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!

Taking Care of the Details - The Forgotten Initiative

Listen in as Jen Young, Forgotten Advocate, shares the impact one 'journey bag' had on a precious foster care child,

A caseworker called to say thank you for the journey bags we delivered. She described one story of a child that came into care with a sibling from a horrible situation that involved a death of a parent. Caseworkers tried to keep the two brothers together, but could not, which was very difficult for the boys.  The caseworker said that when she gave them a journey bag, their eyes lit up. She expressed how excited they were to have their own bag and the joy it brought the kids really touched the caseworker as well.

I couldn't help but tell this caseworker about the 500 bags we received from a church that put each of these bags together.  I told her that while we're glad the bags are appreciated, needed and useful, God cares about this child and took care of the details. His hand was upon this situation and He knew just what this child needed!

The "Journey Bag Project" is just one way The Forgotten Initiative, partnering with Lifesong for Orphans, seeks to bring joy and purpose to the foster care community. 

To see how you can be involved or to learn more, please visit their website.  

Haggai | God has remembered Him...

On our recent Zambia Vision Trip we met a young man named Haggai, who is abou 13 yrs old but only in the 3rd grade because he hadn't attended school much at all, until he came to the Lifesong School.

Watch his story...to see how God is turning broken-ness into beauty...!

Haggai from Lifesong on Vimeo.

Opportunity to serve more children | India

Bill Perkins (author, speaker, and Orphan Advocate) guides us through this video...

Giving a little glimpse into the Lifesong-India staff people who daily serve, love, and care for the orphans and vulnerable children in India.  You'll see how many years of faithfulness they have given to these children...

as well as the opportunity for us to continue to serve them...

  Check out Bill Perkin's ministry and how he is advocating for vulnerable children...

Joy is shining through

A little glimpse at the children through these pics...

Several of the older girls are attending 2year and 4 year nursing colleges.  You can't miss their smiles!

They are happy to be a part of the Lifesong-India family -- and it shows!