Hosanna House

I mentioned in my last blog that some other teachers and I teach English to 19 girls living in an orphanage here in Addis.  I want to tell you more about these girls that we have quickly come to love, and share what little I know about their stories.

Hosanna House is an orphanage that was started in 2005 in Addis Ababa to provide housing and education for orphaned girls who have lost their parents.  There are currently 19 girls living in the house, ranging in ages/grades from grade 3 to grade 11.  Although these girls have lost much in their short lives, they are full of life and joy.

The house was started by an Ethiopian woman named Tersit from Los Angeles.  Although she now lives in the United States, she makes frequent visits back to Ethiopia.  Several years ago on one of her visits to Ethiopia, she became aware of the number of children living on the streets without a hope of breaking free from the conditions of their lives.  She felt burdened to help these children, especially young girls who are often living on the streets with small children of their own to care for.   She looked for a house to rent to provide shelter for some girls, found some people to help care for the girls in Ethiopia during the time she has to be in Los Angeles, and opened a home.  She felt the burden from God, and feels to that He has and will continue to provide.

Her hope and vision for these girls is that they will have the opportunity to become educated and make a difference for other children orphaned like them.  She has taken these girls in, loved them, cared for them, and most importantly taught them about the love of God.  These girls love her like she was their own mother and even refer to her as their mom and the other girls as their sisters.  She too, thinks of these girls as her own children, and would do anything for them.

She would love more than anything for these girls to have the chance to go to university after high school.  This is a dream that she is working hard towards.

For a while she has been praying that God would provide someone to teach English to her girls.  Having the ability to speak English well would open up so many doors for these girls.  Although almost all students who go to a government Ethiopian school are taught English, students still do not have the ability to speak the language well.  The schools focus on the reading and writing of English more than the speaking of English.  Also, many of the schools have non-native English speakers teaching students that, too, do not know the language very well.

The other teachers and I just happened to be an answer to her prayers, and little did she know, this was an answer to my prayers as well.  As I mentioned in my last blog, I have desired to find a place to serve here in Ethiopia.  I had prayed for months for God to reveal where He wanted me to volunteer.  There are so many wonderful ministries that I could be involved in.  However, I had not felt led to commit my time to any of them until I met Tersit and heard about these girls and her vision for their future.

These girls have had a soft spot in my heart since I first met them.  All 19 of them greeted us with hugs and kisses upon meeting us.  It was evident that they respected us and were grateful for  our time to invest in their lives by teaching them English.

They were very shy to begin with and would rarely volunteer to speak up.  However, over the past few months, they have come out of their shell.  We focus on teaching them conversational English and we always try to keep our lessons fun and interactive.   We also teach them slang words each week.  Words they would not learn in school but that native speakers use a lot, or at least native speakers our age.  Phrases such as: “What’s up?”, “Wow! That’s so cool.”, “Bummer”.  No matter what though we try our hardest to get them speaking.  Sometimes we come up with games or simply bribe them with gum and stickers. 

While in college, I enjoyed all of my education courses.  However, the courses that I enjoyed the most were my courses that focused on teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).  I never would have guessed how valuable that training would have been for me.  I can see how God’s hand has been on my life in so many areas, preparing me for the things He has in store for me.  I’m truly amazed at His faithfulness.

Please keep these girls in your prayers, and if you want more information about them or the Hosanna Foundation ministries let me know.

The Hole in Our Gospel

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

I’ve recently been reading a book called The Hole in Our Gospel, written by the president of World Vision.  This book has been one of the most challenging, but affirming books I have read in a long time.

The “hole” in the gospel Richard Stearns is referring to, is the fact that we overlook the numerous passages in the Bible that command us to take care of the orphans, widows, and the oppressed.  In America, we tend to overlook it because it is not that visible.  You are not faced with true poverty.  However, living in Ethiopia, it is a reality that I see, and it burdens my heart.

I visited a ministry the other day that helps 85 girls in the city who have been affected by AIDS/HIV.  All of the girls that this ministry helps have either lost a parent or both parents to AIDS.  As I was reading the pamphlet that the ministry uses to inform people about their mission, I read that over 6 million children in Ethiopia are orphaned and something like 720, 000 of them are orphaned because of AIDS/HIV.

Over the past few months, my heart has been conflicted.  I want to somehow look after the orphans and widows, but what am I to do?  The need is so vast.  This book has echoed the cries of my heart, and attempted to answer some of the questions that are most dear to the surface of what I feel.  I’m not sure what God’s plan is for me to address these needs.  However, what I do know is that I’m willing.  I want to be sensitive to the Spirit, and I want to be obedient in everything He is calling me to do.

I can’t deny the fact that I am exactly where I am supposed to be for this time.  God called me to Ethiopia, and specifically Bingham Academy.  I plan to serve Him here faithfully until He leads me elsewhere.  Who knows how far the influence I have on my students will reach?  Only God knows. 

But He has also called me, through scripture, to look after the orphans and widows in their distress.  Since I have been here, I have prayerfully sought out God’s guidance on how I can serve people here in Ethiopia outside of my ministry at Bingham.  There are so many wonderful ministries to get involved in here in the city.  However, I was not being led in any direction until just a few months ago. 

God orchestrated an opportunity for some other teachers and me to teach English to 19 girls living in an orphanage who were at one time living in the streets of Addis.  Every Thursday, three other teachers and I go to teach them conversational English.  We truly enjoy it, and it feels good to use both my ESOL background and my talents as a teacher to invest in these girls lives.

At the core of my heart, I believe that God has created us all with gifts, talents, and passions.  To experience life to the fullest, I believe we are meant to use those gifts, talents, and passions to glorify God and serve others.  There are so many “good” things we could do to help others around us, but the initiatives that will have the most impact are those that are God appointed.  I encourage everyone to seek out how God would like to use you to care for those who are orphaned, widowed, oppressed or downtrodden.  What He has for you is going to be different than what He has for me; it will be something designed especially for you.