So long....

Yes, it has been SO LONG since I wrote last. As most of you know we did make it home safely :) We had a wonderful welcome party on our driveway with our dear friends. They sure know how to make our family feel special, from the welcoming to the meals....we feel loved.
 We have been home 4 months today. We have had highs and we have had lows. Overall it is good and getting better. Adopting an older child was new to us. With Reese we had some issues but those issues are a bit different from what we have experienced with Berihu. In the same way we worked through hers we are working through his and God is changing us all in the process. It is funny how going through difficulties can bring our own "issues" to light. Ummm. Like I said, He is changing us all...and hopefully for the better!
 We brought our sweet boy home but we also brought home the heaviness in our hearts of the things we witnessed there in Korah, the city dump site. Through much prayer we decided to jointly (with another adoptive family) create a non profit here in the states to partner with an NGO currently in Korah. Our purpose? To help families. Help them learn of God's love and his Son who gave his life for us ALL. Yes we help them financially but it isn't a handout. We are helping women sell their beautiful clay bead/paper bead jewelry which in turn puts food on the table, their children in school, pay rent etc. We hope to have more programs and skills classes in the future, we are praying opportunities will arise as we travel this journey.
 On our first trip this young lady(on the left) followed us around the dump site (nothing better to do as she didn't attend school).

Her face stayed with me. I inquired about her and was told she was 11 and had never been to school. We now sponsor her on a monthly basis, how could we not?  We were able to help her family move from a home made of trash to a home with mud walls and a tin roof and an outdoor kitchen.

Before:

 After:

What a difference the additional $5 added to our sponsorship each month makes to this family. They were paying $20 rent each month for their first "home". With the $5 additional help they were able to move out of the dump site and into a home that has an outdoor kitchen and will keep them dry during the rainy season. We were able to visit this precious family in their new home on our second trip to Ethiopia. They were so grateful and so was I. So many feelings. Grateful to be there meeting this family, grateful my son from our affluent "world" was able to be there, grateful my son who came from poverty was there to witness giving and getting nothing tangible in return, grateful to pray with this family and let them know they matter and are loved by us and by their Heavenly Father, grateful to live where I live and grateful to share what we have been given.

Another story that warms my heart....a family that literally spent the days on the dump looking for food and recyclables. Many children stay home, families can't afford to pay for school fees and uniforms for school and they also need their kids to help scavenge the dump site. They depend on it. Stories where children are free to go to school, play, learn, eat....these are the happy endings. I have to focus on this because as people say "you can't help them all". And no, we can't but we can help some....and to those who are helped, it matters. I got these photos a few days ago and couldn't help but cry tears of joy.

My prayer is for blessing - for the Lord to bless me and others with a heart to give, to love and to serve the least of these. Won't you join us? You can visit our site www.caringforkorah.org and choose to sponsor a child or by make a donation.