Kotukan’s Testimony of Hope

January 26, 2018
, , , Caring for Orphans, Combating Exploitation, Ethiopia, Family, Uncategorized

Kotukan* lives with her two small children in a rural village in Ethiopia. Like mothers everywhere, she’s a busy mom! In the morning, she gets Kena, her son, ready for kindergarten and her one-year-old, Teto, hoisted on her back for the day. Then they’re off.

 

 

After dropping Kena off at school, Kotukan prepares mixtures of spices that she sells to vendors at the market. It’s a growing business, and she talks often with her business advisors about the best ways to market her spices and budget for her business expenses and family needs. Not only is Kotukan learning valuable information, she’s excited to be caring for her family as a self-sufficient business owner!

 

 

Later, after the day’s work is done, Kotukan will pick Kena up from school and he’ll excitedly share what he’s learning. She’s already noticing how much more confident, social and eager to study he is. For so long, they had done nothing but make it from one day to the next. Now, Kotukan thanks God every day for the drastic turnaround in both of their lives.

 

 

At their small rented apartment, she makes the three of them a meal, thanking God once again for the food she is now able to provide through the success of her own small business. She is saving money and planning on building a small house of their own, planning carefully for this next big step in their lives.

 

HOW IS ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE?

 

Kotukan’s husband abandoned them after going bankrupt. With two small children, she had to figure out how she was going to provide for them. She’d been working several small jobs, braiding hair and washing clothes, but it was never enough. Her own health suffered, but she had no means to go to the doctor. Overwhelmed, Kotukan was nearly hopeless. She prayed, pleading with God to provide a miracle.

 

 

LSM’s began working with Kotukan and her family a year ago. Since then, Kena has been attending private school for the first time, Kotukan continues to grow her business through small business training, using the basic support she has received as a stepping stone to building a better, self-sufficient life. In just a year, Kotukan is rising above the challenges of her situation, praising God for the loving help she’s receiving!

 

Today, Kotukan says, “I am so grateful! Please pray that God will provide me a house of my own. Pray that my business would grow and that He would give me grace as I interact with people through the week. I am doing this because I have big hopes that my children will see my hard work and learn that God will provide when we turn to Him!”

 

By the grace of God and the generosity of people like you, Kotukan and her children are heading towards a better, brighter, hope-filled future.

 

 

GET INVOLVED:

 

*names changed for privacy

Because of you, Meseret’s family knows Jesus!

October 31, 2017
, , , , , , Combating Exploitation, Ethiopia, Family, LSM

You can help change a future generation in Ethiopia. We’re seeing it happen every day. In fact, Meseret*, a young single mother in Ethiopia, raising two beautiful children on her own, will tell you herself that your prayers for the ministry of LSM and your financial gifts have completely changed their lives:

 

“I feel empowered. I am now relying on God to lead my path and am 
making wiser decisions. I now have a support system to encourage 
and help me. My children are receiving a good education and, 
because of LSM, they have the support they need to complete it!” 
Meseret’s own single mother knew how important it was to get an education. Somehow, she managed to scrape enough together for Meseret to attend school, even though it meant 4 hours travel every day!

 

When she finished 8th grade, Meseret had to go to the city to attend high school, a rare opportunity for a young woman in her village. But when she got there, a series of poor decisions, difficultly finding resources and little support left her with two small children, an unfinished high school career and living in severe poverty, at the young age of twenty-nine.

 

 

With our staff and church support, her family has been introduced to a personal, saving relationship with Jesus. She went through small business training and is now growing her own business, selling spices in the market. And her children are looking ahead with great hope.

 

With every prayer, with every gift and with every introduction to Jesus, lives like Meseret’s and her children are changing forever.

 

You are a part of this. Your prayers and your giving does make a difference. 

12 Little Boys Are Welcomed Home!

October 17, 2017
, , , , , , Caring for Orphans, Family, Haiti, LSM, News

This summer, because of your heartfelt prayers and financial support, 12 little boys were rescued from a life of rejection, pain and exploitation as we opened the doors to their new home-the La Source Home of Hope!

 

For the first time, each one of these boys can look toward a future free of fear and full of possibilities, surrounded by the love of a mom and dad within a safe, nurturing family!

 

First picture as a family of 14!

 

Imagine the ripple effects these little boys will have on their community as they reach their God-given potential! 

 

 

Thank you for the powerful ways you are making life transformations with once vulnerable children. It is both humbling and exciting to see the Body of Christ working together far beyond what we could ever imagine, bringing lasting hope to children who need it most.

 

The family shared their first meal together at the opening celebration. Many of the boys have never seen this much food at one time!

 

Our LSM team shared their passion and joy at the opening of La Source.

FROM ORPHAN TO INSPIRING PREACHER – LSM’S 15 YEAR LEGACY

July 27, 2017
, , , , , Uncategorized

The last 15 years of ministry has been an incredible ride! God has done abundantly more than we could have ever asked or imagined. A small, local beginning helping families through the adoption process has blossomed into a continuum of care that empowers vulnerable children to reach their God-given potential in three countries!

 

Together we are changing lives, whole communities and even entire generations—one child at a time.

 

In 2006, LSM opened the first Home of Hope in a rural mountain village in Kpoux, Haiti. We had no idea what God would do over the next decade of ministry. We just knew there were some desperate children who needed a roof over their heads and a mom and dad who could show them the love of Jesus.

 

 

Jesse* was four or five years old (he doesn’t know his original birthday) when he became a part of the first Home of Hope family. And for the first time in his life, Jesse had a safe, stable place to call home. He barely knew his biological father, who had several “families” in different villages. Now, he was now surrounded by the love of a married, committed, Christian mom and dad.

 

 

Jesse says the day he came to LSM’s Home of Hope was “more than super perfect.” In that moment, he became a part of a family with 11 other boys who are now his closest friends and brothers. He went to school consistently for the first time. He had three meals a day and received the nutrition and medical care he desperately needed. He was mentored by successful Haitians who helped open his eyes to a world of endless opportunities that were once unimaginable. And more than anything, he found the role models in his parents that would ultimately help lead him to a personal relationship with Jesus.

 

 

A decade later, Jesse is leading worship and preaching at VBS 2017. We received this picture on the anniversary of LSM’s opening—a reminder that God’s plans are often far bigger than our own. Jesse is a part of that plan! And it was because of the willingness of people just like you coming alongside LSM that his story is possible!

 

From a place of utter brokenness, God raised a leader who cares deeply for vulnerable children. Jesse is working towards his dream of becoming a nurse so he can help stop meaningless death and save lives just like his was rescued.

 

Alongside the local church and community, we seek to empower vulnerable children to reach their full, God-given potential. We praise God for 15 years of ministry, for your generous support and, most of all, for the hundreds of children just like Jesse who make LSM what it is.

 

GET INVOLVED:

  • GIVE to the life-changing ministry.
  • LEARN MORE about the new building we’re moving to and the doors this is opening up for more volunteering and partnership opportunities.
  • JOIN OUR PRAYER TEAM.  

*name changed for privacy

His Hand is NOT Short

June 29, 2017
, , , , , , , Adoption, Caring for Orphans, Family, Haiti, LSM

Linese* was very young when her father died. Her mother was left to provide for her family alone. Work was incredibly hard to find in their poor community and there were many days when Linese and her siblings went without food. Linese never went to school and even lacked basic medical care for a knee problem that kept getting worse. As her mother took increasingly desperate measures to survive and escape her life’s unfortunate turns, it became clear that something was going to have to change.

 

Linese was just one step away from being sent to live with another family as a child slave (restavek.)

 

 

It seemed hopeless. Linese was just another of the millions of vulnerable children in Haiti, not because she’d done anything wrong, but because death, tragedy and deep poverty had been a part of her country and her family for too long. It’s a story we know all too well. At a conference recently, professor, author and speaker Christena Cleveland said it well,

 

“Sometimes we have a theology of scarcity around justice. But God has abundance to give us and His hand is not short.”

 

His had was certainly not short for Linese, although it was hard to see that in those terribly long arduous days as a child on the brink of disaster. But, through the dedicated work of LSM and the Body of Christ coming together, Linese’s story is not ending as a tragic statistic.

 

You see, our Homes of Hope are a lifeline for desperate children like Linese. And before she was old enough to really understand the ramifications, she was brought into a new family who would love and nurture her. It was something she never could have dreamed of before.

 

Now 14, Linese is thriving. She’s still very aware of the millions of young children in her city that that are sick and need the same life-giving care she’s gotten, even when they can’t afford it. She dreams of becoming a pediatrician so she can help kids just like her who have no way to receive the care they desperately need. And with the full continuum of care we provide through adulthood for our Home of Hope children, she really has the chance of doing just that!

 

Changes like this doesn’t happen without the dedicated, long-term work of those who believe in the justice and compassion that Jesus taught us. So keep fighting in your corner, whether it’s justice, advocacy, adoption, or a host of other hard, day-to-day roles caring for the vulnerable. We all have a part. Linese will tell you a thousand times over that your sacrifices for ONE child are worth it.

 

We’d love to help connect you to ways to live and care for the vulnerable. Here’s a few places to start:

 

  1. Become a Prayer Partner.
  2. Start an Orphan Care Ministry in Your Church.
  3. Become an Ongoing Family Sponsor and bring your whole family along in our exclusive online family room.

 

*name changed for privacy

 

Tears of Joy for a Life of Hope

June 8, 2017
, , , , , , Caring for Orphans, Combating Exploitation, Ethiopia, Family, Uncategorized

Timmy* is six years old and just started school last year. The first day, he was so excited. He got his little uniform on, lovingly took his new notebook and pencils out of his backpack, just to gaze at them for a moment, before tucking them securely back inside and hoisting the bag onto his back.

Every day in class, Timmy eagerly soaked up the lessons he was taught. And every day after school, his mom, Tabitha, was there to pick him up and listen to the new fidel (Ethiopian Amharic script) he had learned. Timmy wondered why his mom would sometimes cry while he recited his fidel to her.

Why is mom sad I’m learning so many wonderful new things?

But his mother’s tears were not of sadness. They were tears of great joy and thankfulness.

Tabitha birthed Timmy in one of the slums of Addis Ababa. Desperately hungry, they both almost starved to death in his first few precious weeks. Life had been so incredibly difficult for Timmy’s mother … until she came to LSM, where things drastically changed for the better.

Through people like you, committed to Timmy and his mom and a belief that their lives were worth more, united with the Body of Christ, working together in prayer, financial support and advocacy—the story you just read became reality.

Tabitha began working for Moriya Ethiopian Accessories, a business we helped a group of moms just like her start. Using the skills she learned as part of the Moriya team, she has since branched out on her own and started a successful sewing business. Today, Tabitha is providing for her son with a dignified, stable job.

Timmy now has the opportunity to choose his own career, always has enough to eat, knows the hope of a life filled with the love of Jesus, and dreams about his future because people like you believed he and his mother were worth it!

You can join us in making more stories like Tabitha’s and Timmy’s possible by:

*names changed for privacy

*originally posted December 5, 2015

God’s Hand in Sadie’s Life

November 16, 2016
, , , , , , , Caring for Orphans, Haiti, LSM
Do you remember a time when life felt completely overwhelming, like you could do absolutely nothing to change the whirlwind around you? Imagine that knot in your stomach, the feeling of panic inside as you tried desperately to reach for some sense of normal …

 

That’s exactly how Sadie* felt every day as a child. She was overwhelmed with grief when she lost her mom at a very young age. Her father, who had long ago abandoned their family, never returned. After her mother’s death, Sadie’s grandmother cared for her and her siblings. But it wasn’t long before she realized she didn’t have the resources to take care of that many children. Being the oldest and most likely to survive on her own, Sadie would have to go.
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Modeling Faith Takes Us All – And We Need You to Do Your Part!

August 12, 2016
, , , , , , Uncategorized

Every dad wants to pass on something to her girls. Something that her little girls will remember fondly and proudly say, “I got that from my dad!”

 

Moise longs for that too… and no less so for the 12 girls he calls her own, not by blood, but through their Home of Hope. And so he’s intentional about passing on special skills, like how to care for their rabbits, chickens and turkeys.

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A Little Girl’s Dream Can Come True Because of You!

August 9, 2016
, , , , Uncategorized

The small hut she called home was nothing much to speak of. She and twelve other siblings lived in what was generously called a hut – thatch walls and a leaky roof. There was no running water. It was remote – deep in the mountains of Southern Haiti. Betti remembers many days of hard work carrying heavy buckets of water the long distance from the river to the hut, cooking, cleaning. It never seemed to end.

 

She would dream about one day being able to go school… and maybe even becoming a teacher when she grew up. But with the poverty and lack of opportunity around her, seven year old Betti nearly gave up hope.

 

And then an epidemic broke out in her village.

 

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