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Newsletters>
August Update from Kelberts
August 29, 2009
Sokia’s House of Rescue
August Update
Greetings to you and your family from Jinka, Ethiopia. So many amazing things are going on not only here in Ethiopia but in Brighton Michigan. Sokia’s House of Rescue is now an extension of End of the Road (EOTR) International Ministries. EOTR has coordinated a benefit concert to raise funds to help with the first Mingi house for babies/children in Jinka. The concert will be held on Friday, August 28, 2009 from 6:30p.m. until 9:30p.m. in the Brighton Christian Church sanctuary. So many people have volunteered to help make this event possible from BCC hosting the concert, the bands, sound booth person, volunteers making and passing out posters and flyers, phone calls, even an Ethiopian restaurant from Ann Arbor will provide appetizers for everyone to taste a bit of Ethiopian food. This is going to be an amazing night and I just wish we could be there to thank everyone on behalf of the Mingi babies and children.
In addition, our very talented friends from Holland, Hans and Hanny have designed a website for the “Sokia’s House of Rescue” which should be completed in the next week. We are learning how to update it ourselves because they are leaving Ethiopia to go back home in six months. So peek at the site and let us know what you think. Suggestions are encouraged since we do not know anything about websites.
In the past couple of months, we have been asked to describe what life is like for the people we are working with. We see it as a difficult life, but the people are strong, hard working and patient, they live simple, do without so much and they accept their situations without questions. They love to worship the Lord, very thankful and very respectful. Walking down the streets just outside town you find women and very young girls carrying extremely large heavy loads of wood, straw, cabbage leaves, bags of charcoal, and onions in the hot sun to the market in town to sell. I wonder how long have they been walking up and down these hills and have they had anything to eat or drink? How long will it take to sell what they have brought to the market? Then they have to walk back the same way they came caring the food for there families, the roads are not paved, straight or flat. When do they find the time to do the cooking, cleaning, washing, planting and weeding? How do they do it? When we first arrived, I thought it was so unfair to have to live like this and how miserable they must be. However, each day I walk to the market or just to town I am surrounded by laughter, giggles and chatter coming from these very men, women and children. It is very rare that I pass by a man, woman or child and do not get a huge smile and extended hand to greet us. Welcome, hello, how are you in Amharic. I practice my Amharic on them and that always get a laugh. They are full of joy and willing to share whatever they have with you. We are learning that we can live very happily with so much less than we were use to.
We had visitors last week. Yippee! Gary Gentry, Jim Gregory and Abel Pegorraro came to visit for 10 short days. Dan happened to be in Addis so he was able to meet them at the airport. It was great to see them and there visit was very timely. We had asked if they could bring some things that we needed and couldn’t get in Jinka, little did we know that they had packed two trunks full of baby and children’s clothes, diapers, children’s books, teaching materials, tools, duct tape, meat grinder, peanut butter and so much more. We want to thank everyone for being so generous and helpful please know that everything is greatly needed and will be well used. Thank you so much. The next day the guys flew to Arba Minch and rented a car for the rest of the trip. In Arba Minch and on the way to Jinka we stopped to visit several churches and were able to talk to the pastors, evangelist and elders. What an encouragement they were to us. We sat on the wooden benches in the church that were on dirt floors. Most of the churches we visited are blessed to be partially supported by Brighton Christian Church. With the money the churches received, they were able to install windows and doors that the termites can’t destroy, apply mud to the walls and paint, others put small additions on so the people sitting outside in the hot sun would be able to sit or stand inside a building, it’s amazing how many people can sit on one bench. A few bibles were also bought and pastors were able to receive a small salary. It is impressive what has been accomplished since Gary and Jim last visited. Each church is growing in numbers but most important are the number of people that are being baptized and committing there lives to Christ each week. Wow, talk about bang for your buck. While we sat in one church, Pastor Seid shared the vision God had given Dan. At that moment, an elder shared that a Mingi baby had just been found on the riverbank dead. It became harder to breath and the lump in my throat would not go away. Tears welled up in our eyes as we heard this tragic news. This baby should not have died. This baby deserves to live, grown to become who God himself created him to be. My prayer is for God to touch the hearts of all people to share their faith, be the strong, outspoken evangelists we are all commanded to be. I know God will change the minds and hearts of the tribal leaders in the lower Omo region and the superstitions and cultural ways regarding the Mingi babies/children will vanish and the need for safe houses will not be needed.
As we continue to press forward and work along side the churches and government officials to secure our license and permit to open “Sokia’s House of Rescue” we continue to ask for your prayers. God is the creator of life and God will walk before us and prepare the way, we need only to be patient, trust and obey.
God continue to protect and bless each of you and your families.
We love you and miss you all especially our family,
Dan and Debbie
P.S. It has come to our attention that we should have a forwarding agent for “Sokia’s House of Rescue”. Because we do not really know what a forwarding agent’s responsibilities are we are getting a job description. If you might be interested, please let us know.
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