the Smell of Shelves

It's been a while since I attended good ol' Gridley Grade School, but one thing I remember vividly is the smell of the school library.  

(sigh)  I used to love to meander (needless to say, i wasn't the most focused student) through the shelves, breathing deeply the smell of wood and old books.  

 

Can you imagine a school where the books are few, and even more, there are no shelves to store them? Honestly it's a hard picture for me to grasp.  It's really a very basic need, shelves in the classroom, but in Liberia this is one basic need they have to go without.

For the kids at Lifesong Liberia we want to change that.  

If your interested in helping, you can find this along with a list of other needs by clicking HERE. 

Zambia Update

Please enjoy this update on Lifesong Zambia:

Currently we have a 4-acre vegetable plot of tomatoes, cabbage, popcorn, and carrots that we can sell at the market.  The goal is to create a self-sustainable business that can:

• Employ caretakers/parents of the children attending Lifesong School.
• Create a profit that can be given to the school.
• Become a platform for developing character in the employees and teaching them about Jesus.
• Aid the indigenous people of Zambia in ending the cycle of poverty, rather than give them a handout.

In January the community where many of our Lifesong School children live experienced an outbreak of Typhoid and three of our students were infected.  They were taken to the hospital for treatment, but praise the Lord, are now doing fine, and no one else has been infected.

Thank you for continued prayer and support as we strive to bring joy and purpose to orphans.

Little Ephrem

Ephrem from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

 “What first drew me to this little boy was his sweet round face.  Obviously, he has suffered a great deal from malnutrition.  When we visited the school he and the rest of the children were so focused on their meal.  It’s amazing to see how Lifesong was changing their lives.  After lunch, I found myself surrounded by children playing a name game.  He reached out and kissed my hand.  My heart melted... I think of him daily.” 

Jenny Anderson, Orphan Advocate

Sometimes it can be hard to imagine the hardships that go on around the world.  We sit in our comfortable homes, with pantries full of necessities, and it seems strange that most of the world doesn’t have a pantry, let alone food to fill it.  But for millions of children in Africa this is their reality.  Hunger is a part of their daily lives.  Then add the fact that many of these children are also orphaned, either by death or abandonment… it’s almost more than we can bear.  It’s hard to go there mentally and we protect our hearts by pretending it doesn’t exist.  But it does.  Children are suffering.

Little Ephrem is one of those children.  Born in Ethiopia, his father is now dead and his mother disappeared years ago.  He was taken into his grandmother’s care, but she has struggled to provide for him.  At 4 years old, Ephrem is extremely small for his age, and most likely suffers from a type of growth disorder, though the lack of specialized medical care keeps us from knowing for sure.  And since he has been malnourished most of his life, it is no wonder his health is affected.

Praise the Lord, Ephrem is now enrolled in Lifesong’s Adami Tulu Nursery School, where he is getting two meals a day and seems to be flourishing under the care of his teachers.  His sweet demeanor and precious smile easily capture your heart.

 

Laughter & Smiles

We go all-out to give our kiddos the very best we possibly can.  In Ethiopia, this looks much different than it does for you and me in the US!

Lifesong for Orphans is supporting 3 schools in the Ziway, Ethiopia area. We are currently repairing one of the schools and are in the process of building another, but are hopeful to use all three this fall.

Let’s turn this bare piece of land at the Ziway Lifesong School …

  

...Into a place of laughter and smiles!

We are excited and hopeful for the schools in Ethiopia as we look to fill the rooms with desks, school supplies, blackboards, playground equipment, libary books etc.  We invite you to join us in ministering to the youth of Ethiopia.  For the children, for their country, but most of all for the glory of Father who is the God and Father of all.

View all current projects. View all Lifesong Ethiopia videos.

Zambia at a glance...

 Thought we'd share some pictures that a team brought back from a visit to our school in Zambia.  To learn more about Zambia & our current projects, please visit our website.

 

 

 Thanks Taryn for these pictures that have captured the life, joy, sorrow, and HOPE of Zambia....