A loving man of God

Matt was so amazed, blessed, and encouraged by this kind man and his heart to serve the Lord and His precious children. We loved talking with him and were once again humbled on this trip to meet yet another amazing person serving God. He spends his days making the children laugh, smile, and praying over them. Matt was so touched by him and asked if he could pray for him. He was willing and thankful. Matt's heart was overflowing in awe of God's heart for the orphan. It says in the Word "How blessed is he who considers the helpless." We pray the fullest of our Lord's blessing upon his dear servant.

Blessing

This dear man is a pastor who prays for the children EVERY day at the care center. His heart is so beautiful and full of love. We were told of his heart for the children and that our little Zafua was so responsive to his prayers before we traveled. It was so special to meet him. We asked him to lay hands on Zafua and pray for her one last time. I only wish we had his beautiful prayer recorded.

Thankful Hearts!

This picture is with our dear Salem an answer to our prayers. She was one the three nannies that cared for Hadassah Zafu for two and a half months. She loves little Zafua and is absolutely awesome with her! She is a delight to be with and so full of life and JOY. She loves Jesus and and was welcoming to us and was so excited about our family photo book we had sent with pictures of all our kids. She looked at the book every day with her and played the tape of our voices talking and singing to our baby. We feel so thankful for all the love and excellent care our daughter received at the Care Center!

Going Away party at Care Center

After our day at Mercy center we had to rush back to the Care Center for a very special going away party for all the children going home that week. The nannies took Zafua from us for a little while and returned shortly with all the other babies and children dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothes. It was a very special ceremony where we heard of all of the staffs heart felt love for our children. They are all truly amazing people full of love for all the children. They talked about their hopes for the children and their love for them and about how much they would be missed. A highlight for me was watching our friends little 15 month old baby boy and 4 year old boy see them and run to them! The nannies stood in the middle of the room holding the children they had cared for and asked us to gather around them and pray for them. A loving pastor who visits the children every day prayed for the families and children. It was an awesome moment. They then had all the children dip their hands in yellow paint and put their hand print on the Ethiopian flag so they would leave their mark and never be forgotten. Little Hadassah was not to into that but we all agreed hers was the tinest hand print on the wall. They then served cake and pop. What amazed us is how well the little toddlers sat waiting patiently for 30 min. for the party to start. These little ones are so darling and precious! When each child got their hand painted and pressed to the wall all the kids would chant the childs name for our little one "Zafua, Zafua, Zafua!!!" What an awesome place for children and a beautiful experience for adoptive families!!!

Jesus and the children

We were so blessed by a friend who found this beautiful picture of Jesus blessing the children
of the world. She printed and laminated them for the children. It was so fun to give them out with a fruit snack. This little one held hers up to show me and I had to get a picture!

What a cuttie!

What a cuttie!