Back from Ethiopia and MET MY BOYS!

Sorry for the delay in posting ya’ll :) from the texts and emails, it’s been too long.

We are back from our mission trip, we arrived in the afternoon of July 1, after that very long and tiring flight from Addis.

I have been trying to get back into life here and as I have said a couple of times, figure out how to navigate life here with only half my heart.

This trip was special, in that we were able to reconnect with people and make some amazing new connections and of course meet our new son’s.

First to tell you about the trip: We arrived in Addis the morning of June 19th to beautiful sunny skies. We met our drivers and went straight over to Korah for their church service. What a joy to start the trip worshipping with some of God’s favorite people!

We rested during the afternoon, separated items to go with us to Nekemte and Gimbie and then went to bed again as we had a very early morning and LONG ride ahead of us.

The trip to Nekemte isn’t for the faint at heart that’s for sure! The first 2 hours or so to a little town called Ambo are beautiful and paved…then… comes the unpaved. So for 6 or so hours it was a very bumpy ride! Gorgeous scenery though so it was kinda worth it…lol

In Nekemte we had a wonderful little hotel, with great staff. We gave our little waiter guy a run for his money…literally the dude RAN everywhere! But as you leave Addis and travel to outer cities you find that menus, like road signs, are merely suggestions. We were amused at the amount of items not available but the items that were. So fun.

We worked on the orphanage there by painting the courtyard fence, the nannie’s room, and the bathroom. We had the kitchen repaired, hung curtains and cleaned up. It was a great time.
Then on to Gimbie where the menus really are a waste of printing…lol but fun to try to figure out what we might be able to eat. Here is where one of our team members got to meet her son’s for the first time and we were able to meet a wonderful woman named Monica that has been a volunteer here for more than 2 years. What a witness!

We found our team’s core here in Gimbie when we ran into a crisis of faith that allowed us to truly turn to and trust God. He is always faithful!

We returned to Addis a day early… and I contracted my first bout of travelers belly… ugh!!! Thank you god for Cipro and Phenergan!

In Addis we were able to visit Korah and our friends back at Mesenge Church. These guys are truly amazing! Nine leaders that distribute their responsibilities and help to lift each other up. Truly an inspiration! We were able to buy teff flour, coal, sugar, salt, soap and other items as well as buy real sturdy shoes for 50 of the orphans of the church. These are some of my favorite people ever!!!

We went back several times to help with some other projects including help with fixing the walls of the gym for the men. Seriously these guys have made weights out of car parts and rigged up a lat machine and are using this area as a ministry to the men of the community. They know that the men need extra encouragement and this is a way for them to work on frustration as well as their spirits. LOVE it!

We took a little trip out to Adama to visit our friend Tezera and the kiddos there, as well as see the new orphanage there… oh my word! Talk about dreaming big! God is amazing!
We fell in love with our driver Agegnehu (Again-yo) we had a boys van and girls van. Agegnehu got stuck with the girls, but I don’t think he minded. He was great fun and such a fun sense of humor.

And in the midst of all of this …. I met my boys!!!!

What a precious day!

We arrived at Layla… a little late as we were on other people’s time :)
B was in his room and one of the kids ran to get him. He came around the corner took a look at mom, S and I and made a bee-line for me. And just wrapped his arms around me! Oh be-still my heart! He is so happy and joyful, and LOVES electronics! He knew how to work all the camera’s and my iPod and S’s ipod Touch :)

We were waiting for A to arrive so he showed us around the compound. He is obviously well loved by the nannies!

Then as we were walking in came A! Again right into my arms… sweet sweet little soul. Man the difference in personality. A is just quiet and sweet and shy and sad. Leaving him was the hardest part! S was really broken over leaving him. The SW even said, B is the light of the orphanage, many will miss him, A is ready to leave!

They have so many similarities to N and E it’s amazing! LOVE how God does that!!!

Only really bummer part of the trip was that I lost ALL the pics I took. Here’s my PSA of the year, if you have a SD Disc in your camera, DO NOT FORMAT it! Ok if you are saying Duh to me right now …just zip it. :P

More soon….