… One in a million!

This post originally featured in The View – Winter 2015 (20th Anniversary Edition)

Wow it has been twenty years? How time flies? I feel like it was just yesterday.

It was the Good Lord’s guidance that brought us together. It was Him who spoke to Chris Shelbourne one afternoon about doing something in Africa. Thank God he obeyed because many lives have been positively impacted by that obedience. Relationships have been established between Ferenjis (foreigners) and Habashas; between Europeans and Africans and between Christian Churches. I think God has been glorified by that relationship because as a result many lives of poor people were saved from the impact of malaria in Bello.

Oh the twelve poor girls of Bahir Dar; they have also been impacted! They were just innocent little souls who needed encouragement, friendship and probably some help. The Good Lord guided us to them also.

Now all of them have grown up and almost all of them have their own families and children. Some, like Tarik and Sinteyhu are helping other poor children. Sinteyhu, Yeshareg, Yamirot, and Guday sometimes visit me at my home or call me and ask how I am doing. They have really been an encouragement to me. This is the Lord’s hand.

Mamitu (now Lydia) is in the States. She has one daughter and she goes to an Ethiopian Community Church in North Carolina with her family. I think all twelve of them attend churches wherever they are. Some of them like Yamirot are married to pastors and serving the Lord. Yeshareg and her husband have their own flourishing business. When our son had a car accident last September many of these girls came and visited him at our home. I really glorify the Lord for what he has done in these girl’s lives.

Occasionally I call Tadele (CPA’s old project worker in Bello). Tadele sometimes visits Bello and I get an update from him. There is a Church planted there and the clinic is still helping the community.

What else? Zewdie, who used to work with Selamawit in Debre Markos (CPA’s child sponsorship programme) now works for the Ethiopian Full Gospel Believers’ Church Development office in Addis. I contact him whenever I get a chance. He has now married.

I hear Beletew’s project has grown and is impacting Afar. Schools have been built and many Afar girls are getting rare chances of going to school. All these programmes are not CPAs, but it was CPA who first went to Sefi Beret. The churches at Rasa and Abayater have also been impacted by CPA; all glory be to God!

God Bless CPA and the Ferenji brothers and sisters there! My best regards to ALL of them!