Ethiopia Trip Update #4 - A cow gives birth!

I had a few goals on this recent trip to Ethiopia. One of them was to visit a few widows who had received livestock as part of an animal husbandry project. This precious widow, Bizunesh, was part of Phase I of this project. In June 2013, she along with 34 other widows received a cow and a sheep. In Dec. 2014, I raised money for Phase II. However, I wanted to interview a widow from Phase I, to see the long term impact.

When I entered her home she began to praise Jesus over and over, thanking him for the wonderful gift of livestock she had received. She proudly showed me the cow, it's calf, and sent her son, Samuel, off to bring in the sheep. I asked if she had any livestock prior to this project, her answer was no. She explained that this gift was life changing. She now had daily milk for her 2 children, had milk to sell which gave her an income, and finally, both her animals had given birth, you can see her proudly displaying the calf in the picture above. Her plans were to wait until the calf was full grown then take it to market to sell. It would bring between $150 & $200 USD. She showed me the holes in her roof and explained that she planned to use the money to do much needed repair on her home.

Bizunesh has 2 children. Her son, Samuel, is in our sponsorship program and attends the small private school in Shanto along with most of the children I help. Her daughter is 12 and attends the local public school in the village. Along with the livestock, Bizunesh has a very small farm. She grows corn, false banana, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. In Ethiopia, the climate allows them to plant 3 times a year. Most of the food she grow is for her family to eat but she does sell some of it at the local market.

It is so hard for me to imagine this way of life. It was humbing to sit in this precious widow's home, to see her joy and praise to God for His good gifts. I have grasped on a deep level that James 1:27 challenges us to care for widows in their distress in order to help us from being polluted by the world. I am daily striving for contentment in my own life, the world tells me that I should have more but caring for Bizunesh reminds me that I have way more than I need. I am challenged to live simple, give more, and to obey my call as a follower of Jesus to care for orphans and widows in their distress.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27