School in Full Swing - Lifesong Ethiopia

We invite you to share a word of encouragement to our staff at Lifesong Ethiopia. To do so, please leave a comment or comment on our Facebook wall and it will be forwarded to our staff. Thank you in advance for your kind words of support!  Please enjoy this update on Lifesong Ethiopia from Gary Ifft, "After some hectic and stressful days, school has started up once again.  The last minute crush of registering students, hiring teachers and other staff, purchasing large quantities of food, purchasing and placement of desks and other furniture, in addition to trying to get the two new school buildings completed and ready for our occupancy is not something we looked forward to.  But we survived all that and school is in operation.   With all three campuses combined we have 760 students.  And it seems we also have about 2,000 upset families because there was no room for their kids in our schools.  That is the problem (and the blessing) of having the best facilities, the best teachers, and the best reputation for many kilometers in any direction.  We've been threatened with lawsuits, tried to be bribed, been cried in front of more times than we could count, been cursed, and been accused by government officials of corruption simply because we didn't enroll someone's child.  Never did we suspect this was part of our job description! In Adami Tulu we suddenly find ourselves with 300 students (these are included in the 760 above).  As opposed to the two Ziway schools, they don't yet have a nice modern feeding facility like both schools in Ziway have.  Our kitchen staff is doing an outstanding job with the facility they have to feed all these kids breakfast and lunch each day.  But for next year, it is definitely a priority to get them a dining facility equal to or better than the standard set in Ziway. Enjoy these pictures..."   Our new two-story 14-room building at Ziway    Morning flag pole ceremony at Ziway    Kids eating lunch at Adami Tulu   Please keep our precious children at Lifesong Ethiopia in your prayers as they spend their time at school.

Back to School! - Lifesong Ethiopia

**New Opportunity** We invite you to share a word of encouragement to our staff at Lifesong Ethiopia. To do so, please comment on this blog or on our Facebook wall and it will be forwarded to our staff. Thank you in advance for your kind words of support!   Please enjoy this update on the upcoming school year in Lifesong Ethiopia from Gary Ifft, "For the upcoming school year, we will be registering approximately 150 Nursery School students, as well as other students to round out a couple of classes.   When registering students, we take the orphans and most vulnerable children first.  Then we make sure there are half boys and half girls.  On top of that we seek a mix of Protestant, Orthodox, and Muslim children.  We are a school with Christian values with the students memorizing Bible verse, having daily prayers, Bible readings and scriptural lessons each morning.  With this Christian influence, many of our Muslim and Orthodox students become Christians and even take the message of the Gospel home to their families. With this large increase of approximately 180 students, we need to hire more staff-teachers, feeding program workers, aides, etc. And, thanks to some generous benefactors, we should have a computer lab outfitted with 19 laptops in the near future.  Our students will be the first in our part of the country to have computer education.  The construction work continues to proceed on schedule both schools in Ziway and Adami Tulu (see pictures below)."   Adami Tulu School Ziway School   Please continue to pray for Lifesong Ethiopia and the students as they start a new school year!

Love Made a Hard Decision - One Changed Life

The rusty old door in the fence was opened by the little girl with huge brown eyes.  Maybe it was her warm coat that she wore on this hot day that hid any fears that she might have had.  Did she know that her life was about to change forever?

Elshaday is a small six year old girl in the Upper Kindergarten class at the Lifesong School in Ziway, Ethiopia.  She has lived with her elderly grandparents ever since she became an orphan at two years old.  Her favorite subject is English and she spends much of her free time jump roping.

Her elderly Grandpa’s love for her was evident, but his poor health kept him in a bed or chair.  The meager wage her Grandma makes washing clothes by hand and spinning cotton has the family still depending on charity to survive.  

The Grandpa begged us to find a home for his granddaughter.  He was old, unemployed and felt helpless to care for dear Elshaday.  Academically, Elshaday was  at the bottom of her class and the Grandpa told us he couldn't teach her things he didn't know himself.  He desired his granddaughter to get a good start in life, but he knew he could never provide food, education or health. 

Love made a hard decision.

Elshaday has now moved into a forever family with a new Mom and Dad to love, protect and provide for her.  She is now living at Samuel’s Home, a vision project by Misgana Ministries, with nine new siblings.  Samuel's Home is designed for vulnerable children, like Elshaday, who no longer have family that can care for them.  She now has a permanent, Christ-following family and hope springing into her future.

Elshaday...One Changed Life!

"God places the lonely in families..." Psalm 68:6

(Thanks to Ann Meyer, Ethiopia Vision Team Member, for relaying this story)

Only50Kids - Lifesong Ethiopia

In January of this year, child sponsorship for the Adami Tulu School in Lifesong Ethiopia was launched. THANKFULLY, of the 189 children, 139 have been given sponsorship! But, there are still 50 children that are unsponsored!

What does this sponsorship look like? For $19/month, you can sponsor one of the kids at the Adami Tulu School and ensure that they get the incredible education, spiritual mentoring and food that they need to break the cycle of poverty. Many of these kids are already orphans; all are vulnerable children sitting on the razor’s edge of extreme poverty that can rip families apart and create orphans for life. (Questions? Read the program details or contact us.)

Would you be ONE of 50 to ensure that EVERY child is sponsored at Adami Tulu School?

To sponsor children like Olana, Mulash or Yosef, click here.

Olana

MulashYosef

Construction Continues - Lifesong Ethiopia

Please enjoy this update from Gary Ifft, Lifesong Ethiopia...

"Construction progress continues to go well.  Shown below in a picture is part of the 14 room (12 classroom) Primary School building in Ziway.  As you can see, the floor between the first and second floors has been poured and work is under way to lay the blocks for the walls of the second story.  We are still waiting for the floor to cure, thus the "forest" of eucalyptus poles which are holding up the forms are still in place.  Cutting and placing those thousands of poles is an engineering marvel, but it's the way such work is done here in Ethiopia.

Also shown below is the front of the new four classroom building in Adami Tulu.  Being a much smaller project it is further along.  The tile floors are being laid, the ceilings are being painted, and preparations are being made for finishing the windows and doors.    With our projected increase of 150 students this September (from 600 to 750) we will need these buildings finished and ready for use by then." Child Sponsorship Update: We are thankful to have 16 more children sponsored since our last update! If you are interested in supporting one of the remaining 54 students, please visit the Sponsorship Website.