Hope for Korah

PRAYER WARRIORS NEEDED!! Perhaps you remember earlier posts and prayer requests for little Abraham. Again, he is in need of urgent prayer!! Abraham just been diagnosed with TB and is very lethargic, coughing and sleeping a lot. TB is no t a good situation for anyone but it is even more serious in Abraham's case because of his existing medical condition. He has Down Syndrome with multiple health issues including heart complications – please see link below for earlier post. Please pray! WE NEED A MIRACLE for this little boy! Please pray for complete healing and for strength and hope for Yangoosey, his mother who loves her son deeply. It has been such a difficult struggle for her to watch him be sick so often… THANK YOU for PRAYING!!!! To read earlier Post: Precious Little Abraham - Prayer Warriors Needed!!

Supporting Income Generation is one way we ‘Stand With Korah’ – giving destitute men and women the opportunities to leave their life of begging and/or surviving off the garbage dump and instead learning new skills so that they may become self-reliant, providing for their own families. Income generation offers hope and a future. 

  I’d like you to meet Alayu. This small excerpt will give you a glimpse of what it is like to live in Korah and why we are so committed to serving those who live there. Recently I had a very sobering visit with Himanot, a widow and mother of three, who has spent the last 13 years trying to provide for her children by scavenging off the city garbage dump in Korah. She is now, also caring for her 12 year old nephew Alayu who is HIV positive and whose mother recently died, leaving him an orphan. Because of his life

     Two thousand thirteen has been a good year in Korah… and a hard year in Korah.  We have witnessed the harsh realities of extreme poverty. The deep pain and bondage it brings to families - hunger, sickness, separation, uncertainty and fear.  We have also experienced the huge difference that HOPE brings - health, security, self-worth, confidence, anticipation for the future and joy.  Together with the help of many Hope for Korah has had the opportunity to come alongside those who are living in these realities: the widows, orphans, families and lepers of Korah. We do so by partnering with Ethiopian nationals ‘Kore Great Hope Charities’ because we believe they know their community best.  Together we are empowering the poor by developing programs such as the Family Sponsorship Program - a holistic approach to breaking the cycle of poverty for the entire family, Income Generation Program - building skills that lead to self-reliance, Berta Breakfast Feeding Program - Crisi

Below is a prayer that   I believe  was placed on my heart in 2010 and  it has likely watered “seeds” that I have never seen. However, one seed that I have had the privilege of watching grow, unexpectedly led to the formation of Hope for Korah . When I returned home from my first visit to Korah, I could not let go of the devastating poverty I had witnessed, my heart was heavy and I asked God, “Why did I end up there? What should I DO?” At that time, I only heard one answer… “Pray and ask others to rise up and commit to praying this with you. I will give all of you direction, as you come together and pray. ” ( Journal entry May 13, 2010 ) This action item remained alone, at the top of my list for almost one year and until God brought me back to Korah. Since then many prayers and items have been added to my Korah ‘TO DO’ list, but most recently I have felt compelled to go back to this prayer as I believe it is the root and heart of all that God wants to do in Korah. I think

A few days ago I arrived in Addis. It was so great to be welcomed back by so many beautiful smiles, dear families and friends - and an Ethiopian coffee ceremony!  We have a small HFK team this trip - Jake and myself (Eve) - and as always, we are working alongside Kore Great Hope Charities (KGHC) who does all the work on the ground in Korah.  I do have a special prayer request  during this trip- Please pray that God would provide a new & suitable Income Generation compound for this program - we love our current one, but the owner is moving back into it, in a few weeks. Finding suitable compounds can be challenging - but I am sure God has one in mind... we just have to find it! Thank you for all your prayers! I have already posted photos of our new day care, families and children on our Facebook page.  Please check it out for further updates during this trip.   https://www.facebook.com/hopeforkorah

A number of weeks before our HFK mission’s trip to Ethiopia, four of us; two nurses and two social workers put our heads together to come up with ways in which to bless the beautiful women of the Korah community.  These women are incredibly hard working, strong and beautiful.  Our focus would be on how we could bless and equip them on this one special day. 

One of the highlights and “fun moments” during the Young Adults Mission’s Trip to Korah a few months ago, was a highly anticipated soccer game.  The week leading up to “Game Day” was full of intensity as, the Ethiopian Leaders and Young Adult team worked tirelessly together with the HFK families and children, making home visits, presenting the Women’s Health Issues Educational Day, organizing the Brother Sister Friend Program, purchasing at the Mercado for the Income Generation program and more.  All week the good-natured predictions of victory, the teasing and rivalry grew, building up to what was sure to be an unforgettable soccer match between ETHIOPIA AND CANADA. Fortunately for TEAM CANADA, they inherited an excellent young Ethiopian soccer star named Nagoose and his fellow countryman Habtamu.  To offset this advantage, another young soccer talent named Ben, from the U.S. was added to TEAM ETHIOPIA.   So, with the rosters set for both teams, TEAM ETHIOPIA arrived wearing th

BERHANU & EMILY ARE COMING TO ABBOTSFORD! Berhanu Tenker grew up in extreme poverty, surviving at the garbage dump in Korah and he is now the Family Sponsorship & Health Coordinator overseeing the Hope for Korah programs in Ethiopia. His wife Emily has been serving in Korah as a nurse for two years. 

  Byush and her family live in a small one room hut. Their life is hard and they are in need of a new sponsor so they can remain in the family sponsorship program.  A few years ago, her husband broke his back in a construction accident and witnessed a haunting tragedy in their own home.  As a result he has suffered much physical and emotional pain, leaving him very limited in his ability to work.  The whole family has

Imagine playing with four hundred kids in one small playground. We only had twelve leaders; that’s about thirty-five  kids each! I didn't  have to imagine - this was reality in Korah... April 19, 2013. This was the day I met Yabselah. Everyone on our team had been on a mission’s trip before, so we were all familiar with having lots of kids holding on to us at one time. You may know what I mean if you have been on a trip like this before, but every once in a while there will be that one child that really sticks out. Yabselah was that child in Korah. There were a few things I noticed about her right away. She had an unforgettable smile that is hard to describe, almost a combination of innocence and humility. She was also especially skinny. Most kids will cling on to you and then run off to someone else for  attention if you are pre-occupied or too busy. Yet, this one  remained faithful. She would hang

  What do you get when you send a team of passionate young adults with a heart for God,  the poor and the needy to Korah?     CLICK HERE to check out our NEW VIDEO to find out! It was a blessing to have this team serve "ALL IN" Korah...      

  Recently we celebrated Mother's Day at the Hope for Korah compound with a luncheon that included special cakes from Kaldi's Coffee House - a real treat!!  The children presented their mothers with roses and the leaders shared our letter below from Canada; as an encouragement and expression of our gratitude and love for these beautiful mothers in Korah...      To My Dear Friends and Mothers in Korah, Today I want to wish you a “Happy Mother’s Day”.      In North America, this is a special day we celebrate every year in the month of May.   It is a day to honour the special mothers in our lives!   For me, when I think of the strongest and most courageous mothers I know…. I think of YOU!   You have sacrificed and given so much of yourselves in order to love and

It has been a wild and crazy week as 10 young adults from New Life Church in Abbotsford, B.C. have been busy packing 22 suitcases and hockey bags full of supplies, including 6 sewing machines for our Income Generation Program,   24 bags of apple chips from the Fraser Valley Gleaners, 100 women’s health kits, and 100s of Brother Sister Friend letters & goodie bags, and so much more - all headed for Korah in just a few days!        We have numerous plans as to how this Hope for Korah (HFK) team will serve in Korah and we appreciate your prayers over these next two weeks.   

The van bumped along the rocky road as we arrived in Korah. I braced myself for the sights, the sounds, the smells; the absolute poverty.  It had been nine months since I had been here, but Korah isn’t a place you easily forget.  The first moments were a blur of warm and precious welcomes. So many hugs and kisses.  I stopped for a moment to redistribute the weight of my bags. And there it was! In the middle of Korah, above a rusty torn metal fence – a rose bloomed – a single, vivid red rose.   What a contrast it seemed, a beautiful delicate flower blooming in the midst of such destitution and yet, that soon became the reoccurring theme of my visit. Amidst all of the hardships I kept finding little bits of hope and new beginnings.   Twenty-five of the most impoverished families are being sponsored. They have rent, food and their children can go to school.   The Berta program is feeding children a nutritious breakfast five days a week. One precious boy that stole my

Having raised three sons, I can attest to a commonly known fact - boys love new shoes!   There are few items my boys wear with more pride than their shoes.    Growing up in the West, boys shoes are more often a symbol of status than of necessity.   Our closets overflow with pairs to choose from.    Not so if one lives in Korah… Here, some people go without shoes and most others are taped, pinned, full of holes and worn thin.   Korah shoes are a symbol of poverty.         When someone gets a new pair of shoes in Korah – it is a big deal!   Recently we had the opportunity to bring shoes to Korah and on one particular day our van had a crowd of boys surrounding it, just waiting and hoping we would have a pair for them.         Two of the boys, Warkesaw and Habtamu stood there, with

Today is World Leprosy Day – Let us stop and remember to pray for those who suffer the horrendous effects of leprosy.   We know so little of this disease in our part of the world, but in Korah it is a daily reality for many, not just those who suffer personally, but also for their children and families who are ostracized and rejected because of this disease.     Just this week, before leaving Ethiopia, I enjoyed   a precious coffee celebration with the ‘Elders’ (elderly lepers)   in Korah and am humbled by their love and prayers for both me and my family.   I am truly blessed and so thankful to be a part of their lives.   God is good! When spending time with the Elders it is so very apparent that they are all so thankful for everyone who has supported the Hope for Korah Elders’ Home this past year.    They love their new home and the security and hope it brings them. They now have clean beds, three