So Many Reasons to Celebrate in Ethiopia
Yesterday, Ethiopia celebrated its New Year. Ethiopians follow a 13-month calendar like that used in many Eastern Orthodox churches, trailing the Western calendar by 7 years and 8 months. While we are in 2023 in the United States, their year is 2016.
Check out some photos of the girls at Bete Hosanna getting their home ready for the holiday and learning to prepare a traditional meal of chicken stew and injera for the celebration. Part of the program at Bete Hosanna is for the girls to learn useful life skills like cooking and cleaning, and this holiday gave them a great opportunity.
While they were celebrating the New Year, we at America World were finishing our tally of money raised at A Night of Light: A Gala Benefiting Bete Hosanna, presented by Common Sense Retirement Planning. We held it at the Randall House in Greer, SC, on Thursday, August 31st.
This year was our first year to have this fundraiser, and we are so pleased to announce that it raised $60,725, an amazing amount for a first event! We raised $35,725 from sponsors, donations, ticket sales, and merchandise sales, and we received an additional $25,000 from a generous anonymous donor who provided a matching grant for the event.
The evening began with music by the Ronnie Elliott Quartet, featuring Ronnie Elliott, a 13-year-old electric guitar prodigy. Previous mission team members Leslie Poole and Christie McMillan shared their experiences meeting girls at the government orphanage and Bete Hosanna.
During her speech, Christie said, “It is easy to ignore the orphans before you know their names. It is easy to ignore them before you see their faces. It is easy to pretend they don’t exist before you hold them in your arms. But when you do, everything changes.”
Afterward, everyone saw a video telling the story of the home and how everything really did change for the mission team members in December of 2018 when they witnessed what happened to girls from the government orphanage when they aged out of the program. If you haven’t had a chance to see it, you can watch it now.
Thank you to Melinda Sallé, Development Project Coordinator for America World, and Jenny Sallé, event coordinator, for the lovely work in making all the details perfect. Below are some photos taken by Molly Knight.
Also, thank you to the following sponsors for helping make the night a huge success.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
We praise God for all He has done for Bete Hosanna as He continues His care for these precious girls.
If you’d like to support the Bete Hosanna project, click this link to learn more.
