Blog: children still in village

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009

What a Weekend!

We arrived in Addis Ababa on Thursday night about 7:30, and we left for the 12-hour drive to Kamashi at 4am Friday. We stayed at the Kamashi Boys Orphanage where 150 precious young men live. On Saturday, we went to the girls' village and met their father, their grandfather, their aunt (who raised them), and their older brother and sister. We were able to go into the hut where they grew up. It was an amazing experience, and one that will be important to the girls someday. Also on Saturday we found a 10-month-old baby who was abandoned by her mother, and we brought her back to Addis Ababa on Sunday.

Since we arrived in Addis about 4:30pm, and we had to take the little abandoned baby to the transition home, we were able to go ahead and pick up our girls tonight! We have had lots of fun with them already, including bath time. They are very energetic girls who laugh until their bellies hurt. What a change from the first pictures we saw! They were very excited to see socks in their suitcase, and we had to try those on right away. It was a very big deal.

We will try to post more later and maybe some pictures if the internet cooperates, but it is dialup.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2008

News and Prayer Requests

Well, we got the bill for the girls yesterday so I think that officially makes them ours. Amy also talked to Sue, the agency director who just got back from Ethiopia on Sunday. She said the girls are shy and that they didn't talk much when she saw them.

The twins are still in their village at this point, because there is not room for them yet in the orphanage in Kamashi (Western Ethiopia). There are several adopting families set to travel in the next few weeks, and once they get their kids, there will be room for the girls to come to the orphanage. Sue said they are first priority to get to the orphanage because they are in the care of a neighbor, not a family member, and the other kids in their village who are available for adoption are with extended family.

She also told me that the girls will be brought to the agency's home in Addis Ababa a minimum of 3 weeks before we travel so that they can get their paperwork finalized. This is good, because two of the nannies at the home in Addis speak some English, and they teach the kids some key phrases (like "I need to use the toilet"). Sue is hoping to have them brought to Addis for longer then 3 weeks so they can receive better treatment for their parasites and worms, but again it depends on when space becomes available.

Sue told us it looked like we wouldn't travel until early February, but it all depends on when we get our court date. Christmas is celebrated in Ethiopia the first week of January, so we lose time for both the US holidays and the Ethiopian holidays.

So, our big prayer requests are:

1) that space will open up for the girls to be brought from their village to the orphanage, and then on to the home in Addis so they can be treated for their "intestinal friends".

2) that we could get an early court date. We can travel about 4 weeks after the girls' court date. If we get a court date toward the end of November, we could possibly squeeze in at the end of December, before or between the two holiday celebrations. But if we don't get a court date until December, it will probably push us off until early February.

3.) finances. We have applied for several grants, and we are waiting to hear back. The girls' placing fee is $11,500, and then we'll have travel and hotels, etc. We have applied for enough grant money to cover all these expenses, but grants are very hard to get, because there are so many families applying for them. Please pray that the Lord will move mountains to provide the finances we need to bring the girls home.

Posted by Matt at 10:39 AM 1 comments

Labels: adoption

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2008

A Confession on Keeping It Quiet

Readers of our blog will not be unaccustomed to a lack of adoption news. Over the past year there has certainly been a lack of news, and that has made "Our Adoption Adventure" more like "Our Non-Adoption Adventure." Well, lately there has been some news, but we have been slow to share that because we have shared so many times before things that have not panned out, and we were getting really sick of that. However, we have been slowly telling family and friends, so now it seems our news should make its blog premier. So here it goes...

As you know, back in the first of September we entered the Ethiopian adoption program. The director of the agency happened to be on her way to Ethiopia, and she promised to find us a child (or children). Well...she found us twin 3-year-old girls. We have seen pictures and some video of the girls, and tonight we received their medical reports, which came back healthy.

We are still hesitant to get our hopes up due to our past experience, but we want to share our good news with family and friends and ask you to pray with us that we will be able to bring these girls home. Here they are, making their blog premier:

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