Dear Sponsors, Supporters and Friends of ACTS,
As we move through this season when God’s greatest gift to us is celebrated we want to pause and thank each of you for the gift that you are to the ACTS ministry and to the lives we are touching in Ethiopia. We have seen firsthand a number of individuals accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior as God continues to grow His Kingdom in that part of the world. What a blessing!
The team that visited the villages in January had much to report. The Koshe School was nearly completed. Shortly after the visit, the finishing touches we’re made and it is now home to two hundred forty-five students. Some trees have been planted, fixtures added and it is painted. The team also attended a ground breaking ceremony for the new Woja School and the walls are now going up. The work there is slow because the water needed to make cement has to be transported to the site by donkey. There is no water or power in the village, but we hope to change that in the near future.
The children all received money so that their families could buy a chicken for their Christmas dinner (January 7 on the Ethiopian calendar). It gave us the opportunity to wish each one Melkem Genna (Merry Christmas) and to share hugs and smiles. Thank you to all who contributed to this special gift.
ACTS has hired a young man to help with on ground administration to both reduce the burden on the Pastor who helped initiate the organization and to help bridge the cultural differences that were causing some confusion. He has already been helpful in taking new pictures of the kids. Some of the original four hundred children were moved by the government to its school when they turned seven so we have added a new class of youngsters. As we assimilate these new names into our program, we feel blessed that we are reminded of what God has done through each of you during this past year to make the birth
of ACTS so successful. To Him be the glory.
As we go forward in the Koshe and Woja villages there are three areas of need we hope to address; sanitation, nutrition and additional educational opportunities. On the sanitation front, the primary need is for a clean water source in Woja. To our delight, we have found that a well would only have to be sixty meters deep, not the two hundred and fifty meters that was originally reported. This will reduce the cost by about eighty per cent. For ten thousand dollars a world of new opportunities will be opened up for those villagers. And this clean water source will facilitate the installation of hand washing stations to reinforce our educational efforts in the area of sanitation. A new latrine was built at the Koshe School and we hope to raise the resources to build one at the new Woja School and to provide some basic solar power, as well. If any of you feel lead to help with these funding needs or know of a contact to make, please let us know. On the nutritional front we plan to help develop menus and provide a source for some fresh vegetables to be used for the lunchtime meals. In the area of education, our goal is to continually upgrade our licensing so that we can add additional grades and provide for the complete range of primary grade education for our ACTS kids. These are ambitious goals, but we know that God will provide.
A team of nine is preparing to visit Ethiopia May 14 -30. We would appreciate your prayers while we are in preparation for the trip and while we are on the journey. Among other things, we will be working alongside of the locals building a fence around the Woja School and planting gardens to raise vegetables to supplement the school lunches. Clothing is being collected and many thanks to the individuals, Mothers in Christ and others who have gathered and donated clothing and suitcases. This clothing will be given to the children at both schools. The team will also be working with the children teaching them Bible lessons and of course playing with them. We pray that God will direct the team during this visit and reveal His plan for our work there.
Thank you for your continued support of the children of Ethiopia. The Servants of Acts