Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

I mentioned a couple of days ago that in addition to the HelpKorah Bible Scholars initiative, that we also had a Child Sponsorship project & partnership in the works. I (Michael) cannot even begin to tell you just how thrilled I am to finally be making the announcement that our partnership for this has finally launched! 8 months after starting all of this and two trips to Ethiopia later, HelpKorah, in partnership with Transformation Love Ministries & Mekanisa Addis Kidan Church is finally able to help get children sponsored. Our hope for holistic ministry undergirds our entire approach here as we desire to care physically and spiritually for young boys & girls in Addis. The majority of our children (we currently have 12 profiles posted), as you will see as you view profiles (click HERE or the "Child Sponsorship" tab on the HelpKorah site to see them), have lost the at least one parent to HIV & complications and may soon lose their second parent. Typically...

I know I've said it several times already but I really just wanted to take the time to thank everyone, once again, for all the support and encourage -ment you've shown me over the last few months. Starting with my wife, who made so many sacrifices so that I could travel to Ethiopia, I say "Thank you!" Next, the great folks at my local Church who supported me, "Thank you!" To all those who donated funds, I am incredibly grateful. Quite a few people whom I've never even met face-to-face stepped-up to give me financial backing. The reach of your dollars and mine went farther in advancing the Kingdom than probably most of us will ever know! So, "Thank you!" To everyone who kept up with my blog, checked on my family while I was away, sent notes of encouragement via email and Facebook, "Thank You." I have a million stories I could share but as I am trying to readjust to life here and to process everything, I really would like to sha...

This morning, I worshipped with the great folks of Mekensah Addis Kedan in the Mekensah / Korah area. It was great! 4 kids scrunched up next to me for the entire service. At the end, one little girl spoke to me in Amharic but quickly noticed that I didn't understand her. So, she spoke in English and said to me, "Give me a kiss." I kissed her forehead. It melted my heart! I love the kids here. After that, on behalf of HelpKorah , myself and Chris Vanallsburg were able to give out about 150 pairs of shoes. These boots will be great for the kids during rainy season. Anyway, much more to do tomorrow and the rest of the upcoming week. I'll leave here in about 6 days. Bittersweet! Anyway, check out the wonderful pix below. (Click once to zoom in or out and/or use keyboard arrows to move left / right.)

So, here are some more pix from my trot out to the Ethiopian Highlands. This was my first trip outside the city and I must say, it was amazing. I chased monkeys (video to come later!), saw waterfalls, hiked for about 5 hours, ministered to people, built relationships and so much more. It was truly amazing. I just wish my wife could've been with me. Tomorrow I will attend church and HelpKorah will give out about 100 pairs of shoes. Then, I will do more home visits after that. Another big day (Sunday) tomorrow. Anyway, here are some pix. Enjoy and again, thanks to everyone who has supported me!!! Your reach has gone a million times further than even I could've expected!!! (To see the picture, click on it once. To zoom back out, click once more. To move from one pic to the next, use the arrow keys (up, down, left, right) on your keyobard.)

Well, I've been in Ethiopia for around 2 1/2 weeks now and it has been crazy busy. I've been preaching, teaching, feeding, visiting, networking, friend-making, studying, reading, dreaming big and losing weight. I've also been learning all the areas of the capital city and have been learning my way around. Anyway, here are some more shots from this past week:

It is super tough to find times and places to get good online access in Addis, so, I must keep this post short & sweet. Here are some more pix from around Addis (click on the pic once to view it up-close and click on it one more time to zoom back out). Much much more to come!!!

Here are some random shots around Addis Abeba / Ababba so far. I started teaching at the seminary last night and it was great. I'm looking forward to tonight's session. I teach 3 hrs each night of the week. Next week I will also begin teaching English, using the Gospel of Mark, at a local church. I will do that each morning for a week. Friday, I have been asked to preach at an HIV victims gathering. Saturday I may be visiting the Ethiopian prison and meeting w/some inmates. From what I hear, the prisons / jails are the worst on the earth. Kinda terrified. I will also be making home visits to HIV patients next week w/a local missionary. Anyway, there's a quick update. Many thanks again to everyone who has supported me and has a hand in making this trip possible! God is good!

Here's a preview of events for my upcoming 2010 Ethiopia Mission Trip. If you feel the desire to support this trip, click the button below the video.

Today has been an especially fruitful day. On the smaller side of these great things, I got an email from Pittsburgh Theological Journal telling me about one of my reviews they had just published; I had no idea they were going to as it’s been a while since I’ve heard from them. Moving on…in other news...our son crawled for the first time today :) That was fun to see. On the more magnitdunious side of these great things, I’ve received a ton of phone calls and emails today regarding Korah, some being from very passionate and significant people! Through these conversations, I found out that yesterday’s “Tweet for Korah: The SHOE Campaign” has virtually been tripled and maybe even multiplied 5 or 6 times!!! How did this happen? Well, we raised $300 on our own which is enough to buy somewhere around 50 pairs of shoes. Dave McIlrath, who is one of HelpKorah’s Awareness Team members and owner of the Ethiopia Guest Home (where I stayed when I was there a month ago), called me. He inform...

We launched the campaign this morning at 9am and so far, we have raised $85 and gained 1 Awareness Team member. Our financial goal is $400 and our Team Member goal is 25. So, we need $315 more in money and 6 more for the Team. The website has had over 100 visits already. We need to get more blog followers too. To help us out, go to the HelpKorah website: http://HelpKorah.blogspot.com