Saturday and Sunday in Ethiopia

We were busy on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, we visited the orphanage again: this time for 2 hours. We spent much more time with the kids. The girl continues to be very sweet and loving. She loves to ride on my shoulders and keeps asking me for candy, which of course I was happy to give her. The boy is a loving kid. He enjoys blowing bubbles and kicking a soccer ball around randomly. They are definitely beginning to understand that we will be their parents.

We also played with the other children. There are so many wonderful children that desperately want a family. It's difficult to experience. I was shocked to learn that there are 5 million orphans just in Ethiopia: out of 81 million people. Although Ethiopian culture is family-oriented, there are still a large number of orphans largely because families lack the resources to raise all their children.

After the orphanage visit, we ate at a French restaurant and went shopping. Everywhere we go, we travel in a van and with a guide named Abel. We visited an amazing store that sold artifacts from different tribes in Ethiopia. They had stacks of Bibles that were hundreds of years old written in a dead language. They also had hippo-skin shields, spears, and other really cool items that there's no way I could get through customs. Throughout the shopping trip we were constantly approached by children, young mothers with babies, and crippled people selling worthless items or begging for money. The poverty of the country really hit us hard. Despite the poverty, Ethiopian people are happy beautiful people. They are not impacted by the materialism prevalent in America. Accordingly, they are happier with far far less than Americans. We are learning much.

On Sunday, we attended an international church service. Many white people attended along with Ethiopians. It was pastored by a missionary from North Carolina. It was similar to contemporary church services in the states. And it was a great experience to worship with Christians from around the world. Later in the day, we received our training for our court day tomorrow. We then ate dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant with cultural dancing and music from various tribes throughout the country. It was an amazing experience. The Ethiopian culture is rich.

Our court day is tomorrow morning. If we are approved by the judge, we can proceed to the embassy portion of the process that we will go through during our next visit. We feel confident that we will pass, but you can never be sure.

Our prayer requests are for the court proceeding tomorrow and that the kids will have peace coping with the difficult process they are moving through.