Bete Hosanna

The Bete Hosanna story:

We thought we were taking the girls to their new homes, girls who had recently aged out of the government home for girls in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The America World/One Orphan team before us had left rent money to ensure that these eleven, 18 year old girls would not be left out on the street when the orphanage released them into the world that day.

We were excited to buy them mattresses, blankets and necessities for setting up their first homes. As we approached their new homes, we quickly realized that this was not what they or we had expected. The word home seemed deceptive, really. No electricity, dirt floors, unsafe neighborhoods, rooms no bigger than a closet with barely enough room for a mattress, rooms without a window.

The girls were spread out all over the city, not close to one another. Their support was gone. As we delivered them one by one to their new homes, it wasn't the homes that tore our hearts out. It was the look on each of their faces. We looked into their eyes, and despite the smile that they tried to put on, what we saw...was FEAR.

God started something in our hearts that day. We could never unsee that day. We knew that God wanted us to start something BIG, and as the week went on His plan begin to unfold. In the week that God sent our team of 19 across the world, Bete Hosanna (Hosanna House) was birthed, in the dusk of a dirt road in the heart of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the most amazing group of 11 orphaned girls.

Bete Hosanna - A house where ten teen girls can be found laughing, learning, loved, and safe. A house where these girls feel safety and peace, and where they can learn more about the God who placed them here. A place where each girl is taught a trade that she can use to advance her future and sustain herself. A home where she is not alone because she has ten sisters and a house mother looking out for her. Hunger is never an issue as she has food to eat and she is learning how to cook. She is taught to do a coffee ceremony each day, so that when she has her own home, she will be comfortable entertaining guests. A house where she is learning to manage her finances so that she will be wise with money. Love abounds here and her heart is filled up with joy because she knows she is significant, she is seen, and she has HOPE.

In Ethiopia, orphaned children that reach the age of 18 are, by law, sent out from their orphanage. With no outside contacts or help, young women find it especially challenging to survive in a poverty-stricken country.

A life can be changed because of you. A precious young woman can have a home, food, education, medical and mental healthcare, a Bible and a Bible teacher who comes weekly, as well as the opportunity to develop lifelong relationships with their sisters and house-moms. YOU have an opportunity to step into their stories and change their lives! We hope you will partner with us in loving them and giving them the skills that they need to not only survive, but thrive.