Korah

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit the family that we sponsor through Adoption  Ministry 1:27.  We love that this ministry is working to help families in Ethiopia stay intact through a partnership with the local church.  The family that we sponsor lives at Korah.  It is located on the southwest side of Addis Ababa and was originally founded as a leper colony 75 years ago.   Abebe, the YWAM representative who took us to Korah, told us that many in the older population of the community show visible signs of the disease, while the younger population has received early treatment and does not suffer the disfigurement that is caused by leprosy. 

When we arrived, we met with Tesfaye, who oversees the program at Korah.  He meets weekly with the 21 families that are currently sponsored there to assess their needs and disperse the resources as needed.  His father has leprosy and he grew up in this community.  He has devoted his life to serving the people of Korah.  Upon arrival, we were given a tour of the church that is serving approximately 200 people in the community.  It is a small three room building that can hold 50 people in the plastic chairs – the others must sit on the ground.  This is the most basic of buildings containing only a simple podium and the chairs.  It is so different from our churches in America and yet it is a place of refuge for the people of this community. 

As we walked along the path to our sponsored family’s house, I was shocked at the surroundings.  The path itself was treacherous.  It was a dirt walkway that had large rocks all throughout it.  You had to really watch where you were going and choose your steps carefully.  I can only imagine how difficult it would be to walk that after a rain.  We were confronted with sights and smells that were challenging.  Finally, we made our way to the home of Gete and her family.  We were first greeted by her 14 year old daughter and then we were invited into their home.  The front part of the home was probably about 6 feet wide by 8 feet long and there is another small room behind it.  We were invited to sit in the front room – 12 of us were squeezed in there together.  Gete is the mother of 6 children ranging in age from two to fourteen.  Three of her children sat with us and three other little girls who must live close by came in and sat on the floor and just stared at us.  Gete told us how grateful she was for the support that we are providing for her family.  It was humbling.  For so many of us in America, forty bucks a month is NOTHING!  It is no sacrifice.  For her, it is life changing.  I asked Tesfaye if 40 dollars a month is enough.  The truth is that it is providing them with a place to live and some food and medical care, but I believe we can do more.  They are currently researching how best to develop an IGA (income generating activity) so that families just like this one can eventually become self-sufficient and rise above the depths of poverty that they are currently living in.  As we concluded our visit, Abebe asked John to pray for the family.  As he prayed, I just cried as I considered the suffering endured by this family and so many others like them.  I looked around at the children in their tattered and dirty clothing and it broke my heart.  I can’t even begin to imagine living in conditions such as these and yet I can’t help but wonder why them and not me.  It isn’t fair.  As we were driving back to our guest house, we talked about poverty.  The reality is that the worst poverty in American doesn't compare to what we saw at Korah.  We told Abebe the poverty level income in America (in 2011, it was $22,350 for a family of four).  Abebe converted that to birr and was shocked at the amount.  I have heard multiple times that help needs to stay at home and I detest that mindset.  Help needs to be wherever it is needed – here, there, everywhere.  God makes no distinction in suffering and neither should we.  These are our brothers and sisters and, as Christians, we should be helping wherever we see a need.  John and I have seen the need with our own eyes and we cannot pretend that it doesn’t exist.  I know that people don’t like to think about such unpleasantness because it is uncomfortable and might make us feel guilty for the lavish lifestyles that we live.  Good!  It should!  I am speaking to myself as much as anyone else.  I don’t want to give up my comforts either.  But this I know – my eyes have been opened and I am responsible to act.  Period.  Will you consider joining us in sponsoring a family that is desperately in need?  Or perhaps you can’t commit to monthly support, but you could give an amount to help get an IGA started for the families at Korah?   Please consider partnering with Adoption Ministry 1:27 to make a difference TODAY. 

I am reminded again of the prayer of St. Francis: 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.