Weizerit Simret Mengesha knew in her early 20s that she was called to serve God, but didn’t know how.
So she took the first step in obedience to his call. It was the first of several steps that led her to care for more than 80 children in the most impoverished countries in the world.
“When God first spoke to my heart about what he wanted me to do, I was living in Addis Ababa and had no resources,” Simret recalls.
“So God led me to leave my job and move to Debra Zeit, south of Addis. I joined Shiloh Bible college as an accountant. That was a special place for me, where I learned to know God more. God gave me an opportunity to learn his work there. When studying God’s word, I had confirmation of the Holy Spirit in my heart regarding what God had spoken to me – that he would have me work in his kingdom.”
Simret and a group of friends began to pray about the vision God has given her and began sharing the Gospel in villages north of Addis, near Muke Turi. One day, as they began the journey back to Addis, Simret saw buildings and land from afar. It was a heavenly vision – like a mirage. But real. A diamond in the rough.
“It was just a deserted place at the time,” she said. “It was an office and barracks for a road construction crew, almost deserted because their work had finished, and they were leaving.”
Miraculously, the construction company gave her the land and buildings “to take care of it,” she said.
“So we took the land and were soon caring for 84 children.” Simret named the place “Yekebere Zigba Kenbet Yebego Adrgagot Ena Lemat Association.” In English: “Trees of Glory.”
There are many socioeconomic causes that lead the need to provide care for so many children:
Villagers are poor and live at or below the level of poverty. Like farmers in Jesus’ day, they can barely produce enough harvest to provide for their own families and sell the rest for a meager income. They simply can’t get ahead.
Lack of running water and toilets
Poor sanitation leads to sickness
Lack of maternal prenatal care
Lack of vocational training for young people and income generating skills for both women and young people
High pregnancy rate among high-school age teens. Many of these babies are left in the bush to perish after birth.
Children come to live at Trees of Glory through any one of a number of routes. They can be placed by the government, a family, or another social service agency or ministry in the area.
Every child has a slightly different story. Many are true orphans – neither parent survives. Some parents, sadly, left their child on the streets. These children have never known their parents. Others have an undesirable home life. In one case, the father killed the mother in front of the children and is now in prison. Other children come from extremely poor families or broken families in which they would never receive proper healthcare or an education without the care provided by Trees of Glory. There is no chance of survival for these children outside of the orphanage.