ETHIOPIA
Messianic Ethiopian Jews Persecuted for their Faith
Tens of thousands of Messianic Jewish families have been living in encampments and
villages on the outskirts of Gondar and Addis Abba. After they were invited to immigrate to Israel 19 years ago and gave up their Ethiopian citizenship the Israeli government's Interior Ministry closed all doors to Messianic Ethiopian Jews. Abandoned by their homeland survival has been difficult with little or no food sources, no access to clean drinking water or medical care and all for one reason: They refused to renounce their faith in Jesus. Responding to these desperate cries 271,000 vita-meals have just arrived!
Feeding The Nations teamed up with the Messianic Jewish Alliance Association to
send 271,000 vita-meals to The Sunshine Foundation to bless the people of Beta Israel of Gondartown. These precious Ethiopian Jewish families were invited to immigrate to Israel in the early 1990's. They sold their farms and their livestock and moved to collection camps outside of Gondar and Addis Ababa. Once there, the Israeli government discovered that the Beta Israel people were not only Jewish but also believe in Jesus. Even though some of their families had already been processed and had immigrated to Israel, the Israel government's Interior Ministry closed the door to any Messianic Ethiopian Jew.
The vast majority have been in these camps for over 10-15 years. Others still, completely landless and with no means of livelihood returned to their villages penniless. They have no medical care or medical safety net and little or no food sources. The Beta 
Israel are the poorest of the poor. Adding insult to injury, they are looked down upon by the Christian and Muslim populations because, in their view, these Jews must have committed a great sin to be rejected by their own people (Israel) and left penniless by the Ethiopian government who also doesn't seem to care about their fate. As a result, many have died from lack of clean water, food and preventable sickness….all because they would not renounce their faith in Jesus. This is wrong and God has called us to partner with our Christian brothers and sisters to change this situation.
In addition to the 271,000 meals sent to Gondar, Ethiopia, Feeding The Nations was able to bless Bright Hope Ministries in 2008 with 542,000 vita-meals for the needy of Ethiopia.
Additional images available in photo gallery
2009 UPDATE:
Distrubutions of the nutrient-rich 270,864 vita-meals began in February to Jewish Christians living in the collections camps in Gondar, Ethiopia.
More information about this outreach coming soon
2008 UPDATE:!
GONDAR OUTREACH
On September 18, 2008 Feeding The Nations teamed up with Joel Chernoff and the Messianic Jewish Alliance Association to send 270,864 vita-meals to The Sunshine Foundation to bless the people of Gondar, Ethiopia. These precious Ethiopian Jewish families were invited to immigrate to Israel in the early 1990's. They sold their farms and their livestock and moved to collection camps in Gondar and Addis Ababa. Once there the Israeli government discovered that the Beta Israel people were not only Jewish but also believe in Jesus. Even though some of their families had already been processed and had immigrated to Israel, the Israel governments interior ministry (controlled by orthodox Jews) decided that they would no longer admit Beta Israel unless they renounced their faith in Jesus. The vast majority have been in these camps for over 10 years. Others still, completely landless and with no means of livelihood returned to their villages penniless. They have no medical care or medical safety net and little or no food sources. In addition, they had no access to clean drinking water. (We are also drilling wells to meet this need.) The Beta Israel are the poorest of the poor. Adding insult to injury, they are looked down upon by the Christian and Muslim populations because, in their view, these Jews must have committed a great sin to be rejected by their own people (Israel) and left penniless by the Ethiopian government who also doesn't seem to care about their fate. As a result, many have died from lack of clean water, food and preventable sickness….all because they would not renounce their faith in Jesus. This is wrong and God has called us to partner with our Christian brothers and sisters to change this situation.
On September 9, 2008, Feeding The Nations shipped 1 x 40 ft container with 43,700 pounds of food to Bright Hope in Addis Abba, Ethiopia.
On May 5, 2008, FTN shipped 1 x 40ft container with 270,864 vita-meals valued at $46,047 to Ethiopia. FTN worked with World Children's Fund to make this project possible.
2007 UPDATE: Feeding The Nations partnered with Global Assistance to ship 40,669 pounds, or 199,584 meals, of fortified rice and soy protein meals and children's multivitamins valued at $96,118 to bring hope to the hungry and hurting by feeding both the body and soul.
2006 YEAR IN REVIEW
UPDATE: FTN blessed Ethiopia with $24,294 of canned vegetables and vitamins.