As you know, a couple weeks ago we prayed for our sister church in Ethiopia. We were heartbroken when we heard that racially motivated violence and unrest has affected Leku Keta, the caregivers and the children.
We reached out to them to see how we could help. Here’s what they told us.
It is a very sad situation what happened in Leku Keta. It was just a racial attacked by organised gangs. Most of the church members are affected by this. Pastor Mulugeta has lost his brother because of this attack. 13 of our caregivers were in a government shelter. Now they are forced to leave the temporary shelter and go back to their houses. Most of them are afraid to go back and those who did told us they have lost most of their belongings. It will take some time to get back to their feet and restore their lives. Their immediate need is food. the church is asking for help and providing them food. If you can stand by this need of the church specially for the 13 displaced families, it would be a great relief for the families and the church. Most of all, please pray for the healing process of the children and the caregivers. the emotional damage is very worse.
So we began praying and sent money. A couple weeks later we heard back.
Greeting to Pulpit Rock Church. The church have received the funds you send them. They divided it for 13 of the caregivers and for a full day counseling session program. The full day counseling session has been a time of speaking their experiences, pouring their hearts and praying for their attackers. They poured out their hearts with forgiveness. Out of the 13 only 10 of them came back to their homes. The other three, after the government shut down the shelter, they didn’t come back to their home. Neither seen anywhere. From people in the church, just a few of them are returned to their homes. The biggest challenge now is the post trauma. Many of the parents and the children are in trauma and fear of what will happen next. Things seem relatively calm. Please pray for a healing of the people and for the peace of the Lord to fill their hearts. The funds you send are enough for now.
Here’s another update about the counseling. Pay special attention to the message at the end. Pulpit Rock Church, you are making a difference. You are loving well.
I am thankful for everything you did for the caregivers at Leku Keta. I was their two times after the attack. First I visited Pastor Mulugeta. He showed me some houses which are destroyed. No one & nothing was their. At that time 10 of the caregivers just came back from government shelter. We hope for the other 3 to come back after some time.
With the fund from Pulpit Rock Church for food & counseling, we (me & Martha ) went to the church for the counseling. When we arrived at the church the guard was packing to return back to his place, so all the caregivers were disturbed & discouraged & there was sadness, tear, fear …
After the guard left with Pastor Mulugeta’s prayer, Martha invited the caregivers to share their experience & feeling of the situation. They share to us that all of them were visited by the attackers 2 or 3 time before they run to the government shelter at midnight. We thank God for no one died. Some of theme found their children in the shelter after 3 or 4 days. When they came back from government shelter, they found nothing in their home except mattress and some clothes from the government. No money, no clothes, no beds, no cooking material. windows, doors & (as I mention last time) 4 weaving tools are broken. the kids have nightmares every nights & so on.
After they shared this to us we had lunch together. Then Martha gave spiritual & professional counseling.
At the end of the day almost all of them were changed & encouraged to start everything again. All of them were willing to forgive the attackers. Some of them believed that they need confession, in general it was good and they say the following to you. Let me write what they said word by word…
“At that time, we thought we are helpless & we have no one beside us so we felt desperate & forgotten but when we heard your prayer for us & received the money you sent, we were happy & encouraged to live again. Thank you & God bless you.”
Thank you for your faithful giving that allows us to love our neighbors around the world. Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters at Leku Keta. Pray for protection, provision, and that the church would be a source of healing and hope in the midst of trauma.