Christianity Today Reports on Ethiopia's Orphans

These are the faces of Ethiopia's Orphans. Read an article from Christianity Today.

My Son's!

We have officially started calling "the boys from Ethiopia" our sons! After being in a family with all girls for so many years it is weird to even say that I have "sons". It is even stranger to say since they are currently in Ethiopia and anything could happen to them in the next 6 months or so. I think I am still in paternal shock and it will take some time for me to understand all that it means to have sons!!

Welcome and Orientation Call

Kathy and I talked for an hour. She went over the CWA contract and what we could expect from the adoption process for Ethiopia. She asked if we had kids in mind and at that time we had decided on Zelalem, Yosef and Bamura so I told her that. She wanted to make sure I knew that even though we had chosen them there were things that could happen in the process where we may not be able to adopt those specific boys. She went over the financial aspect of the adoption and recommended going to the CWA website to look at the different options for raising support and applying for grants. She was very practical but also very encouraging about the process and how God does big things with adoption. Overall I was encouraged with the call. She was very helpful. She sent an email also outlining what we needed to do next which was major paperwork and sending the next payment in.

Application Received

We received an email today letting us know that our application has been received and processed!

The Boys

I think that we have decided on the 3 boys that we will pursue - they are three of the same boys that we saw at the dinner with the Gardener's. Zelalem, Yosef, and Bamura are all three great looking young men.

Zelalem(11) and Yosef(9) are brothers who are in the 5th and 3rd grade respectively and who know some English. Their father had died of HIV and their mother is dying.

Bamura (10) is a street orphan who has lost both parents and does not know where his siblings are located. He has been living on the streets for the past few years working as a day laborer by carrying luggage at the local bus station.

Dinner with the Gardener's

We had dinner with the Gardener's tonight at the Old Spaghetti Factory - the food and company was outstanding. Steve and Michelle showed up in their usual hurried style (it seems like their lives are a whirlwind of faith walking) and we have a great conversation. Jennifer had talked to Michelle earlier in the week and told them that we were a go with the adoption and they talked briefly about the profile of the boys that we would be open to. They had brought several profiles for us to consider. To be honest, at first it was extremely difficult to choose 3 boys. They all looked like boys who needed a mom and dad, their health was good, and situations very similar. After talking with Steve and Michelle we had limited the decision down to a potential 3 boys. They look like good kids, so we will begin to pray for them and see where it goes. Michelle will mail out a hard copy of their profiles for us in the next week.

They also asked if I would be interested in being a Board Member at Kingdom Kids - of which I had already been praying about and am ready to make that decision. We will see how it goes.

Application Sent

We sent the application online today and the application fee.

Remodeling the Basement

As Jennifer and I have talked about it we will definitely need to remodel the basement. We are thinking that we can get two bedrooms, an office and family room out of it. We really should install two egress windows for safety. Because of the family room and office being downstairs we are thinking about making our bedroom downstairs and all of the kids upstairs. We are still talking about it though.

Geoff is going to come over sometime and price it out for materials. I think with all of the carpenters and handymen at the church that we should be able to do the labor part of it for free. We will have to run electricity downstairs also. We will probably also get the 2nd bathroom fixed and install some lighting in the living room and dining room.

Of course we will need a bigger dining room table and possibly a full size fridge. A family of 9 will be hoppin around here! =)