I have to share a great story about a little boy from our care point at Kechene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In Nov. 2010, I had the privilege of meeting 56 of our 130 kids at Kechene. I will never forget one of the boys named Yishake. The kids walked i
nto the classroom to meet all us visitors from America. They politely filed into the room with their hands behind them, sat down, and folded their hands in their lap. One little boy hobbled in with a cane.
His foot seemed to be deformed in a way that pointed his
right foot inward, making it unable to fully straighten it out. The cane he used was one that had an arm handle on as well as a place to hold on to. The end of the cane, I noticed, was in rough shape showing signs of much use (perhaps a long walk to school).
The second thing I noticed about Yishake was that he was adored by all the kids.
He had no stigma about him from others, or himself.
He was genuinely happy and JOYFUL! His walk was not easy, or even just a limp, but rather his whole body seemed affected from the bad foot as it bent in difficult ways just for a step forward.
When I returned home from meeting these amazing children, we started to get excited about getting these kids sponsored. I shared a lot with my family and friends, including our pastor and his wife. Without hesitation, Pastor Brian and Cherie said they would sponsor. Cherie stopped over one day and I set out a few pictures of the kids I really wanted sponsored, one being Yishake. Cherie and her eldest son, Nathan, chose him hands down.
Ever since that day, as with all the sponsors, our pastor's family has done their part to being Yishake's family from afar. They have sent him letters, prayed for him, told others about him, and continued the $35 a month that it takes to sponsor him; nutritious meals, dr. appts., spiritual education, textbooks, uniforms, shoes, etc. However, they have always wanted to provide for a surgery to help his foot. I had told them that it would be difficult at that time since it was very difficult to recover from something like that without the assistance of care takers at home, which Yishake did not have. So, they recently asked again how they could help. I talked with our Children's Hopechest contact in the field and asked about purchasing a cane.
The response I got was breathtaking! I was overwhelmed with excitement to share the news from afar about Yishake with his sponsor family. The news from Ethiopia was better than details on buying a new cane. Instead, we heard that he had surgery on his foot and is recovering! The staff from Kechene is visiting him regularly so as to feed him nutritious meals from the care point and give him his lessons. He will return to school soon with the use of BOTH feet and NO CANE!
I was so amazed by the impact of this one family and how their sponsorship of this care point not only feeds and educates to bring hope, but it brought hope to a little boy who would otherwise not have been able to function in Ethiopia fully and provide for himself. He has a future so different now than before sponsorship. He has the hope of a future!
Though this sponsor family is sponsoring Yishake, they and the entire group of Kechene sponsors can take part in this blessing of Yishake's surgery. It is a group effort as all the sponsors' financial support gets pooled together to provide for cases such as this or any other serious cases that may come up. God has provided for this little boy to have a place to go to school that will love on him so much that they got the medical help he needed to get his surgery. All of this was done through all of you!
Thank you Brian, Cherie, Nathan, Josh, Rachael, Lisa, Tally, and Hannah.
And thank you to all of you who sponsor with this family to provide for that environment that can now share God's love in so many ways and give them HOPE!
