Please consider sponsoring a child...

Dear "Trees of Glory" sponsor families!

I wanted to send everyone a quick update on our progress with the sponsor program. Of the 84kids at TOG (Trees of Glory), we now have 50 kids matched with a sponsor family! Your generous monthly committment along with your letters, care, concern and prayers, are already having a big impact for the kids at this care-point!! (Remember, you can email your sponsor child at ethiopia@hopechest.org. Be sure to include your child's name and registration number in the subject line. It will take about 2 weeks from when you email the letter to when it is translated and read to your child.)

This rural community (located 2 hours north of the capital city, Addis Ababa) has been very affected by famine and poverty. Most of the kids at TOG are double-orphans (meaning they have lost both parents) and are living with a relative or neighbor that is not able to provide for them. As a result, many of the kids were being "sold" as an indentured servant to local livestock owners to work night and day herding cattle.

What a heart-wrenching decision for these families to decide to "sell" one child in order to feed the other children in their care. Children's Hopechest discovered that many of the children were being paid about $12 PER YEAR for their labor. Without the intervention of the local government that is requiring the guardians to bring the children to the care-point, and Children's Hopechest who is setting up the sponsor program, these children would never have had the opportunity to go to school or rise up out of poverty!

Now that over half of the children are sponsored, we can fully implement a regular feeding program at Trees of Glory!!! As we match the remaining 34 children with sponsors, we will be able to expand the feeding program to include 2 nutritious meals each day, along with protein (eggs and meat)! Sponsorship ensures that each child has food, clothing, medical care, education and Christian discipleship.

The Ethiopia staff of Children's Hopechest is already meeting with the kids every week - counseling, mentoring, teaching biblical stories and demonstrating the love of God for these kids. It is our hope that by September, we will be able to start a school on the grounds at TOG.

There are 34 kids that still need to be matched with a sponsor. Would you please spread the word to your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors about sponsoring a child at Trees of Glory? Email a link to my blog, forward my facebook reports, and if you have a blog, please place a link to my blog. With all of us working together - we can make an immediate and lasting impact for the kids at TOG!

Have a great weekend!
Warm regards, Karen Wistrom
Sponsor coodinator for "Trees of Glory" and "Kind Hearts", Ethiopia
www.family-from-afar.blogspot.com

Comments

Kristi and Dale said…
Yeah for another Trees of Glory sponsor!! Ready to make a difference for our boy Ashene (11) at TOG!
The Hall Family
Home with Olivia and Sophia since March '10.

Popular Posts