by: Kevin Squires | Sr Director of International Programs
His face lit up the stage, extracting beaming smiles from everyone in the audience. It was a smile that had been waiting to explode, waiting to just burst out from years of captivity, pain, and struggle. The smile reflected an equal amount of pride and praise—pride that stemmed from hard work, determination, and steadfastness; praise that leaned heavily on faith, trust, and his surrendering to a sovereign God. Face shining bright for the world to see, and he hadn’t yet spoken a word. We stared at him, proud and happy tears trickling down our cheeks, knowing just what it took for him to get to where he was today for his graduation.
We anxiously waited to hear what he would say. Then, he began, “The greatest influence in my life has been Pastor Mesfin. I owe him so much. And if it weren’t for him and World Orphans, there’s no doubt I’d be on the street begging.” I sat there and took a deep breath, and my mind immediately traced back to the beginning of when I heard about a boy named Getahun.
Flashing back to 2016, Getahun was a 13-year-old boy who was being raised by his ill mother, Mushida. Abandoned by his father at an early age, Getahun did everything he could to take care of his mother. Mushida had been a labor worker who had spent years washing people’s clothes using a metal board. It was suspected at the time that something in her repeated exposure to the metal had made her mentally ill, often suffering from hallucinations and amnesia.
In 2018, as Mushida’s mental health continued to deteriorate, she moved to the countryside to live with her family. Since Mushida’s extended family were practicing Muslims, 15-year-old Getahun had to decide to either move with his mother and convert to Islam, or he would need to step out in faith and allow God to bring about another option for where he could live. So, with the help of his church and Pastor Mesfin, Getahun rented a tiny one room house near the church. Able to stay in school, he continued to excel in his classes despite his ongoing hardships. His church became his family, providing wholistic care to meet his spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and social needs. Pastor Mesfin became the father he never had.
In 2020, Getahun graduated secondary school. With his mother now living in a mental institution, he opted out of college so that he could visit and help take care of her. With Getahun’s strong computer skills in graphic design, Pastor Mesfin and World Orphans selected him to be a recipient of a microloan to help kickstart his economic empowerment opportunities. His loan money allowed him to enroll into a graphic design program where he could achieve his dream of getting a degree.
In 2022, Getahun completed his degree program and was hired by a local television station as a graphic design artist. This success led him to be able to fast track his microloan program and graduate early. He graduated from the World Orphans microloan program in October 2023 with a sustainable income to care for himself and his mother.
Today, Getahun is a 21-year-old young man who has walked in step with the Spirit throughout some of the most strenuous of times. He sacrificed the comfort of a home in order to stay faithful to his Lord. He sacrificed college to care for his ill mother. Despite tragic circumstances since early childhood, he’s remained faithful, abiding in Jesus. Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (ESV) Getahun is growing into greatness, and in many ways, he is a hero to many. But, if you ask him, he is not the hero of his story. Each smile he makes is a praise to God. Each compliment you give him about his strength is received with a sense of pride he has in the Lord. Getahun is the billboard for what happens when a church surrounds those in need with love, compassion, and care. May we learn from his ways and surrender our lives to a life of abiding and abounding in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This article was originally published in the World Orphans Spring Insight Magazine 2024.