As I start the daily update, I’m starting to wonder how many nights in a row I can sit and describe our days in orphanages. I guess I’m feeling the weight of what I am writing about tonight. I’m realizing that to read my blog each day must take a lot of your emotional energy…because it’s new stories every day of loss and pain in these beautiful children’s lives. I feel the same way at times, actually. I just want to shut my eyes because there is such need. But, then, I think about all these precious children who do not get to do that. They don’t escape it. It is their every day reality. Luckily, there is hope and joy among the loss. And, we can see smiles that somewhat make up for the void you know these children have in their lives.
Today we spent the day in a local orphanage (which I have already forgotten the name of), run by an order of Franciscan nuns. As soon as we entered the place, I was really surprised to see how happy it was. As soon as we walked up the steps, you walk into a play yard that has all kinds of play equipment (although not exactly the quality we would have in America). Children were playing, talking, swinging, and running around. And, of course, as soon as we brought out the soccer balls and footballs, they were showing all kinds of amazing skills at every sport that uses a ball. It was great to see there was such a great place for them to be active…to be children! And, this was the mountain view from where they play. Pretty nice!
The Sister who runs the orphanage was a spunky, petite woman with more heart than could possibly fit in her body. She talked constantly of the grace of God and the blessings He has poured on these children. She relies completely on the church in America to fund her costs, and even though all of her funds from Ethiopia have been cut off, she said repeatedly, “The Lord always provides enough for the children.”
She knew every detail about every child in her care, and took care of them all in such a loving way. 
At the very same time, she held an authority that was absolutely respected by the kids. You could tell there was structure, predictability, and high expectations for these children, and it showed in their manners, their confidence, and their happiness. At one point, I was having a conversation with the Sister, and we were partially blocking the doorway to the play yard. A young girl ran up and was attempting to go outside, and she began to run between us. Sister Lupe gently took her by the arm, had her go around us, and explained in Arhamic, very gently but matter-of-factly that she should never interrupt adults that way.
That is a silly example, but in the moment I thought how great it was that they are being brought up just as a mother would bring up her children. In fact, she said many times that she tries as much as possible to “make it like home”. She does a great job at that.
She told us how the orphanage began (in 1933), and described how most of the children arrive in her care (after being abandoned, or having parents who die). Many are HIV positive, and some have special needs. Most of the children given to her by the government are over 10. And, many, many children have been adopted out of here as well. She fully supports adoption and is so pleased that couples from many different countries have traveled to bring a child from here into their home.
She showed me many pictures of children who have gone on to live with their adoptive parents, and she was so proud of each one.
We visited the different areas of the orphanage first, including the precious baby room. Unfortunately, the entire room of babies had chicken pox, so we weren’t able to touch and hold them, since we’re visiting other orphanages this week. But, I was able to walk through with the nun who takes care of them, and she told me their stories. She described this precious one as weighing one kilo when he was abandoned. He is now the “most smiley baby” in the room and developmentally right on track.
This precious one was only a couple weeks old and was very malnourished when they found her. She is now alert and happy and even while I was there, received so many loving cuddles and kisses.
Overall, you could see how much these nuns just adore these children. They are not doing this because it’s a job. They’re doing this because it’s their calling and their mission in life. There is such a huge difference between the two. (And it made me very thankful that our little one is in an orphanage run by nuns as well!!)
After seeing the baby room, I helped myself to a little tour of the floor. I saw the girls and boys rooms, and loved seeing so many special stuffed animals on their neatly made beds. They had lots of windows and light and, again, you can tell that the nuns make the place as happy as they can. There were decorations everywhere for Christmas (Ethiopian Christmas is not until January 7th) and Sister Lupe told me that she lets the children do all the decorating for Christmas themselves.
I asked a couple of the girls about this, and they showed me all the ways they decorated. It was so cute and reminded me very much of my girls decorating back home. They had Christmas trees, an Advent countdown with stuffed animals, a plastic nativity scene that lit up, and some pictures on the wall. They all wanted their picture made by the Christmas tree, and wanted me to wait until the lights blinked before I snapped the picture.
They will also receive gift bags on Christmas Day, filled with donations that people have brought over the last couple of months. We were able to give her many supplies for the children as well, including diapers, socks, clothes, underwear, school supplies, candy, and more soccer balls. She also had some games and craft supplies that she would give each child on Christmas.
Throughout the morning we spent a lot of time just hanging out and getting to know the kids. Lots more face painting, bubble blowing, soccer playing, and picture-taking. (They LOVE their picture taken! I have so many pictures of children posing one after another in the same spot! But, it’s worth it to take them all, because they light up at seeing themselves on camera.
We each attached to certain kids, and talked tonight at our team meeting about our relationships with these little ones. I believe that is how God arranges it. We attach to specific children, and then we are able to remember them and pray for them by name. In a way, we become their advocate and their “praying parent” from afar.
For all of us, this was a hard day, though. These children are old enough to know they are missing a family. Most of them have lost their parents at an older age, and are not only grieving that loss, but also desperate to belong to a family again. All of us were asked if we would let them come and live with us. And, the response we were told to give, was “We will pray that you find a family.” Oh, it kills me! They each deserve the love of a mom and dad. And, to see them crave it is hard. I left wanting to adopt a house full of them.
One of the girls that asked me this question was named Promise. She was the first one I met, and we instantly became connected. She was in her room when I was walking around by myself. She told me her name, and I just melted. (Our girl name---if we are given a girl---is Isabelle, which means God’s Promise, so I’m especially connected to the word “promise”. ) She was a 15 year old girl and very well-spoken and smart! At one point, she asked about my family….how many children I had, where my mother and father live, and if I will have more children. I told her we are adopting from Rwanda. And, she smiled and said “That is very very good.” Then she said “If you ever think about adopting from Ethiopia, please think of me.”
She only has one more year before she is not able to be adopted at all. So, it was very hard for me not to just start the process today!! She made me a special bracelet with the beads we gave her for a craft, and she asked me to pray for her when I looked at my bracelet. I promised her that I would.
I do think that the nuns do such a wonderful job of taking care of the children, and even make an individual education plan for each older child. A couple of the children are getting the opportunity to go study abroad for their university, and I was so impressed to hear that the nuns are the ones providing them this chance. One beautiful young woman, who was already 17, is leaving in July to study nursing in Germany. And every single one of the kids are in a very good school, studying so they can also go to university. I can tell that many children will emerge from this orphanage with the skills to go far in life.
And, that makes me so happy.
Overall, it was a wonderful day. We got the chance to do a VBS lesson with these kids, and they were such good listeners. I think they really “got” the message that they are God’s treasure, and that is just so wonderful to watch. We made crosses with tissue paper for their beds, and they all worked so hard on them. Again, they each asked for a picture with their cross. They were very proud of their own work.
As we left, we said a prayer over the children and the sisters, and then they sang us a song. We all thought it was going to be a prayer or a blessing. But, instead it was a song about how sad they were to see us go and how it made them cry. It was almost funny because it caught us so off guard. We just stood there crying not knowing what to say! It was very sad to think about how many times they have sung this song, as people come and go from their lives.
I’m just going to throw this out there, for whoever might be on the brink of deciding about adoption. If you feel that God is stirring this in you, please don’t ignore it. Please follow it. All God needs is your tiny “yes”, and He will make a way for you. There are so many hurting children who long to have someone tell them they are worthy of a family’s love. If you want to talk about adoption in any way, please contact me. I just think about all the resources, all the love that so many of us have. I pray that more of us will be open to how God can use our family for His glory through adoption.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure religion is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27
Today we spent the day in a local orphanage (which I have already forgotten the name of), run by an order of Franciscan nuns. As soon as we entered the place, I was really surprised to see how happy it was. As soon as we walked up the steps, you walk into a play yard that has all kinds of play equipment (although not exactly the quality we would have in America). Children were playing, talking, swinging, and running around. And, of course, as soon as we brought out the soccer balls and footballs, they were showing all kinds of amazing skills at every sport that uses a ball. It was great to see there was such a great place for them to be active…to be children! And, this was the mountain view from where they play. Pretty nice!
The Sister who runs the orphanage was a spunky, petite woman with more heart than could possibly fit in her body. She talked constantly of the grace of God and the blessings He has poured on these children. She relies completely on the church in America to fund her costs, and even though all of her funds from Ethiopia have been cut off, she said repeatedly, “The Lord always provides enough for the children.”She knew every detail about every child in her care, and took care of them all in such a loving way. At the very same time, she held an authority that was absolutely respected by the kids. You could tell there was structure, predictability, and high expectations for these children, and it showed in their manners, their confidence, and their happiness. At one point, I was having a conversation with the Sister, and we were partially blocking the doorway to the play yard. A young girl ran up and was attempting to go outside, and she began to run between us. Sister Lupe gently took her by the arm, had her go around us, and explained in Arhamic, very gently but matter-of-factly that she should never interrupt adults that way.
That is a silly example, but in the moment I thought how great it was that they are being brought up just as a mother would bring up her children. In fact, she said many times that she tries as much as possible to “make it like home”. She does a great job at that.
She told us how the orphanage began (in 1933), and described how most of the children arrive in her care (after being abandoned, or having parents who die). Many are HIV positive, and some have special needs. Most of the children given to her by the government are over 10. And, many, many children have been adopted out of here as well. She fully supports adoption and is so pleased that couples from many different countries have traveled to bring a child from here into their home.
She showed me many pictures of children who have gone on to live with their adoptive parents, and she was so proud of each one.
We visited the different areas of the orphanage first, including the precious baby room. Unfortunately, the entire room of babies had chicken pox, so we weren’t able to touch and hold them, since we’re visiting other orphanages this week. But, I was able to walk through with the nun who takes care of them, and she told me their stories. She described this precious one as weighing one kilo when he was abandoned. He is now the “most smiley baby” in the room and developmentally right on track.
This precious one was only a couple weeks old and was very malnourished when they found her. She is now alert and happy and even while I was there, received so many loving cuddles and kisses.
Overall, you could see how much these nuns just adore these children. They are not doing this because it’s a job. They’re doing this because it’s their calling and their mission in life. There is such a huge difference between the two. (And it made me very thankful that our little one is in an orphanage run by nuns as well!!)
After seeing the baby room, I helped myself to a little tour of the floor. I saw the girls and boys rooms, and loved seeing so many special stuffed animals on their neatly made beds. They had lots of windows and light and, again, you can tell that the nuns make the place as happy as they can. There were decorations everywhere for Christmas (Ethiopian Christmas is not until January 7th) and Sister Lupe told me that she lets the children do all the decorating for Christmas themselves.
I asked a couple of the girls about this, and they showed me all the ways they decorated. It was so cute and reminded me very much of my girls decorating back home. They had Christmas trees, an Advent countdown with stuffed animals, a plastic nativity scene that lit up, and some pictures on the wall. They all wanted their picture made by the Christmas tree, and wanted me to wait until the lights blinked before I snapped the picture.
They will also receive gift bags on Christmas Day, filled with donations that people have brought over the last couple of months. We were able to give her many supplies for the children as well, including diapers, socks, clothes, underwear, school supplies, candy, and more soccer balls. She also had some games and craft supplies that she would give each child on Christmas.
Throughout the morning we spent a lot of time just hanging out and getting to know the kids. Lots more face painting, bubble blowing, soccer playing, and picture-taking. (They LOVE their picture taken! I have so many pictures of children posing one after another in the same spot! But, it’s worth it to take them all, because they light up at seeing themselves on camera.
We each attached to certain kids, and talked tonight at our team meeting about our relationships with these little ones. I believe that is how God arranges it. We attach to specific children, and then we are able to remember them and pray for them by name. In a way, we become their advocate and their “praying parent” from afar.For all of us, this was a hard day, though. These children are old enough to know they are missing a family. Most of them have lost their parents at an older age, and are not only grieving that loss, but also desperate to belong to a family again. All of us were asked if we would let them come and live with us. And, the response we were told to give, was “We will pray that you find a family.” Oh, it kills me! They each deserve the love of a mom and dad. And, to see them crave it is hard. I left wanting to adopt a house full of them.
One of the girls that asked me this question was named Promise. She was the first one I met, and we instantly became connected. She was in her room when I was walking around by myself. She told me her name, and I just melted. (Our girl name---if we are given a girl---is Isabelle, which means God’s Promise, so I’m especially connected to the word “promise”. ) She was a 15 year old girl and very well-spoken and smart! At one point, she asked about my family….how many children I had, where my mother and father live, and if I will have more children. I told her we are adopting from Rwanda. And, she smiled and said “That is very very good.” Then she said “If you ever think about adopting from Ethiopia, please think of me.”
She only has one more year before she is not able to be adopted at all. So, it was very hard for me not to just start the process today!! She made me a special bracelet with the beads we gave her for a craft, and she asked me to pray for her when I looked at my bracelet. I promised her that I would.
I do think that the nuns do such a wonderful job of taking care of the children, and even make an individual education plan for each older child. A couple of the children are getting the opportunity to go study abroad for their university, and I was so impressed to hear that the nuns are the ones providing them this chance. One beautiful young woman, who was already 17, is leaving in July to study nursing in Germany. And every single one of the kids are in a very good school, studying so they can also go to university. I can tell that many children will emerge from this orphanage with the skills to go far in life.
And, that makes me so happy.
Overall, it was a wonderful day. We got the chance to do a VBS lesson with these kids, and they were such good listeners. I think they really “got” the message that they are God’s treasure, and that is just so wonderful to watch. We made crosses with tissue paper for their beds, and they all worked so hard on them. Again, they each asked for a picture with their cross. They were very proud of their own work.
As we left, we said a prayer over the children and the sisters, and then they sang us a song. We all thought it was going to be a prayer or a blessing. But, instead it was a song about how sad they were to see us go and how it made them cry. It was almost funny because it caught us so off guard. We just stood there crying not knowing what to say! It was very sad to think about how many times they have sung this song, as people come and go from their lives.
I’m just going to throw this out there, for whoever might be on the brink of deciding about adoption. If you feel that God is stirring this in you, please don’t ignore it. Please follow it. All God needs is your tiny “yes”, and He will make a way for you. There are so many hurting children who long to have someone tell them they are worthy of a family’s love. If you want to talk about adoption in any way, please contact me. I just think about all the resources, all the love that so many of us have. I pray that more of us will be open to how God can use our family for His glory through adoption.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure religion is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27
4 comments:
Chelsea - I have so loved reading your stories from your time in Ethiopia! I love seeing how God is using you to bless these sweet children and how He uses your words to challenge & inspire those of us at home. Seeing the photos of the orphanage (and wondering if this is one America World uses???) brought tears to my eyes. Knowing my baby girl could live in that very place (if not now, then possibly soon!) is overwhelming! Thank you for sharing the love the nuns give to the children - it gives me hope that our baby girl may be truly loved by someone before we get a chance to do it ourselves. I can't wait to see what you do tomorrow & see what God continues to do in you!
Know that you are exposing a world to so many (including me!) that would not know of it otherwise. The weight of that might be heavy, but so important. Don't stop. :) And I love your last paragraph about being open to adoption. Who knows how many families will be changed just by you inviting them to consider it. I will definitely be praying for Promise!
Thanks for your site!
Hi Chelsea, I have been reading your blog all morning... should be homeschooling, lol. As I read your post about Sumer at Korah and that's how you felt, I feel that too. I went to ET last January and I can't shake it... that feeling that God wants me to do something. If my husband was on board, I would have already packed up my kids and would be doing as Sumer did. Anyway... that's another story. I am writing mostly because I read your post about that 15yo girl in that Fransiscan orphanage who only has one more year left to be adopted. She has really touched my heart. Do you know what adoption agency that orphanage works with? Is there a way to find out? Here's my email: sweetpea31897@msn.com I will be praying for you as you ask for God's will regarding your work there in Africa.
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