This morning, I was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I’m telling you, I love technology. There is no way for me to travel to Ethiopia right now but guess what? Technology allowed me to take part in one amazing graduation party in Addis Ababa and I will tell you all about this party.

So, one church in Addis Ababa, known as the Unique 7000 Church, bought my book, “Beyond the Fairy Tale” a few months ago and launched the CG-STAT program (Chosen Girls for Such a Time As This). The leaders decided to include more teaching materials other than my book so that they would be able to add the young men of their church into the program.

And today, Saturday, August 13, 2016, was the graduation day and they invited me to take part in the party via Skype and I attended the graduation. I was expecting 10 or 15 young people; but there were 120 of them (75 of them are young girls) – Just take a look at them in this short video clip. When I first saw them, I was very emotional. I said to God, “LORD, what else do I need from this life other than seeing this?” Oh, you have no idea how I rejoiced!

My favorite part of the party was this: Very beautiful girls presented a nice song with a beautiful dance routine. The only thing I missed from the party was the cake; but it’s okay. Watching the whole program on Skype for me was like eating my favorite chocolate cake.

So, I would like to say “Thank you” to the senior pastor of the Unique 7000 Church, Pastor Abby Emishaw, who took the initiative to launch the CG-STAT program in the church he is leading. (By the way, Pastor Abby used to be my 5th and 6th grade classmate almost 100 years ago! What a small world!) I also would like to say “Thank you” to Pastor Abby’s beautiful wife who worked hard to make the Skype work so that I could take part in the party. I also would like to say “Thank you” to all the youth leaders of the Unique 7000 Church who are mentoring the young people and the parents who themselves took part in the program. And last but not least, I would like to say “Thank you” to all the beautiful young people, one of whom is Pastor Abby’s 13 year old beautiful daughter, who took part in the program.

God knows when I am going to be in Addis Ababa again; but I sure can’t wait to meet these young people in person. ///