Ethiopia Post: Pure and Undefiled Religion

It has been a few days since I touched down at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Over the past 48 hours or so it has been become very clear to me that somehow I am going to be connected to this country for the rest of my life.  There are things in this country and the people that live in it, that are greater and more beautiful than anything else I have experienced in the world.  At the same time, there are things in this country that are darker and more sinister than anything I ever thought could happen in real life.

I have heard some of the difficult stories before, but they never lose their power.  I have heard of the countless fathers who have abandoned their families to a life on the street, because of their spineless desire to look out for number one.  I have heard of the tribes in the less developed country who kill babies they deem “cursed” because through an accident of nature their teeth didn’t grow the right way.  I have heard of countless preventable illness and conditions that are a death sentence here, while easily treatable in the United States.  I have even heard the absolutely enraging tale of a project director for a group for orphaned children, claiming the name of Christ while at the same time pocketing donation money, sexually abusing the children, and making them put on happy faces for donor visits under threat of physical abuse.

These are not easy things to hear about.   But not hearing about them would not make them any less true.

More real though than the stories I have heard, are the children I have seen.  Literally thousands of children wander the streets of Addis or the countryside, utterly alone.  I have met hundreds of these children also at various orphanages and care centers.  Obviously because of the communication barrier it is hard to really connect with every one of them, but on some level it’s fairly simple to communicate with a smile, or holding hands, or my favorite, a laugh.  The easiest way is to ask them what their name is in Amharic.   Once they tell me, I point to my head and tell them, “My name is, Malata”, which sends them into hysterical laughter every single time.  Malata means “bald” in Amharic. 

In the middle of all these visits and children I came across one of One Child Campaign’s projects in Shone, about a seven hour drive out of the city.  There in the middle of endless farmland, mud huts, and wandering children is a small compound with a church building made of sticks and mud, attached to a two room cement structure.  Next to this stands a shell of new construction, about a third of the way done with 5 rooms.   Right now it’s just cement walls and a roof, but the vision is an orphanage for abandoned children in the area.  It is not uncommon for infants to be found abandoned in the bush, and at the moment there is nowhere for these children to go anywhere close by.

There is a difference between this orphanage, and some of the others I have visited.  This orphanage is modeled on others started by the same church here in Addis Ababa.  They are purposely kept small to focus on the children as much as possible.  The idea is that the children will feel like they have a home at the orphanage, rather than like they interned there because no one else wants them at the moment.  The woman who runs these projects puts a heavy emphasis on making the children feel loved, like they really matter in the here and now, even though the point is to place them into loving and qualified homes as soon as possible.   She told me that in Shone, she will make an exception to her ordinary rule of 10 children at a time.  (5 boys, 5 girls)  She says she will not turn away any infants, but will take them in and try to get them a home somewhere else before they get older if she already has 10.  This is because, again in Shone there is literally nowhere else for abandoned infants, so to turn them away would be a death sentence.

Here’s where things get interesting.  As I am standing in this construction site listening to the vision for the orphanage, a number pops into my head.  10,000 to be precise.  I get the idea somehow that I am going to give this women $10,000 to help with this project.  Earlier she had told us that in order to complete the building they will need about $21,000, the number I had in mind would get them about half way.  So I start to calculate in my head how long it would take me to be able to give $10,000 out of my own pocket.  4 months?  Maybe if I change some of my personal budget around maybe 3?

As I am doing this quick math another thought pops into my head.  There is nothing in me that believes this thought could have come from me, because it goes against all my sensibilities and desires, firmly removing me from my comfort zone.  The thought is essentially that even though I am going to get $10,000 dollars together for this project, I am only personally responsible for $5,000.  The other $5,000 I will have to raise in a different way somehow.

This may not seem like a big deal to you.  And thinking about it more, it probably isn’t.  But this is the kind of thing that scares me a little.  In fact, I fought with myself about telling anyone about this.  What if I fail in the second part?  I mean I can get $10,000 together myself, no one would have to know about the challenge to raise the money outside of myself.  But in the end I really believe that if I am trustworthy with this little amount, God will be trustworthy with his end.  Maybe I can even learn something in the process.  I really have no idea how to raise this money, so this blog post is a first attempt.  By putting this out there it’s like I just leaned back passed the point of no return for that “trust fall” ice-breaker thing.

If you are one of my atheist readers judging from what I have seen on Twitter, I know you guys have big hearts for the poor of Africa, and for children who have been inexplicably dealt impossible hands in life.  Believe me when I tell you the vision for this orphanage in Shone, Ethiopia is amazing and is desperately needed in the area.   Please consider donating to the Shone project.  You can contribute at www.onechildcampaign.com.  All of the money goes to the project if you designate it “For Shone Building Project” in the notes.

For my Christian brothers and sisters I will tell you that when atheists argue that religion can sometimes be very corrupt they are quite correct.  I think of slick speaking, sharp dressing, mega church pastors or the extreme opulence of the Vatican.   But I think that those same atheists would agree with James 1:27.  James, the brother of Jesus teaches in this verse what God considers to be pure and undefiled religion:  “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction”.  I cannot think of a better goal to prayerfully consider helping accomplish.  This is what religion is supposed to be: helping those who are helpless, standing with those who are afflicted.  Some think that the fact that these suffer proves that there is no God.  I don’t agree with that view at all.  Even so I think we can all agree that the cause for the orphans in Ethiopia is a good one.  It is one worth supporting.  It is one that all human beings should know about, that we might help if we can.

Please consider giving any amount to help build this orphanage for the children of Shone.  www.onechildcampaign.com  Designate the donation “For Shone Building Project” and they will get the money to Ethiopia immediately.