Feven, Fekadu, Birhane, Megdi, and Emmanuel
Years In The Making
If you are familiar with Christian based orphan work in Ethiopia, here is a high probability that you will know of Fekadu Shenkute. (Fekadu is pictured here with is wife and three children.) Fekadu is no stranger to the extensive needs of children found on the impoverished streets of Addis Ababa. He has been rescuing them for well over a decade. He was called by God to help the orphan and widow, as instructed in the book of James. The non-profit he worked for relentlessly for years did a good job of caring for the orphan, Fekadu being the director of the organization. He wept for children found starving and alone. Most children were orphaned by disease or suffered from extreme abuse and found the streets a safer place than their homes. Fekadu would take them in, provide food, prayer, clean clothes, and opportunity for these children. Fekadu knew he was doing God’s good work, but felt called to more.
Something amazing happens when God calls a person to care for the orphans…
Fekadu and Beki (another leader at M10:10) are surrounded by former street children
Have you noticed that the scripture includes widows? You see, Fekadu clearly was able to see that when a father was no longer present in the home, a mother could not provide well enough for herself and her children. In Ethiopia, most mothers are illiterate, of no fault of their own. Many got pregnant young and relied on a father figure to provide for the family. When the father is deceased, the mother has no ability to make a living. Without caring for the widow, the child becomes a street child, begging for their meals. The child is unable to attend school and begins searching for means to feed themselves instead.
Street girls stop selling gum long enough to come to church for an outreach which includes lunch
In caring for street children, Fekadu saw families that had no truth of Christ in their homes. The husbands would leave the wives, running off to start another family in another village, with no regard to the wife or children that were left behind. The villages are far removed, unlike moving towns in the US where technology can bridge the gap of physical distance. Corruption of morality within the homes caused children to have to provide for themselves, same and a woman being widowed. Immorality caused children to be on the streets.
Lack of medical care not only caused parents to die leaving children once again on the street, but also killed children trying to survive on the street. The consequences of expensive and inaccessible health care fueled the street kid crisis.
With an estimated 1 million street children in the capital city alone, how could Fekadu help street children without feeling burdened for something more?
Mission 10:10 is THAT something more. This is more than providing for children once found on the street, this is reforming the COMMUNITY these children reside in for Christ, thus preventing more children from ending up on the street next. This is truly fulfilling the gospel with the love of Christ…. partnering with the Christian church to strengthen families, strengthen marriages, equip the unequipped, train the untrained, bring street children into qualified homes, and keep families working. This is helping the church, the widow, the lost, the hungry, the unhealthy, and the hurting. This is community development aimed to HELP the orphaned child and PREVENT the next orphan child.
Won’t you partner with Christ, Fekadu, and our team? Will you be a part of this revolutionary project and change the communities within Ethiopia for Christ…. making the goal not just to exist but to “have life and have it abundantly” John 10:10. We need your prayers and financial support! Check back often to see God working through Mission 10:10 and people like you!
