The study was conducted in Addis Ababa, Addis Ketema subcity,rnKebele 06/07, with the objective of showing the prevalence of mentalrndistress in sponsored children, aged between 15 to 18 years, in GuenetrnChurch Child Sponsorship project during April 2008. The selF reportingrnquestionnaire combined with socio-demographic questionnaire itemsrnwere administered to 270 beneficiaries selected through systematicrnrandom sampling technique. The questionnaire was completed, filteredrnand the data of 248 children were analysed through percentage andrnanalysis of variance, and reported in this study. As a result, 48.8% ofrnthe participants had scored above the cut off point and showedrnsymptoms of mental distress. The prevalence of mental distress wasrnalso assessed in relation to socio-demographic variables and it wasrnnotified that the mental distress was higher in female than malernrespondents, in orphaned than non-orphaned children as well as inrnrespondents from large family sizes and with hearing and mobilityrnproblems. Moreover, the prevalence of mental distress was foundrnhighest among children who never attend religious services and whoserneducational level was lowest. The mean score obtained across selectedrnsocio-demographic variables were analysed and significant differencesrnwere observed across all variables. Based on the findings of this study,rnproject holders and staff are suggested to study the impact of mentalrndistress, work on the underlying causes of mental distress with healthrnprofessionals and counsellors, and gwe special attention andrnpsychosocial support to orphaned children, children with large familyrnsize, children with visible physical impairment! disability and lowestrnlevel of education and revise a strategy to utilize religious services asrnresources to support children with mental distress.