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Jesus made me a storyteller

Peace be upon all the readers of my life history and endless thanks to the Almighty God who helped me to pass all those difficult times. Now those bad days are gone, gone forever, never to come back. Glory to God. It was before 25 years ago that I was born in Addis Ababa from my mother named Roman and a father whom I don't know. My mother did not seem to be happy to have a son without a marriage. So she put me in her father's house and disappeared. I never saw her from that day on. When I was 11 years old, I heard from my relatives and neighbors that she passed away. She died before I know her very well. Her death marked the beginning of my agony. My grandfather took me to his home to raise me up. He was living with his second wife i.e. a step grandmother to me. The first wife of my grandfather is also deceased. My grandfather was a retired man whereas my step grandmother was a house wife. However they had no financial limitations. Even though they had enough money to support their family, my life was miserable. I was deeply hurt by my step grandmother. She was extremely abusive to me. To make things worse, the love my grandfather had to me vanished. My step grandmother used to insult me everyday and night. I never had proper meal. Hunger was a normal feeling to me. I began to lose weight. I used to sleep on the floor without mattress. This unhealthy and painful condition caused a bad mental disorder on me. Alike small babies, I began to pee on the floor while sleeping. I had no bed. So I used to sleep on the floor. This problem continued until I turned fourteen. Rather than treating me, I used to be physically abused for making the floor dirty. My sufferings were a lot. I had hardly covered my body with the torn and dirty clothings. In such a situation, I was ashamed to go to school and mix with other students. The number of days on which I was sent to school without a lunch box are uncountable. I was mentally, emotionally and physically hurt. In short I was totally down. My health deteriorated. Finally I decided to commit suicide. I couldn't properly hung up myself so I survived. Then I went out of that house to go to Europe. With that poor health and  physical weakness, I couldn't cope up with the long journey. So I returned back home. The suffering, the abuse, the insult, the hunger, and the mistreatment welcomed me. Then I decided to work as a laborer and feed myself. It is clear to everyone that labor work demands physical strength. I tried to unload bricks from trucks in construction sites but I used to be exhausted in few minutes. So my co-workers chased me out from their group. With no change in life, I turned 18. Life was the same. One Sunday morning, a friend  of mine named Sonny took me to church. I remember the preacher was preaching about the love of God. I was touched by the Holy Spirit. And I understood that there is someone who loves me so much that He gave me His only begotten Son to save my life. Few days later, I received  Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. I invited Him to come to my life. Then my life began to drastically change. One day God spoke to me through one of His servants. That man of God told me that Holy Spirit wants me to help street children by giving them love, care and also assist them with their basic needs. Actually the prophecy was like a confirmation to me since I used to discuss this issue with my friends. After this moment, my life was totally different. God gave me the opportunity to learn the skills and techniques of satellite dish installation and maintenance. I began to make money. Then I rented a house and moved out of my grandfather's home. I joined Admas University and studied Information Technology. As God said, I rented 2 houses and collected 23 street children and began supporting them in everything they need. Two years before, with the help of God, few donors, friends, co-founders and I founded an NGO that works on street children in Addis Ababa. In addition to supporting street children, currently my organization is providing free meal service to 57 students of a government school. The students were selected to be our beneficiary after the school confirmed to us that they usually come to school without lunch box. My story continues. Now I am 25. I am the General Manager of my welfare organization, Hold My Hand. Dear Readers, I kindly request you to know that it is only God who can change life. He knows how to do everything perfectly. He knows how to repair broken heart. Glory to the Most High God and all praises be to His Majesty, Matchless and Glorious Name! This testimony is written by that poor boy, who is now a young man by the name Mikiyas Fekade. http://www.holdmyhandloved.org/ email fekademikiyas@gmail.com