Photo By: Allyson Cheney // www.blinkphotoblog.com

ADDIS ABABA (ETHIOPIA) - Life in Abundance (LIA) believes that every child should have an opportunity  to rise to their God given  potential in life. Unfortunately, many of the 60,000 to 100,000 children living on the streets of Addis Ababa miss that chance.

This is precisely why LIA launched the Merkato Integrated Street Children Prevention and Rehabilitation Project in 2007. The three-year program, recently completed, serving 150 at-risk children ages three to seven and thirty-seven former street children ages fourteen to eighteen in the Merkato District of Addis Ababa.

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August 7th marked the 10th year anniversary of LIA-Ethiopia!

It is with great joy that we are able to announce this milestone regarding the work in Ethiopia. We are especially grateful for Dr. Yared Mekonnen, LIA-Ethiopia Country Director, and the entire Ethiopia team as they have faithfully served and sacrificed to ensure the success of the ministry in this country.  They have remained steadfast in the direction of the Lord and have allowed God to work through the ministry, impacting the “least of these” in the communities throughout Ethiopia over the years.

We ask that you would join us in a prayer of thanksgiving for the growth of LIA-Ethiopia over these last 10 years.

For we have seen economic empowerment in low to no income families.

We have seen street children rise up against the odds creating a sustainable life for themselves off of the streets.

We have seen water and sanitation initiatives improve the quality of life for many households.

We have seen the orphans and widows within the community cared for and loved.

We have seen the church rise up and refuse to stand for the injustices of poverty that plague Ethiopia.

Through God’s mighty direction, we are praying for continued growth and development in the churches and communities we serve in Ethiopia. We ask that you would join us as we continue to pray for the LIA staff, church partners, volunteers, and the people in the communities in Jimma, Addis Ababa, Merkato, Nazaret, and Debre Birhan Ethiopia.

God is moving in Ethiopia and we are so grateful to share just a glimpse of His work with you!

Our staff live and work in some of the world’s most challenging places. Persistent poverty, hopelessness, and tragedy are the norm. We could fill this space with volumes of first-hand stories from the communities where we serve that would simply tear you up inside. It is in this context we choose to serve, but it is also this very context where the enormity of the task at hand can quickly become overwhelming.

At church last weekend, I was reminded of the power of remembrance.  If we look back at the nation of Israel, we see that God regularly calls them to remember all that was done in the past as an indicator for his faithfulness for that which has not yet been realized. I’m just speculating, but I assume that there are many reasons God regularly told Israel to remember:

-    Lest they think that they were worthy of the glory and honor for achievements
-    Lest they believe that they were ultimately in control of their future
-    Lest they be deceived into worshiping other gods
-    Lest they neglect to rely on their creator for all that is life giving and ‘good’
-    Lest they forget God’s overall favor for them, as evidenced by the release from oppression and captivity
-    Lest they become overwhelmed by the challenges of the future, forgetting that God has done much in their past to bring them through hardship and toil.

In taking time to remember, it is almost as if we are equipped to realize that what is ahead is not so overwhelming. Every Monday, our staff across the world takes the morning to pray for the work that we are involved in, the communities we serve in and the lives that are being transformed. During this time last Monday, I took a moment to remember all that God allowed us to participate in as an organization in 2009.

I wanted to share some of the highlights with you in celebration of what has been done, and as an encouragement for what is ahead:

-    Ministry begins full-scale in Khartoum, Sudan.

-    We completed our first-ever documentary about the Merkato community and its communal tragedy of street children.

-    LIA Ethiopia commences work on our largest water and sanitation initiative in the Kirkos community – a program that will serve 16,000 with clean water.
-    Resources are provided to commence ministry in a secret east African community.

-    Ministry commences in Thika, Kenya that equips local churches for micro-enterprise and early childhood education.

-    Our largest volume of short-term teams serve to empower communities in Africa. (Check out a video compiled by trip goer Allyson Cheney from her team’s time in Ethiopia)

-    Three benefit dinners take place in cities throughout the United States.

These are but a sample of what happened last year, and we will likely never truly know the impact of what took place during 2009 (you’ll have to read our annual report in for more details!).

Looking ahead to 2010, I’m encouraged by the words of Mother Teresa, who said that “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” May we remain humble, faithful, diligent and in a posture of gratefulness for what has already be done as we wait in anxious anticipation of what is ahead.

By definition the word community means a unified body of individuals.  One of the main focuses for LIA in 2010 will be strategically linking passionate and committed localized communities, in the form of small groups, businesses, schools, churches, etc., with our community initiative throughout Africa.  Our goal is long-term partnerships that share prayer and resources while focusing on building each other up in unity as the body of Christ.  We believe that each community will be empowered by this collective unity.

Two communities began a pilot project of this initiative just a couple months ago.  In October of 2009, Cedar Ridge Christian Church in Olathe, Kansas began a partnership with the Merkato community in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  A team from the church traveled to Merkato to learn about the community and met the street kids and families that comprise a targeted kebele (small area) of Merkato.  Over the course of time spent there, a deep bond was formed between the Cedar Ridge community and the church workers, children, and street boys in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  True community developed through this time as lives were shared and needs from both communities were recognized.

One of the team members, Allyson Cheney (check out her blog), captured some of the moments of this unified time together, and compiled a 25-minute video together.
Check it out!