Foster Home Visit

Here are more pictures from Ethiopia...these were taken today when we were able to go to the kids' foster care home for the first time where they have been staying ....it was great to see them in their environment with all their friends and caregivers! They are really warming up and the minute they saw us, they ran to us! What a wonderful moment!! They are so precious!!! We love them more everyday! Thank you all for praying for us!

All of the children here in Gladney foster care center are beyond precious and just crave attention of love! They are all so sweet and will run right up to you and hug and kiss you. Many of the girls kept touching our face and wanted us touching them at all times. We had a wonderful day being able to spend many hours here and love on these precious children! Please pray for these children as they all really need homes and loving parents to raise them! Words cannot express the emotions we have experienced today...it was bittersweet.

We left there to meet the other Gladney families and In-Country staff at a restaurant called the Beer Garden Inn. It was wonderful to meet everyone but as I sat there thinking about Yalfal and Kinetibeb and how we had to leave them each day, my nerves kicked in and we had to leave because I wasn't feeling well at all! We were able to go back to the hotel and rest, and I began to feel better. Even though I feel I had prepared myself emotionally very well for this experience, the incredible emotions involved in this process are far more than one can imagine. We cannot imagine how both of the children are making sense of all this change in their lives. Children are resilient and we know we all are being bathed in prayer, so we are encouraged by that!

Please continue to pray as we finalize their visas tomorrow and then travel 6 hours south on Saturday to visit their grandmother in Yirgalem....We will be able to take them and it will probably be a difficult time for us all but definitely worth it in the long run! Many blessings!
Yalfal's caregiver, Yalfal, Brad, Kinetibeb, Kinetibeb's caregiver, and Kimberly