Bethlehem Connect July/August 2018 | Page 9

outreach The Little Organization that Grew Holistic Ministry of Children of the Horn of Africa (HMCHA) Bethlehem Lutheran Twin Cities has not only started churches in Minneapolis, but Megersa Kumbi, a Bethlehem member, has started a ministry that is flourishing in Ethiopia. HMCHA is 11 years old, and growing. Every year since 2011, members and friends have visited this beautiful country to work on important projects, like building a bridge, teaching children, setting up a library, and more. We come home blessed by new relationships with our kind and loving hosts and our sponsored children. Bethlehem members sponsor children whose lives are improved, who can attend school and go on field trips, learn about health, nutrition, self-defense and more. Two camps are planned for July and August to help prepare middle-schoolers and grade 9 students to be successful in high school. They will stay overnight at the new community center for 5 days of study, devotions and fun, learning chemistry, physics, math and English. Our newest projects involved a team of public health doctor and nurses who formed focus groups in three villages to determine the health issues that most concern the villagers. Two days were spent treating and educating villagers about the health concerns (e.g., acute febrile illnesses, intestinal parasites and respiratory infections). Follow up plans will come next and, hopefully, expansion as funds permit. The other project was redoing the deck of the bridge with metal (pictured here), which was finished at the end of May. A team of three Minnesotans worked hard to finish before the rainy season began in earnest. Many of you have asked when you can join us on a service trip to Ethiopia. October is a beautiful time to go, so watch for informational meeting dates soon! Tentative dates are around October 16-30. Get ready to teach English, do some health teaching and start on the building of a playground next to the community center. What fun! The Community Center Habitat Summer Build Dates: July 16-20 & August 20-24 Last month we shared that we are doing an experiment this summer. We are building upon our congregat ion's rich history with Habitat for Humanity. For the first time, we are going to be doing two weeks, on site, building a home in partnership with Twin Cities Habitat. The dates are July 16-20 and August 20-24. There are still opportunities for you to sign up online to spend a day or a couple of days building relationships with other Bethlehem members and building a new home for a family that needs a safe place to call home. But there's more. This home will make an incredible difference for this one family. There are also other families, across the city and across the country, that need access to safe, affordable housing. Bethlehem has deep connections with a number of organizations here in the Twin Cities that are working to address some of the challenges confronting families seeking to secure a place to live. Partner organizations like Beacon, Habitat, ZOOM House, Our Savior's Housing - to name a few - are on the ground each day working towards long lasting solutions to this challenge. As the congregation works to help one family through this year's build, we want to provide opportunities for you to learn and lend your voice and energy to this work. We are building an online learning portal where you can discover more about challenges related to housing. You can see some of the ways our partners are trying to address the issue and find out the impact of upcoming legislation. There will be podcasts, videos, articles and blog posts that seek to provide some additional context, and next steps inviting you into participation. This will go live on our website on July 9. We look forward to engaging you all. 9