No Longer An Orphan...

Here is an excerpt from my trip in 2008. The orphanage is the one Soloman (the boy we are adopting) is from...

“Our trip to Kamashi, which was a 14 hour drive through the bush, was an emotional trip. We arrived late at night so we just went to bed. The next morning, I came out and saw all of the little orphan boys, all 169 of them, playing outside. I was so emotional, trying not to cry right in front of them. It was so sad to see so many orphaned children of all different ages at one time. We played with them, passed out candy, talked with them, and watched them play sports. One of the first boys I saw disappeared as I came out. I was drawn to him and so I followed him. He was around 12 and was walking with a cane and had a limp. It was as though he was running away from me, not wanting to be noticed or seen. I caught him and asked him his name. He could barely look me in the face and I knew why. He was the one who sat on the sidelines unable to mingle with the rest of the boys or unable to play all the games. He was the one who hid himself away when Americans arrived to choose their future adopted children; the one who knew that he most likely would never find a family and couldn't take the rejection anymore. He wasn’t the only one that had faced that reality. He represented the many boys who lived there.

There were so many boys that it’s impossible to remember all their names. All I know is that they look at you with these eyes that break your heart. They know why most of us are here (families come and visit to choose their future adopted children-though this is not why I was there- at least I didn't know I was going to find my son there) and they are doing all they can to be noticed. Some asked to "be adopted" some brought photographs of themselves with their names on them, some drew pictures with airplanes-most likely flying to America, and some just watched me and smiled. As for the older boys, for the most part, I saw sadness in their faces as they gave me a small smile and quickly looked away. They are fully aware that they will most likely never find a family. They looked at me with a small glimpse of hope that is all but dead as if to just see if I may have actually noticed them amongst all the others. As people come and go & all of the little ones disappear with them, they begin to grasp their future reality: They will never be a part of a family. "

While this is still the reality of almost every child there, especially the older boys, it wasn't the reality of EVERY boy there. There was a boy named Soloman who God placed in our path. He is 13, and now, we are in the process of being his "forever family"...

John just met him for the first time and here is the excerpt from his time with him so far:

It has been very comfortable with Soloman. He seemed very excited to meet me. We all went into Addis and had lunch and then he had to go to a dr appointment. they dropped him back off and he is going to be here until Sun night or Mon morning. He is a great kid. He is very polite and helps out. We were watching a movie and I was going to go down and read/nap in the room. I asked Soloman if he wanted to watch another movie and he said "No, that was enough, I want to read." He got his bible and laid on the couch and read. Joey has been saying all day that he has such a great spirit. We played soccer and he is pretty good. He seems really athletic.

John told me how Soloman is just so full of the joy of the Lord, and is such a special child.

While we still have many mountains to climb in order to bring him home, we are anxiously awaiting that time, and until then we want to offer a challenge to those of you reading. Is there a Soloman out there waiting for you to open your home? An orphan child who cries because he has no family who is just waiting for one of us to give up our comforts, get over our fears and excuses, and welcome one of the least of these into our homes. Though it has its challenges, we have learned that it is definitely the VERY HEART OF GOD as we were all at one time orphans, and thank God that He was willing to open His arms to us and make us one of His children. Maybe we will choose to do the same....

Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked...1 John 2:3-6