The country of Ethiopia is experiencing drought and famine in much of the rural countryside. An absolute highlight of the trip was the drilling of the well in the Woja school yard. Ladies were dancing in the fields next to the well site as the well was drilled. At 170 feet, a substantial water source was discovered. There is enough water to allow the eventual installation of a solar powered pump which will give the community enough water for several applications. First and foremost, the entire community will have access to a nearby source of clean drinking water for their household use. The Woja community was delighted to be informed that the water was not just for the school use and not just for the Evangelical Christians of the area, but for everyone.

A look at the two pictures of the Temesgen below will help you see the importance of our meal service. On the left is Temesgen shortly after the summer break. He was so malnourished that he could hardly sit up and keep his eyes opened. His ashen color looks little like the smiling child you see on the right. Our feeding him, initially with a supplemental meal when he arrived at school in the morning, as well as with the lunch that we feed all of the children, restored him to good health. He is just one example of the impact ACTS has had on the health of the young ones who attend our schools.

When we install an above ground tank for water storage, we will be able to provide running
water in the kitchen and a community shower station to which moms can bring their toddlers for a shower.

The shintebet (latrine) has been nearly completed for the children’s use in Woja and a more western style toilet is being built for the teachers and guests’ use. In addition, two small guest rooms are being built which will also have bathrooms. This will enable us to enlist interns to visit for extended periods of time to teach English in an afterschool program. Others will be enlisted to teach and assist with agricultural improvements to our school gardens and to the farming which will take place on the land adjoining the schoolyard. The government just gave us that land and, in addition to farming it, plans are being developed to build a building in which we could expand our educational offerings to a broader base of the community. Each of these will provide opportunities to evangelize. We have also plan to offer the new building to a church in the area that is now meeting in a stable. If we collect a small rent from them, we will be able to keep the arm’s length relationship that the government requires.

With the availability of water, we are exploring establishing a small five cow dairy. Dairy cows require a lot of water and so does growing the feed that will be needed to keep them healthy and productive. Once in operation these five cows will provide a glass of milk per student per day and produce enough extra that the excess can be sold to the community making the whole operation self-sustaining.

Other highlights of the visit included, our granddaughter’s baptism in the local river by one of ACTS’ pastor friends, visits to a couple of villages that are potential sites for ACTS expansion, a group outside of the fence breaking out in the worship song that we had learned and sung together in their language a year ago, watching a classroom full of students enthusiastically singing about Jesus even though about 75% of them are Muslim, and preaching to and worshipping with the local, growing Evangelical Church. Since our return, Woudineh, ACTS incountry director, emailed that he was so encouraged by what ACTS is doing, that he is going to limit his involvement in other areas so that he can devote the lion’s share of his time to working with us in ACTS!

We took new photos of all of the students so sponsors will be receiving updated photos in the near future. We will have a stack of photos leftover of those kids still needing a sponsoring family and ask that you consider enlisting your family and friends to help in our collective effort to physically and spiritually save them.

Pictured left is the cover for the book that Bill recently finished. It relates some of the stories we have heard while ministering to the people we contact and paints a picture of life in rural Ethiopia. Crosslink will be publishing the book late this summer. The ACTS website is under reconstruction so that the book can be purchased directly through it. All proceeds will be used for Little Elsa’s (the main character in the book) education and for the ACTS ministry. At Amazon, ACTS will receive about $1 per book. If ordered through the website, ACTS will generate about $5 of profit and your copy will be signed. If you are interested in getting on the pre-release list, please email Karen Cornell at karen@actskids.org.

Remember to get everyone you know to alter their Amazon account to Amazon Smile, designating Africa Community Transformation Services, Inc. as their designated charity. It costs them nothing and ACTS receives ½ of 1% of the value of the sale. You can find the link at www.actskids.org or directly at https://smile.amazon.com/?tag=abba-smile-us-20&version=1.3

Nowhere in the Bible verses does Jesus mention fundraising as part of the Great Commission. Fortunately, we have not had to make it a major focus of our ministry as God continues to provide for the work He has called us to do. Of course, expansion to a third school will require additional funding sources so we continue to seek willing partners.

We returned from Ethiopia encouraged and refreshed as God has granted such mercy on ACTS ministry and answered many prayers. Thank you all who have joined us in praying for this ministry and the challenges we have faced during the first five years. We look forward to what God has in store in the many years to come. We thank you for your trust and support and are blessed to be a part of God’s plan to reach the unreached.

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First, for the last two weeks of March, Bill and Karen Cornell will be visiting Ethiopia and the schools. We will get to see and interact with our 402 current students as well as with many whom have passed through our program. And, our 15 year old granddaughter, Champney, will be traveling with us again. Since her first visit last year, she has been yearning to return and to reconnect with the Woja and Koshe communities. Please pray for us from March 20-April 1. We pray for travel mercies and God’s protection and direction for our time in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is among the top twenty hardest countries on earth to live in as an Evangelical Christian (according to Open Doors). Persecution comes from the Muslim dominant peoples in the rural communities and from the Orthodox dominated population in the metropolitan areas. We have come to realize that the friends we have made, as well as those people who have become new believers, look to us for encouragement and moral support. God has used us to lift their spirits as He uses them to grow His Kingdom.

That being said, the local governments in the two areas where our schools are operating are becoming easier and easier to work with as they continue to recognize the value of what ACTS brings to their communities at large. For the first time ever, ACTS will be named as the lessee on its own property. This move clears the final big hurdle that has stood in the way of the well being drilled near the Woja School. With a deep water well and a solar pump, that community will have clean water and a limited power supply for the very first time. While the monies are available to complete the well, any additional funds that are raised will be put into infrastructure. We hope to be able to pump to an above ground storage tank and from there to gravity feed water to the kitchen, to an expanded garden out of which we can improve the student feeding program, to a bathing station
at which moms can wash their toddlers, as well as to make potable water available to the surrounding households for their daily needs.

We also will be looking at plans to build a second building at Woja. During the week it would be used as a community center at which we could expand our curriculum offerings to include continuing English teaching with the little ones after they go on to government school and offering adult English classes. On Sunday the building would be used as the church where local believers will be able to worship. We trust that God will provide the resources needed to accomplish these projects.

While in Ethiopia, we also plan to visit two areas whose leaders have asked us to consider duplicating what we have done in Koshe and Woja. One opportunity is in the village in which Woudineh, our in-country Director, was raised. The other rests in another area with a minimal number of Christians living amongst a large Muslim population. There has been recent unrest in this area and it depends on the climate at the time whether or not we will be able to visit. It will be interesting to see how and if God leads us to one of these villages.

Finally, and I could emphasize finally, Bill has finished his book on the story of Little Elsa and her miracle. A publisher has picked up the rights to publish the manuscript and it should be available in September. Profits from the book will be used to assist Elsa with her continuing education and to further the work of ACTS. We will let you know when it is in print.

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Thankfully, we have had some favorable response to our call for additional sponsors as we continue to strive to get each of the four hundred students funded. Depending on the final enrollment numbers for this new school years, we project that we are still in need of fifty sponsors.

Since our last report we have received feedback from our in-country partners about two events that we want to share with you.

In June we had our third formal graduation ceremony saying goodbye to our oldest kids as they prepare to attend government school this fall. For little ones to receive any individual special recognition in these impoverished communities is unique so smiles abounded. The parents and family members attended the ceremony and it was an honor for them.

Then in July, on the fourth interestingly enough, the children were taken on their first field trip. When we applied for our NGO (non-government organization) a couple of years ago, part of our proposal included exposing the children to things outside of their daily experiences. This summer we were able to follow through on this commitment by taking the kids on a bus trip to Lake Langano about two hours away from their homes. Here is what our in-country director, Woudineh reported in his words.

“Our kids were taken for a one day ‘educational trip’ to Langano area park. They were 4 buses full with parents committee, and staff. The joy of that day was vivid on the faces of both parents and children. The whole town was full of ‘elilta’ the sound of ‘elililili…,’ and Ethiopian way of expressing joy. The feeling of the parents were unexpected on our side. They felt their kids were crowned kings and queens. Almost all of them have never left Koshe/Woja let alone sitting in a bus and travel so long distance.”

Finally, in addition to praying for your children, please pray for Woudineh, the teachers and the staff as they prepare for the start of a new school year. And remember, as you start your personal Christmas shopping, that ACTS gets ½ of 1% on anything that you buy from Amazon Smile if you designate ACTS as your preferred charity. Visit smile.amazon.com and select Africa Community Transformation Services, Inc. in Fresno, California as your designated charity.

If you haven’t already seen our recent video, we suggest that you go to You Tube – ACTS Mission in Ethiopia – Full or https://youtu.be/rjzyveE9mM. In viewing this short film, you will get a closer look at the children and get a feel for their environment. Lots of smiley, healthy faces thanks to your contributions!

In Christ’s love and in ours,
Karen and Bill Cornell

Isaiah 58:10-11 “if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as noonday. And the Lord will guide your continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and
make your bones strong; you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

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March 28 – April 10, a group of 8 traveled to Koshe and Woja to visit the schools. The primary purpose of the trip was to show and to share the love of Jesus Christ. Extensive training was conducted with the group for many weeks prior to the commencement of travel to prepare the team members for the cultural and spiritual difficulties that can often be faced in a trip of this nature. There were some travel difficulties but the team, which included three young adults, proved to be a wonderful blessing to the children, villagers, teachers, church planters and administrators.

To experience ACTS Team trip please see You Tube video: On You Tube it is called ACTS Mission in Ethiopia – Full or https://youtu.be/rj-zyveE9mM The pre-trip training video is also on You Tube at: https://youtu.be/xnDWdYUEozc or ACTS Mission Ethiopia – Part One.

The children were all delighted to receive backpacks. The success of the backpack drive by the young adults (those who traveled with us and some who did not) was such a blessing. For the first time the ACTS kids now have a place to carry their things and we pray they are also carrying Jesus with them.

For those who sponsor children, update letters are being mailed to you this week.

For all of you shoppers on Amazon, please don’t forget to shop at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/35-2390703 in support of Africa Community Transformation Services Inc. where they will provide .5% of every purchase to ACTS from the Amazon Foundation.

How can you help? Please tell your friends, neighbors and family about ACTS and the child sponsorship program; continue to pray for ACTS ministry, the children and the work of those on the ground in Ethiopia bringing the good news and consider sponsoring an additional child for the upcoming new school year.

May you be filled with the abundant blessings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Karen and Bill Cornell
ACTS Board of Directors
ACTS Ethiopia

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Also please see ACTS team video:

Your Africa Community Transformation, Inc, (ACTS) partners both here and in Ethiopia join in wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year! At this time of year, when we celebrate the greatest gift ever given to man, we also celebrate each of you and your continued support which enables us to share the name of Jesus Christ among the unreached peoples of the world.

Bill Cornell is just back from Ethiopia. ACTS was asked to participate in the first ever Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) conference on health. The countries of South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti and Ethiopia are part of this organization and were well represented at the conference. When the organizers were informed about ACTS and its rural development work, they felt that there was certainly a place and a need for faith based organizations to be included in the work that is being
done. As a result, while other exhibitors were charged a fee for their booth space, ACTS was given a space on the exhibit floor free of charge. As we explained what this small ministry was all about, we were asked, no less than fifty times, about the possibility of not only expanding beyond our two Ethiopian villages, but beyond the borders of Ethiopia into all of the other countries. Oh, if that were only possible!

While visiting the schools, Bill had a first ever chance to meet and talk with the Wereda (county) chief administrator. He extolled the work of ACTS and expressed the gratitude of the two communities in which schools are operating. ACTS has been so successful that our visit to the current schools revealed that we are experiencing record enrollment. That’s the good news, the bad news is that we our falling short of the necessary number of child sponsors. Also, as the school buildings are now three+ years old and packed daily with nearly 70 kids to a classroom, maintenance needs are starting to arise.

In late March, a group of about ten people (including a few teenagers for the first time ever) will be traveling to Koshe and Woja. The primary purpose of this trip is to show and to share the love of Jesus Christ. We will update you on the travel plans as the departure date approaches.

In the meantime, we ask that you prayerfully consider a one time gift or an additional child sponsorship as we go forward in to the New Year. Don’t forget your purchase at Smile.Amazon.com where you designate Africa Community Transformation Services, Inc. Fresno, California will provide .5% of every purchase to ACTS from the Amazon Foundation.

May the blessings of this joyous season be with you and may you truly feel God’s love for you which is beyond all measure.

Blessings,
Karen and Bill Cornell
ACTS Board of Directors
ACTS Ethiopia

God’s work in Ethiopia that you continue to faithfully support through your encouragement,
prayers and financial donations, continues to thrive.

Much has happened since we last reported on the Koshe and Woja villages. For the first time ever, ACTS held a “graduation” ceremony for those who are leaving our schools to go on to the government schools. In addition to the children involved, their parents and local governmental administration officials attended the celebration. This event served to strengthen our ties to the communities in which we work and to build a broader awareness and sense of trust. We have found that the trust factor is a key in what we do as the opportunity to share the Gospel increases with the level of trust that is achieved. 1 Peter 2:9-12 says “They may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation”.

The children returned to school in September after a wetter than normal monsoon season
(corresponding with our summer months). With subsequent time off to celebrate the Ethiopian New Year and another week away for a national holiday, October has brought a return to normalcy to the school facilities. Only now are we able to determine who is back at school and how many new attendees have enrolled on our program. At the end of the month Karen and Bill Cornell will be traveling back to Ethiopia to visit the schools. Included in their agenda of things to accomplish are meeting with and training the new ACTS Ethiopia administrator, Tesefy, having formal sit down meetings with the local administrators of both villages, contracting for the building of the shintebet (latrine) for the Woja school, helping to reallocate the sponsorship/current student roles, and, of course, spending time with the 400 kids now at school and with many of the older kids who have gone on from ACTS’ program to the government schools. In addition, the groundwork will be laid for taking a larger team back to visit in the early spring when much new curriculum will be introduced to the teachers and students. As always, your prayers for safe travel, good health, successful interactions and, most importantly, continued growth of God’s Kingdom, will be appreciated.

The backbone of our support continues to come from Trinity Community Church of Clovis and its church family, but ACTS has been somewhat successful in reaching out to other individuals for additional support. Work is being done to identify a village in another unreached people group, in which to build a third school. This will require a major influx of both capital and willing sponsors. Any help that you can give in identifying a direction in which to look would be greatly appreciated. We continue to rely on you to be our foot soldiers, the champions of the ACTS ministry. We are confident that your efforts in this regard will be pleasing to God. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Jesus Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”.

One thing that all can do to help raise money is to sign up at Amazon.Smile.com If you are an online shopper and purchase from Amazon, ACTS will receive a donation anytime you trade with them. By simply going on line and signing up, ACTS will receive .5% of what is spent as a donation. Simply log on to smile.amazon.com and start shopping. Imagine the impact as we come into this busy shopping season that a network of 1000 of our collective friends and families enrolling in this program could have on this ministry. And, what if we could grow that number to 10,000! A new introductory brochure has been published. If you would like some (and we encourage that) to share with others, please let us know.

Bill and Karen are scheduled to be in Ethiopia from October 30 until November 17. Updates
will be available on the website www.actskids.org through blogs and ACTS Facebook page
during the trip. Upon their return, another newsletter will be sent reporting on the trip.

Know that we are very thankful for your support of this ministry. You have directly touched the lives of about 1000 impoverished children in Ethiopia. On behalf of those who are still in school and those who have graduated, especially those who have come to know Jesus through this work, we want to thank you as well.

Blessings as we serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to make His name known to the ends of the earth.

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ACTS Ethiopia has now been recognized as a Charitable Non-Government Organization in Ethiopia.

After several weeks work in Addis, the Cornells were finally able to get down to the villages in mid-February where they were able to spend six weeks. This is the longest period of time that ACTS has had a presence in the area and the extended stay helped to enhance the relationship with the kids, the employees and the villagers. Throughout this past school year, we have been serving lunches to many of the first graders who have gone on to government school from our program. The government only provides half day classes, but kept all of our kids on the same rotation so that they could all arrive at or near the same time to be fed. It was interesting to note that as the word spread that the Americans were at the schools, the numbers of children taking advantage of joining us for lunch increased. We have known these kids for two years now. As is true with our own kids and grand-kids, it is fun to watch them grow and, in this case, to see them understand a little more English! Time was spent in and out of the classrooms with the teachers and kids still at our schools to further improve their English. This was done in many ways, the most fun, by teaching them the song “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” as they were learning their body parts. In exchange, there were lots of laughs as they taught us to count and to sing in Amharic.

Abenezer, our in-country employee/liaison, was at our side for our entire stay. This was helpful as he served as our translator and navigator. Also with us for much of the time was “Woody”. He is the head of ACTS Ethiopia. His background includes two years of post-graduate work in divinity at Fresno Pacific University, auditing and finance experience and he has worked for another NGO (non-government organization) in the past. He is well respected by everyone we have met in Ethiopia who knows him.

For the final weeks of their two-month visit, the Cornells were joined by four team members. Much of the project work that was planned was accomplished during their stay under the direction of Tom and Dwight. A kitchen was constructed in each village. When finished, the rudimentary procedures of cooking on the mud floor of an enclosed building will be replaced by kerosene burners where there is no power, and electric burners where there is. Think of serving nearly two hundred kids using a camp fire and a bucket of water versus having counters with cook tops and sinks with running water. In addition to the kitchens, bookshelves were built for each classroom to accommodate and help organize the new school materials that ACTS provided.

One Monday, one school was unable to provide lunch for the children because there was no water. The power in the village had been out for the entire weekend and so the village pump, which delivers water to the schoolyard for about an hour each day, was unable to run. The 55 gallon drum that was our water storage was empty. Upon hearing that this was not an isolated experience, the team jumped into action and crafted a better water storage solution. We found two 1000 liter containers for sale in the town in which we were staying, relocated them to the school yard and plumbed them to the inlet source of water from the village. We went one step further and ran a line to the kitchen so that the newly installed sink will have running water. Some of the kids don’t get much to eat at home, so coming to school after a weekend only to find no lunch can be disheartening. Hopefully, this won’t happen again.

Prior to the entire team’s arrival, the Cornells had met a couple from Illinois who lived in the town where the team was housed. Four years ago, they had started a program similar to the ones that ACTS has started in the two villages. Arrangements were made for all of us to visit what for them has grown into two schools, a KG school and an elementary school. While our more rural locations provide some challenges that are not faced in a town environment, much was learned from our visit. They have partnered with a U.S. orphan NGO which is providing significant funding for their effort. This has encouraged us to continue to broaden our search for financial partners to help in our plans to grow ACTS and, therefore, His Kingdom.

A chance encounter with a young man in Addis Ababa led to a tree nursery being planted at the School. Tree Ethiopia provided seeds to grow trees for food, shade and boundary protection. They worked with the kids in setting up the garden and educating them about the whole process.

Late this summer, as the seeds become healthy seedlings, they will be transplanted to both school yards.

Rains came early this year so the road to the more rural village became impassable by van. In order to continue our work there during the final week of the visit, the team had to move the equipment, supplies and our bodies into the school by horse cart. On the final day when all involved went to distribute new uniforms and to further work on the kitchen construction, there was quite a procession of horse carts winding its way through the countryside. It was quite a sight as we passed many people either out working to patch the thatched roofs that were in need of repair since the last rain several months ago, or out in the fields plowing behind their oxen and taking advantage of the rains which will allow an early start to the planting season.

The parents were invited to come to school for the uniform distribution day. For many of the children, this uniform is their only clothing. We were able to speak with the parents about trying to use the old uniforms for play time and to weekly wash the new uniforms. The fact that the uniforms were handed out at the end of our stay, allowed us to say goodbye to each child individually. This lead to more than just a few tears! ACTS also gave the cooks aprons to wear at work and gave the teachers each a lightweight coat to wear over their clothing while teaching. This is a status symbol throughout the country so the teachers received them with a great sense of pride.

All the arrangements have been made to drill the well in the rural village where there currently is no water or power. Those living in the area around the school travel at least thirty-five minutes each way to retrieve clean water for their families. The early rains delayed the scheduled start date. Once the roads become passable, the trucks will arrive and the well drilling will begin. ACTS’s hope is to deliver the water to the surface and into an above ground 5500 gallon storage tank by using a solar powered pump. Until the depth and flow of the water is determined through the drilling process, the specifications for the pump cannot be determined. In the interim, the ministry is trying to secure funding for the estimated amount needed for the pump. The plan is to make the water available to all of the community, not just to the school yard. After the well is in service the final project on the drawing board at this time is the latrine. It is estimated that this project will cost $7500 and none of the funds have been raised as of this writing.

Over the summer break, several maintenance tasks will be done. The classrooms will get new paint. The kitchens will be completed and operational for the start of the new school year.

It is the hope of the ACTS Board of Directors that the next mission team will include some medical professionals. Our plan is not so much to have a lot of medicine practiced since what is done in the short term is seldom sustainable, but rather to train our teachers and parents on how to identify common diseases for which treatment is available. This plan was stimulated by the fact that we almost lost one of our students during our stay to tapeworms which had worked up into the esophagus and malaria. We have learned that both issues are ongoing problems and can be recognized by simple awareness of symptoms. In addition, we will be reinforcing messages concerning nutrition and sanitation, aids awareness and trying to secure mosquito nets to help control malaria.

The ACTS Board of Directors is currently discussing various possibilities about going beyond what is currently being done to further grow God’s Kingdom. Ideas include using existing facilities to offer after school programs for our kids who have gone on to government school. Also being explored is the possibility of using some of the talent available in Fresno to arrange a short term trip in the summer to teach English to the community. We would focus on our teachers and kids, but offer classes to the whole village. The ability to speak English opens up a much broader range of employment for those able to do so.

The more critical decision that needs to be made is when to go forward to identify a new people group in a new village in which we can begin to replicate what has been accomplished. We feel that it is God’s leading that we move forward to a new group. Establishing a new sponsor base and raising resources to begin a new school seem daunting to the flesh when capital is still needed, and will be needed on an ongoing basis, to support the current work in both villages, but we trust that He will continue to provide.

Because of fallout in the original sponsor base (which is to be expected) we are going into the new school year with about 35 kids in need of sponsors. If you know of anyone who might like to become involved in supporting this ministry, please drop us an email and we will follow up with them. karen@actskids.org

On a side note, during the time of the writing of this newsletter, Bill suffered a heart attack. Praise God, there was no major damage to the heart and his rehabilitation is progressing. God’s timing is always perfect and he was able to obtain excellent medical assistance!

Prayer Requests:

• A clear direction for the future of ACTS. Sponsors for the children currently in need.
• A donation of or funding for the well pump and storage tank.
• Complete healing and continued good health for the little girl who had tapeworms and malaria.
• Complete healing for Bill Cornell including a release to return to Ethiopia.
• Unity among all involved both in the USA and in Ethiopia, keeping His will in front of any other.