FEBRUARY 2006

Ethiopia
From February 12-19, 2006 Feed the Hungry had the privilege of conducting a massive food distribution in Ethiopia, thanks to our generous partners and friends around the globe!

A council of local Ethiopian pastors and leaders chose the location for this feeding project to be carried out in the city of Awasa, and its surrounding region. This area was chosen based on need and practicality. Awasa is roughly 3 hours south of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and has over 200,000 people living within a 50km radius.

Although Awasa is a thriving city, with open-air markets, some restaurants, banks, internet café, churches, a university campus, and government and relief offices, you would only need to walk to the other side of the main highway to find villages where people live in straw huts, without electricity, running water, sanitation, or any of the conveniences we so easily take for granted. It's here that our 350,000kg of food will be distributed to 10,000 of the most needy families.

Each Family Food Pak contains the staples of the Ethiopian diet - 20kg corn, 10kg wheat, and 5kg beans. Each pak will feed an entire family of 6-8 for approximately 2 months!

LeSEA Broadcasting had New Testament bibles translated into the Amharic language so that each Family Pak also included a bible for each family. And our FTH International Office in the Czech Republic had Derek Prince's book, "The Divine Exchange" translated and printed so that each family would understand the gospel message!

Ethiopia has had over 5 serious droughts in the past decade, never allowing a complete recovery and leaving its people to cope with famine conditions. Currently they are experiencing a 'green drought', which means there is slight rainfall (we experienced showers while we were there that lasted only a few minutes) but it isn't enough to provide a harvest of crops or drinking water.

In addition to feeding the body, FTH also carried out the mandate to feed soul and spirit by partnering with Pastors Billy Joe and Sharon Daugherty and Victory Christian Center out of Tulsa, Oklahoma for a large, open-air crusade in Awasa that attracted crowds of over 50,000 each evening. Over 1200 pastors attended leadership meetings throughout the day that would equip and encourage them in their calling to ministry.

As part of our journey we were also able to visit the Joshua Youth Academy in the outskirts of Addis Ababa. This is one of the orphanages supported through FTH's "Every Child Every Day" campaign. It was such as pleasure to meet these beautiful, energetic children! The orphanage is constantly expanding to accommodate the need - there is a beautiful new school on the property, and 2 housing complexes - 1 finished and currently housing 50 children, and the other in the construction phase, which will allow expansion to 150 children. FTH currently provides the daily food requirements for this orphanage, as well as others in Uganda, Mozambique, Thailand, and Indonesia. We also ministered to a university campus group of 500 students, and in a service for street children while in the country.

The people of Ethiopia are warm and always ready to lend a helping hand. In spite of severe circumstances which leave them struggling with abject poverty they are able to smile and rejoice in the Lord! It was an honor to be able to become acquainted with this amazing country!

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