I'm Going to Ethiopia... and Charlotte, NC... Why?

Can you imagine a place where it is a common sight to see young girls begging on the streets, without a family or home to protect them? A place where hope is a foreign concept and happiness is replaced by hunger? For too many girls in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, this is their reality. In dire poverty, they are daily at risk to sexual abuse, starvation, disease and spiritual deprivation.

As the Lord has seen in us all, He has seen these girls’ need for the salvation provided by His overwhelming love, and so has provided them Deborah House, a ministry in Addis Ababa sponsored by Serving in Mission. Deborah House takes these girls off the streets, providing them with shelter, food, medical care and protection from the dangers that lurk in the city. Here, the girls learn skills that will give them earning power and, most importantly, they hear about the Lord’s incredible love for them.

It is to this place that the Lord has called me to this summer, to work with the girls of Deborah House. In June, I will leave for Ethiopia and will stay with them for two weeks. While there, I will talk with the girls about their lives at Deborah House as well as what their lives looked like prior to living there. With their permission, I will then write their stories for them.

After leaving Ethiopia, I will then go to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Serving in Mission USA is based. I will spend the rest of the summer there on two projects. The first is to spend time at Lois Lodge, Deborah House’s sister home, writing the stories of the girls there. My second project will consist of working on a benefit concert that will be held for the two homes in August, which is where the girls’ stories will be displayed.

God has been preparing my heart, developing my abilities and molding my desires for this trip since I was a senior in high school. It is so beautiful and humbling to witness the faithfulness and perfect plan of God unfold in my life.