What does Hope mean to you?
This was a question posed to us at devotions one morning by our amazing ministry contact, Ralph, the director of Hope Ethiopia, the organization we partnered with this past month. During that devotion, some of my squadmates and I shared our hopes with one another, but I think the best examples of hope were the people we came into contact with throughout the month, so this blog is dedicated to them (and there were so many more than just the ones listed)!
The two beautiful mothers living at the center and their adorable children! These ladies came out of some pretty horrible situations. Their husbands died, leaving them with several children, without any means to make money to feed them or send them to school. Hope Ethiopia has since partnered with them, sponsoring them, providing them training to garden and provide for their families, as well as providing a safe place for them to live. When you walk into Hope Ethiopia you can see the joy outpouring from these women and their children, directly stemming from the hope they have been given.
The women sponsored by Hope Ethiopia. My teammates and I actually were able to witness the transformation in an older woman. We first went to her house at the beginning of our month. She had moved to the village where the air was better for her diabetes, but she had no one- no family or friends. She couldn’t even speak to her neighbors because she didn’t speak the regional language. She had diabetes medication, but no food to eat (a common issue- the country provides free medication but the women don’t always have money for food). We saw hopelessness in her eyes on that first visit. However, during our month there, we were able to invite her to lunch with us, we played cards with her, and put on a dance party for her to giggle at. Towards the end of the month some nurses visiting on a medical mission decided to sponsor her. She came to Hope Ethiopia’s Christmas party. After the party we went to visit her again, and we found her absolutely beaming. We showed her how to use the gifts (shampoo and lotion) which she had been given. She shared more of her story with us- how she had been married off at the young age of 13, has been divorced and married three times, how all her husbands treated her very badly. We were able to share scripture with her and pray for her before hugging her goodbye. She has lived a difficult life, but my team was able to witness her hope be restored as she has become a part of the Hope Ethiopia family (where one day she may be able to join them in their senior village they are setting up).
Another woman who cannot be sponsored, because she is still married; however, her husband has abandoned her and their seven children, leaving her with HIV. The first time we visited her, she seemed completely hopeless. The husband will come back whenever he hears she had been given any money, so the situation seems hopeless by worldly standards, and we could see the complete desperation in her eyes when we visited the first time. We went back at the end of the month, and she was smiling! There was hope in her eyes! What had happened? She had given up drinking (something she had been struggling with), and she had decided to go to church. At church someone actually invited her and her children for some food and gave her some money. Just this small act of kindness gave her the hope she needed. She sees that there is hope in the Lord, especially in how he provides when she puts her trust in Him.
Ralph and his wife Glenda, who are some of the directors of Hope Ethiopia and Hope Rwanda (which works with prostitutes in Kigali). They have such an amazing hope in the Lord and in the abundant life that He promises His children, that they just follow wherever He leads them- and they have some pretty awesome stories to share from it! They spread this hope everywhere they go, both with the Ethiopian families their organization is helping as well as by pouring into the mission teams coming to support them. They were a huge inspiration to our team 🙂
The Born family. This family came to serve with Hope Ethiopia for a few weeks, and like Ralph and Glenda, they are just an awesome example of a family who have their hopes set in the Lord and His promises. Ah if you could have heard their children pray and participate in our devotionals- at the ages of 15 and 12. Amazing stuff. They were also hugely inspirational in just showing all of us such an awesome example of a family with their hope set on the Lord 🙂
And there were so many more. The cooks who had their joy on display at all times, the maids with their smiles and the other staff, always greeting us excitedly. Hope Ethiopia is truly spreading hope around not only Ethiopia, but around the world as they impact teams like us coming in. Not only are my hopes set in the Lord’s promise in eternal life as well as the abundant life He has for us here and now, but after this month I have hope in following wherever He leads me in the future, hope in impacting as many lives as possible through simple acts of love, as well as hope in what I want my own family to look like one day.
You can read more about Hope Ethiopia and the work they are doing by visiting their website at www.hopethiopia.com. I’ve also posted a video below to give you a small glimpse into our amazing month in Ethiopia 🙂
