Meeting Mersha- and other adventures- Day 2!

On our second day in Ethiopia, we again traveled across the city to our daughter’s transition home.  We couldn’t wait to see her and hold her again!  This time she was dressed in a little yellow jacket as it was a little rainy and chilly.  Her smile was just as bright as the day before and her hugs just as intense.  She was full of laughter and giggles sitting on her daddy’s lap and posing for pictures.  

So sweet!!  There were some other families there that day as well spending time with their children and it was good to connect with them.  So exciting to see so many children finding their forever families! WooHoo!

The older kids recognized our team from the day before as they had played soccer with them, so the kids were happy that they were with us.  Also, we did our VBS type program with them and that was super special.  We started with worship as usual and Mersha stood right in front of me holding on to my hands while we were singing, just like she belonged there, with us and our team; and she did.  She is a Sharp already in our hearts and will be someday soon legally as well!!  Sarah told the wordless book story and did a great job. In case you don’t know, a wordless book, is just a small book with colored pages and no words.  Each color stands for a part of the salvation message- like black for sin, red for the blood of Jesus, etc.  It is a fun, interactive way to teach kids in any culture about the love of Jesus! We then helped the kids make bracelets with the same colors as the books as a reminder of what they learned.  We ended our time by playing with a big parachute.  The kids always love this! Our sweet girl especially loved it, although she wanted us to hold her while she played with it, which was a little difficult, but so worth it!  The kids sang some worship songs for us in Amharic and English which was such a blessing!  Seeing our daughter already singing about God and worshipping Him was an answer to prayer!  We again stayed a while past visiting hours, but the kids were having a ball and we were too!  And we didn’t want to leave Mersha any sooner than we had to!  Sadly, the time came to say good-bye, but we knew we would be back again in a few days.

After lunch back at our guest house, we headed to our next ministry site- another Hope for the Hopeless children’s home called Bethel.  This home held about 25 kids- again mostly teen boys, but a few girls as well.  I am always impressed by the teen boys at these ministries- how as soon as our van door opens they are offering to help us get out, carry our bags, give us hugs and smiles.  It’s like we are old friends.  As soon as we were unloaded and greeted everyone, a game of volleyball using a piece of rope for a net ensued.  Everyone had a blast enjoying that simple game!  We had picked up some donuts to share with them on our way, so after a while, we all filed into the main room of the facility.  We started with our usual welcome- telling them that we came because God wanted them to know how important they are to Him.  And it is true.  Every child/teen in that room is precious to the Father and even if they no longer have or even never had an earthly father, they can know the unconditional love of their Daddy God.  We then did a couple worship songs with Cappie on his amazing ukele.  We asked if they had any worship songs they wanted to sing and of course they did, the whole room was filled with the sound of young voices worshiping the Lord!  It was incredible! 

There was enough teens to do the discipleship program we brought with us here, so Lawrence and Mark took all the kids 16 and up to do that and the rest of us stayed with the youngers and Misty led them in the wordless book story (both with interpreters of course!)  This was the heart of what we felt called to do here; leave a Bible study that was specifically for international students- one that they could continue on with once we left and also tell and leave reminders of God’s great love for each of them.  For the older teens, that was not only helping to establish a Bible study group, but giving them an English Bible.  Many were already reading their Amharic Bibles, but as you enter high school in Ethiopia, all classes are then taught in English, so an English Bible is a blessing to have!  For the younger kids, that was the wordless book story, a wordless book of their own and a bracelet.  We wanted to leave something that would last more than just the week that we were there, what better thing to leave than God’s Word and promises!!  Of course, we also left them with clothing, which is always fun.  Even guys like to have a new t-shirt to wear!  We laid out all of our donations and let them each pick one thing.  Most of them put on whatever they picked out immediately!  But honestly, hang out time with them is the best.  Hearing them share their stories, practice their English, tell you their dreams, show you their rooms.  They just want attention from people who care.  We care.  We have been home a week now and we miss them all terribly.

GO, SET, READY!

There are three places in this world where I feel closer to God…The International House of Prayer, Estes Park, CO and Ethiopia.  Somehow these places transport me out of the day to day and allow me to focus my spiritual eyes and ears more on the Lord and His Holy Spirit.  This last trip to Ethiopia was no different.  Maybe that is one reason we feel drawn there, drawn to the people, the children, the relationships that we have there.  By the end of each trip, we are ready to come home to see our family, but leaving is always bittersweet.  What a blessing to experience God’s omnipresence, His multi-dimensions, His global love for His people.

We got to meet our new daughter on this trip.  I was very nervous leading up to that day.  I didn’t eat much for 4 days before we left or the 2 travel days to get there.  It’s crazy enough to meet your daughter at age 6 instead of at birth, but with the difference in culture, language, etc. you wonder how they will feel about you.  Will she like us?  Does she know that we are her parents?  Does she even desire parents?  Has she ever had a man in her life?  How will she respond to a dad?  SO many unknowns…. but, we know the One who holds the future and had been praying for all these things for quite some time, so when they brought Mersha to us and she ran into our arms and threw her little arms around our necks, we were so at peace.  She was SO happy to see us and we were SO happy to see her; it was such a sweet moment.  She kissed my cheek so hard, I can still feel it!  Ah, my heart!  It was such a picture to me of our relationship with Jesus.  We know in our heads that He loves us, but we wonder what He will actually do when we see Him face to face. I know I will run into His arms and He will hug me so tight and He will kiss me on the cheek and tell me how much He loves me and then I will most likely fall to a heap on the ground!!  That will be an amazing, glorious day!  The day we met our new daughter was a glimpse of that - what a blessing! 

Of course we held her lots and lots and kissed her little cheeks and talked and played and sang.  The language barrier can’t stop love!!  It was great to have our team there to meet her as well. They played with the other older kids so we could have some time just with her, but also to see her interact with her friends.  What a way to start our week!  God was before and behind us and on our right and our left.  He had gone ahead of us and prepared the way and we could walk forward in confidence.  We stayed past the end of visiting time, but the staff didn’t seem to mind since we were entertaining the kids.  The time came that we had to say good-bye for the day, which was hard, but we knew we would see her again tomorrow! Sorry, I can't post any pictures of her!

 Ah…HOPE…the word means so much more in this place… HOPE in Jesus as savior, HOPE for a better life, HOPE for a rescued boy from the streets, HOPE for a girl released from trafficking….we saw SO much HOPE this week, it makes my heart sing!!!  We spent the afternoon sharing pizza and life with 10 boys and 3 girls from the streets.  They each had a different story of how they got there and how God brought them to the Hope for the Hopeless ministry and they found LIFE!  Pizza was a very special treat and the gobbled it up even though they had already eaten lunch just before we arrived!  Many of them hugged us as we exited the van.  We knew a few of the kids from our other trips, but most of them we didn't know, and they were loving on us already!  

After pizza, we sang some worship songs for them and they reciprocated by singing some songs for us.  It’s truly amazing to see kids and teens who were hardened from living on the streets, now transformed by God’s love and singing and praising Him!  God is a God of redemption!!  Through a translator, we shared that God sent us to them to tell them how much He loved them, that they are special to Him and that He has a plan for each of their lives.  We shared the “wordless book” which tells of God’s greatest love and the gift of salvation, we helped them make bracelets as a reminder of God’s love for them,  and we just loved on them through spending time together.  One of our team members, Tammy Stanton, had made tie die shirts and we were able to give each child one.  What a glorious day, even though we hadn’t slept much over the 30 hours of travel time it took to get there, we were all refreshed and ready for what the rest of the week would hold!  

MATCHING GRANT= DOUBLE BLESSING!!

Dear Family and Friends,

If you read our last blog, then you know that we are adopting again!  If you haven’t heard, we have agreed to bring a sweet 6 year old little girl from Ethiopia into our forever family!  We are so excited and so honored that God chose us to be her parents!  Her name is Mersha and she is precious! I wish you could see her sweet face, but Ethiopian law does not allow it.  She also has diabetes, which is considered a special need in Ethiopia due to the lack of quality medical care and healthy food.  So, we are trying to do everything within our power to bring her home quickly (unfortunately, some things will be beyond our control), but we are praying it will be within the next six to twelve months.  So, we are asking each of you to partner with us in prayer for our new daughter.

This road to adoption is full of many joys and challenges, the greatest joy being the inclusion of a child into our family and the greatest challenge being finances.  The costs of adoption include the expense of a home study, adoption agency, lawyers, international fees, travel expenses, etc., etc., etc.

But, praise God, We were recently awarded a matching funds grant to help with the expenses of our adoption through Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. a non-profit private operating foundation.  Hand in Hand will match any funds that are donated through our friends and family for the expenses of our adoption.  All funds received through our friends and family will be matched dollar for dollar by Hand in Hand up to our awarded grant amount.   All donations are tax-deductible.   If you feel led to give, any amount helps!  All donations will be used for adoption related expenses.

Please find below a grant award letter that will explain more about the matching grant program from Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. You can find out more about Hand in Hand through their website at www.handinhandadopt.org. If you have further questions about the Hand in Hand matching grant program please feel free to give us a call at 816-516-4431 or email us at sharpfamily4him@gmail.com.  You may also contact Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. with any questions you may have.  They can be reached at 913-248-5015 or by e-mail at handinhandadopt@gmail.com.

Please send all donations by check (sorry, they don’t do online giving)  made payable to “Hand in Hand Christian Adoption” postmarked by May 7th  to: (for tax purposes please include our name on the outside of the envelope only…do not put our name on the check itself)

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.  

Mark and Christine Sharp

18318 Mimosa Court                                                                                                                               Gardner, KS  66030   

      

  Thank you for your prayerful consideration in helping bring Mersha into her “forever” family.

In Him,

Mark and Christy Sharp

816-516-4431

Sharpfamily4him@gmail.com

 Dear Mark & Christy:

 We have reviewed your application for a matching grant and are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded a dollar for dollar matching grant up to $5,000. The specific amount received will depend on the amount of funds donated by family and friends on your behalf. The grant amount includes both the funds raised and the funds matched by HANDinHAND Christian Adoption, Inc. If you raise $2,500 from family and friends, HANDinHAND will match those funds for a total grant of $5,000. Funds received over the grant amount will go toward your adoption expenses not to exceed the outstanding adoption expenses but will not be matched by HANDinHAND. Funds received over outstanding adoption expenses will help other children find “forever” families through the general fund of HANDinHAND Christian Adoption, Inc. All monies will be disbursed directly to your adoption agency, adoption lawyer or other adoption expenses after HANDinHAND has received an approved invoice from one of these sources. Monies already paid will not be reimbursed. Only outstanding balances will be paid by your awarded grant. Monies will be disbursed up to the amount of the final awarded grant. All donated monies must be in our HANDinHAND office or postmarked by May 7, 2015 to be considered in the dollar for dollar match for your specific grant. Funds received after this time will go toward the general fund of HANDinHAND Christian Adoption, Inc. to continue to help children find “forever” families. In the case of a disrupted adoption, monies will be held for your use for up to 1 year from the disruption then after that time will be used to help other children and their families through Hand in Hand’s general fund. We are so excited to be able in a small way to help a child find a “forever” family. Thank you for being obedient to God’s call in your life to help a child. We appreciate your heart and look forward to working with you in accomplishing this goal.

 Sincerely,

 Trudy A. George President

 HANDinHAND Christian Adoption,Inc.

Here we GO again!

GO.SET.READY!

                                                    Mark and I on a flight to Ethiopia in Oct.2014

                              

Okay everybody…HERE.WE.GO!  It’s hard to believe that this is really happening!  Yes, we are adopting again and we couldn’t be more excited!  I can still remember being at our guest house in Ethiopia one day after we got custody of our son, Ashur Biruk, and Mark looking out over the city and saying, “ We will be back here someday to bring another child into our family.”   I just smiled, but inside I thought, “Yeah, right!”  Adoption is such a long, emotional road, one that had taken us through so many ups and downs to be at that guest house with our new son and one we are still walking today, so I wasn’t sure if we would ever be ready to do that again. But, God has had us in a season for a while of telling us to GO before we are set or ready.  GO adopt again (yikes!)  Let your daughter GO to Revolution 5 in Colorado (do we have to?)   GO to a new church (double yikes!)  GO start a missions ministry to lead others to GO (really, God??) 

 So, we step out and He meets us there.  Just like He did with Ashur.  Can I tell you the feelings that come with hearing him say “I love you, mom,” and “Love you, dad.”  The joy we get from the kisses, hugs, laughter and seeing all of life through new eyes?  I am smiling now just writing this!! Watching a skinny, scared, angry young boy become a healthy, confident, happy young man is so fulfilling!  But most of all, we have learned much about the Savior’s great love for us.  How He adopted us into His own family, when we did nothing to earn His love, He reached out for us and loved us just as we were.  He has accepted us, loved us greatly and changed us into something beautiful.  It wasn’t easy, but so worth it.  We are forever grateful and we are ready…..

So, here we are….coming full circle….  A little over 2 years since we brought home our son, we are preparing to bring another little Ethiopian into our forever family, this time a girl! (This is the first time in 21 years that we haven’t had a girl living in our house!)  This sweet little one just turned 6 years old.  I wish I could post a picture because she is precious!  She has type 1 diabetes which is considered a special need in Ethiopia.  This disease is manageable in the United States, but in a third world country, it is hard to keep levels stable and have healthy food to eat.  SO- we need to get her home quickly!  However quick is not a word in the Ethiopian culture, so we would appreciate prayers for favor in her case.  We are so thankful for so many friends and family that have helped us be set and ready over the past years in all areas of our life.  We love you, we need you, we are grateful for you.

Puzzle Progress

Well, thanks to all of you, our puzzle is coming along quite nicely!  At least we all have faces now!  It's hard to not just finish it.  I so want to put all the pieces in to see the finished product....just like I so want to see what our family will look/feel/be like once our son is here with us.  But, the future is not for us to know, which is usually for the best, which is what God always has for us...His best.  Waiting does not seem like a very active thing to do, and those of you who know me, know that I am very active!  I want to be doing something....anything....to fix the situation.    So, I am doing the best thing I know to do- pray and ask others to do the same!!  God's timing is way better than mine anyway:)

We are soooo grateful for those of you whose names we have added to the back of a puzzle piece!  So blessed that you are a part of our lives and want to share in this adventure with us!!   I have made a piece for everyone who requested that I do so, and for anyone who has told me at some point in our adoption journey that they are praying for us (not sure if I remembered everyone!) Several of you got to write on your own piece (that option is still open for those of you that live nearby:) And I have been also trying to write on a piece for those of you that have generously donated to our cause either by purchasing coffee, giving money, or donating much needed items for the ministries we will be visiting while in Ethiopia.  However, as you can see, there are still some pieces that need names on them- your names!  My memory is not the best anymore, so if you have told me at some point that you are praying for us, or you are willing to start now,we would love to have your names on a piece.  Please just stop by, or message me by FB or e-mail and let me know.  

Our current and most urgent prayer request is that our case be submitted to the US Embassy tomorrow (which is really tonight on US time).  So, we would covet your prayers regarding that immediate issue!

I can't wait to play with this puzzle with Biruk!

 Will you be a Piece in our Puzzle of Life?

I was reminded this weekend after a visit to our precious friends, The Ewings, just how intertwined our lives are with friends, family and loved ones.  We went there to love on them and help support them as their son battles brain cancer, but in return, we were the ones who felt so loved and encouraged by them....I love that our lives are so interconnected with others... at times it makes life stressful and chaotic and I just want to retreat to my own little world, but much more often, it makes life fuller and richer and much more exciting!  I love praying for others and lifting them up to God's throne of Grace.  I love knowing people well enough for them to tell me what they need prayer for.  Most of all... I love it when others pray for me!  (selfish I know) It brings me peace when God followers offer to pray for me because I know the prayer of a righteous man (or woman) is powerful and effective and when those who say they will pray- really do- God moves....


So- here is what I am asking-to those who are willing- will you join with me in praying for the pieces of our family to all come together?  So many of you have asked when we will be returning to Ethiopia to bring home our son, and our answer is still, to our frustration, "we don't know."  But God knows and I know the Word says that God sets the lonely in families.  And I know that right now a piece of our puzzle is still in Ethiopia.  When we visited our son at the end of July, we spent our days at the transition home with him (something I still want to blog on soon).  One thing we found is that our new son loves puzzles!  We spent a good hour or more working on a 1000 piece puzzle and he loved it!  He was so proud every time he found where a piece went.  So I got a puzzle made from one of the pictures we took while there.  It is only 100 pieces so it won't take long to put together, but what I want to do is borrow and idea I saw on someone else's blog.  I would like for anyone who is willing to join us in prayer for our family to write their name on the back of one of the pieces.  You can do this in person at my orphanage shower next Saturday ( Sept. 30th from 2-4 pm at Sheila Key's home) or you can send me a message via e-mail or Facebook and I can write in on for you.  That way, every time we play with the puzzle, I can talk to Biruk about all the people who are part of our lives and who helped to pray him home. I will post a pic of the puzzle as it progresses.

I told little Levi Ewing as I held him on Saturday, that some day, he would get to meet Biruk, and I knew that Biruk would love him, because he loves little kids even though he is 8 years old.....and Biruk would smile his big grin at Levi and Levi would smile his chubby grin back and their lives would become intertwined.....just like the rest of us.