Reaching out to Ethiopia’s orphans

On any given night thousands of children can be found sleeping rough on the streets of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Some are orphans. Others have come to the city from the rural areas seeking work.

Mikiyas, who knows God’s love through listening to the audio Bible.

Mikiyas used to be one of those children. He spent three years living on the streets. “I used to live in constant terror,” he says. “A lot of terrible things happened on the streets. I never had any hope. I lived my life in constant darkness,” says Mikiyas.

But now Mikiyas has found not only refuge in an orphanage, but also hope through the audio Bibles which the orphanage uses to minister to the children and young people in its care.

“These children don’t have anyone in their lives. It’s vital that they know that God loves them,” says Hanna, who helps to run the orphanage. “We’ve found that one of the best ways for them to understand this is through listening to audio Bibles,” she says.

“After I came to the orphanage I came to understand that God would never forget about me because He made me and He loves me,” says Mikiyas.

This article is from The Word at Work – Autumn 2012