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Partner church Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church made their way to Ethiopia this past summer. The team made a request for soccer gear from Soccer Chaplains United’s Community Project program. You can see what they received here. Recently, the team sent us a final update on how the trip went. We share it below.

Final Update

We returned to Ethiopia for our first mission trip since Covid to serve with Hope for the Fatherless (HFTF). HFTF is an orphan ministry in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that works to rescue children from institutional care, place them in forever families, and develop a culture of domestic adoption in Ethiopia. 

Hope for the Fatherless currently cares for 28 children in its small, family-style homes, sponsors a number of other vulnerable children in single-parent homes who risk becoming orphaned themselves, and trains and equips adoptive families because children belong in families, not institutions.

Through the generosity of Soccer Chaplains United, we were able to gift each of HFTF’s homes (Hope House, Faith House, and Grace House) with their own indestructible soccer ball and jerseys for all the kids. 

Soccer is definitely a favorite pastime for the children, and our team enjoyed playing many soccer games with them in the courtyard at Hope House. 

When we brought out the soccer balls from SCU, the kids immediately started a game. And later in the week, when we gifted the jerseys to them, they were over the moon! Each kiddo immediately put on their jersey as soon as they got theirs—it was incredible to watch the joy that overcame them, simply because they got their own jersey. 

This was such a highlight of the trip! Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church was very excited to partner with SCU once again to help bring so much happiness and fun to these incredible kids in Ethiopia. One of the boys has told us for five years now that he intends to be a professional soccer player when he is older. He received some goalie equipment from SCU and wanted to pass along a big THANK YOU!! 

It is a joy to see how something as simple as a shirt or ball, which we often take for granted in America, can be such a gift of love and bring so much excitement to orphaned and vulnerable kids halfway around the world. Thank you, Soccer Chaplains United and Colorado Rapids! Your generosity not only impacted the kids, but the team as well. In seeing the joy the kids had, we couldn’t help but be joyful as well. We experienced the beautiful community that comes from generosity as we celebrated alongside our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia. Thank you SCU and Colorado Rapids for your generosity and support!

When you financially support Soccer Chaplains United a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community Project from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals projects and organizations, and to cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!