Yesus On The Streets

On behalf of Konjo Kids, I am excited to share with you the project we are currently working on! "Yesus On The Streets" (Jesus on the Streets) is an initiative intended to show the homeless and poor of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the love of Jesus through small gifts from people in America.

This project involves everybody from the two-year-olds to the ninety-two year olds. Each person who chooses to participate will receive a gallon-size ziploc bag. If you're a child, you are to fill the bag with toys, socks, books, candies, crayons, etc. from your own collection. Also, the children are to ask Mom and Dad for some practical items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, lotion, etc. The point is to help our children to understand sacrifice. If you're an adult, you make up a bag for another adult. Ladies can include "girly" items such as jewelry, make-up, fuzzy slipper socks, pretty stationary, etc. The point is to reach out to somebody in Ethiopia who is basically the same as you, just impoverished due to the circumstances in which they were born. Men are to make a bag for a man living on the streets in Ethiopia. I am asking that each adult bag also contain either Advil, diarrhea medication, cough syrup, or all of the above. Adult bags will also contain practical items such as toiletries.

When the bags are turned in, I will take a picture of each person holding their bag. The pictures will be developed and put into the appropriate bags along with a card that will say "Jesus cares about the orphans, the widows, and the poor. Jesus cares about you. Jesus sees you. Jesus loves you." in Amharic. Then, when able, we will take a picture of the recipient in Ethiopia holding their bag so that we can then show the people here in America what a tangible happiness their gift brought to somebody in need. Our hope is that this small project will evoke a deeper passion for the impoverished persons in the world who are so deeply important to God.

Below is a 5 minute promotional video that I put together to capture the heart of what this is all about. The song is U2's "Where The Streets Have No Names." Bono visited Ethiopia during the famine of the 1980's and was moved by the disparity he saw there and by how it contrasted to the freedom and prosperity of the Kingdom of Heaven. He wrote a song that captures that essence. As I was compiling this video, it occurred to me that while Ethiopia's streets have no names, those who dwell in the streets are also in many ways "nameless." They are what many would consider to be "the least of these." And yet God knows each of their names and each of them is vitally important to God. What a broken world we live in. My heart is broken by the glimpses of true poverty that I have seen. God's heart must weep under the weight of the ability to see all of the poor and needy ones all at the same time. How He loves them...what will we do to show them that love? What will my little family do to make a difference? One step at a time...one life at a time...never forgetting those who feel that they have no name.

Anybody who would like to send a bag with your picture for us to take to Ethiopia can contact me via email at: moore4jesus1@juno.com