We're Here!!

After a long flight from Amsterdam, we arrived at 8:30 pm local time last night. There was a HUGE line for getting Visas, but once we were through the Visa office, things moved more quickly. One thing that helped us get out of the airport so fast was that our luggage didn't make it from Amsterdam!! Matt's didn't either, so instead of going to Adama at noon today, we have stayed in Addis with a driver, Optima, so we can go back to the airport at 7:00 pm to pick up whatever has made it through.

The Lord has been working in amazing, amazing ways since we left Billings, beginning with the man sitting directly behind us on the flight to Minneapolis! The gentleman, Jelawat, is from Addis and works with Compassion International. He was so kind and we enjoyed visiting with him on the flight. He introduced us to another man, Jayme Illiat, whose mother is a foreign adoption specialist, having adopted him off of a trash heap in Calcutta. He is in his 20's, and the Lord has blessed him with trememdous talent and financial resources to begin a foundation for orphaned and disadvantaged children. It was a God-appointment and one we will not soon forget.

On the flight from Amsterdam, we sat in front of a woman whose husband is in the US Army. They are stationed in Germany (they've been there for the past 10 years), and she was on her way to Addis to adopt their 3rd and 4th children - 12 year old best friends. She has such a compassionate heart! Those girls will join their 6 year-old birth son and their 3 year-old Ethiopian daughter. One of the girls is from Nazret, so we hope to see her there. If not, we will be on the same flight back to Amsterdam on Tuesday.

We are enjoying all of the guys on the Team we came with - such varied talents and all with a heart for the Lord. We are blessed to be serving with them.

Today, we met a wonderful man, Soloman, who works at the Selam Children's Village. It is an orphanage compound which serves 450 children here in Addis. The Village is about 25 years old and is serving a large population. There are extensive gardens, green houses, a dairy herd (they use the methane gas from the herd to fuel the kitchen!!), a large school, church and clinic. We had the privilege of touring the clinic and meeting the medical director, Dr. Seifu, who helped us with lots of medical information. He is well-trained and gave us so much good pediatric info.

Our driver, Optima, took us to a traditional Ethiopian lunch . . . Brian LOVED it!!! I ate rice and green beans :-) The food is SOOOOO hot! The pictures of the restaurant are incredible! I'll post them the next time I get a chance.

We then visited CURE Ethiopia Children's Hospital. It is run by a Christian organization that helps bring the gospel to people by simultaneously treating disabled and disfigured children and adults. Dr. Erik Gocken is an American Orthopedist who is doing a tremendous work treating mostly club-feet. There is another doc there who is a plastic surgeon specializing in cleft lip/palate repair. We got a tour of the facility, which is amazing.

Dr. Erik and his wife, Corinne, made us feel so welcome and gave us a big picture of the difficulties of practicing medicine in Ethiopia. There is so much red tape when it comes to importing medicines, that it stifles their ability to perform even routine surgeries. They warned us that our suitcase of meds may be confiscated from us when we reach the airport to pick it up tonight. We are praying for God's mercy in this situation.

It is 5:15 pm local time and we are going to start heading out the airport. When we are finished there, we will head down to Adama/Nazret. It is about 60 miles - but is a two hour journey. The traffic in Addis is unbelieveable!! No traffic lights or stop signs anywhere - and no yellow lines to segregate the vehicles. It is a wonder we haven't been smashed to smithereens!! All of the taxis are side-scraped and it's easy to tell why! There is the constant sound of horns blasting, but all of the drivers are happy-go-lucky, and miraculously, we haven't been in an accident!

We will post again as soon as we can - hopefully with pictures next time!!

Love to all!!