Upcoming Trip to Ethiopia

I am full of emotions. Dave's trip to Ethiopia is coming up very soon which means he is leaving us. I am nervous. I am nervous for him and his group.  I am nervous about being home without him and not being able to just pick up the phone to call him.

I am also scared, anxious, jealous, envious, happy, and excited.

Dave gets to take a group of men, women, and youth to Ethiopia and make a difference in lives. How cool is that? Dave gets to visit Kolfe and see our sponsored son again. Dave gets to see Korah again as well as see some of the amazing individuals we have gotten to know from our last trip. Seriously how cool is that? I am so impressed and proud of Dave for bringing this opportunity to our church and getting others to back him. Thankfully Dave has some amazing people to help coordinate this trip as he certainly could not have done it alone.

But you see... I am left at home. I do get to be with my girls which believe me is wonderful. I don't leave my girls very often so leaving them would be extremely hard on me. I need my hugs and kisses each day! I just wish I could be in both places at one time.

I want to go to Kolfe and see the young men. I want to visit the most gracious people ever in Korah. I want to smell the Ethiopian air, eat the amazing food, and share my love of the country with the group from my church. I want to be there too.

I am also nervous to be home alone for so many days. I never sleep well when Dave is gone. And what if something goes wrong like we lose electricity or get a major snow storm??? Too many unknowns for me and it makes me nervous, scared, and anxious.

I know I'll be okay.  I know I'll take good care of the kids and I know that I have friends in town to help me if needed.  I know.  However, I still have my emotions and I am who I am.

Being Thankful

Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away and it is a day to give thanks.  It is a day to remember and to maybe verbalize things you are thankful for such as good health, family, and a feast on the table.  But why do we wait an entire year to be thankful?  Why not be thankful year round? 

As I think about all the things I am thankful for, I can not help but think of the people in Ethiopia.  I can't help but think of my girl's birth families, the boys at Kolfe, the families who call Korah home, and all the street kids.  I can't help but think of the little boy and girls in the orphanages and the beggers in the streets.  These people work hard everyday to survive, literally.

I am thankful.  I am thankful for my family, my friends, the roof over my head, the food in my cupboards and refrigerator.  I am thankful for my job, the car I drive, and the clothes in my closet.  I am thankful for my education, my church home, and the ability to be compassionate towards others. 

I am thankful but not just today or in two days.  I am thankful year round as I know how wonderful and good I have it.  You see unlike many people who don't know where their next meal will come from, I do.  I know I will have 3 meals, I know I will sleep in my bed tonight, I know I will get up and be able to shower in clean water.  I am thankful.

Let's not be thankful for one day only but instead be thankful everyday of the year.  Remember all the good things in our lives.  I do.

David’s Birthday Wish

I turn 37 on Saturday and I have a birthday wish – to share with 13 others from my church the amazing boys at Kolfe Boys Orphanage in Addis Ababa. As a birthday wish I am raising $1369 which is $37 for each of my 37 birthdays. If you feel obliged to make a donation, you can do so here: Donate Now

As an parent to two Ethiopian children I have a fond connection to the beautiful people of Ethiopia as well as an understanding of the great needs of children who have been orphaned through the loss of one or both parents due to poverty and disease.

The day after Christmas a group from Olivet Lutheran Church will leave for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to spend a bit over a week at the Kolfe Boys Orphanage. Kolfe is an orphanage made up of over 130 boys aged 10 and older. These boys are truly amazing and have touched many hearts already. You can read more about Kolfe and the relationship Olivet has with this orphanage here.

Other organizations such as Gladney and Luke 8:21 Orphan Care Ministries have provided resources and connections to these boys. You can read about a scholarship program that Gladney operates that provides an opportunity for these boys to attend school.

Upon our return it is my goal that our entire group will have been captivated by this amazing country, these amazing boys of Kolfe and the spirit and hope that they will then ignite an entire congregation to get involved in the relationship with Kolfe.

If you can help with even $5 or $10 it would truly be appreciated. I will be blogging and Facebooking the trip so you will be able to follow along on our journey. Thank you in advance for your thoughts and considerations.

Donate Now

You NEED these necklaces!

Purchase of these necklaces goes towards Kolfe Boys Orphanage!

Jodi from JStudios created these awesome necklaces and the proceeds go towards helping all the boys at Kolfe. Who wouldn't want to help an orphan and have a beautiful unique piece of jewelry? I love mine and you will love yours too. I only have 4 left to sell so contact me if you are interested by leaving a comment or emailing me at ethiopiatofargo@gmail.com.

Means "Hope" and is $22 (with chain)

$22 (with chain)

Means "Faith" and is $22 (with chain)

a pendant only no chain, $10

JStudios has many other wonderful pieces of art including more jewelry so check her blog out as you won't be disappointed! Go here. And...if you don't feel you want to purchase a necklace, you can also help sponsor a pizza party for the boys. Check out Lindsey's blog for more details!

Be a Valentine to an Orphan in Ethiopia

You can be a valentine for a very special orphan in Ethiopia by sponsoring them. There are 50 boys available for sponsorship at the Kolfe Boys Orphanage located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Your financial commitment of $34/month provides for the most basic needs of children in the community. HopeChest will assist in providing food, water, access to basic medical care, education and discipleship. While $34 cannot meet all the needs of a child suffering through extreme poverty, it does provide significant help.

Each sponsored child's network of emotional support is greatly expanded. Staff at the orphanage will receive special training that equips them to better deal with the unique emotional needs of the orphaned children they serve. Also, the sponsor’s involvement in each child’s life through cards and letters is an avenue of emotional support the child would normally be denied.

In our community-to-community model, all funds are "pooled" together so that if one child does not have a sponsor, they will still have these needs met. Your contribution of $34 a month will go towards providing food, clothing, and access to medical care, as well education and discipleship.

Here are 4 of our 52 children still needing a sponsor.

If you are interested in sponsorship of one of these boys (or any of the other waiting children which can be viewed by clicking on the banner below) than please email David at kolfesponsor@gmail.com

Children's HopeChest will also offer Life Skills training to these boys. Teaching them how to live independently as they age out of orphan care.

Read below for additional information on the sponsorship program provided through Children’s HopeChest.

Your partnership with Children’s HopeChest releases spiritual and financial resources to the children while individual orphan sponsorship brings the unique blessing of relationship.

HopeChest offers the needed expertise and resources to benefit orphaned children, as well as access to the orphanage. Not only does our staff in the US provide accountability and support, our indigenous staff on the ground, including disciplers, are responsible for the spiritual, emotional and physical aspects of sponsorship.

A HopeChest discipler or mentor is a national believer who visits the orphanage every week. Disciplers conduct classes on culture, character and Biblical principles. They spend time with the boys and help them with moral and ethical issues, problems and concerns.

Specific benefits to orphans include ministry in five areas:

Environmental - A portion of the sponsor’s support, combined with that of other sponsors, improves and maintains a healthy environment. This includes the purchase of clothing, shoes, furniture, books, etc. if needed.

Medical - Each sponsored child will receive regular health checkups, and medical intervention as needed. Improved nutrition is also provided.

Emotional - Each sponsored child's network of emotional support is greatly expanded. Staff at the orphanage will receive special training that equips them to better deal with the unique emotional needs of the orphaned children they serve. Also, the sponsor’s involvement in each child’s life through cards and letters is an avenue of emotional support the child would normally be denied. Regular visits from disciplers will also add to emotional well-being.

Educational – Sponsorship helps provide resources for the education of sponsored children. In Africa, for a child to attend school, fees must be paid, and uniforms and books must be purchased.

Spiritual – Orphaned children will see the love of God demonstrated tangibly through age-appropriate Bible teaching. A discipler will visit the orphanage regularly to conduct classes. Your prayer and letters will also encourage a child’s spiritual growth.

To read more about sponsorship through Children's HopeChest please click here.

Day 6 - Thursday

Today is a big day for us as today is Makenna’s U.S. Embassy visit where she will obtain her visa that will allow her to return with us tomorrow to the states. We purposely didn’t plan anything for this day to ensure that we wouldn’t miss our transport to the embassy.

It was beautiful out so we decided to take a walk down to the drop-in center that is partially supported by the guest home were are staying in. This drop in center is run by Compassion Family International and Peter Abera. It it located about two blocks from the guest home. The center is a drop-in for children in the local Kebele (think borough) whose families cannot afford traditional schooling. At the drop-in they are provided education and food.

We were able to watch part of the learning from the day – so precious to see the little boy leading the class learning the Amharic alphabet.

Compassion Family International Drop-In Center from David Held on Vimeo.

The children also took special interest in Theresa’s hair – they all wanted to feel it and run their hands through it. It was really cute and a nice change from us running our hands through their beautiful black curls :)

HopeChest

Located in the same building as the drop-in center is the national headquarters for Children’s HopeChest, of which Peter is also the director. It was great to see where their offices were and have the opportunity to meet a discipler as well as the sponsorship coordinator.

Embassy

After an early lunch we were picked up and off to the embassy. No photos or video unfortunately as the embassy does not allow any of that. I must admit we were ready for a long afternoon as our embassy visit for Maya was well over two hours during our last trip. We were pleasantly suprised that from the moment we parked the car, two security checkpoints, the waiting room, the embassy interview and back out again took less than 30 minutes! Seriously, we were the very first family called after the lunch hour and it was such a blessing.

After the embassy we had some time so we decided to continue our hunt for children’s sized jersey's of the Ethiopian National soccer team. We tried two more stores and decided that after seven (7) attempts that it was time to give up – there are no jerseys for children :(

10 Best Memories from Ethiopia according to Theresa

1. Meeting Makenna
   
2. Spending the week with 2 fantastic families
   
3. Staying at the Ethiopia Guest House (EGH)
   
4. The AWESOME staff at the EGH
   
5. Meeting the animated young men at Kolfe Boys Orphanage
   
6. Opening my eyes to the community of Korah Leper Colony
   
7. Shopping :)
   
8. Spending time with the children at Compassion Family International
   
9. The good-bye coffee ceremony by the staff at EGH
   
10. Not getting sick and being able to eat!
    

Day 3 Monday - Kolfe

We finally got to meet the boys of Kolfe and what an experience. The two hours we were there flew by and we truly did not get enough time with the boys as we wanted. We must return soon.

We were greeted by a small group of boys who took us on our tour of the compound. The first building we entered was the library and we found all six computers with boys in front of them practicing their English. It was really neat to see how much school meant to them.

As we walked around we were shown the chicken coop where they raise chickens and saw a cow that Gladney provided to them. That cow looks so at peace, not realizing those boys cannot wait to have him for dinner! :)

We sponsor one of the boys at Kolfe, Malkamu, and it was great to get to meet him and learn a bit more about him. His favorite Africa Soccer Cup team is Ivory Coast and World Cup team is Brazil. We look forward to building our relationship deeper through time.

Theresa had a great time with the boys and you will quickly see the boys enjoyed her as well. They followed her around and posed for every picture she tried to take. These boys are truly amazing, so much energy and passion for life and such a desire to learn. They kept asking me how may languages I spoke which of course I had to answer only one.

We then had the opportunity to distribute the gift packs that we brought to the orphanage. These gift packs were put together through the efforts of some great friends and family including Nicole Anderson and Dr. Ali. In each pack were two packs of toothpaste, toothbrush, soap or lotion, book of daily devotions, and a wrist band from Olivet Lutheran, the church sponsoring the orphanage through Children’s HopeChest. All of the contents were put into a washcloth that was sewed into a little bag.

The boys were so grateful and organized. They quickly formed a line, and some of the older boys quickly distributed roles to identify and write down each name as they were given a pack. They are very concerned with every boy getting the same treatment so we were glad that we had enough. This also showed how valuable the sponsorship program is through HopeChest in that you donate $34/month that goes to benefit the entire orphanage while providing the boys a one-to-one relationship and providing spiritual discipleship on a weekly basis. If you are interested in sponsoring a boy at Kolfe, please leave a comment to this post.

Look at the joy in these boys – what a memory we have and we are already planning our return trip later this year.

Day 3 – Monday

We started the day early, heading over to the orphanage that Makenna spent much of her time while in care. It was a small orphanage with about 43 kids, but it was very well kept and the staff was awesome. We got a great tour with the Asst. Director and were able to see the room where Makenna was kept and met her nannies. It was a really fun visit as well as we got to play with the kids, kick the soccer bal around and pass out these little bracelets that when not on your wrist made the shape of letters and animals, but then stretched to be a bracelet – a big hit with the kids.

After the orphanage we stopped by our agency office to complete some final paperwork for our embassy visit which is scheduled for Thursday. With no surprises we headed over to the care center to pick up Makenna and bring her back with us to our guest home.

Our original plan was to keep Makenna at the care center until Tuesday or Wednesday but we changed our mind once we laid eyes on her. My heart was beating a thousand beats per second as I anticipated this day for so long and it was now here. Our stop at the care center was brief, said our thank you’s and final goodbye to the nannies that took care of her and then headed back to the guest home. Later in the afternoon we visited the boys of Kolfe. My thoughts in anticipation of meeting them were many, I only wish I had the right words about how I feel about seeing them. We have talked about them, seen pictures, videos, and heard so many stories but to actually see the compound and to meet the boys in person is a different story. I knew we would be wrecked for life once we step foot at the orphanage and I thought I was ready for it. It was an amazing visit, but way to short.

Charms, necklaces, & art prints – Support Kolfe boys orphanage

www.jqueenan.etsy.com is a non-profit studio featuring antique silver charms, necklaces, and art prints. All profits go towards supporting the Kolfe Orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

You may remember that our church, Olivet Lutheran, is sponsoring Kolfe. It is amazing how every person that has visited Kolfe has come away changed, and empowered to act.

Her work is not only amazing, but affordable – take a look and buy a piece of art, or a charm and support the boys of Kolfe.

All profits go towards supporting the Kolfe Youth Orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia through efforts of The Red Letters Campaign’s Project Ethiopia. The Kolfe Youth Orphanage is a government run orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia located on a garbage dump and is in great need of repair and funds. Through efforts of The Red Letters Campaign, Kolfe has now been sponsored through Children’s Hopechest. But, the boys of Kolfe are still in great need. They call themselves, The Forgotten Boys of Kolfe. J Studio was created to specifically support the Kolfe Youth Orphanage.

Jello-Fest

Our church held their annual jello-fest on Sunday and we couldn't resist participating.  There were three categories:

1. Best Salad
2. Best Dessert
3. Most Creative

If you know Dave and I, we are certainly not going to shoot for #1 or #2 so we went for #3.  Our main goal was to promote Kolfe Orphanage and bring more awareness of the sponsorship opportunity with Children's Hope Chest.  I don't believe we won but hopefully one more person took the time to learn more.  Here is our creation - we cut out the shape of Ethiopia and laid the jello on top of injera (bread).  We used green, yellow, and red jello to represent the colors of the Ethiopian flag.  What do you all think?  I think they turned out pretty darn good!  Ha ha.

P.S.  Thanks Nicole for letting us use your cookie cutter! 

Changing a Life, Changing a Community - Connecting a Church with an Orphanage in Ethiopia

Wow, what an amazing day. This morning the president of Children’s HopeChest and a team of volunteers at Olivet Lutheran Church kicked off a long-terms relationship with an orphanage of boys in Ethiopia. 

Kolfe Boys Orphanage in Ethiopia is made up all boys aging from as young as 10 to over 20. This is a very special group of boys that defies the stereotypes that you would think would be the case when you group 100+ teenage boys together in a situation such as theirs. But these are a unique bunch and I am looking forward to making the connection as a congregation to this orphanage - having an immediate and life changing impact on their life, as well as being able to learn from them - to have a transformation of our own.

Thank you to all of the volunteers over the past few months for your hard work and dedication, and thank you in advance for the hard work to come :)

Below is a picture of Tom Davis, President Children's HopeChest, and a picture of Nicole and Betty who have been instrumental in this project.

Below the photos is an article from today's local newspaper!

God Bless. David

Church launching effort to help boys in Ethiopian orphanage

Theresa and David Held returned from Ethiopia with a beautiful baby girl, an admiration for her countrymen’s scrappy spirit and awareness that Western adoptions help only a tiny fraction of the country’s 6 million orphans.

By: Mila Koumpilova

Olivet Lutheran Church pastor Kris Gorden, clockwise from left, Nicole and Abram Anderson, Maya, David and Theresa Held, Bethlehm Gronneberg and Solomon Anderson are involved in an initiative to help orphans from Ethiopia. The Andersons and Helds both adopted their children from Ethiopia.
Jay Pickthorn / The Forum

Theresa and David Held returned from Ethiopia with a beautiful baby girl, an admiration for her countrymen’s scrappy spirit and awareness that Western adoptions help only a tiny fraction of the country’s

6 million orphans.

It was summer 2007, and the Fargo couple resolved to do more.

They soon found out two other families at their church, Fargo’s Olivet Lutheran, had recently adopted infants from Ethiopia. Earlier this year, the three couples spearheaded a project to help an entire orphanage in the east African nation. The ramshackle all-boys facility is a very different place from the inviting, Western-funded care center where the Helds picked up their daughter, Maya.

Today, the church is launching its long-distance “adoption” of 130 boys and young men at Kolfe Youth Orphanage. Church members are calling it Connection Day.

“Sponsorship just sounded so sterile,” said the rev. Kris Gorden. “Connection holds more of what we want to be about.”

Just as the Helds, Nicole Anderson and her husband, Jared, traveled to Africa to start a family. They found themselves profoundly transformed by its residents’ warmth and hopefulness in the face of abject poverty.

“Life as we knew it was over,” said Nicole, who has two sons from Ethiopia and one from South Africa.

For some time, David Held followed the work of a Christian-based nonprofit named Children’s HopeChest. Since the early 1990s, the group has worked with orphans in Russia, where studies say 70 percent of those from orphanages resort to crime or prostitution to survive.

The group enlisted some 100 churches across the United States to sponsor orphanages there and in Swaziland. When the organization expanded its work into Ethiopia last fall, the Helds had to get involved. Gorden and the other adoptive families promptly got on board.

Olivet picked Kolfe – a government-run orphanage and a one-time dumping ground – because its residents seemed to need help the most desperately. The boys there are older, so their chances of getting adopted are miniscule. There are no beds, no meat in their meager diet and no money for school.

But HopeChest President Tom Davis said the boys were nothing like he expected: “They were the most well-mannered, kind, gentle young men I met in my life. The thing I kept hearing over and over was how much they wanted to go to school.”

The Olivet group hopes help from their church will give the boys a better shot at an independent life as adults. On Connection Day, the church’s roughly 1,500 families will be able to “adopt” one of the boys. Their $34 monthly checks will go toward food, medicine, school, and college fees and supplies.

A group from Olivet will make an annual trip to the orphanage. Until then, sponsors commit to write to the boys monthly. Says David Helm, “You let this child know, ‘We’re here for you. We support you and believe in you. We’re the family you never had.’ ”

How to help:

- Nonmembers of Fargo’s Olivet Lutheran Church are welcome to help with sponsoring Kolfe Youth Orphanage. Call David Held at (701) 330-2478 or the Rev. Kris Gorden at (701) 235-6603.