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!