The Road to Gimbie

We awoke early again and headed down the road to Gimbie. This road was in much better shape and passed by the most beautiful mountainous countryside. It was lush greenery and a mist of clouds hovered over the mountains before the sun dissipated them. It reminded us a lot of the blue ridge mountains at home except for the straw huts dotting the countryside and the baboons peeking out of the edge of the jungle. It was a 2 hour ride to Gimbie and soon we found ourselves at the gate of the orphanage. My heart was a mix of emotions as I knew my daughter had lived here months before. We entered the orphanage and I immediately saw our friends daughter . She was sitting on the floor across from the doorway. I called her name and went to her and scooped her up to give her hugs and kisses. She is beautiful in every way. She had the most intricate braid design in her hair. The nannies do love on the children. One nanny in particular said she was her favorite. I then scanned the room for our friends son and found him lying on his back on the floor. I then went to scoop him up to give him hugs and kisses. He has some red tint to his hair and I thought how fitting as his mommy waiting for him has red hair. He too was precious. We began taking pictures and video. We then pulled out the books and blankets their parents had prepared for them . I read the books to each of them and they listened intently. The nannys put the blankets over their heads and we took more pictures. Their son then started to have fun with the bag the blankets were in and took off with it running. Both of them are walking independently and are thriving. We told them how much their mommy and daddy love them and can’t wait to get them home. We cannot post their pictures at this time but have many to share once home. All I know is, I am continually amazed at God’s orchestration in the lives of these children and can’t wait to see them playing with our daughter once home back in America.

We enjoyed meeting the nannys that had taken care of our daughter. They were happy and loving and attentive to the children. We presented them with gifts of lotion as well as formula and medicine for the children.

We then headed to the Gimbie Adventist Hospital where Monica, the missionary who cared for our daughter after she was abandoned, lives. Monica was able to fill in gaps of the story of our daughter’s history . We found that Monica had met our daughter’s birth mother before she was abandoned and actually had a picture of her. I will not post that here as this is our daughter’s story to tell. We will share with her the details of her story as she grows and pray that God will give her peace in her heart about her beginnings. Monica loved Sifan as her own and provided a loving home environment where she spent 6 months out of her life before going to the orphanage when it opened in Gimbie. She shared a whole file of pictures with us of those months when Sifan was in her home. They are priceless! What a treasure to have. We are forever grateful for the love that Monica and her family lavished on our daughter. She is forever blessed.

We also were able to learn more about the histories of the children of our friends. These are special and personal and their story to tell but again we were so thankful to have learned these stories to pass along. Monica and her family played a special role in their stories as well.

We left after a short time, as we had planned to go back to the orphanage to pick up the babies to travel to Adama. Unfortuately, the paperwork was not ready as there was an African Child’s Day Celebration that had delayed the paperwork from being completed.

So, we stopped for lunch and made a few purchases from the local street vendors. We purchased some things handmade in Gimbie to display in our home as a visual reminder of the land of her birth.

We then started making our way back to Nekemte where we would stay the night again before heading back to Addis.

We were sad not to be able to take the babies, but this has given us time to write the posts and upload pictures for the blog so you can share the journey with us. We had dinner here in Nekemte with our new friends Tezerra and Joseph. We are thankful for God allowing our journeys to cross and pray that this is only the beginning.

We are anxious to return to Addis and prepare to receive Sifan on Saturday. My heart is longing to have her permanently in our care.

My heart is also longing to hug and kiss my 3 treasures at home. I can’t wait until we are united as a family of 6!!!

Good night dear friends and family,

from Nekemte, Ethiopia

We love You!