Ethiopia 2015-Why it Matters

So, the big news around here is my upcoming trip back to Ethiopia in June!

I have been SO lucky to travel to Ethiopia 6 times over the past 5 years.  This will be my 7th trip and I am really excited to see what God will do with it.

I will be taking a group of 6 ladies with me.  Some of them are adoptive moms, all of them sponsor kids at either Trees of Glory or I Care for the Nations care points (click on the links to see kids who are still in need of sponsors), and one of them is our oldest daughter Rahel!

If you keep up with this little old blog or know us personally, you'll remember that Nick was able to take Hermela back to Ethiopia on a mission trip last August.  It was an amazing time for her to do mission work in her birth country, but especially awesome because she got to reconnect with her birth family.  You can read that story here.

With Hermela and Meron's permission, I am going to share why this trip ended up being such a gift and a blessing.  I want to share this story because so many of our friends and family contributed financially to make that trip possible and I want you all to know how thankful we are that you did.

When Hermela went to Ethiopia, she got to spend time with her beautiful mother Gergis.  We also had the opportunity to skype with Gergis while they were there so that Meron actually got to speak with her mom in person and they got to see each other face to face for the first time in nearly 5 years.  Gergis looked vibrant and beautiful and it was a really good time for everyone.

Over the years, Hermela would often speak of her mother and her desire to go back and visit her and her older brother.  On several occasions, she would even wake up in the night having had a nightmare that her mother had passed away before she ever had the chance to go back to see her.  We would always reassure her that we were praying for her mom and that "some day" we would bring her back to Ethiopia.

So, when the opportunity came up to go last summer, Nick knew it was Hermela that he should take.

Little did we know that the timing of this trip would be so crucial (God always knows).

Just 4 short months after their visit, we received word that her mom was very sick and not doing well and on January 16, 2015 we learned that she had passed away.

As difficult as this news was to share with our daughters, I can not even imagine how hard it would have been without their trip.  We had pictures of their time there and the knowledge that Gergis knew her girls are well and taken care of.  Most importantly, we were able to talk to Gergis and know that she loved Jesus and trusted him for her salvation.  Truly such a blessing.

I just marvel at God's most perfect timing to have Hermela on that mission trip just months before her mother passed away.

So thank you to all who supported us during that trip!

As you can imagine, these events stirred up a lot of emotions and it was with some urgency that we decided it was time to bring Rahel back to visit her birth family as well.

I have a group of friends who have talked about going back for years, so this time just seems right to do both a birth family visit and do mission work to connect with and serve our sponsor kids as well.

We will have opportunities for you to join in and make an impact on this trip.  We have several projects at both care points that we are planning and will need donations to make them happen.  We will also be taking care packages for any sponsor families at either care point who would like to send one, so stay tuned for more details to come on how you can get involved.

It really does matter!