Our Adventure South

The last two days were very special for both Solomon and Joseph, as we were able to travel to places and see people that were meaningful to them before going into the orphanage. Adoption almost always occurs as a result of loss, making it both a joyful and sometimes painful process. Therefore, while the last several days were exciting and fun for them, the days were also filled with lots of emotion. In the end, both boys were grateful to get a closer glimpse into the story that God has made for them. We’d like to share a little about our journey, however I hope you’ll understand that we won’t share many of the details of their stories as we feel it is important that the stories of their past are kept for them to share if and when they would like to.

With Joseph’s permission, we want to share a little about our journey to his birthplace. What an adventure it was!! Our day started early as we hopped into a van for our travel down south. We drove about 4 hours south on a paved road (with LOTS of potholes)…. and then the off-roading began. Next, we took a dirt ~~road~~ path on another 1 hour adventure. We thought we were going to get stuck multiple times, and at one point one of the locals had to bring over an axe to help clear the way for us. As we passed each small area of gojos (traditional huts) we received lots of stares of wonder. It was not common for a car to come through this area, much less with white people inside!! As the van made its way through the terrain, the local villagers started to follow the van – wondering of course what was going on!!

When we finally made it to the village of 5 gojos where Joseph was born, we saw that a small crowd had already gathered in anticipation of our arrival. Joseph jumped out of the van, and immediately was picked up and kissed by a number of people. The crowd around him grew large – he felt like a movie star and said he had never been kissed so much in his life! They soon placed him on a seat made of wood in the middle of the crowd and had us sit next to him. Then they began speaking kind words about and to him. The local language is Hadiya, therefore we had to bring a translator who translated to the national language, Amharic, and then our guide translated to English for us.

Next, we were invited into their gojo where we were served dabbo and bunna (bread and coffee.) This is a tradition in Ethiopia when entertaining guests and even the young kids drink the coffee! We spent about an hour visiting in the gojo and the moments were so very special. We had lots of questions for them and they asked us lots of questions as well. After visiting, we headed outside for pictures. We brought a camera that was able to print instant pictures and this was a huge hit! We first took pictures of Joseph with some of the important people in his life, and then we were able to take and leave pictures with some of the crowd that had gathered. They all loved it!

After several hours we had to say goodbye and head to our hotel for the evening. It was the eve of Timkat (Epiphany in the US) which is a large celebration and if we didn’t get on the road soon we would be stuck in the middle of the celebrations in the streets. We made it to our hotel in Hosanna which was about a 2 hour drive just as the celebration was beginning and then back to the capital the next morning.

If you knew all of the details of our kids’ stories, you would see the obvious hand of God in each of their lives. They are stories of grace, redemption, and love and we are very grateful to be a part of them.

Tomorrow is another big day as we will travel to pick up Kassahun from his orphanage. Tonight will be his last night FOREVER to spend in an orphanage. We are so excited to have him with us for good!