Prayers needed

As most of the Ethiopian adoption community already knows, there are some major changes taking place for the future Ethiopian adoptions. I'm sure many of you have already signed this ePetition, but this is a plea for those who are not part of the adoptive community, we need your prayers and signature too.

Today is the first day of Lent, and we as a family take our season of preparation seriously. We spend focused time on God and His word and seek Him to prepare our hearts for both Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. I will be spending time praying for the Ethiopian children, adoptive families in the pipe lines, orphanage workers, and government officials. A common part of Lent is to think about those "less fortunate". And all I can think about are those families and children who are so poverty stricken in Ethiopia.

Our boys knew that deep poverty well. They knew a hunger that no one should know. They knew a loneliness and hurt and rejection that ONLY CHRIST can heal. As grateful as I am that our boys are home, my heart is grieving the situation in the Ethiopian adoption process. Heavy hearted today, I ask you to join me in prayer. Please click on the link and sign the petition. Please seek God on behalf of the children this new policy will effect.

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43714.html

keeping their culture alive

I am determined to keep the Ethiopian culture alive with our boys. I am always hunting for ways that we can include parts of the culture, history, language, customs, food, music...anything that helps them keep their roots.

Wanted to pass on some ideas that I have come up with that help with this. For starters our boys have lost their native language (actually English is their 3rd language). So I have hunted for some things that will help them learn Amharic. Found this blog/site here that has basic words that we can learn.

Here is a favorite music cd that we found via another adoptive mom. It is one of our favorites. The price fluctuates so watch when it goes down. It is hard to find so it can be a bit pricey.

We have done lots of research on the typical Ethiopian holidays and celebrations. As the Christmas season approaches, here is one way the people celebrate Timket.

We ordered some books from Amharic Kids. Great books for every Ethiopian adoptive family. Journey to Ethiopia is a good story book that helps kids understand more about Ethiopia as a country and the people who live there (simple pictures but good for kids). Tsion's Life is a fantastic book about what is it like to live in Addis. I wish there was a book like this about the country/rural life in Ethiopia. We also ordered a map and some other books from the Amharic Kids site.

I am still hunting for a site that can teach me about making some traditional Ethiopian clothing. I figured I can make some for the kids. I'd love to have some for when we celebrate the holidays. Until then, I found you can order from this store.

The girls just presented a display at a geography fair all about Ethiopia. I'll post pics soon. It was so neat to read and soak up all the history we could about Ethiopia. It will be easier to share with the boys what we know and have learned as we have come to really appreciate the culture, customs and history.

Minus 2

Tyce loves to write. Each day during rest time he writes letters and notes and copies words. Then he gives them to me and I get to figure out what he has written. Once he gave each of the girls a piece of paper with their name on it (it was too cute). He acted all shy and tentative. He has learned to write his name and he can write mom and dad from memory. The photo album that we sent him includes pictures of all of us with a label for each picture. This is where he has learned to spell most of these words.

One day he gave me this post-it.

And as I read it...tears (the happy - melt - your - heart - kind ) just flowed down my cheeks. He found a poster in the garage from one of our yard sales.

If you can't read it, it says

"ETHIOPIA HAS 5 MILLION ORPHANS".

We said yes to the call to change the world for 2 little guys. Their world will never be the same.



And neither will ours.



There are 2 less orphans in the world.

5 million


minus 2.

Southern Region of Ethiopia

Our boys are from the southern region of Ethiopia and I wanted to share some pictures that I got from a family that was in our travel group. They had the blessing of traveling early and getting a little tour of the southern region.

Many of the children at HH are from the South and I am sure we all would love to visit and share with our children the beauty and uniqueness of their home land. We were only able to visit Addis Ababa, the big city and capitol of Ethiopia.


The homes consist of these handmade huts. Built out of mud and twigs. A whole family lives inside along with the animals that they may have. Most of these families are large with many children and they all sleep on the same mat on the floor together.
Here is the inside of a home. Notice the animals are on one side and the family on the other.
From the inside of the hut looking up to the ceiling. Fantastic workmanship of weaving the twigs together to make the roof.

What a beautiful landscape. Notice the limited amount of trees and not much shade or protection. On the right side you see the termite mound.

Here is an up close of a termite mound. I have some good reason to believe that these bugs are eaten by the local people. Ummm yummy.
Here is a man washing in the local water. It is where you would go for all your water needs. Bathing, laundry, drinking...clean water is a true blessing.

The women and children working to get their water to use at their home.

Here is a 6 year old girl going to the water to wash her other outfit. I am amazed at the responsibility of the young children there. Our oldest boy displays evidence of this kind of responsibility. He is able to wash himself and care for himself - which is not typical of a 4 year old.
The simplistic life and shear joy of the children is refreshing. They have such beautiful smiles and a joy that flows forth from them.
These children aren't wanting an ipod or the newest video game. They aren't asking to join a sports team. They don't complain about the meal that is put before them. They don't roll their eyes are helping out around the home. They have so very little, and yet their hearts are precious and joyous. Oh how these people need Jesus to fill their lives. Let these pictures remind you ( and me) to pray for the people there.
When Fikadu saw these pictures it was precious. I could see a look of familiarity on his face. He knew this man was fishing (fish is one of his words). When he saw the pictures of the homes, his he was drawn into the screen and just kept saying "yes, yes, yes". I could tell he was trying to figure out if that was his hut and that was his birth family. I desire for him to remember as much as he can, and yet I know he will forget too quickly.

We want to show respect and honor for their native home and the people there. I have prayed that God would build our boys up to someday go back to Ethiopia and share Jesus with the people there and do great things for that country.

It is such a beautiful place, with such significant needs. The poverty is more than you could imagine. Almost 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. These children need food, education, medical care and an opportunity to know Christ.



Dear Sweet Peas,

How grateful I am that your birth mom chose to give you life by letting you go. She loves you so much and it was only because of poverty that she had to make that decision. We pray for your native land, for the beautiful people there, for your birth family and we are praying that God uses you to do big things there in Ethiopia some day.

Love, Mom

ETHIOPIA in the 2010 winter olympics

We enjoyed the opening ceremonies of the Olympics the other night. I let the kiddos stay up and watch the whole thing (later I regretted it because they were SOOOO tired the next day). We have been studying the ancient world and we recently learned all about where the Olympics started and about the famous marathon runner.

We enjoyed the whole show. The music and the dances and the whole presentation was so cool. I am an educator at heart so we talked about the countries as the flags were marched in and the athletes waved to the crowds. I am more sentimental than I think, for I was so happy for each country and all the dreams that were represented by those men and women.

And then....the ETHIOPIAN flag came in. And I welled up with tears. Talk about feeling emotional. It was so precious to hear that there were only 5 countries in Africa represented in the Winter Olympics, and Ethiopia was one of them.

We cheered for our family's other country. You see, when you adopted internationally, you learn that you must take on that country as your own. It will not be just where your kids are from, it will also be your own identity.

I borrowed the pictures and information on the only athlete from Ethiopia for the 2010 winter games. Thanks Jenny.

His name is Robel Teklemariam. He was the first Ethiopian to ever compete in the Winter Olympics back in the 2006 games. His sport is cross-country skiing. He learned to ski when he moved to New York with his mother at the age of 9. According to this article, his goal for his second Olympics is "to improve on his finish in Italy [the 2006 games] and inspire young Ethiopians to follow in his ski tracks."

It will be neat to learn more about Ethiopia as our boys grow and I am hopeful that we can instill a love for their birth country and it's people.


Dear Sweet Peas,

One of the reasons we were drawn to international adoption is our LOVE for God people everywhere. We have always had a heart for the nations. We desire to raise you boys to be a blessing to all that come to know you. I pray that as you grow, you will have a love for your birth country and let others know how special it is to be an Ethiopian American.

Love, Mom

Ethiopian Plane Crash

Not the best timing for this one. We are preparing to purchase tickets for our trip in a few weeks. It is never good to hear about a plane crash, but it was hard to sleep last night after reading about this situation online. HERE is the article if you are interested in reading it. We are praying for the families with our agency who are in Ethiopia this week to pick up their children. It might be hard to board that plane at the end of the week to come home.

We are also specifically praying that we get confirmed travel dates this week. I have tickets on hold and I have to decide by Friday if we will chance it and purchase them or wait. The embassy appointment that we are looking at is for Feb. 15. Please PRAY with us for confirmed details in God's timing.

Dear Sweet Peas,

I love how God has given us such a peace about our family. We all pray for you boys every day and we are counting down the days until we can come and bring you home.

Love, Mom

Ethiopia in the Bible

Just thought I would share what Chuck had gathered in his studies on Ethiopia in the Bible. If you are FB friends with him, he posted this a few days ago, but I found it quite interesting. Below is a copy of his notes. He must have shared this with the girls because they were able to tell me all about it at the dinner table last night. Oh, I wish I could retain knowledge like they do.




Since we are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia I wanted to do a little research on mentions of Ethiopia in the BIble. I had no idea what a rich Biblical history Ethiopia has! It is mentioned more than 45 times in Scripture! Here is a short overview of several of them. (NOTE: I did not write this!!! The following is a compilation of notes & excerpts taken from from several websites.)

CREATION
Ethiopia is first mentioned in the Creation account itself. The river that watered the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:10) split into four giant rivers: "The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold... the name of the second river is Gihon: that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia." (Gen 2:11, 13). God's "Garden" was quite colossal, actually - more like a giant preserve, a country or a continent. His "Garden" had to be watered by a mighty river! That river split into four other mighty rivers, two of which flowed in Ethiopia.

THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH
The prophet Zephaniah was at least half Ethiopian (he had an Ethiopian father, no info about his mother). This Israelite prophet was a direct descendant of King Hezekiah: "The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah." (Zep 1:1). "Cushi" means "man of Ethiopia". There are three men named Cushi in scripture, all very prominent: Joab's runner (2 Samuel 18:21-32), the great-grandfather of Jehudi the scribe (Jer 36:14), and Zephaniah the prophet's father (Zep 1:1).

MOSES WIFE
Moses had an Ethiopian wife. He married her after his first wife died. Moses' only children were through his first wife, Zipporah (1 Chr 23:15). God punished Moses' sister Miriam with leprosy after she and his brother Aaron spoke against Moses for marrying her (see Numbers 12:1-15).

JEREMIAH'S RESCUER
Another Ethiopian saved Jeremiah's life. Jer 38:4-15 records: "Therefore the princes said unto the king, let this man be put to death..." Zedekiah the king said, "Behold, he is in your hand..." "Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; Ebed-melech went and spoke to the king, saying, My lord the king, these men have done evil to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is likely to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put these under your arms. And Jeremiah did. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Jer 39:15-18 says, "Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying, Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee. But I will deliver you in that day, saith the LORD: and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid... because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD."
God used this Ethiopian man to save the life of the prophet Jeremiah, then God blessed Ebed-melech by saving his life in return.

A RUMOR SAVES JERUSALEM
God also used a rumor about an Ethiopian king to save Jerusalem during one of the most famous battles in the Bible. The Bible talks about this battle in 2 Kings 18 and Isaiah 37. There was a king named Rab-shakeh who had Jerusalem surrounded. It looked like God's people were doomed. He had conquered other mighty nations before attacking Jerusalem. But he got so proud and cocky that he started blaspheming God. Isaiah 37:7-9 is God's reply to Rab-shakeh: "...he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with you...." -- God sent Rab-shakeh back to his own country and killed him. And He used a rumor about Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, to get Rab-shakeh back there.

1 MILLION-MAN ARMY
Of the nations that Israel went to war against in her history, Ethiopia had the largest army. Its size is mentioned in 2Ch 14:9 "And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah." A thousand thousand is a million. Zerah the Ethiopian led a 1 million man army, the largest numbered army that Israel ever fought. Zerah the Ethiopian went to war against Asa king of Judah, whose army was much smaller. Without God on their side, any army of any size can be defeated. 2Chronicles 14:10-12 continues "Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou [art] our God; let not man prevail against thee. So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled."

PHILIP & THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH
Another Ethiopian (the Ethiopian Eunuch) is mentioned in Acts chapter 8. We know he had traveled over 1,000 miles, from Ethiopia to Jerusalem, to worship God (Acts 8:27). It would be hard to believe any man would travel that far across the desert by chariot, but he did.
In Acts 8:28, we find him "reading Isaiah the prophet" as he traveled. When Philip drew near the chariot he asked the Ethiopian if he understood what he was reading. He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" (Acts 8:31). After this, Philip got up into the chariot and "preached Jesus to him" (Acts 8:35). In the course of preaching Jesus, Philip spoke of water baptism. We know this because the Ethiopian said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36). Philip responded "If you believe with all your heart you may" (Acts 9:37). The man then confessed, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." His confession was an acknowledgment of the Lordship of Christ. After his confession, "he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him" (Acts 8:38).

Pretty cool, huh?
~chuck