Our opportunities to read and access books are abundant in our society, but this isn’t the case everywhere, especially not everywhere in Ethiopia. This is why a Spokane group founded the Libraries for Ethiopia Fund (LiFEF) in 2023, a nonprofit organization with the mission to establish the first-ever public library in Sendafa-Beke, Ethiopia to ensure no one there is without books to read. LiFEF is now in the process of renovating a donated building in Sendefa that will be the town of 150,000’s first library, providing free access to books and educational materials for more than 21,000 schoolchildren. LiFEF has already delivered more than 700 books and has a goal of delivering another 1,000 this year. During this special service, we’ll meet LiFEF’s founder, Kassahun Kebede, who grew up in Sendafa and is now an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Eastern Washington University. This service will be followed by a LiFEF sponsored Ethiopian communitywide dinner at our church on Friday, September 19, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are only $25 at the door, which will be used to help the organization reach this year’s fundraising goal of $5,000. Our Special Collection this month (September 21) will also be on behalf of LiFEF’s and it’s important mission.

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