Our visit with Eyob

We had heard Eyob of Kingdom Vision International was close as in an hour and a half away instead of continents away. Through a friend we were able to get in touch with one another, and we were able to meet for dinner with just a few hours notice. I picked the girls up from school and rushed them home to get ready. They had no idea so they were pretty surprised. I was able to take them, two of my boys, and Steve met us there.

 

We decided to meet for Mexican since we are in Southern California after all. He had Steve order for him and carne asada tacos were delivered shortly.

 

Eyob with five of the kids. (two had left to go to youth group)

 

Eyob with Meskerem-They are from the same area in Ethiopia. Can you see the similarities?

We adopted through CWA in 2007 with these two. He escorted us to the American Embassy and helped us with our interview and gathering their passports and visas.  They were only eleven and fifteen months old when he last saw them. He kept telling me how spoiled Adah was. well....she is the baby.....

 

 Addis first met Eyob in April 2008 when we visited KVI in Addis. We brought donations to the orphanage and he gave us a little tour of the facilities. He told us he has moved many times since then because the rent keeps going up and up.

John and Eyob. One time John was told by an Ethiopian female friend that he would be a missionary to Ethiopia. Maybe!

 

Back in 2007 it was Eyob's dream to visit the United States and visit the children he has helped into families. While I was there I remember him being so discouraged because once again they denied him permission to enter the United States. His fortitude and persistence paid off. We were so happy to see him!

 

Another reason for him visiting the USA is to raise funds for the ministry of KVI-Kingdom Vision International. His rent in one facility is $2400 a month. A previous donor has had to drop their funding of $10,000 a month leaving the ministry in a crisis situation. Many nannies and other workers have had to be laid off. Food is being stretched. If you are able to help with a monthly, annually, or even one time donation any amount is appreciated. As always he covets your prayers. 

www.kingdomvisioninternational.net

May Happenings

There has been so much going on here that it seems as though I'm going from event to event or preparing for the next event. I'll actually start at the last two weeks of May to catch up.

Joe's high school volleyball season had come to an end so we attended his volleyball banquet at an Italian restaurant. The coaches put together the photo collage and the team managers (high school girls) gave each of the boys a pink crown with their names painted on the front. Joe won a total of three awards that night which we were very blessed to see he did so well.

Joe had a soccer tournament in San Bernadino. I think we went two of the three days, but that was a month ago so who knows. I know we went on Saturday and didn't go on Sunday, not sure about Monday. We didn't go on Sunday because of the dinner at the Ethiopian church. San Bernadino is about two hours or so from us. That Saturday we only took Sarah and the baby. She needed a break from Little Man so he stayed home with his aunts and uncles for the day.

We have connected with an Ethiopian church here in the San Diego area. Marantha Ethiopian Evangelical Church is renting space from another church and would like to have a building of their own. They held a fundraising dinner where the church members as well as the adoptive families of Ethiopian children were invited to attend. They served delicious Ethiopian food as well as some pasta dishes, which was a blessing for some in my family who don't care for the Ethiopian food. Most of us LOVE Ethiopian food, but what can I say other than some of the men/boys are picky eaters.

The girls wore their Ethiopian dresses to our regular church, which all the older people loved, and then they fit in at the Ethiopian church because the ladies were dressed in their dresses also.

Since Monday the 27th was Memorial Day Steve and I went to the cemetery to honor my uncle who had died in the Vietnam War. My grandparents are buried on each side of him. We placed flowers in the vases and made mental notes that we need to come back and spruce things up like cleaning the granite headstone and gluing one of the vases down.

Even though the girls are in school I like to be involved as much as possible. I was asked if I could go on a field trip to the Space Theater/Science Center. My three youngest went and we had a great time learning and playing. http://www.rhfleet.org/

The next night Addis and some of the high school girls did a Spa Night fundraiser for camp and a mission trip. I signed up for the works. Got a manicure and a pedicure, a massage, and a facial. The girls each made about $50 which we're very grateful for since the camp runs about $500 and Addis wouldn't be able to go if we had to for the whole thing. There are monthly rummage sales, they can get work for people, and there are other fundraisers for the kids to help raise the funds. My boys have done yard work, move a mattress, helped someone run their kayak business. If it's something they can do then they work for their way to camp.

May ended with the piano students from school going to see The Wizard of Oz put on by Christian Youth Theater. The show was excellent. The kids who performed did an outstanding job. We rode the bus about an hour each way. On the way there we stopped at a park and had an early, early lunch. It was a fun, fun day, exhausting, but fun.

Education With a Twist

I wrote in a previous post that I was looking into the Robinson Curriculum. I couldn't put my finger on what wasn't clicking for me. The books in the curriculum are written for the Caucasian homeschooler. Well, that would have worked for my eight bio kids who have ancestors from England, but why would these books be of interest for my girls from Africa? They have a history, they have a heritage, and it's not the one form England.

On the other hand, their heritage is not the one that African Americans have either.  My girls are African, Ethiopian to be more precise. I'm entering into an area I don't have experience in, but I'm willing to learn right along with them. I've always been interested in Harriet Tubman, Amos Fortune, Sojourner Truth, and others like them.

In my research I came across Blessed Heritage-Educational resources to foster understanding of the spiritual and racial heritage of children of color.

I've ordered:

 Nuturing Christian Character Through the Black Experience. http://www.blessedheritage.com/christcharacter.html

Our Story, His-Story
http://www.blessedheritage.com/elemhistory1.html

This Far by Faith
http://www.blessedheritage.com/midhistory1.html

I've also gone to paperbackswap.com and ordered a few books that I found in Great Books for Girls by Kathleen Odean.

I'm looking forward to walking this path with my girls. If anyone knows of a child's study of Ethiopian history I would LOVE to know about it.

Thank you, Dr. King

As the mother of African children I thank you.





  
         

 

 
   


 

Free Adoption book on Kindle

This Mean War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption



I bought this book in print form several years ago and loved it. It's offered for free today on Amazon for Kindle readers. Don't have a Kindle? You can download the app to your computer and read it there. Here's a write-up I did on it a few years ago.

This Means War Write-up

World Aids Day

Today is World Aids Day. I don't know anyone in my everyday life that has Aids or HIV, but I do know plenty of adoptive families that have brought HIV+ children into their homes. Knowledge is the first step away from the fear of this disease. We are approved to adopt a child with HIV+. I wanted the approval just in case we needed it. We haven't, but I did get a bit educated in the process. We're not in the 80's anymore!




Project Hopeful video:
Truth Pandemic

You can also visit: The Farmer's Wife Tells All
to see how one family lives with a daughter who happens to have HIV.

Upside Down Christmas?

As the mom of a large family I do not look forward to Christmas for the above reasons. What if we celebrate simply? Do my kids remember what their third gift was last year? I'm already thinking that we will go to the thrift store and let the kids pick out $5 or $10 worth of gifts for their family gift swap. I do need to read with my kids more. We should play more games. That's what they'll remember. Not all the stuff that was in their stockings. How did we get to where we are? Get us off the merry-go-round, please!

For more on this topic go to That We Might Be Adopted

Miles Family Adoption Puzzle Fundraiser

An online friend is fundraising for her currrent adoption. Please read their story below, donate if possible, and/or share on your blog if you can!


Hello, we are Michael and Megan Miles! We have been married for 3 years and began our first international adoption when we had only been married 1 year. We currently have three beautiful girls.





Our youngest Ammar-Juliana, was brought home from Ethiopia this past February. We feel so blessed by the love she has shown us that we wish to do this process all over again.

We are now in the midst of our second international adoption from Ethiopia and are hoping this time for a son! Some may wonder if we’re crazy or if we are trying to start a baseball team, but neither are true! We have a deep passion for defending the fatherless and feel nothing but gratitude to be able to open our hearts and home to them.   



Of course with all of these adoptions under our belts many may wonder where the money is coming from. With Ammar-Juliana we were lucky enough to have the money needed, but this time around we have to do a bit of fundraising. One of our largest fundraisers is our “puzzle fundraiser.” We have purchased a puzzle that we wish to frame once completed in order to hang in our son’s room. We are selling each puzzle piece for $5. Once you have graciously provided us with your donation we will send the piece(s) you way!  


 You are more than welcome to write a note to our precious boy or simply sign your name on the back of the piece. Once you are done with that just pop it into the mail (stamped envelope provided) and your part is finished! Once we have completed the fundraiser we will display the framed puzzle for all to see! …A simple way to change our lives and our son’s life forever, right?


               http://meganandmichaelmiracle.blogspot.com/


Thank you so much for taking time to read our story. We are forever changed because of all of the support that surrounds us.

                    

                                           

Court Date!

We have a court date on December 7 to finalize Meskerem's adoption! She's been in our home for almost a year and we've been fighting for her since Summer 2011. Now with all the i's dotted and t's crossed we've been issued a day for her to FINALLY and legally and forever and ever be ours. Yay!

                                             On the plane home.

                                                     At the bay

                                       At church wearing her Ethiopian dress.

Shades of People

 
I found this book at the thrift store last week so I HAD to snatch it. The first two pages: "Have you noticed that people come in many different shades? Not colors exactly, but shades."

My girls consider me peach and they call themselves brown. My youngest wants to be peach in the worst way, but I tell her I would love to be a lovely brown like she is. I explain to her how most peach people lay out in the sun so they can get browner.

We were at our Ethiopian church a few years ago and the children's teacher explained to the children that we are not black and white. She held up examples and asked if she were as dark as black, and if I was as white as the white paper she held up. They responded no and that is where they got the brown and peach idea.

Keep your eyes open for little gems like this book. They're great to show your kids that people come in all shades and can look very different from one another, but w're all people!

This is an Editorial Review that was on Amazon. Shades of People

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1—This book is filled with wonderful photographs of happy, smiling, inquisitive, trusting, and adorable children—all with varying skin tones, hair colors and textures, and facial features. "Have you noticed that people come in many different shades?" is the opening sentence, accompanied by framed head shots of youngsters. It is followed on the next page by, "Not colors, exactly, but shades." The text is minimal, with approximately 3 to 10 words per page. The last page features a large photograph of eight little hands of varying shades. The message is clear and to the point: "Our skin is just our covering, like wrapping paper. And, you can't tell what someone is like from the color of their skin." A good introduction to racial and ethnic diversity.—Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH END

May the Circle Be Unbroken

Today during a dentist visit I started reading a book I bought on Ebay a month or so ago. The book is May The Circle Be Unbroken: An Intimate Journey Into The Heart of Adoption by Lynn C. Franklin with Elizabeth Ferber. Today's reading found me involved with birth parents and their stories. There were so many riveting thoughts that I finally had to find my yellow marker so I could highlight and keep track of all I was learning.

Ms. Ferber writes on page 31: "In America you cannot vote until you are eighteen and you cannot drink unil you are twenty-one, but you can sign papers to relinquish a child at any age. It is one of the only contracts a minor can sign, and it is important for parents of a young mother to help their daughter reach her own decision. "

Further down the page:   '....relatives strongly affect the adoptive decision, and a woman or young teen desperately needs her family's unconditional love and support when she is face with the overwhelming situation of trying to decide what to do. "

 One thing I have told my older kids is if they should find themselves in a situation where they are or someone they are together with is pregnant, and they are not married, to please tell us. Yes, we would be disappointed. No, it won't be easy. These are things our children should not need to carry alone. Be open with your kids. Let them know you're there for them, NO MATTER WHAT. I don't want to find out after my child visited Planned Parenthood that there WAS a pregnancy, but there isn't anymore. I would be willing to raise my grandchild. I would be willing to help my son or daughter raise their child. But I need to know. I want to be in the loop. I know I fail at every level every day, but I hope that if the situation ever arose, that I would follow God's forgiveness and grace and not my own fleshly emotions.

Updating and Adding my Book Lists

    

I love books. I love collecting books and often have way too many books for my house. I've collected books throughout the different seasons of my life. As I go through my bookshelves I will add and update my booklists on the right side margin. I broke up my adoption reading list to Adoption and Ethiopia and Hair care. I've added Christian Living, African, and Family Life. I hope you enjoy some of the books I've been able to find.

Where do I find my books? Ebay! Sometimes I go on and just type in Ethiopia and narrow it down to children's books and see what I come up with. Other times I've found a lot of good resources from other adoptive families. Some of the hair care books I've received as gifts or from Paperback Swap. Some of my non-adoption related books I'll find at homeschool used curriculum sales. You might find some at the thrift store or library store if your library has one. Amazon is a great place to look too.

Orphan Sunday

November 4 is Orphan Sunday. To raise awareness of the orphan crisis and possiblities of adoption or sponsorship among God's people we are heading up Orphan Sunday at our church. We plan on having a "Dedication Service" where we as the parents affirm before our church family and the Lord that we take the raising of our children for Him very seriously. We are having our girls dedicated since it's something we hadn't done yet. We had our boys dedicated years ago, but have never had the girls dedicated. Another family with six adopted children may also participate in the dedication.

Our pastor is on board and is looking at the Orphan Sunday website today to see what he can glean from their vast available resources.

We're hoping to have testimonies. We have our family who had eight biological children, but weren't done parenting so we added to our family through adoption. We have the family who adopted all six of their children. We have another family in mind who have numerous older adopted children and now have an 18-month and two 3 years old. No big deal, right?! Well.....this dad is 66 and his wife is in her mid-fifties. Like we heard at Older Child Adoption Training through Kingdom Kids years ago, "An old dad is better than no dad."  We also have an older woman who sponsors a child through Compassion Intl.

If you attend a church why don't you head up Orphan Sunday? It can be as easy or complicated as you want to make it. For ideas go to www.orphansunday.org.