In the meantime.......I realized that I started my blog with the story of how I came to adopt. I had three parts to my story and stopped at part two. So, I am going to go ahead and talk about part 3. (Remember this blog is to record my story for my child).
Here we go......
Part 3
I decided to go back to Ethiopia the next summer for a month with Mocha Club. I was excited because I was asked to work with the teachers that I had met the previous year. See part 2. I was at a loss as to what they needed but found out that they wanted to work on their English. Right before we left for our trip I found out that they had invited all of the teachers from Ambo not just the ones that I had met before. There could be as many as 50. It was a little daunting and I worked to get ready for the challenge....
Ethiopia the third time was wonderful. It was like going home. We visited ministries that we had visited before and a new one, Women at Risk in Nazaret. These women were transforming their lives by turning from prostitution and learning job skills. It's a wonderful ministry that I was able to see first hand. Go here to see how you can support them.
Once again, when we visited an orphanage, another little child drew me in. As we were visiting and loving on the kids, I noticed a child who seemed very overwhelmed. I was holding her when then orphanage director told me that she had arrived from Nazaret the day before. She was probably near a year old and I couldn't let go of her. I kept wondering about her story. What happened in her short life to bring her to this orphanage? I left the orphanage feeling helpless. I knew that all I could do was pray for her.....It's hard to say, but in some ways she haunted me. What could I do for her?
I ended up being reunited with my teacher friends from the year before. They were in the first training session that we had. I had a wonderful translator, Nati, who helped me. We held two day sessions where teachers came in and they practiced their English while I modeled some teaching strategies. They in turn taught me about their country. They were a delight and we had so much in common. The difference is the teaching conditions that they have are so different from ours.
The coolest part about the teaching seminars was that the teachers were paid by Mocha Club to come to training. This honored their time and their profession. It also just so happened that the teaching seminars were held at the same location and same day when we were doing our ministry with the street boys. So, during breaks and lunch, the teachers could watch the boys play like other kids. The hope was that they would see that the boys were the same as other kids. They laughed, played, and wanted to learn like other children. They just happened to be without homes. Mocha club would be sending some of the street boys to school that fall.
Some of the teachers that attended the seminars may be the teachers that they would have....
A month in Ethiopia was incredible. The team that I was with was again hand picked by God. It was amazing and life changing. I was reunited with Ethiopian friends from the previous trips and was truly blessed. For the first time, I got sick while over there but it didn't matter. I was where I wanted to be and was able to march forward.
As our month stay neared its end, it was hard to say goodbye to our translators and friends. As we were in line to get on the plane to come home, one of my teammates asked me if I would be back next summer. Without missing a beat, I said, "I think the next thing I will do is adopt."
I thought to myself, where did that come from? :) But at that moment, adoption felt like my next step. I had seen, visited, held, and loved on orphans. Yes, my next step was to adopt a child from the country that I love.
I was certain that was what I was supposed to do.
Pictures from Trip 3
Compassion kids-we taught them English
Love this foot
We had Christmas for the street boys
some of the street boys washing off after mud soccer
We gave clothes and shoes to the street boys on our last day in Ambo. They also received a photo of themselves.
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