To all of faithful supporters of the upcoming Ethiopia Vision trip:

First of all, thank you all for choosing to support me and the rest of the Ethiopia team through prayer and your generous giving. I know that you all receive many requests like this and I appreciate your thoughtful/prayerful decision to choose this.

In 11 days, we will be boarding a plane and beginning our journey. In the time between now and then, we will be assembling nearly 800 first aid kits containing items such as bandages, gauze, antibiotic cream, alcohol wipes, toothbrush, toothpaste as well as a special encouraging message written in Amharic (the primary language in Ethiopia). These kits will be given to Yezelalem Minch to distribute as they see fit. For many of the people they serve, these kits could mean the difference between a simple scrape and a major infection. Many of the children they serve are already infected with HIV, which reduces the effectiveness of their immune system and makes opportunistic infections and diseases much more dangerous.

In addition to those, we will be filling our luggage with nearly $600 worth of new shoes donated by Scheels in Iowa City, children's clothing, school supplies and children's books donated by generous people throughout our church and community.

Yezelalem Minch also specifically identified a few needs which we were able to meet. We are bringing some Anti-virus software for their computers which will hopefully avoid another computer infection which affected their organization last year. Rechargeable batteries for the digital cameras they use to photograph the children in their sponsorship programs will improve their effectiveness. And for the 30+ girls in their program who are between the ages of 13 and 18, we have a very special gift that many girls/women in our country take for granted. Feminine products are a luxury that many orphaned girls do not have the privilege to use. This can not only be inconvenient and embarrassing, affecting their ability to participate in social activities and schooling, it can also be extremely dangerous as they improvise using things like rolled up newspaper or dirty fabric. It is difficult for Yezelalem Minch to keep up with the demands in this area, so we have collected some supplies and money to purchase more supplies in country. I want to specifically thank the women involved in the 24-7 College Ministry at the University of Iowa for stepping up and meeting this need!

I am also very excited about some water purification units we will be leaving with Yezelalem Minch. Water is essential to life, and to many throughout the world, safe/clean drinking water is illusive. The simple water purification units we are taking to Ethiopia require only a battery (which can use a solar panel to charge) and small amount of table salt (one of the most readily available materials in the world) to create a chlorinated solution that will kill dangerous water-born diseases and microorganisms. The staff at Yezelalem Minch will be trained on the simple methods of operating this equipment and will be asked to implement them where and how they think is best. This may be in the capital city of Addis Ababa to ensure water is safe, or in regions outside the city. These could even be used as outreach tools to minister to and show love to people in more rural areas where civic water treatment is completely absent.

We have been amazed at the faithfulness of God in bringing in "more than we asked or imagined." Through the prayer and financial support of our team, to the abundance of donations (more than we can probably fit in our luggage!), we see God working powerfully through this trip already.

But this trip is not just about relief aid or generous gifts to our brother/sisters and friends in Ethiopia. It is not about feeling good about ourselves because we have slightly eased the suffering of a few orphaned children. This is about establishing a long-term relationship/partnership with an organization who is seeking to impact the lives of children in long-term sustainable ways as well as reduce the number of children who become orphans through income generating activities for parents/mothers. It is about completing a puzzle of blessings. An organization living out God's love for the Fatherless and seeking to lead them towards the Kingdom of God. God has richly blessed us with certain blessings, and he has richly blessed these children in Ethiopia with different blessings. I believe that a healthy exchange would mean that our abundance of blessings (resources, education, finances, etc.) would overflow into the lives of these children who have their own abundance of blessings (enduring faith, a deep understanding of God's love and provision, patience, etc.) which in turn could over flow into our lives. And as a result, James 1:27 and Isaiah 58:10-11 will be lived out and will shine brightly in our lives and in our church and in our community.

I wanted to also show you a recent communication from Nesibu - the Director of Yezelalem Minch (see below). You can see how God is greatly blessing their efforts! But you can also see the great need for more people to be active in their faith and to seek the mutual blessing of sponsoring children. It is a mutual blessing, because the $30/month cost is more than replenished by God in numerous ways in your life. And sponsorship for these children means so much ranging from an education, medical care and clothing, to spiritual guidance and emotional/psychological care.

So, THANK YOU for joining us on this journey. Please continue to pray for us and for Yezelalem Minch. Please prayerfully consider sponsoring a child through Yezelelam Minch (follow these links 1 - 2 for more info ). And look for more from us, the Ethiopia Team, when we return from Ethiopia!

Blessings to you and your families!
Dan Grimes
Ethiopia Team Leader


A MESSAGE FROM NESIBU - DIRECTOR OF YEZELALEM MINCH

Dear Families and partners
We hope that you are familiar about the growth of Yezelalem Minch ministry. Currently, we have admitted 200 orphans at Holeta and Sebeta project and 50 in the capital at Lideta sub- city. Totally Yezelalem Minch ministry reached out 1000(One thousand) orphans through its ministry. Form those children 287 through HIM ( Helps international ministries )and 58 orphans through Bethany Christian service have got regular sponsor families , Glory to be God about HIM and BCS God used different dedicated families through these two Christian organizations , but the rest 655 orphans have no sponsor so far. Therefore, we have a great desire to organize mission trip from different churches , to increase the number of the sponsors and to setup network with the churches which have willing to serve the destitute orphans in partner with Yezelalem Minch .Please we wonder if you disseminate our strategy for the churches that have a willing to work on this area.

Thank you for your prayer and your valuable support in our endeavor to fill the gap.
On the other had God blessed us in amazing families who are working and prying day and night for Yezelalem Minch Ministry!!!!
Emanuel!!! God is with us!!!
Nesibu