When Senior Emma Ellet watched a presentation by Heather and Habtom Kebede about their mission work in Ethiopia, she knew she wanted to help. With the aid of other members in her youth group at the First Presbyterian Church, she came up with an idea to donate old McPherson jerseys to the young adults the Kebede’s were sponsoring.   

     “After hearing about the work they were doing, I immediately asked them what I could do to contribute to their efforts,” Ellet said, “They gave me a few options, but the most feasible option for me and the group was to donate unused or old sports jerseys to their athletic mission cause.”

    The Kebede’s partner with Beza International Ministries to run a sports outreach program in the country. The organization gives teens and young adults the opportunity to play sports like volleyball and soccer, and compete in matches around their community. Occasionally the group will get together to play musical instruments and sing. The goal of the ministry is to work on gathering people together to have fun and learn about God in the process. The Kebede’s are always in need for more sports equipment and jerseys for their players, so when they heard about the jerseys the youth group wanted to donate they were easily on board.

    Ellet contacted multiple coaches who could have old jerseys they were willing to donate.

    “I asked Coach Kinnamon, Coach Strathman, and Coach Adrian. All three coaches were more than willing to help our cause and donated a large box full of jerseys each,” Ellet said.

    Before long the jerseys were on their way to Ethiopia. The next update Ellet and the youth group received about the fate of the jerseys were two pictures sent by Heather and Habtom.

    “When I first saw the pictures of these people wearing the jerseys that I had part in giving to them, my heart became so happy. It is one thing to simply gather and send items to place around the world, but I got to see the results of this project in a light that I could only imagine before,” Ellet said.

    This experience has increased Ellet’s passion for mission work. She plans on continuing to contribute to this project, and hopefully be able to take a trip to Ethiopia in the future.

    “These are real people that I got the opportunity to give a little bit of happiness to and
also spread the Lord to. Giving and doing work for others gives you a happiness that I cannot describe other than as extraordinary. It is a happiness you can never obtain by doing things for yourself, only for others,” Ellet said.