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.