Making Connections in Ethiopia

In May of 2021 I had recently sold an investment property and was praying about where to give some of the proceeds. That evening my wife, Abby, and I were looking for a show to watch. I generally enjoy documentaries so I was perusing the documentary section online and one called OMO Child stood out to me.

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We decided to give it a shot and spent the next hour enraged and enraptured. The film shows the courageous work of an Ethiopian man, Lale Labuko, and his organization against an ancient tribal practice of child killing called "mingi." This child killing occurs when a child in a group of tribes is deemed cursed, or "mingi." Many innocent children are mercilessly killed in this way. As the story unfolds you see Lale in his quest to rescue children who are deemed "mingi" but also to bring education to these tribes in an attempt to end this practice permanently.

I reached out to Lale that night and asked if he had any specific needs. He responded to me promptly and, to my surprise, he had a specific need in the exact amount that we were looking to give. We decided then and there to partner with Lale.

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Since that time I've had the pleasure of meeting Lale in person when he was visiting the United States and we have plans for me to visit him in Ethiopia shortly.

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While my relationship with Lale is still relatively young, I fully support him and his organization's efforts to eradicate a terrible practice and bring education to those who have no access to it.

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