Church Aids In Lema’s Need

In the July newsletter the missionary profile was on a dear brother, Lema Kasaye who has been going through a very difficult time recently with the death of his wife and health problems of his own. After telling the story of Lema, we received a response from a Sunday School class in Jackson, TN asking how they could aid Lema in his time of need. The class took up an offering of $450 on the Sunday morning that Patrick left for Ethiopia and delivered the money to him just before his departure. We were not sure of all the needs that Lema had, but Patrick visited with him and, unbeknownst to Lema, left the money with Negash to be exchanged for birr (Ethiopian currency) . After giving Lema the gift, Negash learned that, at the death of his wife, Lema incurred a 2000 birr debt which weighed heavily on him. With this gift Lema was able to pay the debt off the next day and still have 2176 birr to help his family through this hard time. This was such a blessing to our brother and for us to watch unfold. Praise the Lord for His caring for His children even in the needs that no one but they and God know about. Please pray for Lema that he can have the peace of Christ in this time. He has struggled with worry about what would happen to his sons should he die. Patrick has offered assurance to him that they will be cared for, but still remember him when you come before our Lord.