Meet the Hopechest Ethiopia team!!

Now that we are just a few days away from having the profile information on each of the children at "Kind Hearts", I want to introduce you to the Hopechest Ethiopia staff - some very special people with huge, loving hearts for the kids they work with in Ethiopia.

This is the group that travelled with us, translated for us, stayed up til the wee hours of the morning with us, worked hard with us, cried, laughed and prayed with us -and then saw us off at the airport with tears and hugs, looking forward to the day we see each other again in Ethiopia.

From left to right: Fikre, Adey, Zelalem, Eyerusalem, Peter.

Peter is the Ethiopia Program Director for Hopechest. Peter was a sponsor child with World Vision when he was young and he has grown into an educated, compassionate, intelligent, Godly man, dedicating his life to helping the orphaned and impoverished children in his country. He is soft-spoken and thoughtful and when he speaks, it is with wisdom and careful thought and you cannot help but listen attentively and be moved to action. How many children will he come into contact with that will now have the opportunity to grow up and become a leader like him?

Fikre and Eyerusalem are disciplers for Hopechest. This is the young man and woman that work with the kids at Kind Heart every week - loving them, encouraging them, setting an example for them, telling them Bible stories and demonstrating God's love for them.

Adey is the intelligent young woman who interviews each child in order to write their biography for the sponsor packets and profiles. She is also the translator for your letters and communications to the children.

Zelalem is the accountant and is responsible for making sure every sponsor dollar is accounted for and spent wisely and responsibly for the care of the children. He is also a solid man of integrity, who was an outstanding translator, and an amazing advocate for the children.

I count each of these men and women as close friends - as we spent an amazing, grueling, heart-wrenching and joyful 10 days together in Ethiopia - working hard, shoulder to shoulder, to develop sponsor programs for about a dozen different care-points.

Our specific care-point, "Kind Hearts", will be getting the sponsor packets at the end of this week - and I will be in touch immediately with each of the committed sponsors to match you with your child. Right now - we have 40 committed sponsors for the 56 kids at Kind Hearts (16 kids still needing a sponsor - please contact me at kjwistrom@yahoo.com if you are interested in sponsorship, $34/month ensures a child has food, clothing, medical care, education and Christian discipleship - and a hope-filled future). Kind Hearts has capacity for about 110 children, and I am sure that once the kids begin getting nutritious meals every day, we will begin to see an immediate increase in the number of children being served at Kind Hearts.