and several other well-known orphan and adoption organizations.

We are very excited to be a part of this. This is a huge step for the ZECF to care for orphans and widows and they are excited to be a part of it as well. Matt Kouri and John Patterson will also be attending this conference in Ethiopia, so we look forward to getting updates from them.

Zeway Pastors

Thank you everyone for sponsoring a Zeway pastor and his wife to attend the orphan care conference in Addis Ababa! We only have two more pastors to sponsor, so let us know if you would like to help out.

We'll keep everyone updated on the blog when John Patterson and Matt Kouri travel to Addis at the end of May to attend the conference and debrief with the pastors. A very exciting opportunity to engage the local churches in orphan care!

Zeway House Gathering

This last weekend we hosted a Zeway House Gathering. It was a post-trip follow-up for all the people who supported us in numerous ways. I loved setting up for this event and seeing everyone have a good time as they were able to learn more about this ministry. I think the great thing about Hope in Ethiopia is that you don't have to go to Africa to make a difference. There is always a need for prayer over these orphans and financial support of course, but there are other ways for our community to get involved. Like stuffing mailings, framing orphan photos, writing stories for our blog http://www.zewayupdate.blogspot.com/ and buying jewelry.

 We served authentic Ethiopian coffee.

 All of the jewelry profits from Funky Fish Designs go directly to Food for the Hungry to support the orphans. Please, please let me know if you need a Mother's Day gift!

 We had framed artwork the kids made for sale as well. 

 Lots of pictures. Too many to do a slide show.

“He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me? Declares the Lord.” ~ Jeremiah 22:16

Sponsoring a Zeway Pastor

One aspect of this partnership that has been unique is the commitment of the local Zeway churches to care for the orphans and their desire to understand adoption.

But that is easier said than done, and many of the church leaders desired to learn more about what the Bible says about adoption and orphan care and how to do it on a practical level.

Bridges of Grace had planned on creating a conference for this very thing, but thankfully an organization called Kidmia approached us about an orphan care and adoption conference they are hosting in Ethiopia for pastors. We've known the leaders of Kidmia for a while and Together for Adoption has worked with them to provide curriculum. All this to say this is a great opportunity and it is going to be a great conference.

We'd love some help with this. The cost to attend the conference for a pastor and his wife is $70. This includes transportion to Addis Ababa, lodging and food for 2 days and the conference fees. The conference is at the end of May.

Would you be willing to pay $70 for a pastor and his wife to attend this conference?

We have 15 spots paid for, but a total of 31 pastors and elders have signed up to attend. Would you be willing to support a pastor to learn more about adoption and caring for the orphan on a biblical and practical level?

We have the names of the pastors and wives already, so we can send you the name of a specific pastor that you can sponsor. We are also sending 2 people from Grace to attend the conference and debrief with the pastors afterward, so we'll be able to give you an eyewitness account of how God used your donation.

Please contact Julie at bridges@grace360.org if you would like to sponsor a pastor or for more information.

What We Can Promise

It is hard to go to Zeway and not want to make promises to fix many of their problems. What makes this especially difficult is that in Zeway, an amazing cappuccino costs less than a quarter, a hotel costs $5 a night and an good salary can be about $50 a month. How far our money can go in the Ethiopian economy.

So when a child asks for something or when the physical need is obvious, it is hard to not promise these kids that we will fulfill that need.

Especially when they ask for a bottle of water, a Bible, a stable home, school supplies, new clothes.

And while a big part of this partnership is supplying physical needs, when a team goes to Ethiopia, it is not our place to be the givers of these needs. We don't want to be viewed as
"Santa Claus". It is the role of FH and the local churches to deliver these things. People who are there everyday to mentor, follow-up, and be the daily support for these children.

So what is it that we can promise these kids? There is one thing that I have said to every kid that I have visited in Zeway. A promise I have made to each of them.

"I promise that I will ask about you. You are remembered. I may live across an ocean, but I want to know how you are -your health, your education, your siblings, your relationships, your soul. I will think about you and I will ask about you."

Mother Theresa wrote in her memoirs, "There are poor people everyone, but the deepest poverty is not being loved."

Dr. Karyn Purvis, a leading adoption psychologist, says that a basic need a child has is to know he is precious.

So how do we get these children out of some the deepest places of poverty? How do we fulfill their basic needs? We let them know they are loved. That they are remembered. That they are precious.

So that is one problem they have that I can promise to do something about. I promise to ask about them and to think of them and to remember who they are as children of God.

Can you make this promise to the orphans of Zeway too?

Soon we'll be publishing a photo book of the names and faces of all the Zeway orphans. With this, people will be able to know these children and pray for them. Others can promise to remember these precious and loved children.

It is the one promise we can make.

The Contrasts

One thing I have learned that can make a trip to a far away impoverished land difficult is that I walk away with knowing the contrasts between how I live and how others live in this world. It is something we all wrestle with when we return home. How we spend our money and the amount of comforts we have is certainly a big contrast, but there are other cultural contrasts that I noticed this time.


One example of this is the status that animals have in our communities. On the main road to Lake Zeway there was a large animal that had died and the skin of the animal had been shredded off so just the rib meat was showing. Several street dogs (and all the dogs seem to be street dogs) were gnawing on the bones. Jokingly, Scott gave me a poke with his elbow and said, "Imagine Blueberry chowing down on that meat." (Blueberry is our very cute Springer Spaniel puppy). I chuckled and said, "Really? I went to 3 different stores looking for the perfect placemat to place Blueberry's food bowl on"
The contrast between street dogs eating rib meat and a rubber place mat for my dog's food struck both of us.

Another contrast I realized is when the Thackers, the Tuthills and I were talking with the social workers about ideas for children and youth ministry. We were talking about the choices that teens make and how to help them make good ones. In my head, I was preparing to talk about $5 choices verses $500 choices. The idea that some choices in this world have small consequences and how it is good to allow children to make poor choices when the consequences are small so that they learn from experiences and hopefully apply that knowledge when they are older and their choices have $500 consequences. I was trying to come up with a real life example of a $5 choice for a child in Ethiopia. I could think of none. The children there do not have the luxury of choices. They don't have choices in foods, choices in schooling, choices in what they use their money for (what money do they have?). How they dress for the weather or activities is not a choice when they have only 2 changes of clothes.

The choices these children have to make are all $500 choices. They all have big consequences. This is a contrast that makes me really want to pray and support these kids.

Defending the Fatherless

Scripture mandates that we should do a lot for the poor. Here is just a smattering of what the Bible says:

• Isaiah 58 says we should satisfy the needs of the hungry
• Psalm 72 says we should have compassion on the poor and the needy and rescue their lives from violence
• Psalm 74 says we should save the children of the needy
• Matthew 25 says that we are to give them drink, food, invite them in our homes, care for them when sick, etc.
  

And Scripture also says in Deuteronomy, we are to "defend the fatherless". After watching Dateline about Vanya from Russia, I had to reflect on what I was doing to DEFEND the fatherless.

Defending, in my opinion, looks different than feeding, clothing, educating, or caring for children. It even looks different than caring for their spiritual needs - to give them a future and a hope.

Defending is a term that conjures up in me a bit of patriotism in fact (wrongly, I credit patriotism for this feeling). It's justice. We, Americans should understand the need for justice over even feeding these kids (after all, isn't our immediate reaction after feeding them is trying to figure out how they can prove themselves in an income generating activity and they can be self-sustaining? aaaahhh, I digress.)

Defending the fatherless is righting the wrong. It is defending the oppressed. It's justice and we like liberty and justice for all.

So what does defending the fatherless look like? I had to think on it and this is what I came up with:

• It is defending the child whose distant relatives are trying to take away his parents' home.

• It is defending the children in which the government plans to destroy their home without giving the children an alternative place to live

• It is standing before an abusive family whom an orphan girl escaped from defending her and securing her legal documentation so she can attend school again.
• It is telling a neighborhood that they are wrong for telling children they cannot use the public bathrooms and then building those children the "best bathroom in Zeway"

These are examples that I could come up with of how I'm supporting those who defend the fatherless. (And I do feel like supporting those who do the actual defending is how it can all works) It was good for me to reflect over that, not to prove anything about the Zeway Partnership, but because, I believe God, through Scripture, is asking all of us to be a part of caring for the poor and defending the oppressed.

I most certainly want to be a part of God's plan for this.