When Mars Hill Church launched a partnership with Compassion International in January, the hope was to see 500 children sponsored in Ethiopia by the end of the James sermon series. To date, the people of Mars Hill Church and Mars Hill Global have officially sponsored 1,029 Ethiopian children—with eight weeks to go. The possibility of tripling or quadrupling the original goal is well within reach.
Mars Hill has been partnering with church planters in Ethiopia for nearly two years, helping to spread the word about Jesus to many people who have never had the chance to hear about him. The opportunity to care for Ethiopia’s impoverished children allows us to not only tell them about Jesus, but also to show them Jesus through actions.
There are 195 local churches in Ethiopia where the Mars Hill family is sponsoring at least one child. One of these churches, located in Bahir Dar, has seen 100 of its children sponsored by Mars Hill, forty of them by the people of Mars Hill Sammamish!
Last week, Pastor Sutton Turner was in Ethiopia with several pastors and leaders. His team met pastors at some of these 195 churches to encourage them and pray for their work. These leaders from Mars Hill are in the process of learning to lead short-term missions and hope to take the first of these missions into Ethiopia next year. At that time, the hope is that people who are sponsoring children will be able to join the mission and actually meet their sponsored child.
Sponsorship is a long-term commitment that provides food, shelter, education, and healthcare to impoverished children for $38 a month. Compassion ensures that these children learn about Jesus and the truth of who he is while equipping them to escape the cycle of poverty.
If you haven’t yet sponsored a child, you have eight weeks left to get in on this campaign. As a sponsor, you will receive periodic updates about your child from Compassion as well as letters directly from your child. You will also have the opportunity to write to your child, directly reflecting God’s love and greatly encouraging your sponsored child, and their family, in a unique way.
Help us change the lives of even more Ethiopian children, their families, their legacy, and their nation.
