Our First Trip to Ethiopia

Day 1

We have arrived in Ethiopia!!! We got here last night at midnight after three hours at the airport. Immigration…getting our visa, took so long. Luckily we met a couple who is here for their 2nd trip and they helped us through the in-and-outs of immigration, exchanging money and a bit about what to expect on this trip.

It is 8:45am, January 11. Today we meet J Luke! In about 45 minutes! I can’t tell you how excited we are. We only get to spend 3 hours at Hannah’s Hope today. At 12:30 we come back to the hotel and are here for the rest of the day.

There is also a mission trip going on through AGCI. They are building a new library, basketball court, volleyball court, soccer fields and bathrooms for a local school. We met the team this morning at breakfast and asked if we could help since we would be at the hotel for the rest of today and they said they would love the help so after we meet our little guy, we will be off working with the mission team!

We haven’t seen much of Ethiopia, this will happen later in the week. The people are so nice, so genuine.

Jeff met a couple who leaves today to take their baby to his forever home. I’m so excited for that day!

Day 2

Day 2 in Ethiopia was amazing! First we went to Hannah’s Hope and met JLuke. He is full of smiles. He is such a sweet baby. I don’t know what it is like to have a baby…attaching for 9 months while pregnant, but the love that I have for this little guy is unexplainable. I got to feed him and then he napped in our arms.

We toured Hannah’s Hope, hung out with the kids and special mothers, ate lunch there, and then back to the hotel. We quickly changed and were off to help the mission team. We helped to level rock and lay concrete for the basketball court. You can’t see it in the pictures, but the tools that we were using were trowels and floats made of wood, 1X4’s and sticks. The Ethiopian people worked right alongside of us. It was a really cool experience. Jeff made a good friend named Tjermo. He was his concrete guy. If he needed more concrete, Tjermo would get it and say, Tjermo concrete and then give knuckles (if you look hard, you can see this in the background of the picture that shows the basketball court).

We were working in a school play ground so when the kids had breaks, they would come out to watch. They love to get their pictures taken and then look at the screen to see their picture. They also loved to dance. They know all the “American” dances, like the running man, roger rabbit, moon walk….we had a dance off. It was so fun. They tried to teach me some African dances…they laughed so hard as I tried my best to dance with them.

The connection here is really bad, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. As I type, Jeff has been trying to get on for about an hour. So we will try to send daily updates as long as we can get access.

I wish that I could post pictures of J Luke but at this time, I still can't! 

Day 3

We spent most of the morning with JLuke. What a sweet boy he is. We hung out with the special mothers and babies as they sun bathed. It gives them the Vitamin D they need and they also lotion and oil them up during this time. The special mothers sing, hug and love on them during this time and really….this never stops. They are constantly giving them love.

We fed JLuke, changed diapers, changed outfits because he had a blow out, put him asleep…just did what parents do. As he slept in my arms, we would walk around to the other side of Hannah’s Hope and hang out with the older kids…ranging in age from 2 to 5. They love to be held, sit on your lap, play soccer…even though they get so much love from the special mothers and the staff at AGCI; they still just want a mom and dad.

One thing that we have found with JLuke being at Hannah’s Hope with so many kids is that he sleeps through anything. At first when he would fall asleep, I would try to be quiet but I soon found out that there was no need for this. The older kids would come around the corner playing and laughing, the babies would cry, the special mothers would sing…Hannah’s Hope is so full of life, laughter and love…it is not a quiet place which made it nice because as he napped in our arms, we could still be in the middle of it all, taking it all in.

The afternoon was spent at the hotel for lunch and rest and then dinner with the mission team. Our trip is a bit different than most. Usually there are other adoptive families here but this week, we are the only ones. With the mission team being here, the schedule is different for us because they are trying to coordinate so many things. We haven’t minded a bit because we have been able to be a part of some of the things that team is doing. Being able to spend time with the mission team has made us realize how much we look forward to being a part of mission work…just another thing that God has orchestrated.

Dinner was at an Italian Restaurant….with the best focaccia bread we have ever had! It was a fun time. Dan Wilson….retired mariner’s catcher…is the mission team leader, they have also adopted 2 children from AGCI, so it has been really cool to talk with them about their experiences. The executive director of AGCI was also here, and hearing her story about how AGCI came about is awesome…her parents started AGCI.
We also got to hang out with Almaz, the director of Hannah's Hope in Ethiopia.  She has so much love for the children of Ethiopia and this shows in EVERYTHING at Hannah's Hope

Day 4

Court day!!! We went to Court with Hefla the AGCI family coordinator. Court was an experience. We met in a room with other adoptive families from other agencies and mothers who were relinquishing their rights…talk about emotional. We were at court for about 3 hours. The waiting took the longest part. The actual appearance before the judge was all of 5 minutes. Jeff, I and Hefla were called into a room, with the judge and asked if we had met our baby, understood the importance of teaching about their culture and interlacing that into his life as he grows up and asked if for sure we wanted to go through with this because if we decided against it after today, he would never be able to be adopted. We said yes to everything. So now the case goes to MOWA and then to Kenya….yes Kenya??? The newest change in this process is that now they are sending all abandoned children’s cases to Kenya for further investigation…why this is happening…no one knows. This could make our wait a bit longer so our prayer is that our case with go through with speed!!!

After court we went to the market and purchased some Ethiopian items, all hand made from Ethiopia. We also got an Amharic bible and lots of Ethiopian Coffee!!! We got some awesome pictures and toys for JLuke’s room and some Ethiopian gifts for our family…so that they too can have a little piece of Ethiopia.

We got to go back to Hannah’s Hope in the afternoon and hung with our little man. What a day today was….play time, feeding, rocking, sleeping, more feeding. Jeff got his first experience with throw up. He was rocking JLuke and JLuke started coughing, Jeff leaned down to make sure he was okay, and the next thing I saw was throw up down Jeff’s leg and about 4 oz on the floor. Jeff’s face was priceless. It was a great experience for him.

I know so many have been praying for JLuke’s health and he is doing awesome. He is a bit congested still but even from the first day we held him, he is sounding better. He is not on any medication, he is growing and he is a strong little guy. He can hold his head up even though he is still so tiny. He is in newborn to 3 month clothes…every brand fit a bit different. He did swim in most of the three month so you can imagine what he looked like in 6 month. I don’t think they have very many 0-3 mo sizes and right now there are 4 or 5 small babies. He is a happy little guy, full of smiles….and we gave him so many hugs…for all of you too.

This evening was our traditional meal. Wass took us, ordered a traditional meal…injera, which is a pancake like bread with traditional spices blended with beans, soy and veggies. It was good. We also experienced cultural dancing and singing. Wass explained to us the different songs and dances and what nations they represent…there are like 40 different nations (tribes). This was an awesome experience…we have tons of video!

Day 5

Today was a hard day…sad but also joyous. We went to Hannah’s Hope this morning to spend the morning with our little guy. We fed, played, rocked, walked around with him in the ergo (baby carrier) and enjoyed our time with him. Today was my day to get spit up (I think he had a bit of a tummy ache) and pee’d on. I changed his diaper and obviously wasn’t fast enough with the new diaper…there was pee everywhere, running down my arm, soaked the changing table, on the table next to us, in the wipes. One of the special mothers ran over and said “Gobez, Gobez….meaning brilliant – wonderful and then proceeded to help me clean up JLuke, myself and the area around us. As our time was coming to an end, we gave one of the special moms his family photo album and gave hugs to all of his special moms. This was really hard. We gave him hugs and kisses, took a few more pictures and then had to leave. I didn’t do so hot, but I was able to hold most of it in until we went out the gate. Our case manager said that we needed to control our emotions when saying good bye. It is hard on the special mothers and kids to see the new mom and dad’s cry. Jeff was my rock…telling me, you are doing good. I wasn’t doing so good though!

After leaving HH, we went to the mission site. This was the teams last day. We helped with clean up and odds and ends. The basketball court was finished and the hoops went up. Jeff played bumped with the guys and helped to teach the Ethiopians how to play. They loved it and loved getting high fives. Their shooting technique is a bit different and it was so fun to watch. When all was finished, the mission team gave away their boots and some clothes to those that helped them…the Ethiopians came to work in concrete and use pick axes with bare feet or sandals. They had holey jeans and T-shirts that they wore in layers so that one layer of holes would cover the next.

We are now at the hotel, hanging out, getting ready to pack up and head out. We have about 6 hours of down time. We are on the same flight out as some of the team so that will be fun. We have made new friends and have truly loved the interaction that we have had with the Ethiopian people.

Our goal is to learn Amharic so that we can teach JLuke and also understand the language better so that when we come back, we can communicate…right now…it is a lot of hand motions and three words….Gobez which means brilliant or wonderful, e-shi – ok and amesegnadlu - thank you.

Hannah’s Hope, the mission team, the special mothers, the love….everything. AGCI is an awesome organization, who truly loves these people and shows it in so many ways. We are thankful for all they do, for the love that they give the children and the love they give the Ethiopian community.

Amazing Outpouring of Prayer and Love…

On December 6th we found out that JLuke had pneumonia, we sent out a mass text and ask for prayer and healing for his little body. On December 17th we found out that his little body wasn’t responding to the medicine, so they started IV antibiotics, and again, we sent out a mass text, asking for prayer. The response we got still brings me to tears. We had friends and family praying, placing him on prayer chains, small groups praying for him, people coming to me saying, “I have a friend who knows you and they told me about JLuke and we are praying for him”, connections made with a doctor in Ethiopia to see if he could help our little man….and the stories go on and on. It touches my heart to know the outpouring of prayer from people we know and from those we don’t. At a time where I just wanted to be over in Ethiopia holding our little baby, comforting him and loving him…but couldn’t. God sent His prayer warriors and with this I was held, comforted and loved.

We got an update last week that JLuke is responding to the medicine and he is doing so much better. When we pray, with one heart, one voice, one mind….GREAT things happen!

Today we got our court date and travel dates for our first trip. As Jeff talked to our case worker and repeated what she was saying, I jumped up and down in the kitchen with tears…happy tears. It’s actually happening; we finally get to hold our little man. This journey has been quite the rollercoaster but in two weeks, we will be in Ethiopia! So again…I sent out a text:

We have a court date! We will be in Ethiopia Jan 10-14. We will be meeting JLuke Jan 11 and going to court of Jan 13. Exciting times! I can’t believe it is finally here! Lots of jumping up and down in our house! Plus some tears from me…. I can’t help it!

The texts in return again showed me just how much support we have in our journey. The excitement of others, the jumping up and down that was not only happening in my kitchen but in other homes and again the outpouring of prayer for this portion of our journey.

This post is not only to update everyone on our journey, but also to say THANK YOU for the prayers from everyone, whether you know us or not. You will never know how much it has touched my life and how God has used you to be His tool!

Tears...Healing...and Excitement

I have exciting news, we have a new referral.  Some of you may be thinking, wait...what about the last referral.  In September, we lost our first referral.  The Ethiopian Government put a hold on all adoptions from the southern region and our first little guy was from that region.  This hold turned into a sort of recall, the government took back children from that region and we lost our first referral.  This was a sad day... week... month...as we tried to sort out and understand what was going on in Ethiopia and wrap our emotions around losing our first referral and preparing for the future.  I don't understand why things happen the way they do but I have to keep telling myself that God is in control, he knows the bigger picture and has the best plan for our life.

So back to our exciting news.  Our new little man was found abandoned in a vehicle driving training course on November 7, the day he was born. His mom could have left him anywhere, but in leaving him at this facility, he was sure to be found.  He was taken into care at Hannah’s Hope on November 11, 2011.

On November 14 he was examined by a Hannah’s Hope physician. He weighs 5 pounds and is 19 ½ inches long. He is malnourished and has low iron, but those are really the only concerns that both the Hannah’s Hope physician and our international adoption physician have. Hannah’s Hope is also beefing him up on multi-vitamins to help with the deficiencies.

When talking with our adoption case worker, she said that our first trip to Ethiopia could be as soon as January. Seems to all be coming together!

Please be praying that this little guy will stay healthy and that we will be able to bring him home quickly.

Praying JLuke home

I want to give everyone an update on the adoption because PRAYER is needed!

Last week we got an email from our agency that informed us on closures to some of the state ran orphanages in the southern areas of Ethiopia. The reason given for the closure was poor living conditions for children. When a child is given up for adoption, they are placed in a state ran home before going to the orphanage that they will be adopted from. A few days later our social worker called and told us that JLuke is from one of the southern orphanages that closed and at this point, they are investigating to see if any illegal matters were taking place. She told me that it shouldn’t have an effect on our case but that she wanted us to be aware. I asked a lot of questions, like what kind of illegal matters, but she didn’t have any other information. On Monday she called and told me that this issue is bigger than they thought and the southern government would like to see all children who originally came from the southern orphanages to be replaced in state ran homes and for all adoptions to be postponed, if not terminated. On Tuesday, she called explaining that they may be able to place the children whose families have already made the first trip but because we have not made that trip yet, that doesn’t include us.

Jeff and I know that God is in control. We don’t understand why things happen the way they do, but we know that His plan is better than our plan and that we will continue to trust Him through this. It is hard to look at the pictures of this little guy, thinking that he is ours and then not knowing what will happen to him.

I know that our prayers are bigger than the Ethiopian government, so today, please take time to say a little prayer for JLuke and for the government officials who are making all of these decisions. In the email from our social worker there is a quote from Almaz (she runs Hannah’s Hope Orphanage) stating the meaning of JLuke’s Ethiopian name (Mintesnot). Mintesnot means God is there, there is nothing that God cannot do. There is truly NOTHING that God cannot do and I pray that He will make a way for us to bring our little guy home.

Thank you for praying and supporting us through all of these challenges.

Praying JLuke home!

Exciting News!!!!

We have some exciting news!!!!
Ya’ll know the year that we have had, with me finishing my masters and Jeff away at pilot training.  All of this while waiting patiently (at least trying) for a referral.  As we look back, we understand God’s timing and we know that we couldn’t have accomplished all that we did if things would have happened according to our plan. 

Jeff and I haven’t been together for more than a week in the last 6 months.  When I came to Jacksonville for this trip, I didn’t know what I was going to do with all of my free time….with Jeff still in the RJ program (school for 10 hours a day) and then finishing up his last week of work.  I love the sun and the beach, but there is only so much of that you can do by yourself for 2 weeks.  I looked into getting a 2 week job but no one hires for 2 weeks and even volunteer work was not available.  Like always, God had a bigger plan!

While in Florida, we got a call…this call was different than any other call we have received from AGCI.  Her voice was excited and as she told me to look on my email for a possible referral, I felt her excitement…I also felt overwhelmed, scared, not ready….what am I saying…not ready….of course we are ready, it just felt so un-real!  As I went through all the information, medical records, court documents, legal paperwork from AGCI, it was explained to me that before any decision was made, we needed to talk with an international doctor and find out any medical issues.  I started to get all our ducks in a row and meetings were set for this week.  When Jeff got back to the hotel, I had the picture of this little guy up on the computer and explained everything to him.  We prayed and gave him to God, asking God to direct and guide us in our decision making.  We sat in our hotel room and looked at each other, realizing that this could be our JLuke and then thinking, this could not have come at a better time.

Today we talked with our international adoption doctor from Seattle, via cell phone. J  He told us that given the circumstances he is in relatively good health.  He said that the information that we have is some of the most detailed that he has seen and that he has heard very good things about Hannah’s Hope (orphanage).  This is what we needed to hear to go forward with this process.  

So we have a referral!  He is a between 4-6mo…not sure of his actual birth date because information gets lost in translation and the Ethiopian calendar is different than ours.  Between now and when we go to Ethiopia for the final trip, his birth mother can still change her mind.  We are trusting in God’s plan, knowing that any changes made are made for a reason, but also praying and hoping that this in fact is our son. 

So with all of my free time while in Florida, I completed the paperwork (pages and pages) so that the process could move forward.  We will not know when our first trip date will be...most likely some time in October...we wait (we are good at this).

Please continue praying for this journey that we are on.  We can’t wait to bring him home to his forever home so that everyone can meet him face to face!

Looking back...ready to move forward

If you have been following this blog, you can tell that I am a bit behind.  As you can see the post that is titled "January brings change" was not posted on here until June.  This post was an email that we sent out (back in January) to our friends and family, giving them an update.  Now it is June and as I look back over the past year, so much has happened since we were first put on the "wait list".

I have been in the process of completing my masters in Education Administration...which I have just completed!!!  Jeff has been in airline school to become a professional pilot, finishing all of his courses and internship at the end of this month.  We are praying now that he gets a job with an airline.  For the past 7 months, Jeff has been in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Jacksonville for schooling and I have traveled around visiting him when I have long weekends or vacation time.  All of this flying has truly taken away my fear of flying.  Plus, helping Jeff study has educated me and I have an understanding of what goes on in the cockpit, which somehow makes me feel safe.

As I type, I am sitting in a hotel in Jacksonville.  This is the first true down time I've had since August.  I often wonder why the adoption process has taken so long.  My emotions go from being patient and knowing that God has a plan and a timeline, to not understanding why Ethiopia keeps changing laws, my patience shot and feeling frustrated. 

Over the past few days, I have had time to think, to look back on this year and really take everything in.  This school year, to say the least, has been the most challenging for me.  Transitioning to a new school, taking on the job of co-ASB/Leadership director, completing my masters, interning for my masters, coaching and teaching.  It was a crazy busy time.  I have learned so much and I feel that the experiences have challenged me and changed me.  This all while Jeff was also in school, also being challenged and stretched, gaining the training that he needs to be a commercial pilot.  Looking back...God knows how much we can handle and God knew that we just needed to get through this year and then we would be ready.  Yes, the wait has been hard, but God knows, His timeline is the best....so stay tuned because we are ready!  

January brings change....

I haven't written anything for awhile so here is a little update on the adoption. Our January number is 19 and we continue to patiently wait………patiently………some days I do way better with this than others. :) The adoption journey has been a rollercoaster of emotions and we are so lucky to have the support of our family and friends throughout this time. Thank you all for your prayers, support and words of encouragement. I love that we have all of you going through this with us!


Jeff and I have really been praying for God's guidance during this time. We know that he is leading us in this journey and that He has amazing plans for our family. When we started the process, we knew that we wanted to adopt a precious baby boy and this little guy is now known as J Luke. As we continued the process, we talked about the future and the desire to adopted another baby from Ethiopia…..once we had the opportunity to go through the process, the travel, all the aspects of the adoption. The waiting and praying and waiting and wondering why it is taking so long and why Ethiopia has changed so many laws and procedures has made us really depend on God and His direction for our lives. We have talked with other families who have adopted, read blogs, researched and we have a love and a tender heart for the people of Ethiopia. I can't explain how excited we are to travel to Ethiopia….even the plane ride doesn't scare me anymore.

As I stated above, we have a desire to adopt again. Through the waiting and gaining more of an understanding of the need for these children, this desire has only become more intense. After the January phone call with AGCI and again finding out that the process has been extended (MOWA is slowing down the number of cases they are processing per month, we really don't know what this means, however, we are told that it will extend our wait time), I felt a bit of a nudge from God. I can't explain it. As I thought and prayed about this, I thought, Jeff will never go for it. So I took my nudge to Jeff and explained how I was feeling and I knew that he would say…."Mindy, slow down, lets just see how this process works"……But instead, he said, "I'm down with that!"…..and he was excited too like God had been nudging him too!!!!! I called AGCI and told them what I wanted to do, expecting them to tell me that I had to do all of this paper work and that it would be a huge process and it wasn't, it was so simple and we stay at the same wait list number!

As of today, it looks as though we will not have J Luke for at LEAST 6 months. However, we may have another little baby coming with J Luke. We changed out parameters to except twins. Meaning that we may still get one precious baby boy…J Luke, or that J Luke will have a twin sister or brother. Our Agency has said that twins are very unlikely but that obviously it happens. So please continue to pray for us and for the adoption and for God's will and direction. When you feel the nudge, you have to follow it and that is what we are doing.