one less orphan

In case you haven't heard...

2009-05-21T18:41:00.001-04:00

Our family is moving to Ethiopia. I know that's big news...to get the scoop, check out our family blog at www.theshannonfamily.com . Its quite a story. We could be moving to Addis Ababa as early as October, 2009.

She's Got Proof!

2009-05-21T18:37:00.002-04:00

Today Hanna's Certificate of Citizenship arrived! Woo Hoo! This was the last major adoption paper work that we had to do. So, while she has officially been an American citizen since December 11th when we had our court hearing, she now has the proof to show it. Now, we'll head off to Social Security and get her status updated with them and then apply for a US passport for her.

Feet!

2009-03-28T21:37:00.005-04:00

Our dear friend Kate took these photos while she was keeping our kids for a recent trip. I LOVE the one of my 4 kids! The single one is Caia...she asked to have her feet taken alone. Kate was so sweet to oblige!

Hanna - 15 Mos. Old!

2009-03-27T21:46:00.004-04:00

I was trying to get one nice "normal" shot of Hanna for a grant agency that helped us bring her home. I guess I might need to redefine normal. We got everything but. And yes, she is eating Cheerios with a pretend ice cream scoop, just in case you were wondering.

2009-03-06T21:27:00.001-05:00

Caia drew a picture of herself with Hanna on the porch with sidewalk calk today. So here are the sisters sitting by their portrait. And some of Hanna. Apparantly, something was wildly funny...as much of life is to Hanna! :)

He's Got It

2009-02-20T20:00:00.000-05:00

The other day Christy was looking at a video that flashed up that there are currently 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. Joshua read that caption and he said to Christy, "Well, mom, now there's one less than 5 million." I love the fact that he's caught it!

How Could God?

2009-02-18T21:39:00.003-05:00

Below is a video from a campaign called "I Am Second" featuring a young man named Blake and the difference he chose to make in his school by raising money to dig wells rather than everyone buy great costumes for Homecoming. I love the question he asks...one of those "how could God" questions. It is so easy to see the suffering around the world and ask "How could God allow such pain?" However, Blake asks two very courageous questions, "How could we allow ourselves to be so distracted" and "How could God allow us to be so affluent?" What if the very God whom we blame for not fixing the problems of our world has actually blessed us to be a blessing and to make a difference in His Name with the vast resources and affluence he has given us? Check out the video here. What if I could give up those exercises of affluence I take part in, so that someone else could benefit?

Just Like My Big Sis!

2009-02-12T21:02:00.000-05:00

Jerry & I were standing in the kitchen this morning, when Hanna came sheepishly into the room dragging something behind her. She came up to us and looked longingly up into our eyes. She brought the item out from behind her back and held it up to us. It was her big sister's purple dress-up dress. With her other hand, she tapped on her chest, signaling us to put it on her, and the longing in her eyes grew with every moment. When I popped that dress over her head, you would have thought she might explode! She proceeded to strut around the kitchen prouder than a peacock. All to be like Caia!

2009-02-11T20:57:00.001-05:00

So, Hanna's older sister loves to dress Hanna up. And Hanna loves to be dressed up. So here she is sporting a pink skirt over her outfit and was dragging around the purple skirt before she decided to plop down and pull toys out of the cupboard and make a mess...

Meet Alice

2009-02-10T20:27:00.001-05:00

This is Alice. Alice is Caia's current favorite stuffed animal. Alice is also Hanna's favorite thing to steal right now...which probably has something to do with the previous fact about Alice. Hanna is really into stuffed animals and babies. She loves to hold them, feed them, and pat them on the back. A little mother like her big sister...

Sledding after an Ice Storm! WhoooHoooo!

2009-01-29T20:06:00.000-05:00

We finally got snow...and a THICK layer of ice on top of it. Talk about perfect for sledding! We even got to get out the family toboggan...we don't get conditions to use it very often! So, all of us, even Hanna ended up out sledding on the hill between us and the church next door. What fun!

Loving Those Cheerios!

2009-01-25T19:56:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Cheerios are much more amusing than I ever imagined!

The Beauty of Attachment

2009-01-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

Tonight as I was sitting with Hanna, I became overwhelmed at what God has done in this little girl in helping her attach. She nestled her face into my neck and melted in my arms while embracing me for minutes. Its incredible when she does that. I am stunned when I think back to the first encounter with her in the care center in Addis when she seemed so scared of us, but now she seems so comfortable. Thank you God for working in this little girl's heart to enable her bonding to us. You are so good!

Hanna's First Birthday

2009-01-19T21:55:00.001-05:00

Ok, so the pics are going up 2 months late, but here are a couple of shots from Hanna's first birthday.

PA Farm Show

2009-01-15T19:31:00.000-05:00

A big annual tradition for our family is to go to the PA State Farm Show in Harrisburg every January. The kids LOVE going, and were so excited to get to take Hanna there for the first time. This is about as close to being "country" as we get.

More 1st Hairdo

2009-01-14T19:28:00.001-05:00

More shots of the puffs

Hanna's First Hair-do

2009-01-13T19:07:00.000-05:00

Well, it isn't much, but it all she'll let me do- 2 little puffs on top of her head. Even this was a challenge!

Christmas

2008-12-27T22:19:00.000-05:00

A couple of pics from Hanna's first Christmas with us!

Hanna's Dedication

2008-12-14T22:12:00.000-05:00

These photos are from December 14th when we had Hanna dedicated during our worship service at church. It was a beautiful time led by our great friend Rip Wahlberg. It was also very special to have Dave and Darice be part of it as Hanna's godparents and Christy's parents there as grandparents.

Court Day!

2008-12-11T20:50:00.003-05:00

This afternoon we appeared with Hanna in court for our finalization hearing. It was good to have another step behind us, even though this was totally just a formality. Everything was in order and Judge Hoberg is wonderful in these hearings. He just seems to love doing adoption hearings.

The hearing was relatively uneventful except for the fact that Jerry forgot his wedding date in under oath on the witness stand (neither of us can ever remember if it was May 25th or 27...at least we both forget, right). He got it right eventually with a bit of coaxing from our attorney.

The most beautiful thing of all is that Hanna now can have her name back. Its official that she is no longer Hanna Gerald Shannon (which is what her immigration paperwork had to reflect) but now she is Hanna Tessema Shannon. We are so glad to have her father's name back as part of her name (not to mention, Hanna Gerald??? what girl would want to grow up with that name).

On the way out of the courtroom we bumped into folks from Brittany's Hope Foundation who were there finalizing the adoption of a little boy from Vietnam and a girl from Albania. It was great to hear about their foundation which has helped to fund adoptions for over 300 children who were either special needs children or older children. We must have spent an hour sharing stories and getting to know each other. I believe they have adopted 9 children internationally and they started the foundation in memory of their first adopted daughter Brittany who died in a car accident during her senior year in college. They also have numerous humanitarian aid projects they support and work closely with our agency, CHSFS. Check out their website at www.brittanyshope.org . Its an amazing story.

3 month post placement

2008-12-03T13:19:00.002-05:00

Today we had our 3 month post placement meeting with our social worker. Wow, almost 3 months have passed since we brought Hanna into our family - that's so hard to believe. It was a lot of fun to sit around and talk about the developments we've seen in Hanna and especially the miracle of attachment and bonding which we have seen!

It's also fun to think about how much life we've experienced these past 3 months!

Here's a pic of Hanna with Joshua, Micah & Caia and her great grandfather on Thanksgiving weekend. It was a great time watching Hanna's great grandfather get to meet his great granddaughter from Ethiopia. By the way...he's 94!

My love / hate relationship with Starbucks...

2008-12-02T21:44:00.004-05:00

I must confess, I love Starbucks coffee. Ever since my first sip of it 12 years ago, I've been in love. I've been a loyal customer for years. I love the atmosphere of their stores as well as their coffee. I've been one to defend them when friends would refer to them as "Charbucks" or when people would question paying that much for a cup of coffee.

However, over these past couple of years my perspective has changed. And now, this once loyal customer has been trying to avoid buying coffee there for a few months. I've had a couple of meetings that happened there for the sake of convenience, however over all I have bypassed Starbucks for these past few months. It got to the point for me that I was conflicted by their business practices, especially their lack of fair trade coffee.

After having watched Black Gold and experienced first hand the poverty of Ethiopia, I decided that I no longer wanted to support a company that was not doing its part to help farmers by purchasing fair trade certified coffees that were ensuring the farmers could support themselves. I was conflicted to think that farmers in Hanna's region who raise coffee on the side, yet live off of less than $250 per year were not being paid more for the hard work that they put into growing coffee, which we were consuming at $2.00 to $4.00 per cup.

This was further accented to me by Starbucks involvement in humanitarian causes. Take Ethos water for instance. Its a great idea - give a portion of the profits off a bottle of water to help someone in the third world. Think of the millions of people throughout the world without clean water, yet we think nothing of dropping some serious coin for a bottle of water. I love the concept, however last I heard Starbucks was donating 5 cents for every bottle it sold. Now, that bottle of water was probably close to $2, yet the best they can do is donate 5 cents? I find the same confliction in the new Red campaign. Starbucks is donating 5 cents of every premium Red beverage to help fight Aids in Africa. Its a great concept, but 5 cents of a $4.00 latte does not seem super generous to me. That's about 1 percent of the purchase price. It is better than nothing, but it seems so small.

In all of this, I was glad to read a recent article stating that Starbucks is looking to expand their fair trade line and it was also reported that Starbucks paid an average $1.42/pound for green coffee, which is above average. That report is available at http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1975433/ . I find that very promising. I don't want to be too hard on Starbucks, after all they are a business and they are trying to make money. I guess I'm more concerned with how their image at times has been that they are very ethical and fair, but that image does not always seem to have matched reality. To be fairto Starbucks, I have heard from a few folks that work there that they have felt well cared for as employees. Its good to hear about those standards.

About 5 years ago we began to look at the coffee that we were serving at church. At the time we were serving Starbucks, but we then heard about a company called Pura Vida. Their coffees are fair trade, shade grown and organic. As I started to research them I couldn't believe what I found. Their mission is "to Create Good by using business to empower producers, motivate consumers, inspire business leaders, and, ultimately, serve the poor. By utilizing every facet of our company—capital structure, governance, employee recruitment, product sourcing, marketing and sales—to achieve social outcomes, we can demonstrate that the worlds of business and charity can not only co-exist, but can thrive on one another."

A business whose focus is serving the poor and "creating good." They have been focused on paying farmers better wages - they paid on average more than $1.60 per pound for coffee - caring for the environment in which the coffee is grown, and reinvesting their profits back into the villages where their farmers live. They have projects in Guatamala, Peru, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Ethiopia. Many of their projects are focused on helping children. The project in Ethiopia provided a lot of aid in the form of emergency food. This is a business with a cause much greater than making money - it is truly to see God's Kingdom move forward.

I love the idea. A company that is not driven by Wall Street needing to make money, but rather a company that is driven by a mission to serve the poor, start missions, plant churches and see cups of coffee that we purchase here really help to create good for someone else in the world. A business model that pushes back against meaningless consumerism and corporate greed. I love it. It is because my money can help support business models like these, that Starbucks is getting virtually no business from me any longer. Our choices have real impacts...may our choices help make life better for someone somewhere by "creating good."

If you'd like more info about Pura Vida, check them out at www.puravidacoffee.com . They are present on tons of college campuses, you can order coffee directly from them...or if you stop by the Vineyard this Sunday you can enjoy a cup on us!

Bathtime!

2008-12-02T21:26:00.003-05:00

I was looking through photos today and came across this one that I didn't realize Christy had shot during a recent bathtime. I love that grin. It simply sums up Hanna's personality so well.

Its especially nice to look at since Hanna is recovering from her last round of vaccinations yesterday. She had to get caught up over the past 3 months - 1 doctor visit per month for 3 months, everyone of them involving shots...Poor little thing...that's a lot of vaccinations!

Thankful

2008-11-27T10:10:00.007-05:00

This year we are realizing how much we have to be thankful for. It is so amazing to think that we have Hanna home with us. Two years ago at Thanksgiving time was a turning point for me in saying I was ready to proceed with an adoption. And now, here we are...2 years later with Hanna in our family. It is so amazing how God takes us on these journeys, calls us to partner with him and then provides what is needed. Here are a couple of pictures of our family. We are so thankful for them!

These photos were taken by our good friend Kate Aldrich who has her own photography business.She and her husband Brad recently adopted a little boy named Micah from Ethiopia.Check her out at www.katealdrichphotography.com/

Hanna's walking!

2008-11-26T10:17:00.000-05:00

She's been practicing a lot over the past few weeks and now she's just about got it down. This week Hanna started really taking off, taking multiple steps at a time and with the greatest laugh and grin along the way. Its the end of the world as we knew it...our baby is walking!

Adoption and ESPN?

2008-10-30T10:56:00.004-04:00

I saw this great video today on LifeSong for Orphans website. It is from ESPN College Gameday and is about Georgia Bulldogs head coach, Mark Richt, and his family's journey in adopting two children from Ukraine, one of which has a facial deformity. Check it out! Adoption made ESPN.

Click here for video

Photo Albums

2008-09-23T22:30:00.003-04:00

Here are some photos from our trip to Ethiopia. Most of these photos are from Addis Ababa while some others are from The Blue Nile Gorge and the Southern Region.

Here's Album 1 - Click Here

Here's Album 2 - Click Here

Now we're really home

2008-09-20T20:27:00.003-04:00

After spending a week at the beach with family this past week(we were home from Ethiopia for about 20 hours before leaving again) we are now officially home and starting to settle back in. My hope was to blog last week from vacation, however I found that its actually easier to find a reliable, low cost internet connection in Addis Ababa than it is in Ocean City, NJ. Hopefully we'll get some things posted this week.

We're home!

2008-09-12T15:58:00.001-04:00

After a 17 hour flight, we are home! We had a good flight - Hanna was a trooper - and we passed through immigration, etc. We had amazing immigration officers along the way. They were so kind and helpful. Its good to be home and ready to settle in to our new family life!

Traveling Home...

2008-09-11T07:53:00.001-04:00

This afternoon is a quiet afternoon around the guest house as we pack up and prepare to leave. This morning we had an Ethiopian cooking lesson where we learned how to make shiro wot and a bunch of other dishes. Joshua even got to try his hand at making injera. We then followed lunch up with a coffee ceremony. Its an amazing time of roasting coffee beans over charcoal, grinding the beans and serving them fresh. It is a relaxing, community building time which is a great honor to be part of.

We are all packed up and leave for the airport in a couple of hours and then our 17 hour journey back to The States begins. We'll be back in DC by 8 am and then pass through immigration, etc.

Please be praying for one of the little children in our travel group who has gotten quite sick.

Catch up with you all Stateside soon!

By the way...Hanna is doing amazingly well. She is definitely part of the family!

Happy New Year!!

2008-09-10T17:01:00.000-04:00

Thursday is New Year's Day in Ethiopia, so Happy New Year to you. Because Ethiopia follows a different calendar, their New Year's Day falls on September 11th each year. This also means that they are just entering the year 2001 and this whole past year has been full of Millenium celebrations. So while in the States is might be 09.11.2008, here in Ethiopia today is 01.01.2001 . Just in case you needed the day off, let your boss know today is New Years Day.

a pic from today

2008-09-09T15:13:00.001-04:00

here's a pic of Hanna from today.

It's officially official!

2008-09-09T14:24:00.002-04:00

Today was an amazing day. We started off the morning with a tour of the CHSFS care center. At every turn I am utterly amazed at what great care our children have received here. Those who have cared for Hanna have thought of everything and are some of the most caring, loving and sacrificial people whom I have ever met. They truly have loved on Hanna.

As a side note to this, yesterday while we were touring the CHSFS womens hospital we saw a nanny who started saying something in Amharic which we couldn't make out, but we did catch the word, "Hanna." We found someone who could translate and as it turns out this nanny has been one of Hanna's nannies back at the care center and she recognized us from our picture we had sent for Hanna back a couple of months ago. It was another affirmation about how loved these children are. It also has been wonderful to know that for many of those who have been caring for Hanna, the love that they share with her comes from a deeper place as many of them are believers who have been praying for her and who will continue to pray for her.

This morning we had a teary goodbye ceremony which was so touching. It was a great opportunity to thank the nannies for all they have done. After the ceremony, Hanna came into our care full time!

After lunch we headed to the American Embassy for an interview. We had to pass through a number of levels of security to reach the Consulate Office and then waited for a few hours for our names to be called. We were asked a series of questions about Hanna and our ability to care for her and then the Embassy official said those wonderful words, "Congratulations, Hanna's visa has been approved." Tomorrow we receive all of our paperwork and Hanna's passport and we'll be ready to travel home on Thursday.

Tonight we had an amazing time sitting around with her and watching her bloom more and more as we played and laughed. We even got to see her crawl a bit. She is something!

Joshua has been so amazing on this trip. He has such a great servant heart and has been a huge help. Its also been great to see this very special bond developing between he and Hanna.

All along the way we have sensed God's grace and have known His Presence with us. It has been incredible to experience the practical care of our loving Father in very small and at other times extremely huge ways throughout this trip. It has been the trip of a lifetime.

Here's a pic of our smiling daughter!

2008-09-08T15:14:00.001-04:00

Pic of Hanna...taken today.

Hanna Bloomed!!!!!!!

2008-09-08T14:28:00.002-04:00

Dad's been posting, but Mom just couldn't not post about today!!!!!

What an amazing day we had today!!!! Hanna has been a bit afraid of us (on Friday and Saturday), and kind of cried when we took her. When we had her with us, she usually just fell asleep or sat really still. Well, today, we were able to bring her back to the Guest House where we are staying for the morning, and we watched Hanna bloom!!!

She started out by falling asleep again, but woke up and started to play with some toys. Then we fed her lunch, and while Daddy held her, I got a small smile from her. (Before this, she was barely looking us in the eyes.) Then Daddy was playing with her and we got HUGE smiles from her!!! Then she really started playing and shaking the toys. Then while we were eating lunch, Joshua was playing with her, and she started laughing!!!!! And she was babblling and clapping and standing on my lap. Oh, she just came alive!!!! She also let Joshua hold her for the first time today. She is so wonderful!!!! It was hard to take her back, but we put her down in her crib (it was nap time) and she was fine.

Tomorrow morning, we go and get her for good!!! What a beautiful little girl...such a gift!

Trip to Hosanna

2008-09-07T21:39:00.000-04:00

Today we went to Hosanna, 3 hours south of Addis Ababa. It was great to see southern Ethiopia and to see some of the area around where Hanna is from. It was absolutely amazing and way too emotionally involved to post much on now. We have tons of pics and we'll get some up here sometime!

Day 5

2008-09-06T14:33:00.000-04:00

Day 6

This morning we had a team meeting with the head of the video department, Hanna’s social worker, one of her nannies, a nurse and the doctor. These people really care for her and making sure that we can have as smooth of transition as possible. It was a great meeting where we could ask any questions we had as well as watch part of Hanna’s video. Joshua stayed at the guest house during this meeting because of the confidential nature of the meeting and watched the rookie.

After our meeting, Jerry walked back to the guesthouse and got Joshua – its about a 10 minute walk. Jerry loves walking here…lots of people, lots of cars and lots of livestock. Makes every walk a fascinating journey which helps to cure his ADD.

Christy went to see Hanna and Jerry and Joshua came a bit later. It was a great couple of hours we all got to spend with her. Hanna snuggled close to both of us and really seems to be attaching well. This is amazing. It was hard to go today, knowing that we won’t get to see her again until Monday (today was Saturday).

After lunch we headed out to visit AHope, an orphanage that works with HIV+ children. It truly is a great agency.

The whole guest house then headed out on a shopping trip. It was a great time. It has been great buying Ethiopian souveniers since we are trying to buy items that will help us pass culture on to Hanna.

Tonight we went to an authentic Ethiopian restaurant. It was terrific. I love Ethiopian food! Injera and wot ! mmmmm! It was a great time as we had very good food and also got to watch some Ethiopian dancers. They were outstanding!
Tomorrow we head 3 hours South – to Hosanna, close to where Hanna is from.

We met Hanna!!

2008-09-05T21:00:00.001-04:00

Today we met Hanna. She is so beautiful. It was great to finally meet her!! Tomorrow we get to spend more time with her as well as meet the social worker, nurse and doctor. Thank you for your prayers during this initial bonding period! More to come!

Day 4 - Addis Ababa

2008-09-05T13:30:00.002-04:00

Day 4

Today we toured Addis Ababa. We were supposed to meet up with a local pastor, but it did not work out, so instead we headed out with a driver for a day. Our driver Girtma was recommended to us as someone who knew some English, however upon setting out we found out that our ability to communicate was going to be quite limited. We wanted to see St. George’s Cathedral and Museum. This is an Ethiopian Orthodox church built in the late 1800’s by King Menelik to commemorate his victory over the Italians in a battle, but in the 1940’s it was burned to the ground by Mussolini destroying not only the building but all of the artwork, too. It was reconstructed within a few years and everything was restored. It is a basilica style cathedral and has a great museum on the grounds, too. With our inability to communicate clearly we ended up instead at a Roman Catholic Church. We walked around experiencing the people of Ethiopia for awhile and then back to our driver. Fortunately we had a Lonely Planet Guide with us which had St. George’s listed in Amharic, so our driver could get us there. We had plenty of time to sit and explore the grounds at St. George’s. It was amazing to see hundreds of people come and pray. We got to climb a bell tower and tour the cathedral which was a great hit for Joshua who got to play a huge Ethiopian drum which is used in their church services. Afterwards we toured the museum which has a huge collection of artifacts from the history of the Ethiopian Church which dates back to the 4th Century AD. In addition we learned that it was an Ethiopian who first started using musical notation in church music. His name was Yared and he started notating music in the 6th Century. AD. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church still uses the same words and notes written 15 centuries ago as well as a liturgy written in Ge’ez which is a language that died out in the 11th Century everywhere except in the church.

After our tour we went off shopping. Shopping is always a journey. We first went to Halie Sylassie Market because the prices are fixed there in order to see what we could expect to pay, and then it was off to the shops and vendors where we had to haggle pricing. We had a great time and found some great things for decorations to help share with Hanna her heritage.

At night we moved from our first guesthouse to our second one, where we will stay for the rest of our time here. Fortunately it was only a 5 minute drive because we fit 3 of us plus a driver and 6 huge suitcases as well as 5 carryons and a couple of shopping bags into a Lada sedan. We were packed to the room, each of us holding bags and with the trunk tied shut. It was quite a sight (and sound as we bottomed out on every bump we hit!). The amazing part is we had a taxi for 7 hours and we paid him very well, but the total cost was $30. I’ve paid that for a 15 minute taxi ride before.

Late at night we got to meet the other birth families. There are 9 other families who we will be living with for the next week. They are from all over the place, however there is a family here from Baltimore and one from York. Its amazing to have these folks close enough that we could stay in touch since we are all using an agency from Minnesota. Tomorrow we meet Hanna. I can’t wait!

pictures from day 2 and 3

2008-09-05T13:30:00.001-04:00

Some pics...Addis Ababa, The Road North, Debre Libanos & The Blue Nile Gorge

We're Here...Day 2 and 3 of our journey.

2008-09-05T13:14:00.004-04:00

Day 2

Walking through the process at Bole Airport in Addis Ababa was uneventful. We easily got through getting our visa, exchanging money, getting all of our luggage, and customs. We met a bit of a hitch when the person who was supposed to meet us at the airport didn’t make it because of some crossed signals. We called him and hung out in the airport for awhile. While there Jerry met his first opportunity to be shortchanged. He bought a coke for 18Birr (almost $2 –airport prices are always higher) however when he counted his change (he gave him 100 Birr) he found out that he had been shortchanged 60 Birr. That Coke would have cost $8 – a bit steep even at the airport. The waiter quickly gave him the correct change when asked.

When our ride arrived we were off to the guest house. Addis Kidan is a great guest house. Alayu, the guest house manager, is a wonderful Ethiopian who is a student at a local Bible College and used to work for Compassion International. It’s a comfortable spot in a neighborhood that is only a 5 minute walk from the guesthouse we will be staying in with our agency.

It was about 10:30 pm (Ethiopian time) when we hit the beds at the guest house and we crashed for the night.

Day 3

We started our third day off bright and early by hiring a guide and driver to take us 3 hours north of Addis Ababa through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. Because it is the rainy season, everything is bright green with life. We took the main highway north of the city which consists of a paved road that has 1 lane in each direction. It twisted and turned as we headed up and down through the mountains and valleys. While traveling up the mountain to head out of the city we saw a bunch of runners. This is where the Ethiopian national team trains daily. Our guide told us that its not uncommon to see the Olympic runners out there training, including Selasie.

Our first stop along the way was Debre Libanos Monastery. This is an Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery which was originally organized in the 12th Century. It is in a beautiful setting with a waterfall in the background. The legend behind the monastery was that the founding monk stood on one leg while praying for 7 years and as a result he lost one of his legs. In the paintings which depict him he is shown as only having one leg. This is a fascinating place. There are 500 monks and 300 priestesses associated with this monastery, however they do not have housing on the grounds. Instead they live within the community or in caves which are not far from the monastery. They live a life of poverty and are either retired or have someone who provides their basic living expenses for them.

The current cathedral there was built in the late 1940s by Emperor Haille Selasie since the original building was destroyed by the Italians years prior. During the Italian occupation in Ethiopia, a couple of men made an attempt on the life of General Graizone from the Italian forces. This was during facism and Mussolini. After the attempt the men went to Debre Libanos and hid. Grazione showed up with his forces during a festival in which the monks were in a cave praying. The Italians massacred hundreds of priests as they gathered in the cave to pray. The Italians then returned a few days later and killed hundreds of lay people associated with the monastery.

The current cathedral has incredible stained glass as well as old paintings and murals. The building is divided into 3 sections based on the Jewish Temple. There is the outer room where people gather for singing and chanting. There is the Holy Place where people gather for Mass. The innermost part is the Most Holy Place where only the priest can enter. In the Most Holy Place there is an altar containing a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. The most striking feature of the whole monastery was the devotion with which the monks, priestesses and the people of the community demonstrate. The monks and priestesses fast almost every day and will eat only one meal on those days. They also gather in the courtyard throughout the day to offer prayers. One of the most striking features were prayer sticks. These are like walking sticks which they use to lean on while praying. This enables them to stand and pray for sometimes 10 or 12 hours. These acts of devotion struck me. While we did not visit it, the marketplace there seemed incredible. It looked as if one could buy anything they wanted to in this small market for locals.

On leaving Debre Libanos we saw a family of baboons playing in the field which captured our attention for some time before we continued another 1 hour up the road to The Blue Nile River Gorge. This gorge is deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon and was a spectacular sight. It sits in this huge valley which was lush green and with the start of the yellow flower addis ababa which blooms every year at the end of the rainy season. We drove a 40km road from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the gorge. Filled with twists, turns and fresh mudslides and rockslides it was quite an adventure. Along the way there were numbers of shepherds herding their livestock and shacks which people had built on the side of the road. We ended this leg of the tour after crossing the Blue Nile and having a picnic lunch in front of a small waterfall. It was beautiful. This river eventually flows into The Nile. Our guide was certain to point out that the muddy water was taking all of the rich Ethiopian soil to Egypt where it would continue to provide fertile land there, but while depriving Ethiopia of its natural resources.

Our final stop was a place called the Portuguese Bridge. This took us to a beautiful overlook where we could see for miles over a different gorge area. As we kept hiking we came to a stone bridge which our guide informed us was built by the Portuguese in the 18th century. This is not entirely true it would seem…rather it was built by an Ethiopian ruler in the 20th century…however it was beautiful. After crossing the bridge we were able to look from the top of a huge waterfall which only flows for a couple of months out of the year. It was breathtaking. We also saw 3 families of baboons at play in this area. I think we all then fell asleep on our travel back to Addis.

At night we found ourselves in the middle of experiencing our first blackout. Ethiopians have gotten used to these daily blackouts. Since we couldn’t “eat in” we headed out to the local hotspot – Metro Pizza. They make great pizza and since they cook over a wood fire, we knew they’d be able to cook our food, even if they did not have power. Here we are all the way in Ethiopia eating pizza…go figure.

We're here!!

2008-09-04T02:33:00.001-04:00

We are here in Addis Ababa and having a wonderful time. We have very limited acess to the internet at the moment, but I did want to post to say we are here. We had a wonderful time in the Northern countryside yesterday. Today we move from one guest house to the other and tomorrow we meet Hanna. We can't wait. More hopefully to come soon...complete with pictures if all goes well. Thank you for your prayers!

here she is!

2008-08-30T11:48:00.002-04:00

In the midst of all of the tying up loose ends and packing frenzy, we received Hanna's social report today. It tells us all kinds of information such as how much she weighs, what she enjoys, how she is bonding and what she's eating. She's already eating Injera and Shiro Wot which makes her daddy proud! We also got some recent photos, too. Take a look at her. In my own biased opinion, I think she's absolutely, positively gorgeous. We can't wait to meet our little Hanna Tessema.

on the edge of a dream realized...

2008-08-30T08:48:00.001-04:00

I can't describe how much excitement there is in me as we sit on the edge of a dream realized. The dream of adopting was expressed by both Christy and I to each other over 12 years ago while at Creation Festival '96. We had been married a year, living in Canada for 9 months and with no idea of what the future would have in store. We had not idea how many kids we might have or what our future would have in store. We were actually at a point where we were pretty raw emotionally after an intense first year of marriage as we started to face many things in our lives which we did not even know were there. Yet, in the midst of all of it we both felt that some day God would call us to adopt a little child out there.

Now, here we sit over 12 years later, on the edge of bringing our little Hanna home. There has been a lot of waiting along the way, too. We waited for the right timing, we waited for the money, we waited for our papers to be approved, we waited for a referral and for government clearances and birth certificates and travel dates and now for a social report. But now 12 years of waiting is about to be fulfilled. This could be why I can't concentrate for more than 2 minutes, can't sit still and can't think straight. It is because I am so incredibly excited to meet this little one that God placed in our hearts 12 years ago and has continued to fan the flame for over that time. It is because I am in awe at Our Heavenly Papa who puts desires in our hearts, kindles them over the years and then delights at bringing those plans into fullness in our presence. It is such a joyful and humbling privilege to partner with The Living God in what He is up to.

T-Minus 2 days and those 12 years of waiting will be fulfilled...

"Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land..." Psalm 37:34

What makes a father proud...

2008-08-28T08:56:00.002-04:00

As a parent there are so many things that I can think of that make me proud of my kids. Obedience. Seeing them grow in love for God. Worshipping. Leading. Passion. Seeing them try their hardest. Risking. Being a good friend. Displaying Love to others. All of these do my heart good.

Last night, however, one of our kids made me "off the charts" proud. It was one of those moments where I realized that he had gotten a larger grasp on the world and God's desires...and in that moment I was proud. Our kids were playing in the backyard with some others when they decided to start taking cup fulls of water and dumping them in our sandbox. It was at that point that I overheard Joshua say, "Guys lets not waste the water...do you know how many people in the world that don't have clean water?" I was beaming inside. He got it! It was a moment where he was looking outside of himself and was considering the plight of some of the poorest of the poor in the world. Now, I know it was just a couple of cup fulls of water, but hey, he got the message we have been talking about that 1 billion people in the world do not have clean water.

It got me to thinking. I imagine that when our heavenly Papa hears things like this come out our mouths and sees our hands in action it makes Him smile. Afterall, it is a message that He has been sharing with His people for centuries - the least matter to Him. Consider Isaiah 58 where God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah to call them to what true fasting was. It is not merely the spiritual experience or a religious exercise or a deepening of one's walk with God in going without food, rather He was calling them (and is calling us) to spend themselves on behalf of the poor as the action of true fasting. Consider these words,
" 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday."

It also means when we move toward this kind of action towards the least that we have permitted God to do a deeper work in our lives. We have suspended judgment of someone else in order to demonstrate His love to them. We have suspended those judgements we pass such as; "they should help themselves, or they are reaping what they sowed, or they are lazy, or they are ignorant, or they are corrupt" and instead have chosen to respond to others in the same way He pursued us in Jesus - He suspended judgment by making His love known. This kind of loving response would truly rock our world.

I want to live my life truly spending myself on behalf of those who have been on God's heart throughout the centuries. And may I suspend judgement and instead get to know their names, their situations and suffer alongside of them while doing all I can to alleviate their suffering with all Our Dad has given me. May I lay down my need to be right and instead pursue what God has already shared with us to be right - to care for those in need. I believe when we as Jesus followers truly catch this in our hearts and let it flow out in our choices and actions He sees it and it makes Him beam as His love is truly expressed in loving action and suspended judgement for our world.

Another Ethiopian Gold

2008-08-23T08:15:00.002-04:00

Last night Tirunesh Dibaba ,nicknamed the "Baby-Faced Destroyer" (on the right in picture) won gold in the women's 5,000 meters, becoming the first woman to win gold in both the 10,000 and 5,000 meter events. Meseret Defar who won Gold in the 5,000 meter at the 2004 Olympics, won the bronze for Ethiopia this time around.

Disturbing news about the present food crisis in Ethiopia

2008-08-18T16:03:00.001-04:00

USATODAY did this video story on the current crisis in Ethiopia. Please continue praying for Ethiopia. Video is here.

Ethiopia takes Gold and Silver

2008-08-18T07:40:00.005-04:00

Yesterday in the 10,000 meter, Ethiopia took both the Gold and Silver and set an Olympic record time. Kenenisa Bekele took Gold with a time of 27:01.17 and Sileshi Sihine took Silver. They hung in a pack of 6 runners and then for the last 400 meters both kicked it and ran an amazing split for that last lap. 35 year old (yes, that's 35) Haile Gebrselassie came in 6th place. By the way, his plan is to run again in London in 2012 at the age of 39. He was very instrumental in helping to set the pace for his teammates and he could be considered for an "assist" in this case, if there was such a thing. Here is a link (I'm not sure how long it will be active, though) to part of the race: click here

My good friend Dave keeps asking to become a coach for Hanna in long distance running. He's an avid runner and has been excited to see Ethiopia become a world dominating force in long distance races. While its too early to see if Hanna will want to become a runner, there is one thing I do know. If she does, Dave will be a much better candidate for coach than her overweight, terrible knees, shin-splint prone adoptive father!

Thoughts on Adoption

2008-08-16T16:21:00.006-04:00

Since we first started this journey approximately 1 year ago I have been thinking a lot about adoption. Over time there has been a line of thought that I have been planning on blogging about for quite some time, but now the time has finally come. Along the way we have had people comment about how great it is that we are "rescuing" a child from another land and providing her with opportunities that she would not have gotten in her homeland. In some of those settings we have been made out to be some sort of hero for what we are doing in adopting. These are the thoughts which I long to dispel. I'd simply like to share some of my thoughts on this issue.

The first is that there is nothing heroic in what we are doing. Rather, we are simply trying to obey a thought that God put in our hearts 12 years ago. We are trying to partner with Him in what it would seem He is doing in our lives and in Hanna's life. He is the rescuer. However it goes beyond Him rescuing Hanna from life in a harsh environment. He also is using this adoption to rescue our family from our own self-absorbtion and our own harsh environments of consumerism and apapthy. He called us to step out in faith on a journey in which He has met us, has provided and has called us to a greater sense of the "full life" than what we were experiencing a year ago.

The second is that by bringing Hanna to America does not automatically mean that she will have a dream life. She will have many more opportunities here than what she may have had presented to her in Ethiopia, however those opportunities can come at a cost. She will have greater access to food and comfort and healthcare and education. However there are some things she is losing as well. She will lose growing up where life is simpler, where dependency on God is a necessity and where apathy is not an option. She will be coming to a land of blessing, however lets not forget that she also will be leaving a land of blessing. Here she will have many more material things at her finger tips, however many people in Ethiopia have riches that money cannot buy - one of the greatest being a contagious joy in the midst of desperation.

The third is that we are simply trying to participate in a call that I believe God puts in front of all followers of Jesus. How will we care for the widow and the orphan? In our case we are going to Ethiopia as a part of caring for the orphans of the world, however we all are called to do something. God reveals His heart throughout both the Old and New Testaments about His concern for those who have suffered the greatest of relational losses. It is not about what The Shannons are doing to care for an orphan. Rather, it is answering the call that God has put before each of us which we need to answer - What will I do for the widows and the orphans in my backyard as well as around the world?

The fourth is that God is speaking through this experience to me in deep ways. Romans 8:15 says, "So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father." God adopts us as His own. We are pursued and then welcomed into His family in the most intimate of ways, where we get to call Him Daddy. We were God's enemies...we were far from Him...we were lost and unable to find hope...and then He pursued us at the greatest of lengths in Jesus coming, dying and raising again so that we could know life and enter into the most intimate of relationships with The Living God - The Big God we now can know as Daddy or Papa through what Jesus did. Over this past year there has been what seemed like endless paperwork, tons of waiting, lots of surprises, red tape, money and we are about to embark on a 17 hour flight. Why? To bring our daughter home. I can't wait to kiss her cheeks and hold her close to me. What I am understanding however is how miniscule our efforts have been compared to the extent and the extreme that God went to so that you and I could know Him as Papa. In all of this there is my heavenly Dad calling to me about how much He loves humanity and loves you and I - and how He wants intimacy - after all it cost Him a lot to make it possible and accessible.

This adoption also could not have been possible without community. We have had an amazing group of people around us who have prayed and listened and helped fundraise and laughed and cried and hoped and sacrificed and thrown showers and helped practically and rejoiced and listened some more and prayed some more. We, the Shannons technically are not the only ones adopting Hanna. Rather, this awesome community of people around us are a huge part of this adoption too. We have many around us who have cared for the orphans - a specific little 7 month old one named Hanna far away in Ethiopia at the moment, however excitedly waiting to welcome her here soon!

I also see this adoption through the eyes of hope. Our goal is not to bring a little girl into our home and to "Americanize" her (whatever that might mean). Rather, our goal is to be about The Father's business and seeing His Kingdom advance through welcoming a little Ethiopian girl into our family as our daughter. I actually would consider it a great honor if someday our little daughter decided as an adult that she would like to return to Ethiopia and make a difference there in her homeland. Our aim will be to keep her culture as in tact as possible, so that someday she could make that choice if she so desired. I would love to see all of our kids choose to make a difference in the world by following God's Mission for their lives wherever that might take them and whatever that might mean they are doing. None of our kids are truly ours...they are The Lord's and He simply has given us the privilege and responsibility of parenting them. May our children choose to be part of seeing God's Kingdom advance.

Soon after we began our journey, Christy put a label on a candle that says "Hope." This candle has been in a prominent place in our kitchen as a reminder that what was a dream of some day welcoming a little girl into our family through adoption could become a reality. Now, as we are just a couple of weeks away from traveling to meet Hanna, to me this candle takes on a new meaning. It becomes the message of hope for the future. It becomes the message of hope for what God will choose to do in Christy and I, in Joshua, Micah and Caia as well as in Hanna as she joins us. It becomes a message of hope for what God will do in the future in and through each of our children as they choose to step into the adventure He calls them to and make a difference in His Mission throughout the world.

May you know His hope today as you engage in His Mission.

Ethiopia at The Olympics

2008-08-15T22:32:00.003-04:00

Ethiopians have been dominating long distance running over the past few years, so it was no huge surprise today when Tirunesh Dibaba took Gold in the 10,000 meter race. She broke 30 minutes and came in at 29 minutes 54.66seconds. She also is only the second woman in history to break the 30 minute barrier. The silver medalist was Elvan Abeylegesse who is an Ethiopian native, but running for Turkey.

A Totally Different Language

2008-08-14T13:41:00.005-04:00

I've been doing a bit of reading on Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia. I find the whole study of language and communication so fascinating. While Amharic is not the native language of the region where Hanna is from, it is the national language which is the primary language for about 12 million Ethiopians and the second language of about 1/3 of the total population. The interesting part is that Ethiopia has 63 million who speak 82 different languages with over 200 dialects. I find this so incredibly rich. By the way, Amharic has 231 characters!

From what I have been able to discover, the village where Hanna is from probably speaks Tembarissa which is a dialect of Kambaata. There are approximately 82,000 people who speak that dialect according to Ethnologue.com. Kambaata is a Cushitic language (named for Cush from the Bible, with the predominant languages being Oromo and Somali) whereas Amharic is a Semitic language (named for Shem from the Bible, similar to Hebrew, Aramaic or Arabic). Both of these languages are subgroups of the same category of Afro-Asiatic language. Here is Genesis 1:1-5 in Kambaata.

So, what's all of this mean...I just find it terribly interesting. It is one thing to hear it spoken and something totally different to see it written. Imagine, Hanna is coming to us with this incredibly rich history of language which very closely resembles that spoken by the Israelites and Jesus Himself. I find it so fascinating and rich to ponder.

By the way, in case you're curious...Here is Hanna's name in Amharic as well...or at least as far as I can tell :)
(Hanna Tessema Shannon)

Extra Days in Addis Ababa

2008-08-10T19:07:00.003-04:00

Our hope is that we can let Hanna in on as much of the culture of Ethiopia as possible. To help facilitate that we (Joshua, Christy and Jerry) are going to travel to Ethiopia a couple of days early in order to take in a bit of the culture. So, on September 1st we'll fly from Dulles (Washington DC) to Addis Ababa. We'll have a 1 hour layover in Rome on the way through (we'll stay on the plane while they refuel). On the evening of September 2nd we'll arrive in Addis at about 8pm. We'll pass through customs, buy our visas and then change some money. Then we'll meet Aleyu who is picking us up at the airport to take us to a Baptist Guest House. There are a few upscale western style hotels in Addis Ababa including a Sheraton and Hilton, however we felt that to best experience the culture it would be better to stay in a guest house with Ethiopians and eat Ethiopian meals. Its a great guesthouse - check it out here

On September 3rd we'll get picked up early in the morning for a tour. We are hiring a driver, guide and range rover to drive us 200 km north to The Blue Nile Gorge - a canyon that is larger than the Grand Canyon. It is 1 mile wide and 1 mile deep. On the way we'll also be stopping at Debre Libanos - a 13th century Orthodox monastery.

That evening we'll return back to Addis. The next day we are hiring a driver to take us around Addis. We'll visit some of the historical sites as well as go to the Merkato - the largest market in Africa. That day we'll also be meeting with Woody - an Ethiopian Vineyard pastor who lives in Addis. Can't wait to meet him and share some time together.

The evening of the 4th we'll meet the rest of our travel group and move into a guest house that our agency runs in Addis Ababa. On Friday the 5th, we'll get to meet Hanna. Can't believe it!

Where's that gonna fit?

2008-08-02T22:18:00.001-04:00

So, what do you do while you are praying that a hurdle that could delay our travel gets overcome? We went shopping. The spiritual gift of shopping does not fall within anyone in our family's profile, but we had to do it anyway. We knew it was going to be a huge task to head out on Friday morning to pick up things for our trip, but I'm not sure any of us knew the magnitude of it all. Imagine for a moment...what could one possibly need during a 10 day stay in Ethiopia in which a husband, wife and 9 year old son are traveling to bring home their 7 month old daughter? After our trip today, it would appear as if you need everything, including the kitchen sink.

Here's a partial list...Doxycycline for all - keeps us from getting Malaria, Deet bug spray - keeps the mosquitos from biting us in the first place, Benadryl - just in case the mosquitos break through the Deet defenses and Joshua gets bitten (he swells up like mad), Immodium - in case travelers diarrhea hits, Cipro - in case Immodium does not take care of travelers diarrhea, a case of size 2 diapers - in case diarrhea hits Hanna, a case of size 3 diapers - in case the size 2 diapers don't fit Hanna, Dried fruit - just in case we go the other way and need some coaxing, Kids Dramamine - to keep it from coming out of Joshua the other way...Oh, and lest I forget toilet paper and antibacterial hand sanitizer since many establishments are not fully equipped to handle the above forementioned situations.

Of course that was just the beginning...then we needed flashlights - the power goes out often, Ear plugs - the dogs outside the guest house bark most of the night, Bottles, Pacifiers, Bibs, Baby Food, Formula, Childrens Tylenol, SD cards, Voltage Adapters, Film, Money Belts, Batteries, Food, Suntan lotion, Burp cloths, and a Sudoku book to keep mommy from going mad. Plus dozens of other things I'm running out of time to mention.

All of this is tongue in cheek, however, because I can't imagine a better excuse to go shopping than to get ready to bring our little baby home. We'll be there soon, Honey. Love, Daddy

Leavin' On A Jet Plane!!!

2008-08-01T14:26:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been quite the crazy past day and a half. Yesterday, we received some emails from our specialist Jan that there might be another step of paperwork that we might have to go through before we could travel, and if that was the case, it would probably delay our traveling a month or more! UGH! What a tense time! Our hearts were just breaking!

To make a long story short, all has been resolved today. I spoke with Jan shortly after 1pm, and not only did she tell me that everything was in order for us to travel, but she officially assigned us to the Sept. 4 travel group! Jerry was able to call the travel agent we talked to last week and go ahead and book the tickets we had on hold (today was the last day they could be on hold for the price we were quoted. After that, we could keep them on hold, but the price would go up. Phew!) So, on Sept. 1, just one month from today, we will be on a plane headed for Ethiopia to bring home our little Hanna!!!

We got the news shortly after we had completed a marathon shopping trip to get most of what we need for the trip. I'm off to pack a baby bag and a small pharmacy! :)

Thank you, Father, for answering our prayers and the prayers of many faithful friends!

The crib's up!

2008-07-26T22:35:00.005-04:00

Yep, the mess finally got cleaned up, everything got put back together from yesterday, and the crib is officially up and ready! Waiting for Hanna are "Hope" the bear the kids made and a super-soft stuffed bear/blanket from the shower last night. Now all we need is that baby!!!

Oh What a Night!

2008-07-26T21:28:00.007-04:00

Yesterday was indescribable, but we'll do our best to try...

Jerry had originally wanted to go shopping in the afternoon for all the stuff we'll need for our trip, but I hadn't had time to get the entire list together, so we decided to go ahead and move the furniture around in our room and put the crib up. We decided we'd start at 2pm. When I went up, Jerry was on the phone in the office, so I started clearing out the room and moving little things and cleaning and stuff in our room. After a while, he yelled over, "We got it." I yelled back, "Got what?" I had NO idea what he was talking about. It took him a while...maybe even several minutes...before he finally told me that what "we got" was Hanna's birth certificate!!!! I wasn't even expecting it because we were only 2.5 weeks into a quoted 3-4 week wait.

Well, I rushed over to see her new picture (leaving our room torn apart and the bathroom and hallway full of stuff from our room). My how she's changed!!! And there it was...the official paper stating that Gerald Shannon and Christy Shannon were parents of Hanna Gerald Shannon. (Yep, after much question and discrepancies on her paper work, her name is spelled with 2 n's instead of 1 n.) Wow. I can't begin to express what went on in my heart. (and yes, we'll change her name back when we finalize her adoption in the US) The only other information we got was that we would get a travel date next week.

Jerry immediately emailed our specialist to tell her we were pretty flexible in our ability to travel (and to let her know the week we were scheduled to be at the beach in Sept.). She emailed back and said we were tentatively in the Sept 4 travel group, and could we make that work. Jerry had joked about being in that group, because it means we land back in the US Friday morning and would leave Sat. morning for our yearly family vacation to the beach. (I told him he obviously wasn't the one packing!) So, when he got the reply, he yelled down the steps, "Can we make it work?!?" The answer was an immediate, " YEP!!!" Funny how perspective changes the way you look at things. The only other option would be to wait until October. Suddenly, it seems like a PERFECT time to travel! :)

Our specialist Jan emailed back that we could go ahead and put tickets on hold for the Sept 4 group, but that she would let us know at the end of next week or the beginning of the following week if there was any space in an earlier travel group.

Then it was off to contact Grandma and a travel agent. And the whole day was turned on it's ear. Jerry eventually ran off to a meeting, and I got ready to host a bonfire for folks from the church (a monthly summer occurrence). The crib would have to wait.

It was so fun to have friends to share the news with and to show off Hanna's new picture to. Then, later in the evening, someone came into the kitchen and said they needed everyone out around the fire. As we were coming out, I saw lots of people walking out towards their car, and wondered "hmmmm?", but had no clue what was up. When people started walking back with gift bags with teddy bears and booties and such on them, I started to get fishy. Then Darice walked up carrying a big, beautiful cake with Hanna's picture on it that said "Thank you God for Hanna Tessema Shannon"! Rip then gave the explanation...they had been trying to figure out how and when to have a baby shower for us, and finally decided to hijack the bonfire (since they knew we'd be home) and have the shower there. We were totally surprised.

Could the timing have been any more perfect?!? What a way to celebrate the last step of paperwork in this long journey!!! (They claim they have a connection in the Ethiopian government and arranged for us to receive the BC today, but we doubt that they are THAT good!) What a way to celebrate the end that is now in sight...with diapers (YEHAW!!! I never thought I'd be excited over more diapers!) and wipes and little pink socks and awesome baby board books and sweet little girly tops and soft little cuddly bears and and stars to hang in her room and even a dear little pink flowered outfit that had caught both Jerry & my eyes the one and only time we went looking at baby things. The generosity was a bit overwhelming...even as I had fretted a bit today thinking about finishing up the shopping list for the trip and needing to shop. Not only did we get some of the stuff on that list, but we were so blessed with gift cards and gifts that will more than cover getting what we need to bring our little Hanna home. God is so good and generous...and His people are so amazing to be willing to be a part of it all. I am blessed and overwhelmed.

The other really fun thing was to watch how excited our kids were. They were so full of joy to help open diapers! They are SO excited!!! It still amazes me how deep their love is for her.

The night ended with a beautiful fireworks display just down the street! Go figure...fireworks in Creswell!!! (Someone said they thought they were for the wedding taking place down the street, but I think they were for Hanna ;)! ) What a perfect expression of what I'm feeling in my heart!

That Deer in Headlights sort of look

2008-07-25T14:48:00.004-04:00

Here's Hanna's photo from her birth certificate. Resembles some of those drivers license photos I've had in the past =). It looks like she has grown like crazy and she's got hair! Man, has this little girl gripped our hearts. I can't wait to meet her and hold her!

YOOO HOOO! Hanna's Birth Certificate has arrived!!

2008-07-25T14:44:00.004-04:00

We just received word 20 minutes ago that Hanna's birth certificate has arrived and it is all correct. That is such amazing news for us, because now that means we can travel and get her! Wow...we're stunned. We are only 2 1/2 weeks into the typical 4 week wait for a Birth Certificate!

Jerry has been driving Christy nuts as he refreshed the email every 5 minutes, so now he doesn't have to do that anymore :).

Sounds like we are tentatively traveling the week of September 1st which will be amazing, since we'll get back just in time for family vacation at the beach.

Thanks for your prayers...now we've got about 4 weeks to get packed and we'll be there!

It's Official!!! Hanna is ours!!

2008-07-09T07:47:00.004-04:00

We got an email very late Monday night from our specialist that Hanna's case made it through court on Monday (July 7) and we are now officially her guardians!! It is so wonderful. We got the news while we have been away at the Eastern Regional Conference for The Vineyard. Wow, its so great to have all these folks around us that we can share this news with!

What happens next is that the court documents get typed up, a new birth certificate gets drafted and we are assigned a court date. It takes approximately 4 weeks for that documentation to happen and then we'll travel 3 - 4 weeks after that. Its becoming more and more real all of the time.

Now that we're officially Hanna's parents we can post her picture. So, may I introduce you to Hanna Tessema - (this picture was taken late May).

Plumpy'Nut??

2008-07-06T16:20:00.004-04:00

We've had a number of posts recently about drought and famine and the problems many Ethiopians are facing in the midst of malnutrition. It leaves parents in difficult situations of how to care for children as well as seeing their children in need, but not needy enough to get the help they need. With these situations comes a lot of helplessness. What if there was something that could alleviate some of the pain and distress for these folks.

That's where Plumpy-Nut comes in. It has been getting a lot of press over the past year. It is a remarkable product with 500 calories of fortified peanut butter, milk, vitamins and minerals. It becomes a true life saver in cases of malnutrition. Not only does it sound promising, it also is getting results. Michael Wines wrote an article in the NY Times last August 8th and he quoted Idrissa, a 24 year old mother of a 2 year old as saying, "As soon as I got him home, he started eating it - every day, aggressively. And after three days, I could see a big difference. The change was abrupt."

It has a shelf-life of 2 years and is being distributed by Doctors Without Borders. And, there's even better news...for a 4 week treatment the price tag is $20. Twenty bucks? For a very minimal portion of the world food budget a difference could be made.

Here is the text of a recent 60 minutes episode with Anderson Cooper reporting... There also is a link for the 60 minutes broadcast here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4201082n

A Life Saver Called "Plumpynut"

June 22, 2008

(CBS) This segment was originally broadcast on Oct. 21, 2007. It was updated on June 20, 2008.

You've probably never heard a good news story about malnutrition, but you’re about to. Every year, malnutrition kills five million children - that's one child every six seconds. But now, the Nobel Prize-winning relief group "Doctors Without Borders" says it finally has something that can save millions of these children.

It's cheap, easy to make, and even easier to use. What is this miraculous cure? As CNN's Anderson Cooper

reports, it's a ready-to-eat, vitamin-enriched concoction called "Plumpynut," an unusual name for a food that may just be the most important advance ever to cure and prevent malnutrition.

"It's a revolution in nutritional affairs," says Dr. Milton Tectonidis, the chief nutritionist for Doctors Without Borders.

"Now we have something. It is like an essential medicine. In three weeks, we can cure a kid that is looked like they're half dead. We can cure them just like an antibiotic. It’s just, boom! It's a spectacular response," Dr. Tectonidis says.

"It's the equivalent of penicillin, you’re saying?" Cooper asks.

"For these kids, for sure," the doctor says.

No kids need it more than a group of children 60 Minutes saw in Niger, a desperately poor country in West Africa, where child malnutrition is so widespread that most mothers have watched at least one of their children die.

Why are so many kids dying? Because they can't get the milk, vitamins and minerals their young bodies need. Mothers in these villages can't produce enough milk themselves and can't afford to buy it. Even if they could, they can't store it -- there’s no electricity, so no refrigeration. Powdered milk is useless because most villagers don't have clean water. Plumpynut was designed to overcome all these obstacles.

Plumpynut is a remarkably simple concoction: it is basically made of peanut butter, powdered milk, powdered sugar, and enriched with vitamins and minerals. It tastes like a peanut butter paste. It is very sweet, and because of that kids cannot get enough of it.

The formula was developed by a nutritionist. It doesn't need refrigeration, water, or cooking; mothers simply squeeze out the paste. Many children can even feed themselves. Each serving is the equivalent of a glass of milk and a multivitamin.

To see the impact it's having, 60 Minutes drove for 12 hours from Niger's capital to a remote village, where every week Doctors Without Borders hand out Plumpynut. After sleeping in a field under mosquito nets, Cooper and the team awoke at sunrise to find mothers emerging from the fields. Many had walked for hours in the dark, along treacherous paths, avoiding scorpions, spiders and poisonous snakes.

Rivers of women flowed into the site and within minutes there were more than a thousand of them, all waiting to get packets or tubs of Plumpynut. In a land where plastic bags are a luxury, they carry the food home in their scarves, their hands, or simply stacked on top of their heads.

"When you see some of these kids they don’t look sick. They don’t look malnourished. They don’t have bloated bellies or little stick arms," Cooper remarks.

"The ones that we're used to seeing on TV, that’s the worst of the worst of the worst. It's the tip of the iceberg. And then below that, there’s the iceberg. So, there's a whole spectrum of malnutrition," Dr. Tectonidis says. "And when we go and check these kids, well, they’re way off in height or in weight. They’re way off."

Niger has become Plumpynut's proving ground. A daily dose costs about $1; small factories mix it here and in three other African countries. Tectonidis says other companies could make similar products wherever children need them.

"There's many countries in Africa now saying, 'We want a factory. We want a factory.' Well let's give it to them," he says. "We just have to focus on these areas. We don’t have to feed the whole world. We have to go for the jugular. Where are they dying? Where are they wasted? That’s where we have to intervene. If you feed them well until they're two or three years old it's won. They're healthy, they can get a healthy life. If you miss that window, it's finished."

In Niger, most children need help now during what’s called the "hunger season," just before the new harvest. Old food supplies have run out and about all that’s left is millet, a basic grain women pound for porridge. But millet doesn’t have enough nutrients to keep kids alive; in America we use it as birdseed.

Normally a children's hospital 60 Minutes visited would have more patients than beds. But now, thanks to Plumpynut, it has empty beds. Dr. Susan Shepherd, a pediatrician from Butte, Mont., runs Doctors Without Borders in Niger.

She says children that would have been hospitalized in the past can now be treated at home. "The reason we can do that is because we can give children Plumpynut here in the ambulatory center, and they take a week’s ration home. Moms treat their children at home and come back every week for a weight check," Dr. Shepherd explains.

That's what Sahia Ibrahim has been doing. She’s already lost four children to malnutrition. Now her six-month-old twins, Hassana and Husseina, are malnourished and she’s worried they might die too. So she’s been coming to the hospital for Plumpynut.

Hassana, at six months old, weighs only seven pounds. While that's what a newborn should weigh, the little girl has put on a pound in just a week thanks to Plumpynut.

Children are weighed and measured at the distribution sites. They're also examined to make sure they don't have any serious infections. Malnutrition destroys a child's immune system, so they're more susceptible to diseases and less capable of recovering from them.

"Often these kids aren't even hungry. It's the opposite. They are anorexic because of the deficiencies they have. They lose their appetite," Tectonidis explains.

That's what happened to Mansour Miko and Maroufee Mazoo. Less than a year old, they had stopped eating and became listless and weak -- so weak that when their mothers brought them to get Plumpynut, the nurse put them in a van and sent them straight to the hospital. Three days later however, they were smacking their lips on Plumpynut, almost ready to go home.

"Have you seen kids who were on the brink of death brought back by Plumpynut?" Cooper asks.

"Oh, yeah, for sure. Again and again and again and again," Dr.Shepherd says.

But not always. Sometimes parents wait too long before bringing their child to doctors. 60 Minutes found Rashida Mahmadou in intensive care, barely clinging to life.

Rashida's condition was very serious. Her skin was literally peeling away -- one side effect of malnutrition, as skin becomes thin, pliable, cracks easily, and bacteria invade.

Just two hours later, Rashida's little heart stopped beating. She was just 19 months old.

"She died of severe, acute malnutrition," says Shepherd, who says she sees this happening every day.

Asked how she deals with so many kids dying, Shepherd tells Cooper, "It breaks your heart. It can break your spirit. It can ruin your confidence in your ability to be a good doctor. And it is sad. And I carry memories of many, many children with me and I'll carry them with me for my entire life. But you certainly cannot indulge yourself in that kind of sadness. We need to do something about this."

If Plumpynut is the answer, how come kids are still dying?

"The answer is getting to kids earlier," Shepherd says. "Once children are as sick as she is, Plumpynut is not gonna save her."

Rashida was buried in a nearby cemetery, where the grave digger told 60 Minutes he is burying fewer children than he used to.

Two years ago this region had the highest malnutrition rate in Niger. But now, after widespread use of the Plumpynut, it has the lowest. Dr. Shepherd told Cooper they’ll be able to treat more than 120,000 kids this year, up from just 10,000 children three years ago.

What about peanut allergies?

"We just don't see it," Shepherd says. "In developing countries food allergy is not nearly the problem that it is in industrialized countries.

It's hard to imagine a less industrialized country than Niger. On a list of 177 developing countries, the United Nations ranked Niger dead last -- least developed. More than 70 percent of the people don’t know how to read. Most work in the fields and earn less than a dollar a day. Nomadic goat herders still roam this land -- their children and their kids travel by camel. Goats seem to be the main garbage disposal, but clearly the goats are falling behind. You can still spot a skinny guard dog, but we were told all the cats have been cooked.

In the countryside, where 85 percent of people live, girls start marrying as young as 11 years old. By the age of 15 most are wed, and by 16 most have already become mothers. The average woman here will give birth at least eight times in her lifetime. But largely because of malnutrition, one in five of their children will die before they reach the age of five. Of those who survive, half will have stunted growth and never reach full adult height.

But now, with Plumpynut, more children are surviving and thriving.

"And kids are doing better. Moms say their child's skin is brighter. Their appetites are better. And they’re less sick. You know, what more could you ask for," Shepherd remarks.

Doctors Without Borders is asking for more of this type of food. Their success in Niger proves, they say, that fortified ready-to-eat products, like Plumpynut, save children's lives. Dr. Tectonidis says if the United States and the European Union were willing to spend part of their food aid on this, more companies will start making it.

"Even by taking a miniscule proportion of the global food aid budget, they will have a huge impact, huge impact!" Tectonidis says. "We're not even asking for billions. It will solve so much of the underlying useless death. So we gotta do that now."

"It's useless death," Cooper remarks.

"Wasted life. Just totally wasted life for nothing. Because they don't have this product, little a bit of peanut butter with vitamins," Tectonidis says. "What a waste."

Produced By Robert Anderson and Casey Morgan
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

She's growing again!

2008-07-03T12:41:00.008-04:00

Great news! We got an update on Hanna today and she has almost reached the weight she arrived into the orphanage at. She had lost some weight as of the last update we got. So, she is now almost 14 lbs and is 25.5 inches long. She's a little peanut. Praise God!

Heartsick

2008-07-02T17:49:00.005-04:00

Don't just read the news...imagine yourself in their shoes. How about being the doctor with lifesaving food standing at the scales with hundreds of hungry mothers and children lined up to see you, only to have to be the one to tell the mother in front of you that her limp, bony little starving child isn't bad enough today to receive help...to come back when she's worse. How about being that mother watching your child waste away before your very eyes and being absolutely helpless, resourceless, totally unable to do anything about it.

This news story is about the area that Hanna is from:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0627/p01s08-woaf.html

From another article abut UNICEF providing aid:
"This is still short of the 75,000 children classed as severely malnourished in southern and eastern Ethiopia, where the next major harvest is not expected until at least September."

Hanna is from southern Ethiopia. Hanna's extended family is still living in southern Ethiopia.

This is from back at the beginning of June:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/7444753.stm

And here are some photos from a photojournalist. They are very intense.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/ethiopia_in_food_crisis_once_m.html

Dear friends of our just lost their 4 year old son in an accident. I have heard a mother wail in intense grief for her lost child. What must the collective sound be that is coming from Ethiopia into God's ears? Can you hear it too?

see the previous post on what you can do...

What Can I do?

2008-06-28T09:06:00.007-04:00

I've made some recent posts on the famine and food price situation in Ethiopia, but what can someone do to help?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Get informed. On issues like these we have a tendency to feel very far removed from the situation and we forget what is going on elsewhere in the world. We see this even in the version of the news which we get on TV. It is typically 20 minutes of American news (including human interest stories and fillers) and a 2 minute synopsis of what is happening in the rest of the world. I believe that it is irresponsible of us to hide our heads in the sand or to just say that suffering is something that happens in the rest of the world. It is important for us to become informed. We had a recent tragedy in our church and it is amazing how when all of a sudden something that happens everyday all around the world happens in your backyard there is a shaking that comes. Suffering and tragedy occurs somewhere every minute of every day - we can't hide from that. So, let's become educated on the situation that others find themselves in throughout the world.

2. Pray for these situations. These situations are huge. They really require God moving for them to be changed. There are complex environmental, political and social issues in which we can come to God and ask Him to move, to change hearts and to raise the responsibility level of others in the world, starting with you and I.

3. Choose to Take action. In The Bible we see very clear calls to action. A couple of examples in case you are wondering... James writes in James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James makes it clear how important widows and orphans (and our caring for them) is to God. How am I doing at that kind of following Jesus? I also wonder how am I doing at "[keeping myself]from being polluted by the world." Could the materialism that I engage in actually be contributing to my pollution by the world around me that in turn keeps me from being able to look after the orphans and widows?

Of course Jesus also writes, "Love your neighbor as yourself." We typically do not think of our neighbor as being on the other side of the world, but they are. We know that Jesus was not taking simply about proximity here, rather he is calling us to love humankind with His kind of love.

Choosing to take action starts with an assessment of my self and a desire to respond to a call of greater simplicity in the life I live in order that I might demonstrate Jesus love and His call to the orphans and widows with the resources I have.

4. Ask God for direction, then step out. Perhaps the hardest part in all of this is to know what to do except pray. There are so many practical ways we could respond through various organizations out there. This is an important place to come before The Lord and ask where He would have you give or how He would have you respond. Perhaps He leads you on a short term trip. Perhaps He calls you to an orphanage in Africa to hold babies. Perhaps He calls you to adopt. Perhaps He leads you back to school for training to take abroad. Perhaps He leads you to donate to an organization that is making a difference for individuals who face suffering throughout the world.

I would recommend to you 2 organizations that are doing an amazing job at caring for impoverished children throughout the world. They are Compassion and World Vision. You can find out more info on Compassion at www.compassion.com. For World Vision you can check in with my good friend Jeff Mclain at his World Vision page at http://connect.worldvision.org/siteapps/personalpage/ShowPage.aspx?c=luLVJaMSKpH&b=851285&sid=ffKQIQPsE9JHLUNtGkF. He is a Child Ambassador for World Vision and can fill you in.

I know at this time we all are feeling the pinch of higher prices and the uncertainty of economic issues, however lets be mindful that this crisis affects many throughout our world at much greater stakes than what it does you and I. And then lets act on it.

Food Prices and Famine

2008-06-28T08:38:00.004-04:00

I've mentioned in previous posts about the current price of food and the potential for famine in Ethiopia. Here is some more info about that. First, this past week I heard a couple of examples of what it means that the price of food is rising there. This information is from a blog called Owlhaven http://owlhaven.wordpress.com

"Some of you were wondering what food prices are like in Ethiopia right now. Teff, the grain used to make Ethiopian flatbread is horribly expensive right now. It used to be about $30 USD for 220 lbs. Now it is $110 for 220 lb. Bananas are 50 cents US for 2.2 lbs. Lentils are $1.40 US for 2.2 lbs."

It's amazing to think that the price of Teff has increased 400% as well as the current price of bananas and lentils. What do you do when food becomes unaffordable. Here in the US we look and complain that the price of bananas has skyrocketed and is at 59cents or more per pound. So, we pass by the bananas and go to something else. What if you were trying to buy food for your family while only making $1 - $1.50 per day, though? That's the situation for many Ethiopians in the Southern Region (as well as elsewhere in Ethiopia). Food is out of reach, so you're forced to go without.

Now, imagine that food is expensive, your child is malnourished and you decide to go for help. There has to be someone who can help you, right? There are aid workers in the country, however they are faced with a shortage of resources in how to help. Below is a recent print article from The Christian Science Monitor on the tough spot that aid workers find themselves in as well as the harsh reality that many mothers face as they take their children to these feeding centers.

As famine looms in Ethiopia, only the neediest get food aid

By Nicholas BenequistaFri Jun 27, 4:00 AM ET

– One by one, the children are placed on a scale hanging from a makeshift wooden stand.

The mothers look pleadingly at the Doctors Without Borders aid worker, but he keeps his eyes on his clipboard, tallying the figures that determine whether each child is sick enough to eat today.

The scales in a rural clinic in Hadero, Ethiopia, are the latest indicator of the severity of the global food crisis.

There is only enough medicine and high-energy Plumpy'Nut peanut paste for the most severe cases. Outside, hundreds of hungry women and children throng the gates, desperate to go through the same brutal selection process, pushed back by guards brandishing sticks to clear a path for the next in line.

In this African nation, about 10 million people, more than 12 percent of the population, are now in need of emergency food aid after a drought wiped out harvests. But because grain is now twice as expensive as a year ago – if it is available at all – there is not enough food in Ethiopia to feed everyone in need.

Some aid workers are concerned that the combination of forces could force the country into the worst crisis since the infamous Ethiopian famine that killed an estimated 1 million people and was brought home to millions of television viewers across the world in the mid-1980s.

'Prioritizing' aidAid workers and government officials are thus forced to "prioritize," a harsh but necessary part of any relief effort, but rarely as grim a task as in Ethiopia at present.

"People don't know yet how widespread and severe the world hunger crisis is," says David Beckmann, president of Washington D.C.-based Bread for the World. "The gruesome things now happening in Ethiopia may be the first example of a country that's being pushed into a humanitarian crisis partly because of bad weather, but partly because of the high price of food and the high price of fuel."

The World Food Program, for example, is supposed to be doing its part by procuring emergency rations sufficient for 4.6 million Ethiopians, but because of rising expenses it only has the grain, oil, and corn-soya blend for about half that number.

Not much food left to buyEthiopia's foreign-funded welfare system, the Productive Safety Net Program, may get around the food shortage by simply handing out cash to some of its beneficiaries who need extra help this year due to the drought. But even with cash in hand, some worry whether there will be any food at all left to buy.

The shortfall in this so-called preventative component of the relief effort means that clinics like the one in Hadero could be thronged by even larger crowds of women and children in mortal need of intensive, and expensive, treatment.

"It is quite important to inject food rapidly into the community," says François Colas, country director in Ethiopia for the Belgian chapter of Doctors without Borders. "As long as food isn't distributed, we will see people falling into severe malnutrition."

The Ethiopian government said earlier this month that 75,000 children are already in peril from the drought.

Most are now in the country's southern lowlands, though the crisis is spreading to the northern highlands.

Drought-stricken zones have been divided into six priority levels, depending on the prevalence of malnourishment.

The largest aid efforts are now under way in areas in the top two categories.

How villages bear the hunger Still, the crisis does not conform to administrative boundaries, and on the edges of aid operations, some villages are quietly bearing their hunger.

In the Ethiopian village of Kamecho, in one area on the cusp of a priority zone, a young boy jogs along the muddy path, dutifully pointing out the households with malnourished children.

Word spreads that a foreigner has arrived at this remote spot, accessible only by a footbridge.

Parents emerge from huts and fields carrying listless children appear from their huts and fields carrying listless children. One woman marches to the center of the gathering crowd with a bundle in her arms.

She throws the threadbare blanket to the ground and holds up her frightened daughter, the child's lip quivering as her eyes dart from face to face, her bony legs swinging limply below her swollen belly.

She had brought her daughter to a nearby clinic for help, but when the staff discovered that the child was not only malnourished but afflicted with tuberculosis, they referred the child to a hospital 34 miles away in Hosaina.

One staff member, speaking anonymously, says that every week the clinic refers as many as six cases of malnourished children with complications, knowing that most will never make it.

"We refer the kids to the hospital in the hope that they will of course go and be healed, but that is usually not the case, and it is horrible," he says.

Neighbors tell a similar story in Kamecho.

Unable to afford transportation to the hospital, they returned to plow their fields in hope that their children will survive another two months until the next harvest.

The Irish organization Concern says that help may come sooner if it secures the resources to set up operations in the area.

All together, aid operations in Ethiopia will need at least another $300 million this year to fill the shortfall.

The US, Britain, and other countries are likely to step up, but even if these donors provide more funds tomorrow, it will take as long as eight weeks to procure food internationally.

And once reaches the country, truckers are in short supply to distribute the aid, sometimes canceling delivery contracts at the last minute as more lucrative opportunities arise.

Until more aid arrives, government agencies and international organizations are likely to continue to concentrate their resources in the neediest areas – weighing the indicators by the much more convenient statistical scale.

Thinking of Hanna

2008-06-26T18:57:00.005-04:00

We had a great day off today spending some time out and about. While out we checked out a few things for bringing Hanna home and then went out to Build A Bear to make her a teddy bear. Joshua, Micah and Caia were off the charts excited to go and make a bear for her. It seemed to be a great exercise in thinking about her and praying for her. They did a great job of trying to think through, "what would Hanna want?" They even tried out giving the bear hugs to make sure it was soft enough for her. This definitely was a bear built with love. It even has 3 hearts...one from each of the kids. Of course we also had to tell everyone we came in contact with in the store who the bear was for and where she was coming from. It was very sweet.

So, here are the kiddos presenting Hanna's bear which affectionately is named "Hope."

After we left Build a Bear, Joshua said to me, "I can't wait until she comes home." Yes my son, neither can we.

A Staple Crop

2008-06-25T22:22:00.004-04:00

All around us here in Lancaster County the corn is really starting to grow and it is a continual reminder of how important corn is as a staple crop here.

In Southern Ethiopia it is a much different crop that is considered a staple. The crop is Enset, otherwise known as "False Banana." I first heard of Enset when a friend of ours was showing us pictures from a recent trip to Ethiopia and there were a number of pictures of False Banana. I thought to myself, what a funny name.

It turns out that Enset has absolutely nothing to do with bananas, other than that it resembles domesticated banana plants in its look. The fruit of Enset is not edible, instead it is the root that becomes food. An Enset plant's root can provide up to 40kg of food, thus being a huge staple for many family's diets.

Enset has become a very important crop in southern Ethiopia. While it does grow other places in Africa and Asia, nowhere else is it counted on as a vital crop as it is here. The reason why it is so important to Ethiopia is its ability to resist drought. Enset becomes a crop that can be counted on even if other crops fail. It also has a high yield even though it takes years to mature.

Growing Enset is labor intensive. It takes at least 6 - 9 years for an Enset plant to grow to maturity. This means that plantings must be staggered to insure that Enset is always available. The process for planting, cultivating and harvesting Enset is also intensive, and each family member has a certain part of the process which they oversee in the growing and the harvesting of the root as well as the grinding and preparation of the root to make food.

When it is harvested the root is cut into cubes and is walked through a process of fermentation, pressing and drying. After a number of steps and weeks of fermentation and drying a cake is formed. A family will cut off of this cake what is needed and then grind it into a flour to be used for making bread, injera or porridge.

As might be expected Enset is very starchy and has very little protein. While it is a stable crop and provides security, it does not have the nutritional value of other crops. Compare it to wheat for instance. 100gms of wheat has 344 calories and 11.5%protein. 100 gms of Enset provides only 190 calories and 1.5% protein. While it is lacking in nutrition there still are 7 to 10 million Ethiopians which depend on food made from Enset. The problem lies in the periods when people become dependent on Enset to fill the gap because there are not other crops available to them. During these times there has been found a need for outside help to provide supplemental nutrition for folks.

source material: upenn, un-eue, wikipedia.

Home Study Update

2008-06-25T17:20:00.003-04:00

Just a bit more paperwork. Today we got our information in the mail to update our homestudy. Our original homestudy was good for 1 year, so we simply have to do a briefer update of information. So, we're sending off for updated child abuse clearances, state criminal history and fbi clearances, as well as going to the doctor for another physical. All the paperwork will be done soon!

Being a Child in Ethiopia video...

2008-06-23T23:14:00.003-04:00

Here is an interesting video on being a child and also being a woman in Ethiopia.

Check it out at http://www.aglimmerofhope.org/why_ethiopia/index.html

Some Ethiopian History

2008-06-23T07:22:00.006-04:00

While I have been posting some about the needs in Ethiopia, I wanted to also post about the incredible richness in the country as well. Ethiopia has a history and a richness about it that goes practically unrivaled. Here is some of that richness that Ethiopia has to offer:

Imagine living somewhere that the history dates back over 3000 years. The Kingdom of Axum is where it is thought that the Queen of Sheba came from who visited King Solomon.
Along with that history comes a rich Judeo-Christian heritage, too. There are Jews living in Ethiopia whom it is thought can trace their lineage back to the Tribe of Dan. At some point in time they chose to move south into Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church traces its beginnings back to the 10th Century BC when The Queen of Sheba met Solomon. There are even claims that the Ark of the Covenant is hidden in a rock Ethiopian Orthodox church in Northern Ethiopia.

Along the way there also has been incredible architecture. There are the Axum obelisks which were constructed in the 4th Century AD. There is a lot of speculation as to what they were for, however the design, architecture and sheer number of them is astounding. The largest obelisk which is still standing 1700 years later is almost 80 feet tall.

There also are the Churches of Lalibela that were cut out of rock in the 13th Century. They look absolutely amazing. I can't imagine taking a huge hill of rock and carving out both the outside and the inside of

a church. History says that they were constructed during Lalibela's reign. He wanted to build a new Jerusalem, since Jerusalem was under Muslim rule by this point in time.

And, there are the castles of Gondar. While they sound almost Tolkeinesque, they also look that way. These castles were built in the 17th century. At one point in time the rulers within Ethiopia lived in tents and were fairly mobile, however as time went on they started to set

tle into towns. In the 1600s, Emperor Fasilides established Gondar as a market town. It would eventually become the capital of Ethiopia. What is most notable are the beautiful castles that were built in Gondar.

This richness gets mixed in with the simplicity of the rural agricultural areas and the more westernized Addis Ababa to show a very rich and diverse Ethiopia.

I'm wondering what it must be like in rural Ethiopia...

2008-06-22T23:01:00.001-04:00

In doing some more research, it seems as if I've been able to pinpoint a bit more about where the area where Hanna is coming from. She is from Le-Zembara, which is a small village outside of Mudulla. It is a very rural area which relies on agriculture.

I am so looking forward to being able to get as close as I can to this area. From maps it appears to be in a more mountainous region and the altitude is approximately 1800 meters. This definitely has an impact on the climate of the area. Typically in thinking of Sub-Sahara Africa the mind goes to a very hot climate. In contrast the southern region’s daytime temperatures hover around 70 degrees and the nighttime lows are

It would appear that life for a family would be quite difficult in a rural area such as this. The statistics for Ethiopia as a nation are staggering to begin with - The average lifespan in Ethiopia is 49 years old. One in every 8 children die prior to their 5th birthday. There is one doctor for every 100,000 people. However, this is a rural area where these things are even more exaggerated.

Because rural Ethiopia relies on agriculture, there is a continual need for rain. So much of the famine crisis that hits Ethiopia relies on the rains not coming when they are needed. There are two main rainy seasons in the area surrounding Le-Zembara. The one is called the Belg Rains. This is a shorter rainy season which stretches from February to May. There are short season crops which are reliant on these rains such as teff, wheat and barley. The crops grown during this short season make up a small percentage of the overall grain production for the country, however there are areas that rely on these crops for as much as 50 percent of their yearly food supply. (http://www.fas.usda.gov/pecad2/highlights/2002/10/ethiopia/baseline/Eth_Annual_Rainfall.htm). There also are longer cycle crops that are dependent on these rains, too. Corn, Sorghum and Millet are still dependent on these early rains in order to harvest a larger crop in September.

It is the Belg rains that did not come this year and has contributed to the shortage of food in the area. According to a recent United Nations report, “The failure of the rains has prevented farmers from planting crops necessary to bridge the hunger season. The livelihood of communities is highly threatened as the major root crop, Enset, has been severely depleted due to the drought, excessive consumption and diseases. Sweet potato, Irish potato, haricot beans, cabbages and green maize production has totally failed due to the extended dry season.” This is troubling.

The longer season of rain, called kiremt which lasts from June through September (hitting its peak in August) does seem to be coming, at least as I have been checking the weather in Ethiopia. This rain is very important for the cereal crops and the main growing season crops. Of course the pinch is this in between time when the crops grown during the short season would sustain people until the harvest in September.

Added to this is according to the UN, the daily rate for farm laborers has decreased. It once was 10 birr/day ($1 US) however it now has decreased to 4 birr/day (40 cents). That’s tough to swallow or imagine. This is in addition to the already difficult situations of lack of clean water, diarrhea as a primary taker of life, no electricity, miles of walking to water, harsh farming, high prevalence of malaria and other diseases we never have to think of in the U.S. and the threat of AIDS.

Life is tough in these rural areas. However, what I fully expect to find is a people who are full of joy and who while life is harsh, they are focused on what is truly important.

Much of this blog is from the May 2008 United Nations report found at http://reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ASAZ-7FBGZ9?OpenDocument

we've got a court date

2008-06-13T00:40:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we found out that we have a tentative court date of July 7th. While we know that there are those things which can slow the process down along the way, this part is moving faster than we expected. A possible timeline for us at the moment is something like this:
1. If the case is approved on July 7th, it takes about 1 week for the court documents to be prepared.
2. Then, it takes some time for MOWA (Ethiopian agency that deals with adoption) to prepare a letter, & 5 days for a birth certificate to be issued.
3. We could travel as early as 3 weeks after that. (But won't know our travel date until the birth certificate is received by our agency here in the US.)
We do know that things could be backed up because there are a lot of people waiting to travel, however it could be as early as mid August when we travel. Wow! I love the fact we are getting closer to meeting Hanna!

We can make a difference through clean water...

2008-06-07T11:04:00.004-04:00

Last year I became acquainted with an incredible organization that is focused on digging clean water wells throughout the world. The organization is Living Water International. Their website is www.water.cc . They have drilled 30 wells in Ethiopia so far, some close to the region where Hanna was born. You can check out some of the places where they have been drilling - Click Here.

Last year in our church we took part in a campaign called Advent Conspiracy and we sent a portion of what we saved by giving relationally to Living Water. You don't have to wait until Christmas to help see wells drilled, though.

They have started a new campaign called www.onedollarwater.com . It is a simple way that you and I can make a difference by choosing to provide water for one person for one year at the cost of $1. Check out their website.

Lack of clean water is such a huge issue in the world...with diarrhea claiming the lives of over 1.8 million children per year. Its a crisis that has a solution - the drilling of simple wells - but it takes folks like you and I saying no to consumerism and saying yes to compassion to see it happen.

Here is an excerpt from their website with some simple science - "drinking poop kills."

from www.onedollarwater.com...

The science is simple: drinking poop kills.

Nobody wants to drink poop… but when water comes from a shallow well and the only place to do your business is a pit latrine, it happens.

Amoebas, cholera, shigella, campylobacter, salmonella… these parasites and bacteria have a problem: they kill their hosts. However, their survival strategy is brilliant. And gross. They multiply inside stomachs and intestines, and then cause their hosts to blast them out their colons in the messiest way possible.

This way, these microscopic killers come into contact with skin, fingers, and even dishes or unprotected drinking water, ensuring a free ride to the next host. For a human child, becoming a host may mean death.

Diarrhea vs. The Third Reich

Adolf Hitler’s rule lasted 12 years (1933-1945). His Third Reich killed between 11 and 15 million people: Jews, Soviets, Poles, Slavs, mentally handicapped people, homosexuals…

That’s at most about 1.25 million people per year.

Diarrhea kills 1.8 million children per year.1

Diarrhea wins.

In fact diarrhea kills five times more children than HIV/AIDS. Diarrhea kills more people than tuberculosis or malaria. Car crashes, cancer, war… diarrhea beats them all.2

But we’re smarter than amoebas, and we can win in the end.

How? It’s simple: drill a hole deep underground where the amoebas can’t go.

Diarrhea beats Hitler.

Deep water wells beat diarrhea.

Love wins… if we do something.

Footnotes:

1. This statistic was was calculated by the good folks over at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for their 2006 Human Development Report, Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty, and the global water crisis, and can be found on page 6.
2. Same folks, same report… page 42.

Please Pray for Ethiopia

2008-06-06T11:30:00.005-04:00

Please continue praying for the people of Ethiopia and the drought there that continues to affect families severely there. Here is a video documenting a bit of the situation there. Warning: it is a bit graphic.

Click here for movie

The May 2008 UN report states that there are 6 million children under the age of 5 that are at risk of severe malnutrition. Sobering.

Where our little girl is coming from...

2008-06-03T15:35:00.012-04:00

One of our desires in our adoption of Hanna is that we can learn as much about her culture as possible in order to raise her with a connection to that culture. She is Ethiopian by birth and she will always be Ethiopian by birth. So, I have been setting off to try to find out as much about the village she was born in as possible. I figured I'd start by Googling it - after all isn't that what we do anytime we want to know anything about anywhere? Very little information. So, I thought I'd go to wikipedia. Once again, very little to glean from there. I even went to Google maps - no luck there either. Finally, I was able to find the coordinates and type them into Google Maps. Here is the result of that search...

click here for map

The town where Hanna (pronounced Hah-nah) is from is named Mudula and is approximately 200 miles South of the captial city of Addis Ababa. If you look close, you'll notice that the closest road to Mudulla appears to be about 20 miles away. What we have heard is that while there are roads that go to towns, they are not roads like you and I think of them - or even what we would call a "cow path," rather they are fitting challenges for Land Rovers to navigate.

From what I can learn so far, Mudulla is a town within the Southern Region (called the SNNPR- Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region). Ethiopia is divided into 9 ethnic divisions (or regions) of which SNNPR is one ethnic division. SNNPR is bordered on the south by Kenya. This region is Ethiopia's most rural region with over 90% of the population living in rural settings. There appear to have been some major strides within the past 15 years in the area, in that the % of the population that has drinkable water has increased from 15% to 50% within that time. Much of the region is engaged in agriculture, especially subsistence farming, and this region is well known for its coffee (growing almost 50% of all of Ethiopia's coffee exports). Within the SNNPR, there are over 45 indigenous ethnic groups, many of which have their own spoken language - while Amahric remains the state language. I'll blog more about language in the future...

The red is SNNPR, the pink is all of Ethiopia.

Refining the search a bit further, Mudulla is located in the Kembata Tembaro Zone - otherwise known as KAT. KAT is one of 14 Zones within SNNPR. This zone appears to be mixed topography - flat to hilly to mountainous and has 3 famous mountains within it - considered to be holy mountains. As a reality check...74% of this zone is exposed to malaria and as of 2004 only 2% of the population has electricity. Check out this satellite map of this zone (and some surrounding area)... Mudula is the blue pin.

Hopefully I'll soon be able to find more info on Mudula itself...

By the way...we know that when we travel we will get to go to at least Hosanna, which you probably can see on the towards the top of the above map...a dream would be that we would actually get to visit Mudula, too!

This feels a bit like a treasure hunt...bit by bit of info along the way.

The Wait is Over!!

2008-05-29T16:41:00.004-04:00

We got the call at 1:37pm from Jan, The Ethiopian Specialist at CHSFS that we have been matched with a beautiful little 5 month old girl. Her name is Hanna (which so appropriately means "gracious gift of God" or "favored by God") and her middle name, Tessema (which she shares with her Ethiopian father) means "He has been heard." She is absolutely gorgeous!

We have not been sleeping well the past couple nights - feeling as if it was any time now. Come to find out the referral was ready for us yesterday, but because of some logistical issues, the news could not be shared with us until today.

Our next step is to accept the referral (we have a call into our specialist now) and should be traveling in 12 - 16 weeks!

Its so awesome - we're walking around stunned out of our minds...

thank you for all of your prayers!

The View from the Top...

2008-05-29T12:47:00.003-04:00

Another report came in of a referral from Tuesday. So, we are sitting at #4 on "The List". 2 people in front of us are waiting for siblings, so they really don't impact our infant wait. The only person in front of us had her paperwork in over a month before us, so we are beginning to wonder if they didn't get a referral and forget to report it to "The List" (since it's all self-reporting and not official).

Either way, we are #2 or #1 on the infant list. There have not been any referrals given out today to our knowledge. Tomorrow is the last day for referrals before the June 1 cut-off for court closures. All we can say is "in Your perfect time, Lord..."

Slowly....creeping closer

2008-05-28T21:40:00.002-04:00

#5 on the List. (#3 for an infant...)

I don't even know what to say except that I am so thankful for God's peace. If it weren't for knowing He's in control of this whole thing, I'd probably be going nuts!

2 more days left to receive a referral before the June 1 deadline for court closures.

Climbing higher...

2008-05-28T16:18:00.000-04:00

#6 on the list...and #4 for an infant!

Tick....tick.....tick....

2008-05-28T11:06:00.005-04:00

New post on the forum. We are at #7! (#5 for a baby!)

The 2 people just in front of us on The List both got matched with babies this morning. Did I mention there's a small pit in my stomach? Kind of like waiting to go into labor (although you don't get internet updates with labor!).

Will this be the day?

2008-05-28T08:47:00.001-04:00

#8 on The List this morning...

A restless night of wondering. We'll let you know if the phone rings...

Another step...

2008-05-27T19:20:00.002-04:00

#9...we're in the top 10?!?!? Who would have fathomed?

Some sibling referrals came in today. So we are #7 waiting for an infant. Plus someone reported on the forum that they were talking to their representative and they said a batch of referrals came in today...

Could it be?!? Only time will tell!!!

Inching....

2008-05-27T14:35:00.004-04:00

#11 as of late this morning....

I can't begin to express the crazy jumble of emotions this all brings...to think that, this week, there is a chance (slim, but still a chance) that we may find out the name and see the face of the little one that God etched on our hearts a year and a half ago, the one we've been praying for and thinking about and longing for...the overwhelming joy of the surprise that this could actually happen this soon, the sheer panic of "can we be ready if this actually happens this soon?", the ultimate peace knowing God is in control and will bring her home in His perfect timing.

Today is our anniversary...13 years ago, we walked down the aisle to start a lifetime of adventure together. That journey eventually brought us to parenting. How truly blessed we are to have been entrusted with the 3 amazing blessing that we have, let alone the prospect of yet another dear little one. God is too good to us. We are so blessed!

Keep praying for the Ethiopians! (See the post below)

Update on Malnutrition in Ethiopia

2008-05-25T16:16:00.003-04:00

I just came across an article on the situation in Ethiopia from the BBC. Latest reports are that 6 million children are on the brink of acute malnutrition and 60,000 children require immediate feeding. It has been the "perfect storm" of sorts in Ethiopia over this last year as they have experienced drought and the increase in the price of food throughout the world. The problem is expected to intensify as crops begin to fail there.

Its hard to imagine. Its hard to conceptualize that this is our little girl's homeland that is experiencing this devastation. Its hard to come to grips with. It is so easy to lose sight of what so many in the world face and to focus on how expensive gas has gotten ($3.85/gallon here) or how the price of eggs keeps climbing. What about a country full of people who desperately need rain and food in order to survive?

Please join us in praying for the people of Ethiopia. Lord, send your rain...

If you are interested in reading more, here is the link to the BBC article... click here

ooching closer

2008-05-24T14:17:00.000-04:00

#12....

(And the best part of this one is that it's because of a referral of siblings given to a family that's been officially waiting for 1 year and 18 days! Wow, may God bless their patience! I'm sure their joy is HUGE!!!)

Wow, we're close!

2008-05-24T08:23:00.002-04:00

Well, as of today, we sit at #13 on The List. Four people in front of us are waiting for siblings, so that puts us at #9 on the infant list: 4 people in front of us waiting for girls, and 4 people open to either gender. We never dreamed that we would be in this place this early (if you've been following this journey, how oxymoronic does that sound?!? since we originally thought we'd have her home by now!). But here we sit.

Someone from the agency said they are hopeful for more referrals next week...the last week before the cut-off. To be honest, I didn't think there was any way we'd ever get a referral before the cut-off for court closures. I knew in the back of my mind that if God wanted it to happen, it would. But on the other hand, I didn't think there was any way... Now I stand corrected. There is the possibility...

So we are asking you to pray this week. If it's good to God, we would REALLY like to get a referral before the cut-off, and make it through court before they close. What an amazing move of God that would be! Even though we'd like that to happen, we are still totally comfortable with knowing that God is in control, that He will match us with the baby He has planned for us in the timing He sees best. We find peace in that. So, not our will, but Yours be done, Lord!

Watch the blog...we'll keep you posted.

Leaps and Bounds! #16!!!

2008-05-22T22:06:00.004-04:00

We had heard a rumor (aren't forums great...?) that there was hopefully going to be a large batch of referrals before the June 1 cut-off date (when they no longer feel referrals will make it through Ethiopian court before it closes for the rainy season). And today it came! We jumped up The List to #16! We have not seen movement like that in the whole time we've been waiting! There are actually only 10 people in front of us on the List (remember, that's only about 40% of the total people waiting) waiting for infants, so that makes the list even shorter! Wow! And a few reports of referrals usually trickle in after a day of referrals like this because people take a day or so to decide to accept their referral (often waiting to have their medical evaluations reviewed). So we could possibly see even further movement!

We also saw the people 2 ahead of us on the list get a referral today. (things don't always go in order, depending on what gender you've requested, what medical issues you are willing to accept, etc.) It made us realize that this could happen to us any day (as well as not for another few months! The joy of adoption!) But we had not even thought about getting a referral before July. This is when I'm glad the timing is in God's hand, but also realize that with things being in His hands, ANYTHING can happen.

So we're asking you to pray. If it's good to God, we would REALLY love to get through court before it closes for a huge multitude of reasons. If it's not God's best, we certainly don't want it and will wait even if it doesn't seem best to us. But if it's good and pleasing to Him, we'd love for you to ask for that with us. Thanks!

Baby Steps

2008-05-13T23:17:00.003-04:00

Well, we're sitting at #26. There are rumors of a large batch of referrals that the staff in Ethiopia are trying to prepare and get to the US staff before June 1. I doubt we'll receive one (of course, God can do what He wants!), but it will put us that much closer to the top of the list.

Just a quick update on the baby steps to our baby!

Another Bend in the Road

2008-05-02T15:04:00.003-04:00

Well, if you've been following along, you know about the time crunch we are facing. The Ethiopian courts close for 2 months starting in August, and because they are closed, the referrals (matching a family with a child) stop too because they can't be processed through closed courts. The previous cut-off date for referrals was June 15. It was averaging 8 months to be matched with a child, and we cross into our 8th month on June 2. Hence, the crunch.

We received an email today that referrals that are made after June 1 will probably not make it through before courts close. (Add to the mix that most people on the top of "the List" are currently entering into their 9th month of waiting.) And it doesn't look like we'll make it through before court closes.

We are #31 on "the List". 8 people in front of us are waiting for sibling groups or older kids. That puts us at about #23 in line for an infant (remembering that the list only represents about 40% of the people signed on with CHSFS). Looking at trends, there should be a batch of referrals next week (but not 23 of them!), but they seem to come about once a month, and if that's the case, this would be the last batch before court closure.

So it doesn't look like we'll be traveling in Aug. or Sept. as it had seemed the last time we talked to our specialist.

They have decided to do something new this year. They will continue to give out referrals during court closure to those folks who want them. "Why wouldn't you want one?" you may ask. Well, it means a prolonged time between referral and traveling to get your little one. It means you sit for longer knowing the child you have been matched with. You sit on one side of the globe while a little baby sits in an orphanage on the other side of the globe...a little baby that is supposed to be (and eventually will be) in your home. You sit and wait while a child that will eventually join your family grows up in the care center. And all you can do is look at the one picture you've received that's now tacked to your refrigerator. (Just a little emotional glimpse there...as to why people wouldn't want to have a referral during court closures).

What will happen is that any referral that is accepted during court closure will be turned into the registrar and put on a waiting list in the order of when they are received to be heard once the courts reopen. These will hopefully be heard in the fall, and people will travel by the end of the year to bring the children home. Or you can choose to wait to get a referral after courts reopen, have it processed late fall, and travel at the beginning of 2009.

So, we continue to sit, with the "rules" of the game changing yet again, but knowing full well that God is in charge and that His timing makes perfect sense. In that we can find peace.

We continue to pray for the little girl that will some day join our family!

Pray for Ethiopia

2008-04-16T22:22:00.003-04:00

There's a lot going on in the country of Ethiopia right now. From what I'm reading, there has not been much rain since October, and especially not much during the typically-rainy season of March to May. This is leading to drought conditions. It is being predicted that if things don't change soon, there will be wide-spread famine. There are also rolling black outs because much of their power is hydro-electric. I read that there is currently a 2 day a week mandatory black-out in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Think of what life would be like with not having power 2 days out of every week. Think even more what it would be like to see your store of food quickly diminishing, your cattle getting thinner, and no sign of rain.

It brings back images from when we were kids and there were famines in Ethiopia. Back then, those images broke my heart because they were images of people...so many of whom were children...in the midst of immense suffering. Now, those people are so much nearer and dearer to my heart. Those people have names. Those children have familiar faces.

If you'd like to learn more, here's an article on it: click here

Please join with me in praying for God's provision for the dear people of Ethiopia.

Holding on to hope that we might make it through court soon

2008-04-05T21:38:00.003-04:00

One of the issues we have run up against is the possibility that we might not make it through court before it closes for the summer. Yesterday I talked with our case worker at our agency and asked her for her opinion on whether we might get a referral before the courts close for the summer. She seemed to be full of hope that we might make it through. It seems that things might pick up here a bit, soon. So, we'd love it if you'd join us in praying for a referral before the summer court closure. If we don't make it before summer, our little girl will still be waiting there for us afterwards...its just that we'd love to meet her sooner than later.

Inching Along

2008-03-11T10:19:00.002-04:00

Well, after what felt like a long dry spell with no movement for folks on "the list", we have had some joyous reports of referrals this week! YEAH! It's so wonderful to see children being matched with families! So, now we sit at #43.

We've gotten at bit more clarity on why the process has gotten longer. (This is what we've pieced together, so it's not "official", but more our musings...) It seems as though there used to be 4 U.S. adoption agencies licensed to do adoptions in Ethiopia. Recently, Ethiopia opened up their system and allowed other agencies to apply for licenses. I read somewhere that there are now 60 agencies licensed. Now, whether that number is correct or not, we do know that there are lots more agencies doing Ethiopian adoptions, and so there are lots more people trying to get their paperwork through court. I imagine it as the court's time being divided up between 4 agencies vs. being divided up between lots of agencies. Each agency would get a lot less paperwork through in a month, meaning fewer kids could be matched and placed each month. This is at least our guess as to what's happened.

It's good to know that God is in control, or this process could be quite maddening!

The International Rollercoaster

2008-02-18T14:00:00.003-05:00

The question of the hour is, "When are you going to get your baby?!?!?"

Well, Jerry talked to our social worker this week. When we originally applied, they were estimating a 5-7 month (with lots being on the "5" end of things) wait for a referral (a picture and medical history), and then 8-12 weeks until traveling to bring her home. That would have meant we would have received a match with a child in March-May, and would have been home with her by the beginning of summer. As we've said, that time frame has extended.

What we are looking at now is this: referrals are currently taking about 8 mos, and travel is happening 8-20 weeks after that. That puts us at the beginning of June for a referral. The issue with that is that the agency stops giving out referrals on June 15. Why? you may ask. The courts in Ethiopia close down for about 2 months in Aug.-Sept. So the agency only gives out referrals that can clear court before the closure. Otherwise, families would be sitting matched for an extra 2 months, but not be able to go get their children. As the social worker said, we will be just on the line. Only time will tell...

So, if we get a referral by June 15, we should clear court and be able to travel in August or September to bring our baby girl home.

If we don't get a referral before the 15th, we will be stuck in the court closure moratorium and get to sit out 2 months with no referrals being given at all. We will have to renew (and pay again for) our home study and Immigration stuff, as they will have expired. Referrals start going out again sometime in September and then proceed to court that opens back up in October. Which means we may have her home in December 2008-January 2009.

And that could all change and extend out in the blink of an eye.

Obviously, this is not what we hoped when we applied. We know the timing is in God's hands, and He will bring her home when the timing is right. There are days that are harder than others to trust...when we finish school early this year because we started early to be prepared to bring her home, when we think of not having her home for what we thought would be our first vacation at the beach as a family of 6 in September, when we wonder if she'll be home for Christmas this year. But we also know that those things will all fade away quickly and mean very little when we have our little girl home.

If you want to pray, continue to pray for God to orchestrate the matching of our family with the little girl He has for us. Pray for us to continue to trust in Him and His timing. But most of all, continue to pray for our little girl, for her birth family, and for the people of Ethiopia. Their journeys deserve your prayers so much more than our mere discomforts.

The International Rollercoaster

2008-02-18T14:00:00.002-05:00

The question of the hour is, "When are you going to get your baby?!?!?"

Well, Jerry talked to our social worker this week. When we originally applied, they were estimating a 5-7 month (with lots being on the "5" end of things) wait for a referral (a picture and medical history), and then 8-12 weeks until traveling to bring her home. That would have meant we would have received a match with a child in March-May, and would have been home with her by the beginning of summer. As we've said, that time frame has extended.

What we are looking at now is this: referrals are currently taking about 8 mos, and travel is happening 8-20 weeks after that. That puts us at the beginning of June for a referral. The issue with that is that the agency stops giving out referrals on June 15. Why? you may ask. The courts in Ethiopia close down for about 2 months in Aug.-Sept. So the agency only gives out referrals that can clear court before the closure. Otherwise, families would be sitting matched for an extra 2 months, but not be able to go get their children. As the social worker said, we will be just on the line. Only time will tell...

So, if we get a referral by June 15, we should clear court and be able to travel in August or September to bring our baby girl home.

If we don't get a referral before the 15th, we will be stuck in the court closure moratorium and get to sit out 2 months with no referrals being given at all. Referrals start going out again sometime in September and then proceed to court that opens back up in October. Which means we may have her home in December 2008-January 2009.

And that could all change and extend out in the blink of an eye.

Obviously, this is not what we hoped when we applied. We know the timing is in God's hands, and He will bring her home when the timing is right. There are days that are harder than others to trust...when we finish school early this year because we started early to be prepared to bring her home, when we think of not having her home for what we thought would be our first vacation at the beach as a family of 6 in September, when we wonder if she'll be home for Christmas this year. But we also know that those things will all fade away quickly and mean very little when we have our little girl home.

If you want to pray, continue to pray for God to orchestrate the matching of our family with the little girl He has for us. Pray for us to continue to trust in Him and His timing. But most of all, continue to pray for our little girl, for her birth family, and for the people of Ethiopia. Their journeys deserve your prayers so much more than our mere discomforts.

Slowing Down

2008-01-31T13:02:00.000-05:00

So..."The List" has not been moving along very quickly lately. We are now at number 50 on the unofficial list which puts us at about number 100 on the actual list. Our timeline has been extended out a bit further than what we first were hoping...so, now the earliest we will get a referral is May, but possibly later. The one prayer request we have is that we get the referral in time that it could pass through Ethiopian Court before they close for the summer. They typically close from sometime in July until sometime in September. As long as our baby has passed through court by the time they close, it won't delay our travel. We keep waiting. We truly haven't been waiting that long, but there are those moments of impatience that set in!

Movin' On Up...

2007-12-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

Lots of people got belated Christmas gifts today. It seems as though a lot of people got calls today with their referrals! Wow! That puts us at #56 on "The List" (remember, it represents only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the people waiting. We are just about to hit the 3 month mark as "officially waiting". They are currently estimating a 6-9 month wait for a referral.) . This is the most activity we've seen since we've been on The List. Hopefully, there might even be a few more referrals made that haven't made it to The List yet, and we might even hop a few more spaces over the weekend.

I can't tell you the emotion that wells up in my heart, balls up in my throat, and escapes a bit through my tear ducts as I read the posts from the elated parents that have finally been matched with a child that they have been holding in their hearts for months or years. To finally put a face on that little one you've longed for...oh, I just can't imagine. We rejoice with each orphan that has been set in a family. We dance with each parent longing for a child...one step closer to fulfilling a dream. We long for the day when we will hold our next daughter in our arms...

All in God's timing. All in His perfect timing. He is so good.

Dossier Sent to Ethiopia

2007-12-20T21:45:00.000-05:00

We found out yesterday that our Dossier has been forwarded to Ethiopia for translation, etc. It doesn't change our wait at all, but it is good to see continual movement with our file!

Longer Wait Expected

2007-12-17T21:44:00.000-05:00

We just heard today that things have slowed down enough in Ethiopia that we should now expect a longer wait time until we receive a referral. We are now being quoted 6 - 9 months rather than 5 -7. This would put our window for a referral between April and July. Its a bit disappointing, however things could also pick up at any point. Our agency has had 100 referrals for children since September...so things are still moving.

God's Timing

2007-12-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

It has been so great seeing how God provides. We have a $3,000 bill due to our agency which we have had for a couple of months, but have waited to pay...trying to make it until after the beginning of the new year. Our agency graciously gave us time to do so. Yesterday we found out that Life International (the agency giving us the matching grant) is going to pay that bill for us. That means we are paid in full with our adoption agency. We'll still have a lot to pay for: airfare, stay in Ethiopia, visas, as well as legal stuff and post adoption reports, but it is SO AMAZING to have paid all of our adoption fees by this time in the process.

On The Radio

2007-12-13T19:15:00.000-05:00

Had an interesting day...We were interviewed on a Radio Show called Prime Time Chicago which is on a Moody Radio Station - WMBI. They were doing a spot on Life International - the organization providing us with a matching grant. It was a great time. They interviewed Andy Lehman, VP of Life Intl and the two of us about financing adoption and our personal story. It was a great experience...being able to help highlight adoption as well as Life International which we have found to be an awesome organization. If the audio file of the show becomes available, we'll post it here. They also said they hope to have us on again after we bring our little girl home. In 2008 they are highlighting adoption on Moody Broadcasting.

A Unique Christmas Gift for Us and Them

2007-12-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

We received a card in the mail from a name I did not recognize. I opened it up to find a note and a check. It was indeed from someone that we do not know. She explained in the note that she is a friend of a friend of ours who somehow heard about what we are doing. So she decided to give us money in honor of several of her friends, and that will be their Christmas gift. In their Christmas card, they will get a little note that says she gave money to our One Less Orphan fund in their name. We were blown away!

God does indeed work in mysterious ways! He has continued to surprise us from the places we least expect it. He continues to show us that He is indeed in control, that this is His plan, and that He's going to make it happen. We are left with our socks blown off, speechless and grateful!