Ethiopia: Tuesday, Day 2

We left Addis and headed to the Rift Valley. Stopped at Bethany and picked up Desalegn. It was several hours to get to the Sabana Vacation resort. We saw so much on our way. Small towns with sidewalk vendors. Villages with thatched roof huts. Villages with mud huts. Villages with straw huts. Donkeys. Oxen. Goats. Camels. Storks.

The resort was nice. Beautiful setting with the mountains surrounding the valley, which at this spot is now a lake. I can’t remember the name of the lake, think it started with L. We walked around and took some pictures. We walked down the beach, which is really just gravel. Several families were there swimming and just enjoying being outdoors. We met some young boys from an Italian missionary school, and some of them were orphans. They were very kind and some spoke a little English. They were happy to hear about the work we plan to do.

We had lunch at the restaurant there at the resort. I had vegetarian pasta and it was great. The Italian influence on the cuisine here is very apparent!

After that, we began driving to Nazret/Adama. On the way we stopped at a small hut village. I had a bag of bubble gum and as soon as we stepped out there were already 4 children standing at our van. We exchanged smiles and shared the gum, and more children arrived. A couple of them spoke some English, and told us they were learning it in school. We told them about Jesus and how much He loves them. It was heartbreaking to see the little children wearing such tattered and dirty clothes. They were so sweet.

Next we stopped at the market in Ziway (zih-WHY). What an interesting and intimidating experience. It was an open, outdoor market much like I’ve seen in Mariupol (Ukraine). Hundreds and hundreds of people milled about seemingly endless vendor stalls. I think we were a bit of a novelty or oddity. We had some teenage boys following us for a while and we felt a little bit uneasy (although Desalegn was with us). Then a group of children saw us and began walking with us. They were cute and once we were back to the van, Steve gave them some of the gum.

After that, we finished the drive to Adama. We checked into Hotel Maya. Then we went to KVI (Kingdom Village International) Adama – the orphanage. It is a privately funded Christian orphanage and seems to be very well-maintained. We met the director and she gave us a tour of the orphanage. There are probably about 40 – 50 kids there right now. The director said they have 60 kids on average. We spent some time in the baby room first and there were 8 or 10 babies in there. So cute, but so heartbreaking to see them just lying in their beds. The good sign to me was that they would cry when they needed something and they had great eye contact. So it would appear that they are getting good attention. We went to the toddler room – there are only 5 toddlers at this time (the rest are now with adoptive or foster families!). Then we saw the older kids, they were eating dinner. This was the biggest group.

After that we went back to the orphanage courtyard and had snacks and a traditional Ethiopian coffee service. We talked a little more and then went back to the hotel. I asked the director what the greatest needs are at this orphanage. She said it's clothing for older children, and diapers (disposable and cloth) for the infants.

One of our rooms at Hotel Maya

Some of our friends at the resort

A couple of the children in the hut village

Baby rooms at KVI Adama

A couple of our friends at the Ziway market

Ziway market

The Boys

Here are some of the pictures of the boys from the orphan care Sunday photo shoot. I honestly don't think the photographer could have captured their personalities much better. You know, it's a shame they don't like the camera...

Orphan Care Sunday

Yesterday was Orphan Care Sunday at our church. It was so exciting to get to focus on the call to care for the fatherless, and I wanted to share a few things with all of you.

First, take a look at these numbers - these reasons...


Next, if you'd like to do something about it, One.27 (Cross Pointe's orphan care ministry) is going to be sharing several ways to do so in the coming days and weeks. A couple of them are already on the website: http://www.one-27.org/

I also wanted to share another video that closed out yesterday's service. You might recognize a couple of the faces - and hopefully it will stir you to action. The faces you see are from church families whose lives have been personally touched by adoption.


Finally, I invite you to join the One.27 facebook page HERE to get the latest info on how to answer the James 1:27 call.

Ethiopia: Day 1

Finally found my journal from the trip, so that will allow me to get this posted in a more timely fashion I hope!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We landed in Addis Ababa at around 8:30 local time this morning. Got our visas, made it through immigrations, found all 10 of our checked bags, and got through customs – all by around 10:15. And then we discovered that Sebilu (Bethany’s Ethiopia director) wasn’t there. After a bit of waiting, Brad decided to call. Good thing – they thought we were coming in at 8:30 PM instead of AM! In about 30 minutes, he was there. We hopped in the van that would be our transportation for the week, and met our driver, Solomon.

We first went to Jemimah Guest House and checked in. We checked email & let everyone know we’d arrived safely, and then we were off.

Lunch was at an international restaurant with a couple of the Bethany staff members. I'd decided to try and eat vegetarian while in country - thought it might be less risky! The only vegetarian option was spring rolls, and I wasn’t starving anyway so it was a good choice. 

After that, we drove to the Bethany office. We met some of the staff and then Sebilu did a short presentation about Bethany in Ethiopia. In addition to going over the OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) hierarchy, he explained the traditions and culture of Ethiopia, and that they greatly value family, and institutions are NOT a first line of defense for most. He also talked about the foster care program that is being piloted in Adama/Nazret.

After that we stopped by the bank to exchange some money. Then we headed back to the guest house. I went to the internet room to call Zack on skype, but the connection was terrible. While in there I met two families who are adopting: one man and his son, from Iowa, hoping to fly home Tuesday night (wife already back home with their other children). And a woman and her mom with their son – from Kansas City – they’d just taken custody of her little boy. We hung around the internet room for several hours visiting with the families and attempting to get a good internet connection. I could send emails from the iPod but nothing was doing very well with the netbook. Several more families arrived from their gotcha day. It was fun getting to meet everyone,

Around 7:00 everyone was past the point of exhaustion and decided to head to bed. I went to Brad & Ann’s room and borrowed a power adapter so I could charge the netbook & iPod. On my way back I decided to try Skype one more time. This time, success! I was so thankful to get him – feeling so disconnected was causing some homesickness. But hearing all 3 voices perked me up.

Back in my room by 8:30. We’re leaving at 8:00 tomorrow morning to pick up Desalegn and head to the Rift Valley. Gotta be downstairs at 7:15 for breakfast.

Observations from Day 1: goats. Everywhere. And oxen, too! Extreme poverty, run-down buildings, make-shift housing, pedestrians everywhere. The thing that has really broken my heart is the area surrounding our guest house. Mud-walled huts covered with tin roofs – very tiny, very close together. Little villages of sorts, with little protection from the elements. We’ve been told they’re primarily Somali immigrants. Also hear a cow moo’ing a lot, dogs barking, and a rooster crowing. Ethiopia has taken me by surprise. Not what I envisioned Africa to be. Many buildings and much more of a city here than I would have expected. Lots of people – and most are very friendly. Much milder temperatures than I imagined – around 70 or so. Lots of rain so far – they tell us it’s the very beginning of the rainy season, their winter.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds, and can’t wait to figure out how we can help Bethany and the Ethiopian people in the future.

Vera Beth is home

Yesterday, I received a birthday gift nearly two years in the making. 

First picture we ever saw
of Vera



In September of 2009, my mother-in-law asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I couldn't think of a single thing, so I decided we'd raise funds and advocate for a child from Reece's Rainbow - and specifically, a child from William's birth country.

And thus, the quest to find Vera's family began. We prayed and prayed. We asked God to lead a family to become Vera's forever family. We shared her story with everyone, and we waited for God to lead her family to her.

Yesterday, I saw those prayers answered. Vera is now a daughter and a sister. She has a Daddy, a Mommy, two brothers, and a sister.

It was beautiful. I can't even put into words what it was like to kneel down beside her and talk to her.

Instead, I'll show you a few pictures of her homecoming, and simply say...

God is good... all the time!

Ethiopia Recap

Well, I've been back from Ethiopia for a month now, and should have already done this. But time has simply gotten away from me.

But I really do want to write about the experiences while there... if nothing else, so that I have a record of it for myself! So over the coming days, I'll do a day-by-day recap of what went on during my time in Addis Ababa and Adama.

Stay tuned.

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday

YOU might not be able to see a lot in this picture.

But I see a son enjoying his first real fireworks display and his first Fourth of July, in the arms of his mommy. That's what I see :)

Don't Miss an Opportunity!

September 2010: Sitting at William's first soccer practice of the season. I struck up a conversation with a mom sitting nearby. As we talked, I shared with Tracy that we'd just adopted Daniel about two months ago.

October 2010: Another soccer practice. Tracy was talking to Zack (I was running an errand with the wild 5-year-old), and asked which country Daniel is from. Zack shared that both he & William are from Ukraine. Turns out, Tracy's friend Pam and her family were about to host a young girl from Ukraine for the holidays.

November 2010: we met Pam and her family for dinner. We shared about our experiences in Ukraine and offered to have them over for a Ukrainian dinner when Katya arrives.

December 2010: the whole family, including Katya, came over. We had a great time hanging out, eating borscht and vareniky, and getting to know each other better.

Well, many of you know that I've been advocating for a little girl in an Eastern European orphanage since September 2009. Last year a family committed to Vera's adoption. But early this year, I received the news that the family was not adopting her after all. My heart was broken. She was approaching her 6th birthday and I knew her time was running out.

So I began praying. Pleading. Asking God to open the eyes and ears of the family that was meant to be Vera's forever family. I plastered her picture and story everywhere. Our blog. Emails. Facebook. Twitter. I asked people to share on their social media outlets as well.

My new friend Pam did just that. She posted Vera's picture on her facebook, and it was then that Vera's family found her. A friend of Pam's had been dreaming of a little girl. Little did she know, that face in her dreams was a real girl.

As soon as she saw Vera's picture, she recognized her. And within days, Vera's family was pursuing her. They already had most of the paperwork including homestudy, just had to get it updated. And a few weeks ago, they arrived in Vera's country and met their youngest child for the first time.

In about 48 hours, they should be landing in America. If all goes as planned, I'll get to be a part of their welcoming committee.

Vera is now a daughter. She has a dad, a mom, two brothers, and a sister. And we live about 20 minutes from them!



In the past there've been times when I've wondered if I should just leave strangers alone. Maybe they don't want to hear our story. Maybe I should stop telling our story, and just let people go about their business. But what if by telling the stories of our family, God is working through us, and we're utilizing the opportunities that He gives...

So my perspective has changed. Now I think back to that hot day on the soccer fields with Tracy. And I see that what at the time might have seemed to be an innocent conversation, turned out to be a part of a chain of events that brought a daughter home.

Don't Miss Out on Opportunities!!