Airi Tuomi’s 40 Years of ministry in Ethiopia

Airi Tuomi went to Ethiopia with her parents Helmi Tuomi and Aulis Tuomi (brothers: Valto Tuomi and Pentti Tuomi) in 1960 when she was 10 years old. Her parents were given a message from God to go to Ethiopia and preach the Gospel (Matt.28.) Little Airi had her own dream, a dream to help children who were in need. When Airi reached the age of 16, her parent was able to open a shelter home for needy children by following her dream. The name of the home was Morning Star Home. They did not have any financial source to help establish the Home at that time, except one church in Finland. Airi was also helping the Home by saving her pocket money, Airi had that strong dream of helping children, making a difference in other people’s life and doing a wonderful thing to the society as a hole.

She had given up her life for the sake of others. Morning Star Home was started with 14 children and grow up to 420 children to be well raised and get the best education. It then merged with Bethlehem Orphanage. Right now, most of the 420 children are grown-ups and leading successful life in different parts of the world, Ethiopia, Finland, Sweden, Canada and USA.

I would like to stress the fact that Airi had gone through so many challenging situations to make her dream come true. She lost her beloved father Aulis Tuomi 6 years after she opened up the home, and right after that she lost her brother Palto Tuomi. Her mother, Helmi Tuomi, was an important figure for the home and raised most of the children, until she died in 1992.

Currently, Airi has feeding center for the poor children in small town called Awassa where she resides. She feeds 68 children twice a day, pay their medical bills and school supplies. She also has 13 children living with her full time.

Airi’s project objectives are to feed poor children twice a day, pay school supplies, medical bills and clothes, help elderly with basic necessities, pay for job training for High School Graduate, and provide after school program.

Airi wants to help as many children as possible and in order to accomplish her dream she has to get a considerable number of sponsors Her previous sponsors are becoming very old and most of them are in the nursing home and her source of income is deteriorating as opposed to the high number of demand that exists in the country. Airi would very much appreciate your help.

Faith and Family

First of all, I would like to extend to you my heartfelt gratitude for the consistent and genuine help that you offer Airi Tuomi. My name is Faith Gulilat, one of the 420 children who grew up in the orphanage that Airi Tuomi established

I was only four years old when my parents were separated and I was given to the orphanage. It was such a wonderful chance for me to have the most loving and caring parents, the Airis.

Of all things, the Airi’s showed me was the love of God. They thought me the bible, which helped me a great deal for my entire life. I was given the best education in that I was capable to join the most competitive college, Addis Ababa University and studied Sociology.

Currently, I live in Rockville, Maryland with my Husband Binyam G/Egziabeher, and my three sons, Jonathan 17, Nathaniel 16, and Enamel 10. I wouldn't be able to have a successful life that I have right now if it was nor because of the Airis.

I’m so blessed that I have Airi who is my mother and my big sister. Her loving and kind heart is always the same, and I have a very special respect for her.

  New Hope for Life

I became acquainted with Sunday’s family last October when organizing the Christmas food distribution for those families living in poverty. Sunday became disabled at the age of three because of the maltreatement he received. He was given too much medicine when being treated for malaria. Sunday’s father died when he was still young. His mother married again and gave birth to a daughter named Kamiyati and a boy named Hakim. The new father could not stand the misery of the family. He left them and married two other women. Now he is dying of AIDS. Also, his new wives are HIV positive. Sunday’s mother has been a single parent for a long time.

A few friends heard of Sunday and wanted to help him get a wheelchair. I contacted an organization here in Uganda that manufactures them. They promised to make one and suggested that I use the funds I have to try to raise their standard of living. Three weeks ago I went to share the news with Mama Sunday. I met Safina in front of her mud hut. She had just received notice that they have four days to vacate the mud hut premises and find a new home. I told her about our friends who wanted to help her disabled son and the whole family.

"I never dreamed that someone would want to help me, this poor woman. My life has been so hard. I have been so alone. This news brings new hope into my life and I am forever grateful to God. The tears I am wiping are not from pain but from the joy I feel" Safina stated

Right now Sunday’s family is no longer in a mud hut, but live in a cemented room. With the money we have received, we brought them new bunk beds, mosquito nets, mattresses, blankets, pillows and sheets. We were also able to put Kamiyati and Hakim back to school. Safina was given instructions on basic care of Sunday. She has gone for testing to find out what her HIV status is and will take her kids to be tested as well. We want to support Safina with some capital from the money we have received so she can do some business to support herself and the family.

Warm thanks to all of you who have given this Muslim family new hope. Outwardly mama Sunday is beaming. At last life is smiling at them.

On behalf of Helping Hands Network,

Milla Happonen

Helping Hands Network is made up of volunteers who would like to help one family at a time, giving them new hope for the future. "She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy" Prov.31:20 (The Book).

“When is mommy coming home?”

Update on Allen’s family:

Upon his return from the funeral, the father Nassan brought with him Kobia Katumwete (Katumwete means “Let us call Jesus”) to take care of the twins Grace and Gerald. The presence of aunt Kobia is important for the children who do not understand that their mother has died. “When is mommy coming home?” is the question that the children have repeatedly asked every day. I was able to organize that Nassan was registered at a good local clinic where they look after HIV positive people. Our goal is that the father would remain healthy as long as possible so that the children would not be total orphans.

Gerald was registered with Fida’s Child Sponsorship Programme this week and his schooling is secured for a longer period. When Gerald came to the office, one of the workers of project my friend Heidi gave him a whistle and a toy tractor. Gerald was truly proud of his gift and surely the people at home had to hold their ears for the rest of the evening. Their father Nassan told Heidi how Grace had cried in the evening: “why didn’t the mzungu (European) give me a toy since Gerald got one?” When Heidi heard about this she dug around in the boxes and gave Grace an attractive cloth bag in which their was a small beautiful doll. I saw Grace when she had just got her new toy doll. Her eyes were sparkling as she proudly displayed her gift. It doesn’t take much to make a child happy.

A person in Finland wanted to help the twins family and they helped Allen when she was still alive. With this funds we put Grace into pre-school and I have also taken food for the whole family. The schooling of the children helps the father Nassan much. Many poor families simply do not have the means to pay for school fees, uniforms and other compulsory expenditures. Schools offer lunch which usually consists of maize porridge. We are thankful that the family has relatives that care and love these recently orphaned small children. In the good and motherly care of aunt Kobia, Gerald, Grace, Babirye and Nakato are secure. Even though they will never get their mother back, they at least have a good replacement relation with their aunt. I believe that they will know that someone cares for them. I was satisfied when I saw how trustingly they went close to their aunt and into her lap. They are truly fortunate because not all orphans have relatives who want to take care of the children of relatives because they are too much of a burden.

On behalf of Nassan’s family, with love,

Milla

“The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor” (Prov 22.9).

Milla Happonen
P. O. Box 9408
Kampala, Uganda
+ 256 77 2446357
milla.happonen@utlonline.co.ug

“I want to help grandmother sweep the yard and then to play with a toy car, if I had one.” This is what the small boy Paulo told me when I asked him what he would do when he gets better and out of the hospital. I had thought that he probably would like to play soccer, which is the favorite pastime of boys in Uganda. I was speechless when Paulo’s first wish was to help his beloved grandmother. I meet Paulo when I went to see our friend Bernard who had been hospitalized (there was an article written about him in Fida magazine 4/2005). I could not believe that he was 11 years old. Anna is the same age and this boy was half her size. His legs were like sticks. His skin was dry and flaking off. He had a problem with his hearing.

It is great that in the media the leaders of the developed world have waken to address the problem of African poverty. Poverty is a reality and we are confronted with it every day. As soon as we go out of our door, we are confronted with those who have needs.

As I was going home, I thought about Africa’s problems: if people living with HIV and AIDS and their families would get in addition to medication nutritious food and money to travel to and fro from the doctor’s office, then many sick would be helped and the quality of life would improve. Jesus said: “You give them something to eat” even though they only had five borrowed bread and two fish. Five thousand people were fed with that and there were even leftovers. Wow! This is the blessed food that Africa needs. A “fish” burger. Is this something available at MacDonald's?

Warm greetings

Milla Happonen

As we talked, a stranger, a young man came knocking on my door. He was looking weak and distressed and he told me that he would like to talk to me privately. We went to my office and he broke down in tears as he told me about himself. He is a 24-year old computer science student who had his HIV antibody test come back positive two years ago. He had been subsequently tested at numerous clinics with the same results. Now his CD4 cell count had gone below 200 so he was placed on antiretroviral treatment 2 months ago. His body reacted violently to the treatment. His appetite was gone, he was weak, he constantly had diarrhea, his mouth was full of sores and he could not sleep properly as he constantly thought about what was to come. He had decided to go back to Rwanda to tell his mother whom he had been hiding this truth from all this time. Now he had come to ask for $10 for a bus ticket back home.

I was able to pray with him, give him money for his bus ticket as well as money to buy 9 months worth of ARVs (antiretroviral drugs).

It was a privilege to have Jesus come knocking on my door and I was able to host him today for a few minutes. It was such a blessing.

In the morning, the electricity went off. For the graduation program, one choir (the "Heavenly Melodies") was scheduled to sing but I received a note in which someone wrote that the choir could not sing because "there is no power." I laughed and thought that this is quite a Pentecostal thing - we are unable to do something for the lack of power. Otherwise, the graduation went well and everyone seemed to be happy.

October 2005

Dear Canadian Friends,

September 2005

Dear Friends,

As some of you may know, Rommy and I have felt it God's direction in our lives to head out to the missionfield in Asia this fall. In the last couple of weeks we have informed the church here in Toronto of our decision, in order to give them time to consider the future steps that need to be taken.

Though the time here was shorter than we had anticipated, I am forever grateful for the relationships we found as well as for the lessons learned. We came here to Canada on direct orders and are moving forward on direct orders. Already last summer we felt that the time here would be coming to an end, but We were not sure where or when God would be directing us to next. As we prayed in November, we felt the Spirit clearly confirming: "In January you will know beyond a doubt." After the tsunami of December 26th in Asia, we felt that this was going to be it - and my visit there further confirmed it: as I was able to deliver aid, I was astounded to notice that though the hearts were fully open, but that the local Christians in other areas of Asia were not even aware of what a monumental spiritual move God was making in the most closed area of the nation. Also on this same trip I was able to (read "HAD TO") preach my very first sermon in the local language (though I speak it on a street level, I have not lived there nor used the language in over 20 years, nor did I ever speak in the churches at that time). I felt it a confirmation for what God had in store.

On the flight back, God started to speak to me. Despite my willingness to go, God did "renegotiate the deal." He asked if I was willing to leave the security and comfort of Canada, if I was willing to leave the relationships, if I was willing to trust Him with His Church, and even if I was willing to take my family to the unknown, with the possibility of not all members of the family coming back... I had to go several times to the washroom to compose myself and wipe the tears.

We still don't know the whole picture, but we do know this. God willing, in the beginning of November we will be heading out to Asia via Finland. We need to re-establish ourselves with the Finnish healthcare and school systems, as we have been dropped out of it during these years in Canada. We hope to spend only a few weeks reconnecting perhaps with even some supporters (hopefully:) there and be in Asia at the end of this year or beginning of the next. We do not know of how it all will work out, support, finances, tickets, etc. but we are moving out in faith, trusting Him, that where He leads, He'll provide.

We remain grateful for your prayers and support during these coming few months as we prepare to head out.

Be Blessed in all you do,

Arusha 17.09.05.
 

Now the grass is brown and dry and there is dust everywhere.  We really need rain!  Many people lost their crops because of the lack of rains.  We need both spiritual and physical rain in this area!

It was really nice to visit our son Ville's home in Langley near Vancouver, for the first time.  We are thankful to the Lord for His guidance in our sons' lives.  Ville continues his studies at TWU and Minna is working as a pharmacist.  They are doing well.  Also we have good news regarding Walter
and Sonja.Their wedding will take place in Pori, Finland on the 19th of November.  They will establish their first home in Toronto, where Walter will start as a Youth Pastor in Toronto Salem Church in the beginning of January.

While in Canada, we opened a new web page.  In this web page we are also going to introduce our ministry and keep you updated what is happening regarding our ministry as well as our life.  We are going to put photos there and this way we don't need to send large files with our news letter (which has been a problem for many of you to receive).  You can visit the link www.tuokkola.com

We heard that in Finland you already have scraped the car windows.  So the summer is over!   Here we are going towards summer.  Christmas time will be the warmest time of the year.  But we are not complaining.not any need to scrape the windows although we have to eat the dust at this time!

May God richly bless you and yours!  Thanks again for your love and hospitality during our trip.

Yours,
Paivi and Sam

Praise Report of the Week:  God has protected us during our traveling. 
Praise God for His traveling mercies!

Prayer Request of the Week:  The Seminars in Lindi and Arusha

Word of the Week:  Micah 4:1-7

Teachers of the "Bush Pastors":
Päivi and Sam Tuokkola
Box 7292
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel:  -255-27-250 8690
Mob: +255-744-535679 (and text messages)

tuokkola@maalum.org
http://www.nic.fi/~habari
www.tuokkola.com

Dear Friends

Since our last letter to you we have travelled quite a bit; not only in this country but also in Europe. In spring we mainly travelled in this prefecture. We had literacy training courses for both trainees and village literacy teachers. The training went well. Raija was really pleased with the courses. Trainees were very active in the classes. Further more they were open minded for new ideas of teaching and new subjects. They learned some PRA (Participatory Rural Approach) methods and some CHE (Community Health Education) methods. It was so great to see how these trainees did some participatory exercises and how then taught them to village teachers during the other training courses. One county leader was observing our training session and he got so excited about it that he wanted to have a similar training for the middle-school teachers.

While Raija was busy with the training courses Kari was busy with his own project. He did it well and was able to finish most of the recordings for his book.

After all training courses we returned home to pack our suitcases for our trip to Europe. We had an encouraging time in Stockholm (Sweden), where Kari’s home group is. We had a lot of meetings and we visited a lot of friends. Some of them Kari has know for years but Raija met them the very first time. We also spent a couple of days with Raija’s home group before heading to our main destination London.

Raija needed to spend there few weeks in order to have supervision sessions with her supervisors at the university. The time was good for her studies but very intense: a lot writing and planning for the next steps of her studies. She still has a lot of to do but she hopes that by the end of next year all writing is done.

While staying in London the biggest joy was to meet Kari’s eldest son Joel and his family. They have been working in Central Asia for years and they happened to be in England at the same time with us. Raija met the family for the very first time. We were able to meet them every single week, which gave Raija a good opportunity to get to know them better and of course Kari was thrilled to be able to spend time with his first born.

After all our travelling in Europe we were more than happy to return to our home on the Plateau. That was in the beginning of July. It was so good to get back home. Yet that time we knew that our time here was getting to the end. Raija needed to get her data collection completed and at the same time she needed to complete her responsibilities in the literacy project. Kari added a couple of new chapters to his book and both of us has been busy in packing things away. Now suitcases are packed and whatever did not fit into them have been given away or sold. Our Father has been very merciful for us. When we thought about how to get rid off all our furniture and other stuff one of our friends came to us and wanted to buy most of the things. Some other friends wanted to have the rest. It was so easy and we did not have to worry about a single thing. Also Raija thinks that she has got all info what is needed for her research and her work within the project has come to a good point. Her colleague will take care of the project for the next couple of months. The project comes to and ends in the end of this year.

We met Raija’s local partner in the project a couple days ago. He was sad to let Raija to go. He said that it was a loss for the work here but he was happy for her getting married with Kari. It was so sweet when he said that people here love Raija. Yet we wish that they would know her Father and love him. Maybe one day. Anyway one thing is sure that both of us will miss these people here. They have been so good to us. We, especially Raija, will miss also the expatriates’ community. They have been a great support and encouragement for Raija during these past years.

Now is a time to for a new blank page in our lives. We don’t know what our Father has prepared for us but we are confident that He has the very best plans for us in Asia. Kari is more than happy to return to his “promised land”. One of our friends commented the other day that Kari seems to smile all the time nowadays. Raija is also eager to move to Asia even though she knows that this big change won’t be easy. She needs to find her own place in a society and work there, learn the language etc. Thank you for remembering both of us in this new phase of our life.

We will live in a state of B. in Asia. There is only one Family member per one million people, so there is a lot of work to do. We have been asking our Father to transform that state, which is known as a backyard of Asia. A small group of Family members get together in our city. For some reason all of them are boys! Maybe Raija could start to work among women, you never know. We have one Finnish couple as our co-workers. They are very lovely people and having them there helps Raija to settle in.

Oh no, we almost forgot to tell you about one pr answer. On our last trip to the villages Kari had a wish. He hoped to visit a black nomad tent. Actually he hoped to stay over night in a tent. He got what he hoped for. One day after driving through one river our jeep died. We didn’t find the problem and it was getting late. Raija was asking Father to send an angel to help us and we got one. He didn’t look like an angel but after he fiddled with the same cables as Kari has done earlier the jeep started. By that time it was too late in the evening for us to return to the county centre so we had stay in one nomad tent. Our hostesses were so welcoming and hospitable. We had a good time with them but not a good time with their dog, who was barking the whole night trough! Also it was bit cold since we were almost at the altitude of 4 000 m. Otherwise it was a great experience.

Our lives are full of memories of this area as we move to the flat terrain of Asia. We are thankful to our Father for this time here, for the years Raija has been here and for our common past nine months.

Blessings to you,