Italy to Ethiopia

We left with 3 hours to travel what would normally take 2 but there was a lot of traffic and so it took almost the entire 3 hours. We made our flight and were told we were the last to check in, but the gal gave us the exit row on both the flight to Dubai and also to Addis; God is so kind.

The travel in flight with the lay over was another 9 hours. Tack that onto the already long day and then loose another night of sleep and we are tired. Something new I had never seen was there was a video camera attached on the front of the plane and so we could actually watched the take off and landing. There was a serious cross wind on approach to Addis and it literally looked like we were going to land in the field rather than on the runway, but of course they know what they are doing and we landed fine.

The sights of Addis were close to what I expected, looking much like India. The roads into the orphanage are terrible, reminiscent of India/Sao Paulo. But what a treat awaited us when we got to the orphanage. The kids were ready in the room when we arrived and they sang us a song. Their little eyes just light up with joy as they sing and the boys sing so enthusiastically that the veins stick out in the neck.

The older kids are like big brothers and sisters to the little ones. They are really caring for their needs. Teresa immediately became attached to one little guy named Abenezar. He just loves to be held.


There are many sibling groups and it is not best to split up, so that is more of a challenge to place them, but they really are awesome little ready made families. Take a look. We would love to tell you about them over dinner:)Invite yourself over and we'll talk.





After dinner we found out that the orphanage is going to be moving tomorrow so the girls started to sort through all the things, some to be left here and some to be taken to the new location. The infants will stay in Addis and all the rest will go to the new place. There are so many politics involved with all of this kind of thing and especially because it is in a different country. The “normal” way is not normal here at all. But God knows and He cares for these little ones and all that can be done is to do what is known to be right and let Him take care of the rest. His ways are not our ways and our thoughts can’t even begin to comprehend His thoughts, so we work as unto Him and rest in His provision and care.

The staff here seems to work hard and to really love and care about the children. With the world economy going south, it is impossible to carry on this type of work without God providing even the most basic of needs.

Currently there are about 30 kids here in the orphanage that could hold as many as 80, but since He is in control He knows that the move was coming and it certainly will be much easier to move 30 kids rather than 80. They have placed about 40 this past summer, which has obviously diminished the numbers here and they would like to try to place 80 or more each year.

Imagine going from the village, which we have yet to see, where daily food is a luxury and certainly not the norm, and water is at a premium. Imagine the staple food costing at the very extreme of what a family can afford and so often they go without food for more than a day at a time. Imagine living in the same clothes everyday until you can no longer actually fit in them. Now imagine coming to the orphanage and having food 3 times a day, clothes that are periodically cleaned and past down, so you get different ones, and a firm roof over your head. Now imagine coming to the normal American home and how crazy that would look comparatively.

For sure, individually we can’t solve these problems, but we can make a difference in the lives of one or 2, or maybe 80 this year. It really doesn’t take that much to significantly change the lives of these kids, but we must start the process or nothing will ever happen.

It’s late and it’s well into tomorrow by my clock. God is amazing as He has allowed us the privilege of being here and hopefully making some sort of small difference in the lives of these kids. We can certainly go into all the world and preach the Gospel, but we can also bring them into our homes and have a huge impact on some.