Keeping our CPC Community connected with Sintaro Village
SINTARO
NEWS July, 2013 SINTARO VILLAGE 2020 IN THIS ISSUE: Thank you for walking alongside us in our journey with Sintaro Village. We are honored by the opportunity to partner with a village on the other side of the world. God has called us to be a part of this village in Ethiopia and we are excited to see what He is going to do thru us and thru them in this partnership. This newsletter is designed to bring you into the heart of the villagers over in Sintaro. Through village updates, personal stories and testimonies, event announcements and recaps, prayer requests and more, you will be able to keep Sintaro Village in the forefront of your mind as you go about your day. We want to bridge the expansive physical distance gap with our brothers and sisters in Sintaro Village, and connect us like Christ’s love connects his daughters and sons. Join with us on this partnership and stay tuned for the exciting things He will do through our journey. Blessings and read on‌
Project Updates Where is Sintaro Village? Taste of Sintaro Recap Merging Coffee and Faith Project Prayer Requests Hike for Sintaro...Save the Date! Get Involved!
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Project Updates
Connecting Children Across the World…
Building a Strong Foundation…
Exciting news! 100 children (50 girls and 50 boys) have been selected. Their pictures and bio data will arrive to CPC mid-summer. This means we will be putting together packets for each child and they will be ready for child sponsorship before the school year begins. What does this sponsorship mean? These 100 children will enter into Kindergarten this coming fall and thereafter, every year 50 additional kids will be added to the school and the sponsorship program. This means changed lives, educated children, a bright future, and much more. At a Hope school, the ratio of kids to teachers is 1 to 50, which might sound large by our standards but for Ethiopia, this is less than ½ the size of government schools.
As we build the foundation for this project here at CPC and strive to listen to God’s instruction for us, so do the villagers in Sintaro who are working to lay the foundation for the school. Before a school can house 100 children, many steps need to be taken to build the proper foundation. Just as Jesus says, “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” (Luke 6:4748.) Villagers have cleared all the brush from the land and dug the holes for the fencing that will surround the property. Villagers are actively participating in the building of this school. Construction on the initial structure will begin early July and we will have pictures once it is complete. Pray for the villagers who are working to build and develop the land that they would sense God’s love and faithfulness.
Water is Life… Part of our project in Sintaro involves the drilling of a well for water to be accessible right from the school campus. A committee of villagers will administer the well and a nominal fee will be charged for the water, which is collected to support the on-going maintenance of the well. The next step is conducting a hydrology study, which is being scheduled soon. Up until the well is built, our current plan is to use donkeys to transport water. Keep the well in your prayers and we will continue to have updates each month on the status of this water project.
Here is a taste of the school these children will be attending; at all HOPE schools, they begin each day with a ‘flag ceremony.’ This is the time that a bible teacher has a simple bible story for the kids and prays for them as well. What a great start to a school day for these little children! During the summer months, the kids enjoy Vacation Bible School. HOPE is working on arranging a translator from the village to help during these special weeks of camp that CPC will play a large part in. Let us remember as we sponsor these children Jesus’ words, “Jesus called all the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Luke 18:16)
Where is Sintaro Village? Africa The world’s 2nd largest continent. Population roughly 1.1 billion people,.
Country: Ethiopia
2nd Most Populated Country in Africa.
Deep Christian Roots.
7th Poorest country in the World. Population of 80 million, with half under the age of 15. 80 % of the population is below the poverty level.
Significant health problems are caused by communicable diseases, poor sanitation, contaminated water, and malnutrition.
There is only 1 doctor per 100,000 people.
1st major empire in the world to adopt Christianity as the state religion.
Currently Ethiopia is being targeted by Islam because of its location in the Horn of Africa.
Birthplace of Coffee.
Village: Sintaro Located in the District of Malga, 200 miles southwest of Addis Ababa. Vegetation is lush and mountainous. Sintaro Village is 6 miles wide. No running water in the huts or public water sources for the villagers. Water comes from rivers, streams, and springs for the Sintaro villagers to collect. Certain times of year make it dangerous for the girls to collect water. 1 private Catholic School but most families in Sintaro cannot afford the tuition. & 1 government school located 7km away. Most families have 5-12 children and all sleep in the hut with their livestock to be kept from harms way.
Taste of Sintaro Recap…By Kindri Van Puffelen “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” Ephesians 3:20. When you ask something with a set expectation and then see God do immeasurably more than you could hope or imagine, it really is amazing and dares you to ask even more. The Taste of Sintaro Night was one of those nights. I had a pretty high bar set, and God blew it out of the water.
The evening was a vision the Lord gave me a while ago, to be a kick off to this 7-year journey CPC will be embarking on. As I look back on the objectives for the night, which is how we measure success, each goal was met and exceeded, but the palpable feeling of the night is something you cannot measure. I had done a lot of planning and praying; hoping people would attend and enjoy. I prayed that God would begin a movement among our community, that we would consider Sintaro a part of our family, that God would bring in the people He desired to be there.
Family style became the theme for the night, family portraits, family style dinner, hearing stories of our family members both local and in Sintaro.
That night I met so many people I didn’t know, some I had never seen before and yet God created a beautiful family that night. I stood in the back and just looked around and people were eating and laughing and talking. When I walked around from table to table, the conversation and sharing was incredible! Everyone was welcome, everyone was open, even our Ethiopian visitors that came that night felt like they were part of the community, asking about coming and attending church here. Our God is amazing!! He has great plans for CPC and Sintaro. Physical families happen, but the family that God builds brings hope, love, and joy to immeasurably more than we could hope or imagine. That is what He is doing here, and I got to watch Him in action at the Taste of Sintaro. I ask great big things of our God because He delights in us and desires to show us just how big He is. I hope many more will join this family to bring the hope and love of Jesus Christ to many more. “To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” Ephesians 3:21
Merging Coffee and Faith…By: Devan Blair The Sintaro Cold-Brew project began out of a desire to bring my passions alongside my faith. For the longest time I have been praying and asking God that He would guide me in my pursuit to align my love and fervor for coffee with my yearning to work for His kingdom, and with the opportunity that the Sintaro project has presented me, I feel strengthened that the Lord is doing work in this ministry.
When most people look at their morning caffeinated beverage they see milk, foam, perhaps some chocolate, and maybe some espresso (finely ground and extracted coffee). But when I look at any coffee drink I see something else. I see people. I see people living and working in third world countries picking ripened coffee cherries by hand. I see men, women, and children, working with their hands, tilling the earth and cultivating perhaps the most delicious and beautiful produce on the planet.
Initially when I heard about the Sintaro project my interest was not too peaked, but after a few weeks the Lord really put the people in Ethiopia on my heart. It was as if he was saying, “Hey, you know how Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee? That thing you love so much? How about getting involved and being about your Fathers business?” So after a few phone calls overseas to some coffee farms in the Malga region of Ethiopia I was able to get a hold of some coffee beans and ship them over state-side where I began to concoct the cold brew coffee that you can try out on the patio every Sunday. With 100% of the proceeds going back to the Sintaro project, I know this is something that the Lord is working through.
Project Prayer Requests
Pray that God will soften our (CPC communities) hearts so that we will begin to see the world as God sees it. (Ezekiel 11:19)
Pray for the children who will be sponsored this fall and their families. Pray for folks here at CPC who will volunteer to be involved in developing and managing the Child Sponsorship program.
Pray for the villagers who are beginning to build the temporary structure that will house the school in the fall. Pray that they will be encouraged as they begin to build toward renewal in their village.
Pray for those conducting the hydrology study- that they will be able to locate the exact right spot that we are to dig the well.
Pray for the 2 upcoming fundraising efforts: Hike for Sintaro and Canvas for Causes. Pray for the preparations, logistics, artists, and hikers; for the success of both in raising funds for the project.
HIKE FOR SINTARO...SAVE THE DATE! Sunday, October 6th 2:00 pm Hike for Sintaro is a fundraiser that the whole family can participate in by signing up, getting pledges of support and taking a hike! Money raised will help fund the building of a well to provide the villagers of Sintaro with water to live on. Currently, girls as young as 6 years will travel 3 miles round trip daily to fill jugs of water for their families and village. This is their main purpose on life, one thing preventing them from receiving any education at all. We will have a two mile ‘challenge’ hike and a three mile easy hike. Ambitious hikers can opt to take the Water Challenge and carry a Jerry Can filled with water as well. We are also seeking corporate sponsors. There’s lots of ways to get involved, so save the date, join us for the hike, individually or as a team and help provide access to clean water. Details and Hiker Info Packets are available online at www.hikeforsintaro.org. So grab some friends, co-workers, or teammates and take a hike!
Looking for opportunities to get involved? Teams are forming and would love to tell you more about what they’re doing! Sintaro Village 2020 Team Leaders Child Sponsorships: Marketing/Communication: Medical/Health: Fundraising: Vacation Bible School: Field Visits:
222 W. El Pintado Rd. Danville, CA 94526 www.sintarovillage2020.org sintarovillage2020@gmail.com