Poems of Conviction

In February 2019, I travelled again to Ethiopia with the Hope for Ethiopia team attached to Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in Belfast. We met once again with our brothers and sisters in Christ on our one-week visit. To say that our time spent there was blessed would be an understatement. During our time there, we had the opportunity to take part in worship and fellowship with them, but our hearts were again truly stolen by the children there. We took with us on the trip in excess of fifty suitcases filled with gifts for the children, simple and inexpensive gifts-a few T-shirts, underwear, a toy,and some sweets. Our reward was the tears of joy displayed on each little face. Perhaps it was a logistical nightmare in the packing and carriage of the suitcases, but in truth, the smiles on display made all the effort worthwhile.We visited three separate locations-Kuriftu, where we have a school, church, and clinic with over four hundred children attending the Christ Centered School; Bobaguya, where we have a Bible class and kindergarten for around sixty children, allowing their parents to find work; and finally, Ambo, where we have really seen the hand of God moving among his people in a makeshift church the congregation has grown to over three thousand worshippers! Even better was the news that greeted us there. This congregation, despite their poverty, have managed to raise over seventy thousand dollars for the provision of foundations for the newly planned church there. Hearts were melted among us by all we experienced.On my return, I resumed work on my poetry, invigorated by all that I experienced there. The format of Poems of Conviction: Volume 5 remains the same, and once again, all proceeds from the sales of these books will go directly to brightening up the lives of the children of Ethiopia. If you have purchased a copy, I offer my heartfelt thanks on their behalf. God Bless.