Ordinary Hero Blog: Ethiopia Dec 2012, Day 3 ~ NOL & H4H Countryside

Saturday, on our Day 3 in Ethiopia, we were able to visit No Ordinary Love Ministries.

This ministry is run by Jimmy and Rachel Gross, from Texas.

They moved their family of 6 to Ethiopia to serve the needy.

They currently have a center that takes in women and children in need in hopes to build them up through God's love and re-integrate them into the community.

Every Saturday they have a community outreach program where they invite children in need from the community to come for a meal, a bible lesson, and play time. We were able to serve these children during our visit.

We lost count of how many children came to their program on Saturday, but our team really enjoyed seeing how they run their amazing program and being able to help for the day.

It was so great to see Jimmy and Rachel again! Everything they are doing with their amazing ministry is so awesome! They have children in their program in need of sponsorships below. Please look through this list of children that we met while visiting and see if you can help.

It was a blessing to photograph these children in hopes of finding them sponsors.

Girume

Girume's mother's name is Lawayish. She was originally from Gojam which is some 500 Kilometers from Addis Ababa. She is 20 and lost her mother when she was only a year old. She came to Addis Ababa to work and help herself. She was working in a café as a cook and that is where she met her husband. She lived with him for about six months. They separated when she was 3 months pregnant. This fact put her in a difficult situation to work and help herself and her child. Thus, the Wereda Women, Children and Youth Affairs Bureau proposed for her to place her child at our Children's House. She is happy to place her child with NOL ministry. Her goal is to work for some time so that she can afford to take Girume back home with her. Lawayish visits Girume every day at the Children's House. She is a very loving mother.

Please CLICK HERE to email Jimmy and Rachel to sponsor Girume to be cared for at the children's home. We really enjoyed meeting this little guy.

Mikyas

Mikyas, or "Miki", is a 1 year old little boy. His mother is originally from Wello, some 500 kilometers outside of Addis Ababa. She left her birth place because of a disagreement she had with her father. When Mikyas's mother reached Addis Ababa, she discovered that she was pregnant. Later she gave birth to Mikyas. Her job at the time was a house maid. Mikyas's mother has been sick and not able to take proper care of him. Mikyas lives at the NOL center and their hope is that Miyas will be reintegrated with his mother in the future.

Please CLICK HERE to email Jimmy and Rachel to inquire about sponsoring Mikyas for as little as $25 per month. He was an absolute sweety that we all loved meeting at their center.

Yared

Yared's health has improved and he has gained weight since moving to the NOL Children's House. They are currently working with his mother (who visits regularly) on a plan to reintegrate him back into the community with a family member.

Yared is in need of sponsorship for as little as $25 per month.

Please CLICK HERE to email Jimmy and Rachel in order to sponsor little Yared. We loved meeting this little cutie in Ethiopia!

Esubalew

Both of Esubalew’s parents are chronically sick. The father has asthma while the mother is living with HIV. That hinders the parents to be as productive as they intended to. Both of them are casual laborers. The father carries stone and construction materials in construction areas while the mother washes clothes and works as a housemaid. They have a family of five.

Consequently, the parents are unable to take care of their youngest child, Esubalew. Three of his older brothers are going to public school. But they don’t have appropriate school materials. They are wearing school uniform neighbors bought them 2 years ago. If their life continues the same, Esubalew will not go to school. He hardly gets nutrition, health care and clothing.

He really needs support to grow healthy and attend school.

Here is a picture of Esubalew in his home.

Please CLICK HERE to email Jimmy and Rachel in order to sponsor Esubalew for as little as $25 per month. He is such a sweet boy! Our OH team so glad to get to meet him!

Sintayahu

This sweet girl that just joined the program needs a sponsor.

She is the 4th of 5 children for her mother. The mother's first husband died, and her second husband (Sintayahu's father) left them three years ago when the mother was pregnant with Sintayahu's youngest sibling. The mother struggles to feed her children and currently can't afford to send Sintayahu to school.

Please CLICK HERE to contact Jimmy and Rachel to sponsor Sintayahu for as little as $25 per month.

We were blessed to have met her.

Ermias

Ermias is a cute boy. He is living with his mother. He helps the mother by running errands and cleaning. The father left the family while the mother was three months pregnant of Ermias. The mother is washing clothes for a living. She makes too little money to cover their living expenses. More than 2/3 of her income is going for house rent.

It is the neighbors that are helping Ermias to get food for most of the days and the local administration for women and children affairs that contribute money to allow them to see a physician when they are sick. They are living a desperate kind of life.

CLICK HERE to email Jimmy and Rachel to inquire about sponsoring Ermias. He was an absolute sweetheart to get to meet!

This little sweetheart, below, is a brand new intake into their program for children in need.

Please CLICK HERE to email Jimmy and Rachel to inquire about sponsoring this beautiful little girl in the NOL program for as little as $25 per month.

Her sweet smile melted all our hearts when we met her!

Twins, Zinash and Mekdos

Twins, Zinash and Mekdes

The twins are living with their mother. The father left home some six months back. According to the mother he left home for the reason that he couldn’t help his family. The mother is trying her best to help the children. She is washing clothes and making Injera for living. But the money she is making is hardly enough to cover their necessities. Taking care of the twins made it more difficult to work long hours and make more money. In addition she pays more than 2/3 of her income for the house rent. Thus, sometimes she begs near churches to make more money.

As a result, Zinash and Mekdes are in great need of support.

Please CLICK HERE in order to email Jimmy and Rachel to sponsor these twins in their program for as little as $25 per month. Our whole team fell in love with these beautiful girls!

We left NOL ministries and headed out to the countryside to visit the Hope 4 Hopeless orphanage.

While driving we continued to see sights like this one of a mother and her child just sitting in the dirt on the side of the road.

We arrived at the H4 H orphanage and toured their school that they are in the process of building. They have had to stop construction due to lack of funds. If you would like to contribute toward the $8000 it will cost to finish this school, please email me at Kelly@ordinaryhero.org.

I can't tell you how amazing it is that this ministry finds these street children and pulls them off the streets for a better life. If they cannot find a family member to reunite them with then they are sent out in the countryside to this orphanage. Some of the children have lived here for 6 years or more. Their hope is to finish this school so that they don't have to continue to incur the expense of bussing the children into town every day for school.

Our whole team has fallen in love with these children. We all enjoyed playing and visiting with them for the afternoon.

The hearts and spirits of these kids and the love that flows out of them is amazing. You can hardly think of the life they endured living on the streets in Addis Ababa. The light and hope that shines out of them now as a result of the love that has been poured into them is contagious.

Thank you, Hope 4 the Hopeless, for all you do for these children.

Before we left they had us gather in a circle and pray together.