Sheshemene Ethiopia

A couple days after we arrived, the Medical team and us made the 4 hour journey down to the town of Sheshemene. Over 200 children who once lived in Korah and got their food from the trash dump there now live in a beautiful boarding school here. Last year was their first year at the school. I cannot even imagine the transition they had! I think of Aliya's transition year with us here in the U.S. Wow! How much more difficult would it be for a group of children who once lived with no rules and in and among dangerous gangs in a dump to come to a structured boarding school? It is nothing short of a miracle to see the changes in the kids.

The young man who is talking to me in the pic above is Tilahun. He was instructed to give us a tour while the clinic was taking place on the rest of the students. We were told that our job for the day was to visit with the students. SCORE! There is nothing I like better:) Tilahun walked us to the cafeteria since it was lunch time. On the way, this articulate young man told me that he loved school and wanted to be a pastor when he grew up. Melt my heart! He loves the Lord and wants to serve Him.

He wanted to take and show us his dorm right away but I insisted he eat lunch with the rest of the kids first. We sat down for lunch and he asked me if I would share his lunch with him. How could I turn that sweet offer down? The kids each received a huge lunch of injera, wat (lentil stew) and cooked cabbage. Tilahun shared his injera and wat with me. I was very moved by this unselfish gesture.

It wasn't long before Katie found Habtamu...or Habtamu found Katie-not sure which one! Katie and Habtamu formed a special bond when the kids were there a couple summers ago. He always called her, "My muzzer" (mother). As you can see, this young man is just a few years younger than Katie but he really loves her and she loves him.

Katie and Habtamu. Is he a handsome kid or what? He and his older brother are both sponsored and at the boarding school. They have an older brother named Wendimu who is a 3rd year engineering student at the University of Addis Ababa. He spent a lot of time with Katie and De while we were doing the clinic in Korah. After his classes were over, he came and talked with them for hours. He actually invited us to their home, which of course we accepted. Just wait for that post! Amazing!!

De and his little buddy whom he calls Little Thug. It seems that De holds some sort of celebrity status with the people of Korah. As soon as we entered the lunchroom, kids started pointing and saying, "DE!" Kids peeked in the lunchroom window waiting for him to acknowledge them. They didn't forget Katie either, as they were calling for her, too. Many asked where "Freeek" was. That was their name for Blake, as for them "Freeek" is a name used for a person with a different style. At the time, Blake had a mohawk and the kids loved it!

Tilahun escorted us to his dorm room, which he shares with 7 other kids. He was so proud to show us his bunk and then he opened a small cupboard, probably a 2 foot cube size which held all his worldly possessions and pulled out this certificate. He earned the rank of 4th in his 6th grade class! He also pulled out an Amharic/English phrase book and told me he wanted me to have it. I tried to turn him down but he was insistent that I have it. He was so proud to have something to give to me. I was so humbled. So humbled. All he owns is in this cupboard and he wants me to have one of his books. How unselfish! I will treasure it always.

Our trip was absolutely wonderful! We had the best traveling companions in Kevin and Denise, Katie and De. Any opportunity that presented itself, we all jumped in with both feet and no fear. No one hesitated. No one complained. We took everything in that we could! This was the best 25th anniversary destination that we could imagine. So many memories, so many bonds formed that will not be broken.

In the days ahead, I will walk through our trip with pics and memories. It's too much all to do at once...trust me:)

Thank you for your prayers!

Tomorrow, more Sheshemene.

Blessings,

Laura

Leaving for Ethiopia tomorrow!

The time has finally arrived...we leave tomorrow. Katie and De left very early this morning and will be waiting at the airport for us when we arrive late Friday night!

We have actively been preparing for this trip for over a month. It's amazing how much work goes into a trip like this. We are allowed 2 suitcases per person at 50# a piece. So with Katie and De, we are allowed 8...and we have them, believe me. In total, 7 bags are full to the brim with donations. We have shoes, beautiful clothes for teenage girls, great teenage guy clothes, medical supplies, jugs of glaze for the women to make bead necklaces, dolls, baby bottles, backpacks loaded with goodies for our Compassion boys who we will meet next Wed., boxes of Pop Tarts for Sumer's kids there, rubber rain boots for a couple of extra special girls in Korah and a goodie bag for each of them, and on and on. We're loaded! We will take our clothes in our carry ons to make more room for the donations.

We found out yesterday that Air Canada is threatening to strike tomorrow...yes, we are flying Air Canada to Frankfurt. Any prayers would be appreciated!

There are a couple special missions that we will take on this trip. Next Thursday, we will meet with the boys' family. We have a photo album to leave with them and we'll have them watch the iPad to see a little movie Blaine made of the boys, from the time they joined our family till now. I hope they LOVE it. I need to process that trip and then we will see what's going to be ok for us to share with you all. It will be an emotional time for all involved but I will try to be strong and not cry! This will be a very exciting and exhausting day:)

Another mission we will be on concerns Aliya. We will be trying to acquire something for her that she greatly desires. I cannot say more but do please pray for us as I think we are entering unchartered territory here. Pray for a positive outcome.

Otherwise, we will be spending as much time as possible in Korah at the clinic. Not sure if I shared this yet or not but my job will be triage nurse. I am an LPN and will so the specialized job of applying bandaids to owies and giving hugs when needed. Seriously! That's my job! How perfect is that? I will send all other more serious health problems onto the doctors or more experienced nurses if they need much more than a bandaid. This is totally the perfect job for me and I cannot wait to do it!

We will have stations set up and each station will have an interpreter and a non-medical person to be a runner and to take the patients to the next station or pharmacy. Hopefully the people will get the relief and help they need medically as well as the spiritual help they need. We pray they all understand that they each are a unique creation of the God who wants to know them personally.

Katie just called me and they made their connection! They had on hour in Dulles to make their flight and it went perfectly. They got to the gate and boarded immediately. God sure worked that one out. They are so excited and in 13 hours they will be landing in Ethiopia.

I will not be able to update this blog while we are gone. Hopefully, I can post on facebook so check there if you can.

Thank you for all the support, prayers and encouragement you have given us..family, neighbors and friends. You are a blessing to us.

Laura :)

Two weeks to Addis

A few sweeties enjoying some sweeties!

She is precious in His sight.

Some of Korah's precious treasures.

Yesterday, I got the suitcases out and began to go through and pack our donations. We are allowed 2 bags a piece, 50 pounds per bag. We are full so it looks like Blaine and I won't have any clothes! Ok, that's an exaggeration. Katie and De are allowed 4 bags total so Blaine and I will have one bag to share and that's all we need.

I have received 2 boxes from Dave, the man who owns the guest home where we'll be staying to bring down with us. He has a ministry that serves the women of Korah, as well as some other poor women in Addis. They have learned the skill of bead making and now have 9-5 jobs making bead necklaces. This has enabled them to learn a skill, get off the streets, stop begging and take care of their families. So we are bringing jugs of glaze for the beads. Dave is praying for a real kiln to be made available to these women who then could make some high quality beads and therefore sell more necklaces. If you'd like one of these necklaces, leave me a comment telling me how many. You can send payment after we get home. Not sure the price but am sure it isn't outrageous. Just think- Christmas gifts and helping women out of poverty all at the same time!

I did want to put this out there in case anyone is wondering if they could bless the people of Korah from home. We are still and always will be in need of over the counter meds like antifungal cream, triple antibiotic ointment and hydrocortisone cream. The amazing thing that I didn't know is that you can buy these items and many more at the Dollar Store...yes, for a DOLLAR. I wiped our Dollar Store out last week...it was awesome! So here's your opportunity! If you want to do this, just drop the goodies off at my house and I promise they will go to a great cause. Incredible the difference a buck can make!

We also will be taking a suitcase full of supplies for the medical team that we'll be there assisting. There is a dental team there right now who unfortunately had their equipment held up at customs and it seems they won't release it to them. They are making do but it is a very big blow to the team. So the medical team has decided to split up the supplies as much as possible between team members. Pray our supplies don't get held up.

It seems that Katie and De will now be flying out a day earlier than planned. Ethiopian Airlines cancelled the Thursday flight they were to be on so in order for them to be there on Saturday, when we all travel to the town of Sheshemene to the boarding school to do medical exams on the students, Wed. was the day they had to leave.

Blaine and I made a beautiful Shutterfly book for Mihiretu and Misganaw's Ethiopian mom to have. We included pictures of them as really little guys up to the present. I know she will LOVE it and cherish it. We haven't heard yet for sure if our meeting is all set up but we are hoping and confident it will work out for her.

We also have some things we are trying to do for Aliya while we are there. I can't share what but in planning all this, something has triggered in her and sent her into a tailspin. She has told us a lot about her past but it has taken her many months to share what she has shared. But we know she is holding a LOT inside her. I told her to let her walls down, that she is safe and secure here in this family and we love her and always will. She says that she will never let her walls down. This comes from a girl who has been deeply wounded and is afraid of being hurt again. She simply can't let us in yet. If I'm being honest, this past week has been awful with her on many levels. Please pray that we will be able to acquire in Ethiopia what she needs and that in doing that, she will have peace. We know that God is a God of healing and we trust that He knows what He's doing.

We would also appreciate if you'd begin to pray for us and our team as we prepare for, travel to and return home from Ethiopia. If you've read this blog very long you will know that the enemy loves to come and create chaos when we step out in faith. We've had it happen so many times and we just need prayer. You have also seen in reading about our lives that God ALWAYS wins in the end.

Let the countdown begin!

Blessings,

Laura

Since you asked:)

Nancy, I think you're right in your assessment. People simply don't want to face the pain and poverty. I've always been fascinated with missions and the adventure of it and would LOVE to hear about your past trips sometime.

Kathy, yes I would love to do a neighborhood ladies get together after we get back:)

Jennifer, you're a girl after my own heart for sure! And since you asked...

We arrive in Addis Ababa on Friday and leave Saturday morning for Sheshemene (a town in the countryside, south of Addis). We just so happen to be going exactly when a Visiting Orphans medical mission group is going and we will be joining up with them to assist them in any way. I am an LPN but a rusty one but the others in our little group are non-medical. There is still plenty for them to do - crowd control and other tasks will keep us all busy from dawn till dusk. We are doing health evals. on the kids who originally came from the trash dump but are now attending the boarding school in Sheshemene. There are 250 kids there so that should keep us busy for a couple days! We'll be staying overnight in a hotel in Owassa, which I'm sure will prove very interesting to say the least;)

After we're done with the clinic there, we head back to Addis on Monday (I believe) to begin the medical clinic in Korah. Here we will see, I'm sure a lot of different health problems. I think the goal is to see 150 people a day (or close to that). There will be a pharmacy in which people will be given meds to help with whatever problem they suffer from.

On Wednesday, the 6 of us (Katie, De, Kevin, Denise, Blaine and I) will leave early in the morning for Hossana, which is about a 4 hour drive south into the countryside. We have been there before as this is where Mihiretu and Misganaw are from and where we went to meet their Ethiopian mother when we were there adopting them.

Our plan is that we will meet with the 2 boys we sponsor through Compassion International and Kevin and Denise will meet with their little boy. Pretty cool that all the kids we support are from the area that our sons are from. That was by design, even with Kevin and Denise. How cool is that? We will get to tour the project (school) the boys attend and then get to visit their homes. We'll take all the boys out to lunch and get to spend time with them. They are older boys, who often get overlooked for sponsorships-ages 12, 13 and 14. We specifically asked for older boys for this reason when we began sponsoring them. Can't wait to meet them!

Then we also will be visiting with Mihiretu and Misganaw's Ethiopian mom and hopefully some of their siblings. We're really praying to have this amazing chance to meet them. This is being set up by Children's Home Society, the agency we used to adopt them. We will be thrilled to see her again and show her video of the boys, how big they've gotten, that they're healthy and happy. We'll present her with a photo album full of pictures of them. I would want this if I were her and I know it will mean the world to her. We want to bless her as she has blessed us.

We then will spend yet another night in the countryside at a hotel before heading back to Addis to complete the clinic in Korah and then help in any other way is needed.

Does that not sound like an amazing trip?? I think so, too!

Thanks for asking. It was fun getting to talk about it!

Blessings,

Laura

School starts- from Kindergarten to college:)

Today is the first day of school. Aliya started 9th grade, high school! She was up and ready to go on time this morning. A couple hours into school, she texted me (a big school no-no!) and told me, "Everything is good here!" I am happy for her that's she's having a good first day.

Her schedule was changed to only having one ELL class (she was to have 2). Her previous ELL teacher and her dean decided that she could handle more academic classes so they made the change. If it ends up to be too much for her, they will pull her back into 2 ELL periods per day. The other change came (still kicking myself!) when the original schedule came out and she was put into a lower Algebra class. She was VERY upset by this and couldn't understand why she couldn't be in a 'regular' math class. Blaine and I were completely relieved by this as this meant much less homework for her at night (read-Blaine helping her for 1-2 hours per night). I did question the dean about it and was told it must have been a mistake and since she earned a B last year in Algebra, she would be moved up to the regular Algebra class. She was absolutely thrilled because she thinks that she needs no help and should do all the work the other students are doing. She gets very offended! Oh, my goodness. She has no idea!

Misganaw had his visit to Kindergarten today. Tomorrow he starts for real. His teacher seems sweet and he cannot wait to go tomorrow on the BUS! I did see that having so many older sibs can be detrimental in terms of sharing. He was playing with the cash register in class today while I was filling out papers. From the corner I hear, "Hey, I was playing with that FIRST!" The youngest has to learn to fight for turns and that carries through to school. We will have to work on that! He did make friends with the little boy and when I walked over to them later, I saw that MJ had made a gun and was shooting the boy. I heard the boy say, "The teacher won't like that you made a gun." Oh, boy. Just how much trouble will my little boy get into this year?

So our youngest is a Kindergartner and our oldest is beginning his senior year in college. How fun is that?????

We now have under 6 weeks until we go to Ethiopia. Denise and I are getting a kick out of the reaction we get when people hear what we are doing. What we've found is that the huge majority of people who hear that we're going to Ethiopia do NOT want to talk about it at all. They don't ask any questions like, "what will you be doing?" or "how did you get involved in that?" They look away, change the subject or just ignore it all together. Why is this? I really have no idea!

I had one lady at football practice who was very friendly and chatty tell me that she thinks the boys play in the Metrodome for their last game. I asked her when that was. I mean, how cool would it be to play where the Vikings play? She told me it was in October while we are gone and I said, "SHOOT!" She asked if we were gone and I simply replied that it was our 25th anniversary and we were going to do some humanitarian work in Ethiopia.

She looked away and a few minutes after a long silence she said, "You've been married 25 years?"

"Yep."

"So you're going to Ethiopia?"

"Yes."

More silence.

The end.

This is the MOST conversation I've ever had when a stranger hears we are going to Ethiopia.

Anyone have any idea why this would be? If someone told me they were going to an unusual place like that, I'd have a million questions. Maybe I'm just nosey!!

Blessings,

Laura

Aliya's Florida adventure

How is this possible? This picture was taken just 2 years ago, while Bibi (Anaya's mom) was at Layla house to bring her home. If you've read this blog for a long time, you will remember this girl as Aliya's best friend. You may also remember that she is the girl we first thought we would adopt. She is the one we were pursuing at the time of the fire. It turned out that she was a very important piece of our adoption journey to Aliya, although she was not to be our daughter. She already had a family but seeing her face on a waiting child list led us to adopt the girl who was to be ours!

The same 2 girls just 2 years later! Is this as mind blowing to anyone else as it is to us? The first picture looks like 2 girls who live in an orphanage. The second one looks like 2 girls who are loved and treasured in a family...2 typical American girls.

From this...

TO THIS!!!!

Upon finding out that we were adopting best friends, Bibi and I made a commitment to keep these girls together as best friends. We would get them together whenever possible, even though we live many states away.

Best friends reuniting at the airport. Aliya went for a week to visit Anaya in July. They had the time of their lives!

They nearly were eaten by a shark at Universal.

Spent time at the Portifino Resort there. Look at those Ethiopian beauties!

It was a time to talk and remember their time at the orphanage. They shared even more of their stories with each other, which was healthy for them. But mostly they enjoyed themselves in the present and talked about the future. Because they have families who treasure them the sky is the limit for their future. In fact, Aliya came back announcing that she now wants to be a doctor...either an HIV or cancer doctor. She wants to return to Ethiopia to help people. I love this idea and we'll support her in whatever she chooses to do. We all know she is determined enough to do anything she sets her mind to;)

Over the past 2 months, we have seen changes in Aliya. She seems to be understanding what it means to be in our family. She understands how we work and what doesn't work (slamming doors, not giving us eye contact, lying, rudeness) and how to function peacefully in our home. We know high school will bring a whole other bunch of issues but we feel we've gotten her over a huge hump in terms of being a member of our family. She has become a happy and well adjusted 15 year old. It was hard work and sometimes I didn't know if I could do it another day. This is probably not the picture I painted over the last 18 months on this blog but I can now tell you that all that hard work has paid off.

We are thankful that God led us to adopt a teenager.

The Wedding

Sorry these are a little out of order but here are a few of the wedding pictures from two weeks ago. The wedding was in our back yard and turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day! Thunderstorms were threatening but God held them back:)

Blaine and De built this pergola next to our pond for the ceremony. It turned out beautifully and we'll enjoy it for years to come. Behind the pond used to be all weeds but they worked together to make it look like a park. My sister in law strung crystals and hung them from the pergola...so pretty!

Katie and De went with the unity sand instead of the unity candle just in case they had a windy day.

Katie saying her vows...just seconds before the tears started and she had to whisper the rest.

How did I get these so out of order??? I LOVE this picture because not only are Katie and Blaine crying, Blake has lost it at this point. He was overwhelmed and seeing his dad and sister both crying...he couldn't hold it in:) Misganaw is unfazed and is looking for our ducks, it seems.

Thank you for the beautiful sunshine Lord!!

Yea! Married!

M.J. and his adorable cousin (also adopted-from Colombia), Maria. They love each other so much!

Father of the bride with his daughter:)

The wedding party...Mihiretu, Aliya, Trevor (De's brother), Kelly (friend), M.J., Katie, Maria, De, Kammi (friend), Blake, Heather (my niece) and Damien (De's nephew).

The wedding was all that it was dreamed to be. It was so personal and heart felt. It was small, just the way Katie wanted it...only 75 people.

After the wedding, we all went down to McCormick & Schmick's for a delicious dinner. We showed a sweet video that Katie's Aunt Jenny made for her which included De answering questions about why he loved Katie and how his life would be if she wasn't in it. He was so honest and it was a tear jerker. The best part is that he said, "You were the one who introduced me to Christ and my life will never be the same for that."

Then we had a surprise video to show. I had Maste and Sumer (friends from Ethiopia) secretly make up a video of their friends in Korah wishing them well and congratulating them on their wedding. Surprisingly, I was able to keep it quiet (a miracle in itself) so it was a complete surprise to Katie and De. A highlight was of Maste telling De that if he was in Ethiopia, he would have had to jump over a cow or several cows to earn a girl like Katie to marry! De loved that:)

Katie and De took a quick honeymoon at a downtown hotel because the only other place they wanted to go was Ethiopia. It seems that they have found someone to work for them while they are away so...a honeymoon in Ethiopia it is!

Our friends, Kevin and Denise have their tickets all booked (non-refundable to boot) as have Blaine and I for 14 days in October:) We are absolutely beyond excited to have the opportunity to take this trip with our friends and introduce them to the people who have captured our hearts.

Katie and De will be joining us and we can't wait to share this experience all together!

God has been so good to us. We are thankful for all that He's brought us through and for the fact that He's brought us out to the other side. We're thankful for a great son in law who loves the Lord and our daughter with all his heart.

God has brought many gifts out of the fire we had. This trip is just one more. We figured out that we had enough miles on our credit card to pay for our airline tickets to Ethiopia! Everything I had to re-purchase went on that credit card. I thought at least we could get some miles out of the deal. Never did I dream that we'd have enough to pay for this trip!

Good does come from bad:)