April News Letter
April 13, 2011
Hello again!
What an eventful past month we have had! Chris' trip to Ethiopia was wonderful! It felt like way too long to do without him from this end but every day he spent there he was able to find out so many things, get to know some of the kids and spend some wonderful time in the Word with Argaw and Rachel. Way too much happened in 16 days to be able to fit in one letter but we'll do our best to share the highlights and where we are at now in the process of getting over there for good.
First of all I want to be able to hopefully draw a more detailed picture of exactly where we are going and what we hope to do there. Ethiopia is about 40% Orthodox, 30% Muslim and 30% Christian (which is largely emotionally based faith teaching) The city of Hawassa has a population of 100k. The orphanage that Argaw and Rachel Ayele have started in Hawassa is called Ebenezer Grace Children's Home. Although they have been granted 10 acres of land they are still waiting on funds to begin building and are currently renting a large house with a dormitory style building in the back where the children sleep. They currently have 10 children and are hopping to get another 5 soon. The children in their home are currently between 1 and 9 years old, some are healthy and strong, some struggle with disabilities and health problems, most of them have one thing in common though: They had become undesirable to their families or the societies they were born into. Some were born to parents who were too poor to care for them or to mothers who were not married and did not want them.
Lantu has only 20% of her vision. Her parents are too poor and don't want to care for her. She has heart problems and the doctors told Argaw and Rachel not to waste their money on her because she wouldn't make it anyway. Although she is 6 years old she had never walked before. She began walking 1-2 months after they got her and Rachel will tell you with a motherly pride in her voice that she speaks the best "American" English! "What's up Lantu?" "Nothin much!" comes the reply with a sweet smile.
Fasika's is very shy. Both of her parents both died of HIV and although she doesn't have the disease and her grandparents are well off they still don't want her. She is 8 years old.
Marta is nine and has the sweetest smile. She is from the Hammer tribe. At the age of 5 or 6 every young female child must attend a special ritual held once a year where she will officially become a girl . The rains were very high that year. The river flooded and because she couldn't cross she missed the ceremony and became "mingi".
Beti is 7. She is the cutest little thing you'd ever want to see! Her mom was unmarried and very poor and couldn't care for her . Her father is from the Hammer tribe.
.
Goiti, 6 and Agenyu, 17 months are brother and sister. Their parents were unmarried when they had both of them. Agenyu was very malnourished when he came to them. He is doing so much better now though and even started walking just days after he came to them! Christian is 4 she is also a "mingi" from the Hammer tribe, Girum is 2 1/2 and their mothers were unmarried.
Yesozer was Chris' little pall. He would follow him around and hold his little arms up for Chris to carry him around everywhere. He is 2 1/2 and became "mingi" when his top teeth began to come in before the bottom ones. His parents tried to hide this by rubbing his gums very hard in hopes that the teeth wouldn't come through. The neighbors found out any way though and the baby teeth were damaged so badly that it looks like he won't have any teeth at all till six or seven when his big teeth come in.
Amanuel is about a year old. When he was born is mother abandoned him because he was "mingi" before ever feeding him once. He was found by some people who fed him solid food but had no milk to give him. He has rickets and was severely malnourished when he came to live at the children's home.
These children have been taken from death to life, from lost to found, from unwanted and forsaken to loved, protected and cherished! What an awesome opportunity to bring the awareness to such as these that this and so much more has our Heavenly Father done for us! What a wonderful picture of God's grace poured out upon His children!
There is such a strong need for fellowship and support. It can often times be discouraging to be in such a place so isolated from any sense of normalcy. Many people both here in the States and in Ethiopia seem to have the question always on the tip of their tongues, "Why would you take your kids to such a place? When you could live in America, why do you come here? Look around at all the crazy things going on in the world! Is it safe over there?" Being able to come alongside another family in ministry and share the same heart, the same vision and be able to be a physical reminder that yes, it's ok to obey God even when society doesn't understand- is an incredible blessing. This life is our one shot to give our all to our King. We will spend eternity praising Him yes, but in heaven our choice will have already been made. There will be no sacrifice of will because all that is of the flesh will have been cast out. King David said, "I will not sacrifice to the Lord that which has cost me nothing" This awesome gift of life that we have been given ought to be spent every moment for Him! It is all that we will ever have to give. I love the way Argaw put it, "We aren't here do a humanitarian work but to show the Children Christ. That's the ultimate goal." What more awesome way to spend your life?!
Among the many things that we needed to find out during this trip were the details surrounding housing costs, distance from the children's home and an idea about the living conditions. Argaw and Chris were able to visit a number of different places in the area and get a good idea about all these things. The prices seemed to be within an affordable range (between $300-$400 a month) within walking distance (which would be nice since we won't have a car) and there is even indoor pluming and electricity! (They found one place in particular that just seemed too good to be true and we are selfishly hoping it ends up still being available by the time we get out there!)
As far as visas go: There are two parts we need to work on; business visas and a work permit. We shouldn't have much trouble getting our business visas, (which are good for two years) but without a work permit for Chris we would still be required to exit the country every 90 days (which simply wouldn't work there). We have heard many different sides to the issue of obtaining the work permit, some (not many) have said that it should be a very simple matter of sending in the invitation from the orphanage along with his associates degree from the Bible College and that should be that... most, to the contrary have plenty of frustrating stories to tell about the hoops that must be jumped through and the difficulty that so many have experienced in this endeavour. We have been in contact with the Ethiopian embassies both there, during Chris' trip and by phone to the ones State side since he's gotten home and beyond the first step of sending in the letter of invitation no one has given any specific list of requirements to date (it would seem that it has a great deal to do with the mood of the person on who's desk it happens to fall) It does seem to be a rather expensive process as each document (birth certificates for each member of the family, marriage certificate, diplomas...) must be individually authenticated by first the American embassy and then the Ethiopian embassy and between the two it will cost over $120 per document just to get it on the (possibly grouchy) person's desk. Please be praying that the Lord would give us understanding in dealing with all these things, that He would simply prepare the way before us and the process would go perfectly according to His plan!
Please be praying for as Rachel she is currently expecting their fourth child on the 12th of June!
Please also continue in prayer that the Lord would provide the funds necessary to build the orphanage!
We added an attachment with a few pics of the kids. I hope it's not to large to open. And ignore the Christmas 2010 label on the pictures...not sure why but my computer wanted them labeled that way!
We thank you again so much for all your love and support! We love to hear from you! You can contact us any time by phone at # (660) 277-5328
or by mail at: 206 S. Main St. Huntsville, MO 65259
If you would like to send support please mail your checks to:
Calvary Chapel of Lake Elsinore
P.O. Box 1169
Lake Elsinore, CA 92531
Make checks payable to:
Calvary Chapel Lake Elsinore and be sure to specify that it is for Gillespie/Ethiopia Missions.
Much love in Christ,
The Gillespie family
What an eventful past month we have had! Chris' trip to Ethiopia was wonderful! It felt like way too long to do without him from this end but every day he spent there he was able to find out so many things, get to know some of the kids and spend some wonderful time in the Word with Argaw and Rachel. Way too much happened in 16 days to be able to fit in one letter but we'll do our best to share the highlights and where we are at now in the process of getting over there for good.
First of all I want to be able to hopefully draw a more detailed picture of exactly where we are going and what we hope to do there. Ethiopia is about 40% Orthodox, 30% Muslim and 30% Christian (which is largely emotionally based faith teaching) The city of Hawassa has a population of 100k. The orphanage that Argaw and Rachel Ayele have started in Hawassa is called Ebenezer Grace Children's Home. Although they have been granted 10 acres of land they are still waiting on funds to begin building and are currently renting a large house with a dormitory style building in the back where the children sleep. They currently have 10 children and are hopping to get another 5 soon. The children in their home are currently between 1 and 9 years old, some are healthy and strong, some struggle with disabilities and health problems, most of them have one thing in common though: They had become undesirable to their families or the societies they were born into. Some were born to parents who were too poor to care for them or to mothers who were not married and did not want them.
Lantu has only 20% of her vision. Her parents are too poor and don't want to care for her. She has heart problems and the doctors told Argaw and Rachel not to waste their money on her because she wouldn't make it anyway. Although she is 6 years old she had never walked before. She began walking 1-2 months after they got her and Rachel will tell you with a motherly pride in her voice that she speaks the best "American" English! "What's up Lantu?" "Nothin much!" comes the reply with a sweet smile.
Fasika's is very shy. Both of her parents both died of HIV and although she doesn't have the disease and her grandparents are well off they still don't want her. She is 8 years old.
Marta is nine and has the sweetest smile. She is from the Hammer tribe. At the age of 5 or 6 every young female child must attend a special ritual held once a year where she will officially become a girl . The rains were very high that year. The river flooded and because she couldn't cross she missed the ceremony and became "mingi".
Beti is 7. She is the cutest little thing you'd ever want to see! Her mom was unmarried and very poor and couldn't care for her . Her father is from the Hammer tribe.
.
Goiti, 6 and Agenyu, 17 months are brother and sister. Their parents were unmarried when they had both of them. Agenyu was very malnourished when he came to them. He is doing so much better now though and even started walking just days after he came to them! Christian is 4 she is also a "mingi" from the Hammer tribe, Girum is 2 1/2 and their mothers were unmarried.
Yesozer was Chris' little pall. He would follow him around and hold his little arms up for Chris to carry him around everywhere. He is 2 1/2 and became "mingi" when his top teeth began to come in before the bottom ones. His parents tried to hide this by rubbing his gums very hard in hopes that the teeth wouldn't come through. The neighbors found out any way though and the baby teeth were damaged so badly that it looks like he won't have any teeth at all till six or seven when his big teeth come in.
Amanuel is about a year old. When he was born is mother abandoned him because he was "mingi" before ever feeding him once. He was found by some people who fed him solid food but had no milk to give him. He has rickets and was severely malnourished when he came to live at the children's home.
These children have been taken from death to life, from lost to found, from unwanted and forsaken to loved, protected and cherished! What an awesome opportunity to bring the awareness to such as these that this and so much more has our Heavenly Father done for us! What a wonderful picture of God's grace poured out upon His children!
There is such a strong need for fellowship and support. It can often times be discouraging to be in such a place so isolated from any sense of normalcy. Many people both here in the States and in Ethiopia seem to have the question always on the tip of their tongues, "Why would you take your kids to such a place? When you could live in America, why do you come here? Look around at all the crazy things going on in the world! Is it safe over there?" Being able to come alongside another family in ministry and share the same heart, the same vision and be able to be a physical reminder that yes, it's ok to obey God even when society doesn't understand- is an incredible blessing. This life is our one shot to give our all to our King. We will spend eternity praising Him yes, but in heaven our choice will have already been made. There will be no sacrifice of will because all that is of the flesh will have been cast out. King David said, "I will not sacrifice to the Lord that which has cost me nothing" This awesome gift of life that we have been given ought to be spent every moment for Him! It is all that we will ever have to give. I love the way Argaw put it, "We aren't here do a humanitarian work but to show the Children Christ. That's the ultimate goal." What more awesome way to spend your life?!
Among the many things that we needed to find out during this trip were the details surrounding housing costs, distance from the children's home and an idea about the living conditions. Argaw and Chris were able to visit a number of different places in the area and get a good idea about all these things. The prices seemed to be within an affordable range (between $300-$400 a month) within walking distance (which would be nice since we won't have a car) and there is even indoor pluming and electricity! (They found one place in particular that just seemed too good to be true and we are selfishly hoping it ends up still being available by the time we get out there!)
As far as visas go: There are two parts we need to work on; business visas and a work permit. We shouldn't have much trouble getting our business visas, (which are good for two years) but without a work permit for Chris we would still be required to exit the country every 90 days (which simply wouldn't work there). We have heard many different sides to the issue of obtaining the work permit, some (not many) have said that it should be a very simple matter of sending in the invitation from the orphanage along with his associates degree from the Bible College and that should be that... most, to the contrary have plenty of frustrating stories to tell about the hoops that must be jumped through and the difficulty that so many have experienced in this endeavour. We have been in contact with the Ethiopian embassies both there, during Chris' trip and by phone to the ones State side since he's gotten home and beyond the first step of sending in the letter of invitation no one has given any specific list of requirements to date (it would seem that it has a great deal to do with the mood of the person on who's desk it happens to fall) It does seem to be a rather expensive process as each document (birth certificates for each member of the family, marriage certificate, diplomas...) must be individually authenticated by first the American embassy and then the Ethiopian embassy and between the two it will cost over $120 per document just to get it on the (possibly grouchy) person's desk. Please be praying that the Lord would give us understanding in dealing with all these things, that He would simply prepare the way before us and the process would go perfectly according to His plan!
Please be praying for as Rachel she is currently expecting their fourth child on the 12th of June!
Please also continue in prayer that the Lord would provide the funds necessary to build the orphanage!
We added an attachment with a few pics of the kids. I hope it's not to large to open. And ignore the Christmas 2010 label on the pictures...not sure why but my computer wanted them labeled that way!
We thank you again so much for all your love and support! We love to hear from you! You can contact us any time by phone at # (660) 277-5328
or by mail at: 206 S. Main St. Huntsville, MO 65259
If you would like to send support please mail your checks to:
Calvary Chapel of Lake Elsinore
P.O. Box 1169
Lake Elsinore, CA 92531
Make checks payable to:
Calvary Chapel Lake Elsinore and be sure to specify that it is for Gillespie/Ethiopia Missions.
Much love in Christ,
The Gillespie family
Posted by Chris Gillespie. Posted In : New Letters
Here we have all of our previous news letters that have been sent to those of you on our contact list. If you would like to receive future news letters please contact us at ethiopiamissions@gmail.com or on Facebook and we will gladly add you to our contact list!
