{"id":387,"date":"2007-12-04T08:39:31","date_gmt":"2007-12-04T08:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2007\/12\/day-1-merry-chr.html"},"modified":"2007-12-04T08:39:31","modified_gmt":"2007-12-04T08:39:31","slug":"day-1-merry-chr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2007\/12\/day-1-merry-chr.html","title":{"rendered":"Day 1. Merry Christmas Ethiopia!"},"content":{"rendered":"
The twelve days of Christmas is here. Our first stop is Ethiopia, one of the oldest countries on the planet. It is unique in that it has never been colonized by outside powers (except a short attempt by the Italians). Ethiopians trace their heritage back to Menelik–the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel (according to legend). Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. (Shameless plug, go to www.saintscoffee.com<\/a> today!) Unforuntately,  it’s also the birthplace of some 4 million orphaned chidlren. Over half a million children lost their parents due to HIV\/AIDS.<\/div>\n
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One of our partners, America World Adoption Association, is actively working in Ethiopia on behalf of orphaned children there. HopeChest’s COO, Matt Monberg, is adopting a child from Ethiopia through AWAA right now. There are two homes they work with that we are supporting. One is a ministry called KIDS CARE. KIDS CARE runs two orphanages for children with no relative to raise them. <\/div>\n
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Our support will help provide a Christmas party for the kids living at KIDS CARE. The director, Aster, wrote to us: "We\u2019re so grateful for support from Children\u2019s HopeChest \u2013 the money provided for us will enable us to have a big Christmas celebration for all the children in our home."<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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We’ve also sent support to another set of homes in Ethiopia run by a woman named Hannah. Her modest program cares for many children without parents. She does not place chidlren for adoption.<\/div>\n
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5 for 50 is proud to bring Christmas to the children in these great places. To support the 12 days of Christmas outreach, you can give here.<\/a> For a wonderful book on Ethiopia, check out There is No Me Without You<\/em>, by Melissa Faye Greene. (Photos Courtesy of AWAA). <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The twelve days of Christmas is here. Our first stop is Ethiopia, one of the oldest countries on the planet. It is unique in that it has never been colonized by outside powers (except a short attempt by the Italians). Ethiopians trace their heritage back to Menelik–the son of the Queen of Sheba and King…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-swaziland"],"yoast_head":"\nDay 1. 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