Bete Hosanna Summer Trip Update
By Melinda Salle, Development Project Coordinator
I am so excited to be able to share this encouraging update from Ethiopia. I was there a few weeks ago and enjoyed spending time with our girls and staff. I left inspired by these young women and motivated to continue to shout from the rooftops to tell of the incredible, life changing work that is being done in Ethiopia at Bete Hosanna. I am going to try to paint the picture for you so that you can “see” what is happening at Bete Hosanna!
We currently have nine girls in the program. They are very busy each day working and going to school. The group dynamic is amazing, and they are the most united group we have had yet. I can visually see the difference in their countenances from a year ago. They are so joyful and peaceful and full of hope and laughter. This group is truly a joy to be around.
The most wonderful day of our trip, and maybe my favorite day ever at Bete Hosanna, was the day we had a baby shower for three of our graduates and their husbands. Pelham Road Baptist Church provided all of the baby shower gifts, and we ended up with a full suitcase for each girl. The expectant mothers kept saying they felt like they were in a dream and could not believe all the gifts were for them. They could not stop saying thank you. I had one man on my team that I know God placed there for so many reasons, and he had a wonderful talk with the husbands about caring for their wives and being an equal partner in parenting. He also taught a financial responsibility lesson to the girls. It was amazing. We had graduates from our program, current residents of Bete Hosanna, and friends of the girls from the government orphanage all present at the baby shower, so it was a beautiful and joyful reunion. Our staff worked so hard that day cooking and decorating and showing their deep love for the girls. We have the most wonderful staff and I tell them constantly that we could not do this without them. Another beautiful thing that we got to be a part of is that one of our monthly donors wanted to gift the girls with personalized Bibles. We were able to give those to the girls, as well as one for our Bible teacher, with some Bible study tools for them to learn to study the Bible on their own. I had a long conversation with them about why we came, and one of them said to me, “I know that God loves me because He sent you.” It brought tears to my eyes because, yes, that is the whole point.
All in all, things were wonderful and it is so good to come home with such a good report. Our girls are continuing to study hard in school and are working at their jobs when they aren’t in school. For our graduates, we are committed to being a part of their lives as they leave and start their own families. Ultimately, we want to help end the generational cycle of poverty, which is one of the main reasons there are so many orphans in Ethiopia. If we can help in that way for our girls at Bete Hosanna, we are changing the future for generations.
God continues to provide, we continue to say yes and He is doing wondrous things in Ethiopia.