The following is an update from Team Ethiopia, a small group from Central Church in Memphis, TN, who will be serving as short-term missionaries at Children's Home Ethiopia in June 2010. We've invited our dear friends and ministry partners to post their trip updates and prayer requests here on the TFC blog. Enjoy...
For 9 days, beginning June 12th, nine of us from Central Church will travel to Ethiopia to reach out to at-risk children with the love of Christ. We will run a VBS for children who literally live on the streets because they have no home. As representatives of Central Church and The Forsaken Children we will be working alongside Ethiopian nationals who serve these children throughout the year.
As we go, we ask for your prayers...
Please see how you can pray for us below and commit to pray everyday for our team. We will be more effective if you pray!
Please Pray...
For each member of the team...
Kelly and Heather McGugan, Joe Bridges, K.C. Winters, Bonnie Mann, Liz Roberts, Tom Knecht, Kelly Dawson, and Kara Moses.
- Many of us are leaving behind our spouses, children, pets, and basically those that depend on us. Pray for those we leave behind!
- Quite honestly, Ethiopia is known for making people sick, especially foreigners. Pray that the Lord will guard our stomachs from the bacteria lurking around us. Please pray specifically that no member of our team gets sick while we are there.
- God has something in store for each member of the team. Pray that each member will be like a sponge, ready to absorb what God wants to show and teach him/her.
For each child we will minister to...
We will be working with around 150 children throughout our time in Ethiopia. Each of these children are beneficiaries of the project we are visiting called Children’s Home Ethiopia (CHE).
- We know that we will be spending 4 days with a particular group of street children. Pray for these children by name: Nati, Tilahun, Burikti, Aberash, Addisu, Yared, Sintayu, Desse, Asrat. Pray that each of them will understand more fully the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that those who haven’t will put their faith in Jesus.
- On Wednesday we will be helping Children’s Home Ethiopia’s staff with an end of school celebration for about 50 children. Pray for K.C. especially as he will be presenting the Gospel to this group.
- Pray for the children living in the Halfway Homes that we will visit on Tuesday and Thursday. These children are in these homes because they either have no family or their family cannot care for them appropriately. Pray that we will show them the love of Christ through our actions.
For the Children’s Home Ethiopia staff members we will work with...
- Nega, Biruk, Mesfin, Sodo, Alemayu, Emabet, Nesegnet, Ribika, Fitela, and Abazu.
- These staff members have very difficult jobs and it is easy for them to become overwhelmed. Pray that our team will be able to encourage these believers, giving them strength to persevere.
We want to keep you posted about how things are going and what we’re doing while in Ethiopia. Please visit The Forsaken Children’s website everyday, starting Saturday, June 12 until Saturday, June 19. Look for the “Latest Blog Posts” section where you will find daily updates.
We'll post another update soon!
Team Ethiopia 2010