relentless pursuit

Ridiculous contraption at 0500, the 5hr Hospital drive (1way) and a new oven..

2011-08-13T16:44:00.000-04:00

Woke with the roosters at 0500... sun was almost up anyway... and I woke up with a crazy idea -- "I thought to myself, we don't have to buy one, we can build one."... and I went off to see what David thought.

At 0615 Amy, Kim, Jess and the two Sarahs (journalists from central CT and friends of Kim's), along with Dr Franco and Manu headed out for a 5 hour drive to a government hospital to help a number of patients there. One of the physicians from that hospital contacted Dr Franco yesterday to see if he could come provide additional support for some patients there with a variety of ailments -- cholera, premie babies, victims of the January 2010 earthquake still in the hospital were among those Amy Kim and Dr Franco assisted.

I remained on the compound with the GoHaiti staff and the kids and I decided to begin work on the up and coming soccer field. The idea I had when I woke up was to weld together a weed cutter hand tool. I'll post an actual picture of it soon, but it looks somewhat like the one pictured below... only much more primitive. ...you get the idea...

Upon finishing this contraption, Duvall and I spent the next couple hours chopping down the weeds in the field. Before we had to break due to the heat, we cut down approx 100ft x 100ft section of thick grass, shrubs and weeds by about 10:30a it was over 100 degrees by then and too hot to continue... so we'll reconvene our weed chopping when it cools down some.

After David finished welding the weed cutter he left with Josin in a Tap Tap to go get a larger stove top with three huge burners. When they brought in the new stove top I thought the ladies that work here would jump out of their aprons they were so overjoyed! This stovetop will save so much time and energy for all the food they have to prepare for the children (they have only had one small oven until now) and for any volunteer teams that come from now on. What a blessing!

David and Josin got to work right away installing it, but after realizing they needed two more hose clamps -- additional to what they'd already got -- they had no other choice but to go out again... another 2hr venture.

Well, Kenni just came in to tell me food is ready... I'm sure our evening will be just as exciting. ;)

power obstacles...

2011-08-11T17:10:00.000-04:00

Generator threw a rod today.
Too bad no one here owns a boat, we could use it for an anchor.

Dangit.

I would just run over to Home Depot and rent one... or better yet just turn on the power but...

We just don't normally have obstacles to overcome do we?

What would you do without electricity?

Still... Life is Good. We'll make do.

What to expect - For Anyone Traveling to the Port Au Prince Airport in Haiti

2011-08-10T10:09:00.001-04:00

A quick guide for anyone traveling to the Port Au Prince Airport -

As a caveat to this information - This is current as of August 2011 -- Things change in Haiti all the time so be sure to ask clarifying questions of the organization you are working with prior to your arrival.

Just prior to landing, you’ll receive immigration/customs paperwork. Fill out the paperwork as completely as possible. Make sure you have the correct address from the organization you're working with.

2. When you land, you'll walk off the plane onto the runway and walk 100' to the bus. It’s a city bus type and will take you to about 400yards to a large building where you’ll walk in to you'll be guided onto a bus to take you to immigration and baggage claim. This is a converted aircraft hangar it’s a large area without many walls.

3. You may be asked for the paperwork before you get your bags, but then again they may not ask for it. Continue into the building and you’ll see people surrounding the baggage conveyors on the right. This will feel chaotic to most Western travelers, but just go with the flow. It's normal.

4. Make sure to get several luggage carts first – you’ll need them and sometimes there aren’t many available. It didn’t cost us anything to use the carts.

5. Then, get your group together in an area to collect your baggage. MOST people should stay in that area with your carry-on bags and pack the checked luggage on the carts when you get them. Then a few members of your group can grab your bags from off the conveyor. – This is not an expedient system, but it works. There were nine of us (including 4 small children) and we got all of our luggage - even though it took about 2hours from the time we arrived until we left the baggage area with our luggage.

6. When you have all your luggage packed on the carts head toward the exit. STAY TOGETHER – NO ONE SHOULD LEAVE THE BAGGAGE AREA without the rest of the group. You are not more than 30ft from the exit to your rear if you are facing the conveyor belts.

7. The guards at the exit may or may not ask to review your paperwork. If they ask about meds or other supplies you have with you fine you'll need your proper documentation, but if they don’t ask just keep walking out toward the parking lot where the vans/taxis will be waiting.

8. THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL bombarded by insistent requests from drivers wanting to help you with your carts of baggage to take to their vehicle. Some will even try to say that they are there to pick you up. Again - there is NO danger, but you will have to be pretty aggressive with some of the drivers depending on their response to your request not to help.

9. If the person you're supposed to meet is not right there as you exit the baggage area, - don’t panic :) . Just DON’T let ANYONE push your carts or carry your bags if they are not a prearranged person to pick you up. Continue to your right, down the open air tunnel/walkway toward the parking lot and we will meet you there at the end of that walkway if we don’t see you before.

10. Once you reach the end of the walkway you should see the people who are there to greet you or to meet your prearranged driver. Tips for drivers who load all of the luggage Depending on what they do, we tipped each of the 4 guys, 5.00each after the van was loaded.

I hope this is helpful.

5:30am goat chase... and someone squeezing the chickens!

2011-08-10T01:29:00.001-04:00

Started today with the boys chasing goats at 5:30am!

...and Kenni waking up and struggling to figure out what that crazy noise was and the following is the interaction between she and Amy in their room. Kenni wakes up and says, ""What is that
noise?" " I say, "just the chickens." She says, "Those are no chickens, it sounds like people are
outside getting squeezed to death."

Yep! Welcome to Haiti!

You can read Amy's post about today's adventures too -- http://amyzipf.blogspot.com/2011/08/haiti.html

I must say that my wonderful wife was up with them at that hour, but I was still attempting to sleep but heard the boys running around with the goats. I think it may have already been in the mid 70s or 80s by then so they were sweaty at breakfast but their pancakes sausage and bacon went down fast due to their early workout.

After breakfast we hung out, prayed together, planned the day, encountered the regular unforeseen Haitian obstacles (today I think it was “O, we’ve got the generator… later on… Oh, hey the guy with the generator can’t come… still later... but we found another friend with one to use.) --

Then David Ojeda and I discussed a design for the bunk beds and I sketched out a design and jumped in the “tap tap” (that’s Haitian for a late 80’s or 90’s style Isuzu mini truck with a colorful elevated bed cap with benches in the back – taxi looking thing.) Tap Taps are great fun!

I think it was only about 5-7 miles… maybe less to get to the large Lowe’s equivalent – but it took us about 40mins to navigate the earthquake damaged roads and joyous and overcapacity Port au Prince streets to get there. Once we arrived, Dr Franco and Kim went with our driver to make the internet payment for the month. David Ojeda and “Mahano” browsed the store and purchased the supplies we needed for the bunk beds, window security bars and the frame to build the movie screen.

Now, to get your head around this picture the following items –

1 – 20 ft. strip of metal bar .25” thick

8- 12 ft. pieces of 1x4 lumber

4- 10 ft. pieces of 2x4 lumber

2 – 20ft. pieces of ½” thick iron re-bar

a couple boxes of assorted other hardware

Got that?

Additionally, did you catch we were riding in a MINI Isuzu pick up truck? I have no idea what the exact dimention of the pick up bed was, but it can’t be more than 5.5ft…. You had to be there to really appreciate it, but we loaded ALL those above items in the truck successfully and drove off. To make things just a little “safer”, we bent the steel bar and steel strip in half so only about 5 feet of the ends were sticking out of the back of the truck. So we drove off with our feet planted firmly on the steel bars attempting to prevent the metal from sliding out while our bodies were contorted around the wood beams sticking halfway out of the front of the bed, resting on the top of the truck over the driver’s head.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the truck… we were laughing all the way back to the compound…. What made matters even worse was the dreadful screech of the metal ends dragging on the rough pavement/dirt roads as we drove that perious journey back to the GoHaiti property. What a ride!

I’ll try to post some pix later. :)

By the time we got back it had been a great half days’ work. That’s just how it is here, but we got what we needed.

We unloaded the truck and had to do some repair work on the generator and David went to work rigging up Kim’s hammock which I think now will be the most coveted spot on the property. All the kids had a relaxing turn in it listening to an incessant treatment of Michael Jackson greatest hits… but they keep playing one song over and over again. Oh well…

Sasha has reconnected with her friends she met in January and she’s just kinda picked up those relationships where she left off.

TK and Ashebir are having a blast playing with a ton of new very lively friends and their billion matchbox cars have been a classic hit with the rest of the children too.

Kenni is also enjoying being able to take on some more special responsibilities carrying and feeding some of the babies. She’s great with young ones… just like her Mamma. ;)

Tonight we had a great dinner of fish, potatoes, carrots, rice and good ol American Coke Cola! After dinner the kids returned to their water play in the treated water that had been filled in the small inflatable pools.

By the time we got all the kids dried off and cleaned up all of us were ready to call it a night.

Lots more inbetween, but it was a full day.

Can’t wait to start work on the first bunk beds and security windows tomorrow. They will each be models for the others we’ll build next week. We hope to build 4-5 beds and 3-4 security windows depending on how much money is available. It’s awesome to be a part of something that is so needed for the long term success of the ministry here.

As I’ve been processing about today’s experiences, I continue to see areas in my life where I can be more patient and not be so focused on my own agenda. Sure, we need to be focused and “drive” toward measurable goals and achieve results… but I think the condition of our heart and mind through the process is just as important than achieving the results we’re moving toward. I know I need a refresher course in patience and selflessness more frequently.

So… how about you?

Here’s some questions I’ve been reflecting on tonight …

Do you like to server others? Why… what’s your real motive? Is it healthy? By what… or Whose standard?

How would you respond to some of what we’ve encountered today in Haiti?

Would it be with more patience, understanding and flexibility?... or not?

Why would you respond the way you would?

What has helped you learn to be more generous with your time or more flexible with your agenda?

~Relentless

Headed to Haiti soon... all of us!

2011-07-28T13:22:00.001-04:00

(This article was written by Alicia Yost from The Middletown Patch. The full article can be found here -- )

The Zipf family is no stranger to world travel. After all, they’ve criss-crossed the globe from Hong Kong to Ethiopia, in most cases working tirelessly to help the poor and orphaned.

And they don’t just do a country lip service, they make lasting investments. They’ve adopted two wonderful boys from Ethiopia and often talk of plans to move there in the hopes of furthering their efforts in being the voices and agents of change.

Back in January, Amy, the matriarch of the family, traveled along with their 7-year-old daughter Sasha to Haiti. They spent their time working in a medical tent and trying to make a water filtration system out of five-gallon Lowe’s buckets fashioned into water filters.

The trip was gripping for Amy who says people are still in desperate need of medical care that is not readily available. So much of Haiti is still in shambles after a catastrophic earthquake that rocked the country on Jan. 12, 2010.

That was 18 months ago and yet people are still living in tents and children are still living in overcrowded orphanages and eating porridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“These people are practically in our backyard," says Zipf. “It’s less than a four-hour flight from New York.” Upon return, Amy immediately started making plans to go back to Haiti, this time with her husband and four children, ages 10, 7, 5 and 4.

On Aug. 8, they are partnering with an organization called Go Haiti and heading back to Haiti, where they will work for three weeks. They will be supporting orphan care, helping to build and service a medical clinic, supporting a new agricultural project, helping to access clean water and helping to build a sustainable organization in hopes of making an eternal impact.

They hope that this trip will “help their children understand the global nature of our world and encourage them to advocate for people and change. Also, to experience life in a way that is beyond ordinary.”

They family hopes that their trip will be a great success and is looking forward to making a long-term commitment by both continuing to work and encouraging their family, friends and community to not forget the beautiful people of Haiti.

IMAG0332

2011-07-28T12:30:00.001-04:00

IMAG0332, a photo by pzipf on Flickr.

such a goofball!

IMAG0334

2011-07-28T12:29:00.003-04:00

IMAG0334, a photo by pzipf on Flickr.

so suave and debonair

IMAG0340

2011-07-28T12:29:00.001-04:00

IMAG0340, a photo by pzipf on Flickr.

sand castles at Hammonasset

IMAG0346

2011-07-28T12:28:00.001-04:00

IMAG0346, a photo by pzipf on Flickr.

fun with sparklers and friends at Hammonasset St Park!

Unexpected worship experiences today... at home with my sons.

2011-07-10T13:15:00.004-04:00

I had one of the greatest worship services today at home with my sons.

It was due some to an unexpected breakdown of our car this morning. Amy left at 5:30 this morning to head to her clinical at Yale and came back promptly 10mins later. Our car broke down so she had to take the van. I was able to get the girls a ride to church this morning with a dear friend, but there was not enough room for all of us. So I stayed home and did some reading and praying while the boys played. But, as I've been here this morning I've felt a bit discouraged. I still haven't gone out to assess exactly what's caused the power steering failure - or what caused some unknown part to fall off from underneath the car. I've felt like there's been one obstacle after another in trying to get all of our family to Haiti this summer. We had a plan a few months ago... it should have been seamless... but so far there have been several cracks in the plan.

I am confident God is in control and I am confident in His leadership and guidance for me and for my family... but these last few weeks have been difficult.

However, today - a bit half-heartedly viewed a short film called The Butterfly Circus. Truthfully, I wanted to stall a little more from assessing the car because I'm fearful of what kind of problem I'll find and - more specifically - how that repair cost will affect our family. So, while sitting here at the kitchen table with my boys on my lap I watched the film with them.

You need to watch it too...

I'm now headed out to check on my car - with a renewed perspective.

Bless you today

Unexpected worship experiences today... at home with my sons.

2011-07-10T13:15:00.000-04:00

I had one of the greatest worship services today at home with my sons.

It was due some to an unexpected breakdown of our car this morning. Amy left at 5:30 this morning to head to her clinical at Yale and came back promptly 10mins later. Our car broke down so she had to take the van. I was able to get the girls a ride to church this morning with a dear friend, but there was not enough room for all of us. So I stayed home and did some reading and praying while the boys played. As I've been here this morning I've felt discouraged. I still haven't gone out to assess exactly what's caused the power steering failure - or what caused some unknown part to fall off from underneath the car. I've felt like there's been one obstacle after another in trying to get all of our family to Haiti this summer. We had a plan a few months ago... it should have been seamless... but so far there have been several cracks in the plan.

I am confident God is in control and I am confident in His leadership and guidance for me and for my family... but these last few weeks have been difficult.

However, today - a bit half-heartedly viewed a short film called The Butterfly Circus. Truthfully, I was stalling a little because I'm fearful of what kind of problem (and further financial burden) the car repair will have on our family. So, while sitting here with my boys on my lap I watched the film with them.

You need to watch it too...

I'm now headed out to check on my car - with a renewed perspective.

Bless you today

Fat Lip

2011-07-02T10:58:00.002-04:00

I was scolding Ashebir for something he did... and he required a bath. I was trying hard to be patient and was exhibiting it on the outside for Ash's sake but internally I was mad. Then, when I was drying off Ashebir he said, "Daddy wassat?"... as he pointed in my mouth... I was really puzzled and thought it was a subconcious means of diverting my frustration with him... I was short with him and said, "I don't have anything in my mouth." "He said, no...wassat?"
----
When I was in second grade, I was ice skating on a basketball court turned outdoor neighborhood ice rink. They were a brand new pair of skates and I got a little too sure of my self - as I sometimes still do today - and as a result of showing off, I slipped and fell. I fell hard. In the fall, I smacked my chin on the ice, resulting in my two front teeth biting through my lower lip. With blood dripping down my face and coat, I walked to a nearby friends house who called my parents, who then took me for an ER visit. I left with four or five stiches in my mouth above and below my lower lip.
----

Ashebir wasn't asking about anything inside my mouth. He was pointing to the scars that he saw.
Wounds create scars. Some you see, others you don't.

I needed his reminder today.

God's testing - a reflection of Grace

2011-05-05T08:59:00.001-04:00

Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did."
Judges 2:20-22

Where are be disobeying The Lord's best for us? Even though there are consequences He tests us through the process. It is another testimony to His Grace.

Chase Him down...today!

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Enticing relationships

2011-04-21T09:54:00.000-04:00

I was reading Deut 11-13 this morning and I couldn't help but think about so many teenagers and young adults I know who believe they want a "Godly" relationship - dating or marriage - but because they begin with the wrong expectations and qualifications of someone they wish to date or marry, they end up unfulfilled due to unhealthy concessions.

Check this out -
Deut. 11:18-23 "You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. "You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth. "For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him, then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you.

I am not advocating for simply just learning the information, or going through the motions. Just changing behavior is meaningless... it's a heart condition that changes everything.

Later in Deut 13 Moses continues to plead with his people as he stands with them on at the edge of the Promised Land. He knows due to his disobedience that he will not be permitted to lead them into Canaan, but Moses refuses to allow his people he loves so dearly to reject God and be consumed by self-dependence.

He continues in Deut 13:6-8 -- If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him.

In the Old Testament people who dragged others in the wrong direction were stoned to death.
Even though we do not stone people to death today, the adamacy of God is the same. Do not be enticed by or lured into an idolatrous unhealthy relationships.

If you are not married and in the middle of this kind of relationship tension, I beg you not to compromise.
If you are already married to someone who is not recieved life in Jesus and pursuing God's best with you, continue to pray and be the Godly example as shown in passages like Daniel 6, Prov. 31 and Ephesians 5.

It's true that no one is perfect but if your hearts are built on two separate foundations, (or both built on an unstable one) what's built on those foundations will not stand together.

Strive for God's best for your life and relationship. Chase it down... in relentless pursuit.

What entices you most?

2011-04-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

This morning I had to go to the bank to make a deposit. Before I went inside, I was sitting in my van making a few phone calls about arranging some details for worksites for The Hartford Project, a local summer missions outreach to the city of Hartford. As I was jotting down some notes from the phone conversation I had just had, a brown van speeds up toward me and jerks to a halt parking awkwardly near me. (The van was like one of those used for small company deliveries – however, it had no markings or company logo, and had no windows on the sides or rear.)

Before he stopped so abruptly, I thought the guy was going to plow into my driver side door, but he did parked awkwardly facing me with his driver side front corner bumper just feet from my van door where I was seated, behind the wheel of my van.

As you might be, I was a bit taken off-guard especially when the other guy slammed his van into “park”, proceeding to roll down his window and motions for me to hurriedly do the same. I hesitantly pressed the button to lower my window, and the driver starts with this story-

Driver: “Hey man, do you live around here or are you familiar with this area?”

Me: “Yeah, a little bit. Why?”

Driver: “Do you know anyone who wants a stereo surround sound digital audio system for a home theater for really cheap!!??” My buddy and I got two for the price of one and we’re trying to sell this other new system we have in the back of the van… We just sold the first one over at [names a local restaurant]. We have to be at another appointment in about… [Glances quickly at his watch] in 38 minutes so we gotta get outta here quick. We just saw you sitting here, and thought since you’d have the room in your van to haul it, we thought we’d ask you if you wanted it. If you want to look at it go ahead - it’s in the back [motions to the rear of his van] and brand new in the box already to set up. Do you want it?! Brand new it’s worth 4300 bucks, but we got it free and if you want to buy it right now we’ll give you a deal.

Me: [extremely skeptical and cautious… yet attempting not to out-right accuse him of burglary] … “I donno, I don’t know if I want it… I don’t think I know anyone else who’d want it right now either. How much are you talking?”

Driver: Awww… A few hundred bucks. How’s that sound?

Me: No thanks. See ya later.

Driver: Speeds off.

During the “pitch” he gave me, the driver pulled out an envelope of twenty dollar bills. Then he actually began to joke about how much the restaurant owner paid for the first system and spreads out the stack of twenties that he claimed he got from the sale of the first system. Supposedly the cash he pulled out amounted to $1800.00 in Twenties. He assured me I wouldn't have to pay even that much. The driver continued to brag about the sale he’d just made but assured me that all I needed to pay for the second brand new system was 300.00!
----
Maybe if I hadn’t been scammed before… or maybe if I felt like I could somehow justify spending 300.00, or if I had the room for a “movie-theater-quality surround sound audio system” I might have bought it. But as soon as those two guys sped away looking for their next sale (or victim) I was relieved I would never see them again.

Have you ever been faced with a “deal you couldn’t refuse?” … Or a deal you THOUGHT you couldn’t refuse?

WHY was the deal you saw, heard about or read about so good you couldn’t pass it up? Whether it was a SilverBullet Food Processor or a “steal” on Ebay - What did it pique inside of you that you just couldn’t walk away? Why did it entice you?

What is it that entices you most? What steals your attention?

I am a bit ashamed to admit it, but I am enticed by stupid things too...

This passage in Deut. Chapter 8 reminded me of what should I should be enraptured by… What I should be most compelled by?… What should consume all my attention?

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. -- Deut. 8:2-11

Lord, please help us... help ME.. be careful NOT to forget You - ever. To put our life’s attention on You and to observe your commands - because of the incredible work that You have done in the transformational work of Jesus Christ! Please, God help us show others how incredible a life with Jesus really is... that even though that this world will never be perfect... what's most enticing... is REAL Life with Jesus. -I ask this In Your Name, Amen.

Battle-tude

2011-04-19T09:38:00.003-04:00

Deut 4:29-35

But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.

/// I am claiming this powerful message today! My ongoing natural inclination is self-dependence in the battles I face - (while attempting to disregard my selfishness.) My prayer today is for a greater surrender of my life regardless of the terrain of the battlefield or the magnitude of the opponent.- Run hard after the Victor!

A letter from Ashebir

2011-02-15T01:32:00.001-05:00

Ashebir is now 4 ½ years old - Most days we feel like we’re making progress, some days we don’t. It'll be a year next week (2/23) that he's been home with us and even though he understands MOST of what you ask of him, there are still things he doesn't quite get yet. That said, he's been through a lot in his young life and even though his whole self is weaving intricately and intimately into our lives - his confusions, fears and inhibitions still surface. They manifest in hits, bullying, shrieks, random flying objects, screams, etc. The truth is that inappropriate behavior... is inappropriate behavior... but it's not easy some days to balance patience, grace responsibility and genuine love. I (Amy and I) NEVER want to discipline out of frustration or just give in to an important “battle” that I (We) shouldn’t because it feels easier in the moment… but to be honest, he’s exhausting sometimes. Further more, this doesn’t feel as valiant as some make it out to be sometimes.

We have to choose to love him… to pursue him. To chase after his heart and to embrace ALL of him… his entire mess. He didn’t cause it but he’s responding to it… I often wish it would manifest as a practical, and thoughtful discussion.. and just maybe it would go something like this:

“Dad, do you have a minute?” … Sure Ash, what is it?

Well Dad, I just feel like life is out of control for me… I’m scared, I’m anxious, I’m frustrated, I don’t always understand what you and Mommy expect of me or how to explain what I want sometimes. I feel like there’ s this big hole inside and it hurts… I notice the pain some days more than others, but it still makes me feel bad. I think I’m still afraid that my family will disappear some day when I least expect it… or that I’ll have to move somewhere else for some reason. I don’t know how to explain it really… I know you and Mom love me, but some days I’m not sure I FEEL the same way about our family that Kenni Sasha and TK do.

I’m angry. I’m angry because I don’t really understand why I’ve lived in so many homes with different people who tell me what to do. Who do I trust?!

I feel like I just started to get to know the kids in the other house before I came to live here with our family. I was just beginning to understand the talk around me when I lived with all the other kids - but even that was different than where I lived before that… and now there are even more new things – I’m just beginning to get the hang of this.

Small things that are out of place bother me. I like things to be in their place, but I don’t like anyone else to tell me to tell me where to put the things I have.

I don’t like animals that I can’t step on, or that aren’t behind thick glass. Maybe it’s because an animal scared me before, I don’t really remember.

I hate sharing too. Ok, so I’m getting better at it, but… I don’t want to give up something I have control of. It’s getting a little easier for me, but I don’t like it when I have to leave home to go somewhere else and when I’m somewhere else, I don’t like to leave there either.

I’m jealous of TK sometimes too… especially when he comes up with some random game to play – When I am finally convinced to play, I don’t want him to play… HIS own game! (Yeah, I don’t get it either.) Or.. when he picks up a toy I haven’t played with for a while and he starts playing with it - I want it and it makes me mad when I can’t have it. I think I’m beginning to understand that I can play with it later but I still have a hard time with it.

Sometimes I feel left out.

Sometimes I just get so mad that I scream as loud as I can and try to kick, bite and even spit. But those times… even though I don’t mean to hurt you or Mommy or my teachers -I’ve just reached a point that I don’t know what else to do. Maybe it’s that I don’t understand that you and Mommy are trying to help me the best way you know how… and I just don’t get it yet.

I love my Teachers and my classmates a lot, but seriously… sometimes I don’t really care what number comes after 6… 7… or 8! It doesn’t matter to me if “the car” is “blue or red,” or if “the chair” is “green or brown,” or if the picture is of a “bird” or a “tiger.”

And speaking of school days! - When I come home from school, I think the difference in routine disrupts me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my school, we have so much fun there and my teacher there has helped me maybe even more than she knows … but It’s still hard changing from being at school to returning home where I don’t have the same structured environment. So when I get home, sometimes all I want to do is beat up TK, eat bread and butter or watch Remember the Titans.

The other night when I was screaming and yelling because I wanted all six saltines left in the cracker sleeve, and you said I could only have two at a time – I just get really frustrated with things like that… When I can’t explain exactly what I want or when I don’t understand why I can’t have what I want.

But Daddy... I want to trust you, I just need your help to do that.

I know you love me Daddy… Is it hard to love me sometimes?

I want to be loved by you so desperately Daddy… I want Mommy to love me too! I just don’t know how to always act lovingly. But… I like to pray with you and TK at night and thank God for our Family. I love my warm bed and my special blanket from Great Gramma Zipf. I wouldn’t know what to do without it.

I like trucks and reading books. I like building things with legos, I like coloring, scissors and glue and I like to show you and Mommy what I make at school or how tall I can build the Lego tower. I like sitting in your lap when we read books. I love Mommy a lot. She takes care of me and let’s me make big messes that I don’t have to clean up right away. She makes great food and she makes sure that I’m safe and gives me lots of kisses… I just pull away after a few of them because I don’t like to sit still very long unless I’m watching a movie I like.

Daddy, Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for bringing me home. Please be patient with me… it’ll be worth it. I love you and Mommy very much.

Ashebir

Highlights from Amy, Sasha and their team in Haiti

2011-01-15T15:37:00.000-05:00

Friday morning Jan 15:

To put it in perspective, the 11 member team left Thurs morning in two waves from JFK and all arrived in Haiti about 1500 Thursday afternoon.

Amy writes:

“The internet is sporadic at best but we're having a great time. Sasha loves it here! It’s so much like Ethiopia it took my breath away at the airport.

We did a Med clinic yesterday [Thur. 1/14].

We helped diagnose high blood pressure, malaria, congestive heart failure, diabetes, viral infections, etc. We went to the orphanage on Thursday as well and held a beautiful little baby boy. Breaks your heart. We took pictures of the kids eating their porridge for dinner. I was crying so hard I could barely take pictures. So hard to believe we are so very close to home and the need is so great. Off to work at the clinic again this morning. We have tons of pictures, will try to send some soon."

TK and his trust in God

2010-12-01T09:25:00.001-05:00

Tariku: "Dad, it's raining outside!!"

Me:"I know."

TK:"Why?!"

me: "God thought it was a good time to send rain."

TK: Why?!"

me: "What happens to the grass and flowers when God makes it rain?"

TK: "Wet!"

-------------

I wonder if God has some kind of exasperated feeling when we question things that should be rather obvious to us?

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thank you veterans

2010-11-11T09:55:00.001-05:00

"paulsteinbrueck: Thank You Veterans for Living Intentionally! http://bit.ly/coG7cF"
--http://twitter.com/paulsteinbrueck/status/2724556858986496

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

daddy breakfast

2010-11-11T09:43:00.001-05:00

On a breakfast date with the girls after dropping off the boys at school.

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Love for Orphans Transforms, by Jedd Medefind

2010-06-03T16:01:00.000-04:00

Love for Orphans Transforms

By Jedd Medefind | President, Christian Alliance for Orphans

Unwanted infants in ancient Rome were often disposed of via the practice of “exposing.” Whether undesirable because it was malformed, female or simply inconvenient, the child would be left alone, outside the city walls, without defense before glaring sun, icy winds or roving animals.

In 374 AD, the Christian emperor Valentinian banned the practice. But for centuries prior, a marginalized group gained a reputation for rescuing these children: Christians. The early church was known, even among many who despised it, as a people who defended the orphan. Believers went outside the city to find infants abandoned there, taking them in, and often raising them as their own. This witness was one powerful factor in the vibrant life and growth of Christianity in its first 300 years, and at other high points in history as well. It can be that way again.

Last month, 1,200 Christian orphan advocates from across America and beyond gathered in Minneapolis. At moments, the ethos and interactions felt almost electric. As one band leader expressed, “It felt like that was the first time I’d been worshipping and every person in the room was really a Christian.”   I understood what he meant. From families with adopted HIV+ children, to foster parents, to individuals serving the fatherless around the globe, the spirit of that community carried the feel of the early days after Pentecost. As best I can discern, here are four key reasons why:

Caring for orphans reflects the heart of God. From Isaiah’s call to “defend the cause of the fatherless” (1:17) to James’ placement of orphan care at the heart of “pure and undefiled religion” (1:27), the biblical mandate is clear.   But this is not merely God’s expectation of us; it is a mirroring of His own character. “He defends the fatherless,” declares Deuteronomy 10:18. Describes the Psalmist, “He places the lonely in families.” To be like our heavenly Father, we’re invited to do the same.

Caring for orphans makes the Gospel visible. At the heart of the Christian story is the God who pursued us when we were destitute and alone. He adopted us as His children, and invites us to live as His sons and daughters. Perhaps nothing makes this truth more tangible than when Christians follow in their Father’s footsteps, opening heart and home in unconditional affection to the child that has no claim upon them but love.

Caring for orphans defies the gods of our age. Darwinism’s sole ethical imperative is to ensure one’s own genetic material carries forward. So like Gideon tearing down his father’s idols (Judges 6), we assault this dictate when we seek to ensure the survival, and thriving, of a child that does not share our genes. Meanwhile, the purposeful sacrifices required to love this child flout the demands of other gods also, from materialism to self-actualization to comfort. The cost must be counted. But—compared to the depth and richness found along the path of caring for orphans—these false gods are shown to be as lifeless and unsatisfying as statues of bronze or wood.

Caring for orphans invites a journey of discipleship. “I see these kids changed,” explained a woman who helps Christians get involved with foster care, “But I think the parents are changed even more.” It’s true. Every family I know that’s opened themselves to parentless children has not gone unaltered. And though the road can be hard, even painful, virtually always it leads closer to Jesus. Expressed one adoptive mom recently, “People have said, ‘Oh, aren’t they lucky, you rescued them from whatever.’ And I think, Are you kidding? I’m the lucky one. I get to be their mom. And I get to be daily rescued from my selfishness, and my impatience, and things that are just as disease-ridden in my soul.”
Ultimately, here’s the result I see again and again: love for orphans transforms.   It transforms children as they experience love and nurture they’ve come to live without. It transforms individual Christians, as we encounter Jesus deeply and personally in a destitute child. It transforms the broader community of believers as well, pulling us corporately beyond a religion of self-development to a costly-but-muscular faith. Finally, love for orphans transforms a watching world, as it sees—perhaps for the first time—the Gospel embodied.

Close friends from Washington, DC, Tom and Leah, adopted a little boy from an African nation two years ago. He’d been found, abandoned, at the edge of a forest, umbilical cord still attached. “He was left for the hyena,” described the old woman who discovered him when the newborn’s cry startled her milk cow.

When I heard that story, I couldn’t help thinking of the early Christians, going outside the city walls to take in abandoned infants. I feel the same about what’s going on in Colorado, where so many Christians have adopted from the foster system that the number of children waiting for adoption has been cut from nearly 800 in 2008 to just 365 today. The same goes for countless partnerships between U.S. Christians and churches abroad to care for orphans within their home countries as well.

Christians are again becoming known as a people who defend the cause of the fatherless. As we do, the world won’t be left unchanged. Neither will we.

Jedd Medefind serves as the President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans

Christianity Today Weighs in on International Adoption and the Orphan Crisis

2010-04-07T22:05:00.002-04:00

Christianity Today Weighs in on International Adoption and the Orphan Crisis

April’s edition of Christian Today contains an important editorial on international adoption and orphans worldwide. Significantly, the editorial holds together two elements that are sometimes falsely presented as being at odds with each other: support of in-country orphan care efforts, while also affirming inter-country adoption for children that otherwise would grow up on the streets or in institutions.

The article pulls no punches in condemning unnecessary barriers to adoption:

The political and cultural barriers [erected by governments to make adoptions very difficult] stem from warped ideas about what is in a poor child's best interest. It isn't in the best interest of abandoned children to grow up destitute and barely literate, regardless of the imagined cultural benefit of remaining in their home country. Haiti itself is a vivid example of injustice. The government tolerates a modern form of child slavery by allowing 225,000 children ages 6-14 to work as restavecs (unpaid, indentured domestics). Adoption, domestic or inter-country, should not be looked down upon as inferior at best or as a last resort.

If the article were to be extended, two small additions would be helpful. First, given the natural inclination many people have towards orphanages as the solution for kids that can’t be adopted, it’d be helpful to make clear that orphanages should be viewed most of the time as temporary, last-resort solutions. Children need consistent, personal love and nurture that rarely can be provided in an institutional setting. So, most of the time, settings that are as close to a home environment as possible are preferable to an orphanage.

Second, given the confusion over orphan statistics, it’d be helpful to clarify that current estimates of the number of orphans in the world (whether the numbers the U.N. provides or the 210 million referenced by the article) include children that have lost only one parent. Thus, the vast majority of these orphans—while often facing great difficulties and in need of help—are mostly not in need of adoption. Adoption, both in-country and inter-country, is vitally important in situations where children have no parent or relatives that can care for them. But that portion of the overall orphan statistics is relatively small.

Coming from a voice with the gravitas of Christianity Today, this article represents a very important affirmation of the Biblical call to “care for orphans in their distress”—via adoption as well as other means.

pictures tell a thousand words... and more.

2010-03-16T23:50:00.000-04:00

Just posted a bunch of new pics here.
If this link won't work for you, go to: www.facebook.com/pete.zipf and click the Photos Button.

chase it down...

2010-02-22T13:39:00.000-05:00

Here's a few thoughts... and I will write more soon as I process the last couple weeks.

Life happens and it WILL pass you by...most of us only pay attention to ourselves. If you see a need to change that, what are you waiting for? Stop making excuses.

if you want big things out of life, you must be willing to make big sacrifies - and it's not a sacrifice if it doesn't hurt.

Nothing that is truly significant happens easily...chase it down. It's worth it.

Ashebir

2010-02-13T22:16:00.000-05:00

Hey, everybody. :)

I finally was able to talk to Pete today for about 20 minutes. He has now been with Ashebir twice and it is going great. Pete is going to send me updates when he can and I will post them!

Only 6 days and they'll be home ...

Long post, but here's this week's news!

2010-02-12T14:29:00.000-05:00

Feb. 3, 2010
The Grandeur of the Alps, the tease in Rome and a welcomed bed.
I feel like I’ve been watching my life from a sort of out-of-body experience these last few months… especially the last few weeks leading up to arriving at Bradley Airport this morning. I have been in tremendous anticipation of this trip as the months and weeks have led up to this moment, and now that it’s “here” I almost feel like it’s not real…like I’m watching some other guys’ life from over his shoulder. I guess I feel that way because I’ve had several other responsibilities in the few months leading up to this trip so I kinda kept this entire experience in the back of my mind and heart – compartmentalized - so the anticipation wouldn’t completely overwhelm me. I think I’ve also talked so much about the trip and going to bring home Ashebir for so long, that it made it seem and feel like it would be years before we’d go.

It wasn’t until I saw the sign next to the walkway entrance at Gate 23 at Dulles Airport in D.C. that read, Flight 500 Addis Ababa that it registered in my heart “I’m going to get Ashebir and I’m bringing him home!”

The flight here was overall uneventful, but it was somewhat of a letdown because although Air Ethiopia is a nice airline- and even though the flight attendant staff was great at making our journey as pleasant as possible, it left something to be desired after flying with Air Emirates in 2008. Not that it was critical to the flight, but instead of multiple channels of movies ranging from action/thrillers to romantic comedies and an entire channel dedicated to children’s feature films and video games – Air Ethiopia had four films to choose from… wait… two films to choose from because one film - Matt Damon’s, The Informant - appeared as if the VCR Tape that it was playing from had completely lost the “tracking control.” The second movie The Endgame, must have had a cracked or frayed audio wire because the sound didn’t work at all. The third film was Sean Connery in the late-sixty’s classic, James Bond 007: From Russia with Love – that was ok, but I honestly can’t recall a more slowly moving 007 film.

So that left Gamer, about a not-too-distant future United States Software-Mogul, who overtook Bill Gates income status times three by producing an implantable micro-chip-like cell, that could be voluntarily injected into one’s brain to reproduce and ultimately sync with a Video Gaming system, where subscribers would “play” a real person as if they were playing the SIMS game online, but only with real people controlled by the actions of the joystick. As the Gamer “played out”, the same technology was implemented in a similar first-person game very similar to a game like Call of Duty Modern Warfare. As you may guess, the plot “took off” from there. Long story short, don’t waste your time or your Netflix queue. I didn’t even bother finishing the film, and I’m sure glad we got Kenni an Mp3 player since her choices for video were even more limited than mine – the comedy channel had old episodes of Two and-a-half Men that should have never been aired in the first place either.

Honestly, the best part of the trip was flying over the French Alps as we headed toward Rome- ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT- but then the refuel stop in Rome was but a tease because we never even caught a glimpse of the Coliseum from the tarmac. Oh well, we arrived safely in Addis, and we’ll just have a good excuse to return to Italy some other time.

We arrived at Bole Airport in Addis right on time, and all of our friendly seat-mates clapped raucously when we braked to a stop. Josh Shook was sitting in front of me and I asked him if he also thought that the applause may be due to the passengers’ surprise at the successful landing ;) – When we deboarded, we got in line with the other foreigners to obtain a temporary visa which only took about 30 minutes of waiting and 20.00 USD to purchase. After we got the visa, we had to take all our bags through Ethiopian Customs control. Since we had many bags filled with medical donations for AHOPE, the Customs Officer questioned us and reluctantly allowed us through, but reinforced that we should have additional paperwork from the Ethiopian Customs office along with an official letter from the Ethiopian Organization that was the recipient of the medical supplies. Even though we had an official letter and documentation from the source of the donations, he asked that we get the additional documentation if we bring those kinds of donations again.

As the rest of the team reloaded the 12 large bags onto the carts I went to find the representative from Abba Travel that was to pick us up to transport us to the SIM Guesthouse. Thankfully, my phone call on Wednesday afternoon to confirm our pick-up was successful, and we loaded in all our bags and tired bodies into two minibuses and took the circuitous route from Bole, to the SIM Guesthouse. It was so good to return to the Guesthouse. I was anxious to share that experience with the rest of our team, and as I thought, they appreciated the time there as I thought they would. Too bad we were only there Thursday and Friday night.

Friday Feb. 5th

LOST: Feb. 4th… Found: Bingham and AHOPE

Well, we lost Thursday Feb. 4th completely in jet lag and the overnight… We arrived at Bole at 19:30 local time - but 11:30 EST – Needless to say; it was a rough sleep as our bodies had a hard time acclimating to the time change. I know all four of us in our room woke around 3 or 4am local time –about 20:00 EST – so we began to look forward to an early bedtime when we headed to breakfast at 07:10 at the guesthouse. Breakfast however started off right with some good chats with Amy, Kate and Susie from The Church at Charlotte. Amy Rogers had returned to Addis to go get her family’s belongings that they had left in storage in Addis after returning from the mission field last August. Susie and Kate were good friends that were waiting for other friends from their church to do some work at the guesthouse to give it a bit of an aesthetic upgrade with décor and new coats of paint. At breakfast we also met Sarah from Ireland who had been working in northern Ethiopia in a youth center (I think near Lellebella?) doing some sports coaching and discipleship with the local teens in that area. Sarah had supposed to leave the day before, but was too sick to travel with the rest of her team that had already gone. She rearranged her travel schedule and was planning to leave that day.

After breakfast we tried again to use the phones, but they still weren’t working from the night before so we contracted a taxi, and sped off to Bingham Academy. How sweet!... We got to Bingham and got a chance to meet some of the teachers and staff that had been there the last time we’d visited and were able to attend the Elementary Chapel service. It was such a blessing to see so many kids growing to know God in such a special way. I’m convinced those kids will be world-changers because of the environment and atmosphere that they’re in. They will likely have spheres of influence and connections with others that most elementary kids will not ever experience. It’s awesome just thinking about the places they’ll go and serve as they mature because of the real-world view they’re growing up with. I only hope Amy and I can provide our own kids with the kind of exposure, life-experience, teaching and encouragement that will provide the tools they need to be sensitive to do what God calls them to do, whenever He calls them to do it.

After hanging out with many of the teachers and staff at Bingham, we got into a price-bidding war with a couple of taxi drivers and sped… or.. sputted off back to the SIM Guesthouse. After lunch we got a couple more taxis and loaded up all of the donation suitcases to bring over to AHOPE. We arrived at AHOPE right about the time the children were ready to get up from their naps.

This was one of the main events of our trip, I was anticipating for our team. I knew this was going to be one of the most, if not the most - impactful experience of our trip. Our whole team was just taking everything in. Soon after we entered the children’s care center, Trent just stood in the doorway… I just watched him for a few moments… and I could only guess that he was thinking about his own children sleeping safely and healthily in their own beds – almost 10 thousand miles away. I supposed Trent’s mind’s eye seeing these beautiful children just like his own, living in much different conditions through NO FAULT of their own.

AHOPE for Children is a phenomenal place and they are providing beautifully, for the children they have been blessed to care for. We count it a huge privilege for the opportunity to share some additional blessings we have, to bless the children there. The staff at AHOPE Ethiopia are wonderful and full of compassion and genuine tenderness for the children. When you are preparing to visit Addis, please contact AHOPE to learn more about what they do, and how you could support them.

For the next four hours or so we laughed, cried, ate lollipops, sang, wrestled, tickled, and played with some of the most beautiful children you could ever meet. Even if we were able to take pictures, they would not do justice to the experience. You would have had to have been there. When you get the opportunity, go be blessed by AHOPE and the children there – it will change your life.

Saturday Feb. 6th

The kind of day we had yesterday will wear you out, but it was well worth it. When we got back from AHOPE last night we had another delicious meal at SIM. Then, in the middle of our second hand of Phase Ten, John Connelly came in and introduced himself and explained that he was the FH Country Director in Ethiopia and proceeded to share his appreciation for our team and the ministry we would be doing over the next several days. John left, making us a little jealous when he told us that he planned to get up at 2am to watch the Superbowl on Sunday night, but honestly we figured we were doing more important things, and would need our rest in the middle of the night on Sunday. After enjoying a few hands of our card game we phased OUT for the night. Saturday morning we felt a little more rested, and packed up all the rest of our stuff, had breakfast, took some pictures with the SIM Staff, and Marc arrived in the rented van to head to Ziway. By the time we tied all the bags on top of the rack of the van it was 0900, and we started off through Addis heading South East. For the next few hours we learned a little more about Mark’s story and how he grew up in Ethiopia in a semi-religious home with a Czech mom and an Ethiopian Dad who occasionally attended church. He’s also a Czech citizen, but his family moved to Ethiopia when he was two. When he was seventeen, the Eritrea/Ethiopian conflict was beginng to escalate and recruiting more older teenage boys, so his parents thought it would be best to send him to the US to finish high school and college. He moved to Stoney Brook, NY and upon graduating from a private HS there, he attended a community college then Baruch Business college in Queens. Later, Mark had begun attending Times Square Church through the invitation of some friends, and then surrendered his life to Christ and began serving in various ministries while he went to school. When he was finished with School he felt God’s call to return to Ethiopia and found work in various NGO’s, met his wife and began working with FH in July of 2009. Mark shared a little about FH and its history in Ethiopia along with a few things that he felt we could expect for the coming week. We learned that FH takes a very strategic approach to help people really help themselves and their community. Some organizations have that desire, but rarely implement it well. FH seems to be doing this consistently because of the make-up of the organization from the local leadership to the head leadership team.

We pulled into Ziway about noon, and Dawit (the local FH Director in Ziway) met us for lunch at a restaurant owned by a funny little lady named Jazzi who named her restaurant after herself. She explained that even though she was Ethiopian she had grown up in the US, and her husband wanted to return to Ethiopia because they loved the country so much.

We finished lunch and drove over to the new FH Offices nearby, and Dawit proceeded to share the overall FH Vision for Ziway to-date, and discussed some needs in the near and long term.

We discussed…

That time together was informative, but we were all slapping ourselves to push through our weariness magnified by the heat and breezeless office. When we finished the last of our copious notes about the incredible work that FH is doing in Ziway and the potential opportunities that we may be led toward, we continued our discussion toward the van to head across town toward Lake Ziway.

On the way to the lake, we encountered one of the most pungent fish smells, I’ve ever had, but I have to admit it was only that strong until we hung out for a while with the fisherman and the kids around the beach area cleaning fish.

It took a few minutes, but we finally landed on a price with one of the fisherman that agreed to cart us all out toward the middle of the lake where the Hippos hung out. You’ll see pictures soon enough. Now I really know why they are called “water horse.” We took a ton of pictures and video of the hippos, and trolled over toward a nearby island to take some more pictures of exotic birds. I thought the birds were ok, but the Ethiopian sunset on the darkening horizon returning to the beach was gorgeous.

We got back to the beach and loaded up in the van… Kenni gave out some more lollipops because there were only a few kids left at the beach at that time. I’m sure they would have gladly accepted the entire bag of 300+ lollipops, but she jumped back in the van, and we headed to dinner at the newer Universal Restaurant. I decided NOT to order fish.

Feb. 7, 2010 - Sunday

Sharing the Light of Life

As we entered Hiwot Berhan church in Ziway on Sunday morning, we were welcomed as if we were close family friends from the neighborhood. We were so blessed to worship with such a passionate and spirit-filled people. As the worship and singing progressed, more and more people filled the little church until it was almost standing room only. When the worship leader finished our singing with prayer, one of the elders got up to read from The Word and introduce another brother who shared a powerful song just before our team was introduced to the congregation. We felt so welcomed and appreciated – it was so humbling. The translated name of their church is: Light of Life, and they certainly fit that title.

We got the chance to thank them and share a few words about the purpose of our visit, and that our hearts were bonding with them for their community. After we shared a few words they asked us to share a few worship songs with them as well. We sang a couple songs together for them… but in the middle of experiencing that worship time with watching Kendalyn sing her heart out when Rachel played, “You Are My King”. In front of us and the whole church Kenni was belting out, “Amazing Love, how can it be that You, my King would die for me, Amazing Love, I know it’s true, it’s my joy to honor you, in all I do… I honor you… “

I was listening in awe and incredible pride. Not only did she sing on key, she blessed us and the entire church as she led us in that beautiful song of surrender to Jesus.

When we returned from Church we grabbed lunch at one of the local restaurants and headed off to our first home visit to meet Mihiret (17yrs old), Lydia (14yrs old) and Bendalu (9yrs old). All three of these children are part of the Child Development Program that FH has, but they are also in the Child Headed Household Program because their parents both died AIDS complications. Their father died ten years ago, and their mother died two years ago. This little family has neighbor friends that live in the next home just a walkway apart, but even though this close neighbor friend helps to support their needs, she has her own children to care for and cannot afford to help much. Mihiret not only cares for herself and her two siblings, but she has to work extra hard at school to get her school work done before she has to do laundry, get water, firewood, clean their one-room mud floor home, make dinner, along with making sure her siblings are working on their own schoolwork. Additionally, Mihiret is often weak from the side effects of taking her own ARV Medication.

See, Mihiret, Lydia and Bendalu are all HIV+ and Mihiret is caring for her sister and little brother as best as she is able. Their lives are improving with the help of FH, but this is likely the most difficult life journey I have ever personally seen. In our time with them, Mihiret also shared that even their neighbors wouldn’t allow the three children to use any of their latrines because the neighbors are afraid that they would catch the disease from the children.

My heart broke for them… All I wanted to do was grab a shovel, and organize the local people to go get the crushed stone, sand and bricks to build a latrine for them immediately… but that will have to wait for now. The FH Staff have a great relationship with them and their neighbors and I’m confident that after learning of this need, they will be cared for. I plan to follow up with Dawit to see how the kids are being taken care of.

After leaving the three children, we visited Emebit. We met with her just outside her home to discuss her situation, and how FH is helping her. She lives alone and is supported by FH with their Food Support Program, but she cannot work right now because her hand is crippled. When she was living in the country, she was working in the field and her hand was stuck with a thorn. The wound from the thorn got infected and since she didn’t have any way of getting to or paying for a visit to the health center, she went to go see a “witch-doctor” and he used some traditional medicine concoction on her hand, that made her hand become so infected it swelled up and became unusable. She used to work, but now cannot work at all, and appreciates the assistance FH provides her to support her, but she is in real need of a long term resolution. We prayed with her before we left and felt her respond in a powerful way when we were praying. Before we left she asked that we pray for her that she would be able to get the food she needed. I remembered that I had a pear and two oranges – she joyously accepted them, and treated them like gold. I felt helpless… I wish I could have given her more, but FH is working closely with her so I am confident that they will help her get what she needs.

We left Emebit’s home and headed over to dinner at Jazzi’s – Trent and I got some time to chat, and it is clear that he is ready to respond in big ways to what God’s next steps are for he and his family… I’m anxious to see what that looks like.

We still haven’t gotten a chance to post any information online… I hope we can soon. There is internet here in Ziway, but our schedules have been so full, that by the time we have time to go to an internet café it is dark, and not as safe to go out, or the café is closed.

Consistent electricity here in Ziway… for that matter the entire country… is rare, and we had a big thunderstorm that caused a power outage late Sunday night and into Monday morning.

Feb. 8, 2010 - Monday

We have an obligation.

Before we met for breakfast Rog and Rachel got a chance to go for a short walk and took advantage of just being around the local folks, I wish we could have done more walking around together, but I’m really glad they took advantage of that time together. I think this has been a very special experience for them. We decided to try breakfast at the hotel we were staying at this morning, but the food wasn’t as good, so we’ll try the Universal Restaurant tomorrow.

After breakfast we went over to the FH office for prayer and devotions, and since Dawit had gone to Addis yesterday afternoon to get a visa to the US so Malaku (Messenger) led our Devotional time this morning.

After our devotional time, we left for our first trip to Jido. The small rural town of Jido has about 5,000 people (with a total of about 9k people including the surrounding rural area) and is approximately 47 kilometers from Ziway. Jido was established about 70 years old, and up until about 2-3 years ago, Jido was lush with trees and agricultural life, but in the last few years the rains have not been as consistent and as frequent, and due to the fact that so many acacia trees have had to be cut down for firewood for the growing population, but there have been only a small percentage of those trees that have been replanted. Therefore, the land is not a fertile watershed area any longer. The salty and sandy soil has compounded the problem, and made it extremely difficult to plant the maize, which at one time had been much easier to grow there.

This severe agricultural problem now has greatly affected the entire community, and because Jido is remote, it is “out of sight, out of mind” for even the regional government. Thankfully, FH has been working in Jido for over two years, and they are trying to help the community begin to assess the needs there, and focus on making the necessary changes for long term results, that will positively affect that area long term.

Our first trip to Jido included two home visits.

Beshenana is about 8 years old, and he has three brothers who are 13yrs old, 6yrs old, 3yrs old and one two week old baby sister. We met he and his mother who was holding his baby sister. We learned that his Father has two additional wives, and was with his other wife at the time of our visit, but Beshenana’s mother said he typically comes to spend time with them on Thursdays when it’s “Market Day” and helps out with the little bit of vegetables they have in their small garden in back of their home.

The mother used to make and sell a local alcoholic drink, but cannot now due to needing to care for the baby. Due to the support that FH provides their family, Beshenana is able to attend school, and their family is also being strongly considered for the FSP (The Food Support Program) because the mother cannot work, and their garden is not at all adequate for their food needs.

The second home visit we made was to meet another beautiful and shy little girl I hope I can get her name from FH staff later on – She was precious. She was abandoned by her family when she was three, and a family friend took her in, and has treated her as his own, along with his additional children. We learned later on that her “adopted father” is an elder at the Foundation of Christ Church – how awesome to see the hand of Jesus through the Church in their own community, reach out to orphans there! FH has come along side that family, and is supporting them through paying for her education so the parents can focus on providing the food and other necessities they need to live. That entire family has benefitted through the FH support of just the one little girl!

After we left her home, Lunch with Lydia, an FH Social Worker who lives right in Jido. She had us all in her home, and made some of the best injira and beef tibs we’ve had so far. We finished lunch with another beautiful coffee ceremony.

Every one of the FH “family” members has exuded service and selfless humility to us. I just treasure these times together with them. I can only pray that more of our own community back home will be able to experience for themselves as well.

For those of you reading list… get prepared to make some major sacrifices to come to Ethiopia to serve. Get prepared to give generously, so you can bless others in an exponential way, and experience a depth of blessing-return, more abundantly than you’ll EVER experience remaining in your comfortable boring world in the US. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

After lunch we made the short ½ mile trip across the little town to meet with the local leaders of the Foundation of Christ Church (~150 people), and those from the Living Word Church (~70people). It would be hard to encapsulate all the needs that they unpacked for us, so I will attempt to summarize as well as I can. However, the most encouraging aspect about that discussion together is that none of them expected or assumed we should come in to solve all their problems. They love their community deeply – even those that mock and persecute them from the Muslim community in their area. The churches were birthed from the same heart and motivation for their town.

When we with the leaders from the two churches they shared the following results that FH has had in their community:

· FH supports children so they are able attend school, and provides Parents the abilty to focus their income on their families, so their children can go to school.

· The Church is SO thankful for the FH Social Workers that pour their lives personally into the children of Jido, which ultimately helps the entire family as well.

Then, they shared about some things that they would like to be able to see come to fruition in the months to come:

· Agricultural support – Jido is dependent on its agricultural success. If maze or other fruits or vegetables don’t grow, they don’t have a source of food, and they have little options for income.

· A local High School – The Jido community has 5 elementary schools all about the same size. Jido’s elementary school includes grades 1-8. Grades 1-4 meet in the morning shift, and grades 5-8 meet in the afternoon session. Each grade has two sections of about 80-100 students each, so in their best estimation they have about 1400 students in that small elementary school. Many of those students live right in Jido, but many students come from the surrounding rural areas, as far as 7km away… and those kids all walk to school… every day. (Take a moment to consider what would happen if American kids had to walk 7km to school every day – would they go? I’ve seen parents get upset about Bus stop locations.) Currently they graduate about 400, 8th graders every year – from EACH of the 5 local elementary schools. Do the math. There are at least a few thousand students that could take advantage of a high school - IMMEDIATELY - they just need a place to go. Currently, a few of them have enough money to travel the 47km to the High School in Ziway, but most all of the kids in Jido do not have that luxury. They either stay home and get by with an 8th Grade education and try to eke out some kind of living, or they leave the area for more education and a better life. The desire of the Church leaders as well as many other leaders in the community, desperately want to invest in their future but they need help.

· Financial support for local evangelists – As of the very day we met, the church leaders had just come from a meeting with two men who have been involved in their local church for a few years. They are grounded in the Word, and they are from the community they have a deep desire to reach. At this time the church is struggling financially, and if they had additional support to provide a spiritual leader like that, they could help especially the more rural parts of their area who are in even more desperate living conditions than inside the town of Jido. They shared that there are people over 30km away that a local Evangelist visited, who had NEVER heard the name of Jesus. Just consider the impact a messenger like that could have with others in the most remote areas. It would cost about $500Birr/month to support a Trained Evangelist that would work for the local church who would work with them, and hold them accountable. To support just one Evangelist would be less than $40.00/month US!

· Bible Teachers to disciple children and their families - They took some real steps of faith, and expanded their facilities and build two additional classrooms separate from the sanctuary they’ve had. However, they are in real need of teachers to help teach, train, and disciple children and families within their church.

· Ministering to the Muslim Community – 95% of the Jido community is Muslim and many are adamantly opposed to the work of these churches. There are several mosques in their town, and even though some nominal Muslims have decided to accept Jesus as their savior, some of them expected to receive some kind of immediate financial gain – as they had been promised from some of the Muslim leaders.

· They need Bibles and small Gospel Tracts to help others understand the freedom in Christ. I was asked more than once about getting additional Bibles to the people in that community. We could make a huge impact by providing Bibles and Christian literature in their local language.

· Furnishings – They have build three additional classrooms, but have no desks, chairs or tables or cement floors to keep the mud out.

· Fence – They explained that livestock eat the fence they constructed around their church facility, and it would be very helpful to have a more secure fence, and if they had the funds to purchase the materials locally, they could build it.

· They need a PA system – They have over 150 people in their church and they are excited about what God is doing in their church. They need a clear way to communicate the Good News and it will also help connect with people in their area.

We took in a lot today… it will be interesting to see how God leads us to respond in partnership with these Churches in Jido. We finished the night with Dinner at Universal Restaurant.

Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010

Restoring Real Life.

We met for Breakfast at the Universal Restaurant again and had eggs, toast, cheese and fried beef. I risked a Mango Juice as well –SO GOOD - puréed Mangos. I’m thinking everyone else will have one tomorrow, after realizing I didn’t get sick. After breakfast we headed over to the FH office to meet up for morning devotions with the rest of the staff. Man, can they pray- such intense communion with the Lord as they declare their surrender and dependence on Him. It was such a blessing to be with them in God’s presence. Roger shared a short devotional from Matt. 13, relating the difficult planting seasons in this area – especially in Jido – but encouraging them that they are bearing fruit in so many things that we have experienced together even in the last few days.

Honestly, I don’t think we still have an entire understanding of what today brought for some time to come. We left the FH office about 0900 and headed back to Jido for some home visits and meet with the Local Jido Community Leaders, and the Elementary School leaders.

Our first home visit was with Rachel’s Sponsor-Child, Bedatu. She is about 12yrs old, and she has 2 brothers and six sisters. I missed what exact birth order she is, but I think she is 4 of the nine kids in their family. Her father and Mother seemed to be very sincere and appreciative people. They just needed some extra support for Bedatu to have the financial support and supplies she requires for school. Rachel gave Bedatu a hand drawn picture she’d done of Bedatu, some art supplies and a photo album she’d made for her and her family. What an honor it was for Rachel –and the rest of us for that matter – to see Bedatu readily pick up her new sketch pad and colored pencils and proceed to draw a picture of her home and surrounding neighborhood.

After we took pictures with Bedatu and her family, we walked out in the refreshing rain shower toward Makeeya’s home to meet with her family. She has a baby sister who appeared about 6 months old, and an older sister. She has not been sponsored directly yet, but it was a blessing to see how her mom encouraged her diligence in school. Frankly, I don’t recall one conversation with a parent or community member that DIDN’T center around stronger education support for their community – along with their own children.

Every parent or guardian we met was focused on preparing the youth of their community to help them all progress. They never talked about selfish desires for personal gain, it was all about their friends and neighbors and the kids of their friends and neighbors. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised that they were the ones to have a clear understanding of the REAL needs in their town that would benefit their whole area. -- They never suggested new paved parking spaces or lower student to teacher ratios, or the color of the uniforms for the varsity sports teams, or splitting hairs on line items on the local School Budget or refusing to pay more to support their education system. They never discussed pursuing anything frivolous – they want their community to survive, and flourish long-term.

We had lunch again at Lydia’s home and w hen we finished, we went to meet with the Town Leaders at their Town Center building. I was so encouraged to see that many of that leader team was made up of some of the leadership of the local church as well. They are all commonly dedicated to the guidance and future of their town. It was awesome to see leaders sitting next to each other with different spiritual perspectives, yet the same goal for their community.

The issues they raised were the same agricultural and educational problems they face, but in the same breath showed immense appreciation for FH and the work they have done, and continue to do in Jido. The Community Leaders love FH and want to work together even more closely. They’ve already raised 50,000.00 BIRR all by themselves thorough canvassing the community. Considering that there are only about 5000 people in the town, and they may make only 0.50 or LESS per day… that’s OUTSTANDING. That’s real sacrifice and dedication. I wish we could have that kind of response in Connecticut. The community is single-minded, and focused on building a High School, and are willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

It will take some time to research what the actual cost of building and equipping a high school, but rough estimates range from 1-3 Million BIRR… Currently, that’s approximately $100-250K USD. With those kinds of dollars, they could properly construct and adequately operate a local high school for thousands of students that would transform that entire area.

From the meeting with the Community Leaders, we were able to go meet with the Elementary School leaders. Their school is only 3.5 years old, but they have extraordinary teaching team. They too were unified in heart and vision. Additionally to the issues that were raised in the two previous meetings, the Elementary School staff shared these burdens with us:

· For the roughly 1400 students they have, they have 19 teachers -- 11 men, and 8 women. Even though there are only about 700 at the school at a time, they still need more teachers.

· Those 19 teachers are extremely dedicated and use their own money to pay for supplies and decorate their classrooms, but often the teachers burn out, and go to better teaching positions in better areas.

· They do not have a library in Jido at all.

· They would like to help the Special Needs students more effectively, but because of their small staff and lack of resources they are not able to segregate them, so they need another social worker to help with those children.

They also mentioned some incidentals that should be taken care of …Yesterday!:

· The teachers need a secure area for their supplies and personal belongings.

· A fridge for cold, clean water

· Teacher desks and tables

· Computers for students and teachers to use with internet access.

At the same location on the Elementary School grounds we met with about 30 youth workers that are going through training to help their friends and peers understand the prevention of HIV/AIDS. They are learning about abstinence and marital faithfulness. The thing that amazed me, was that most of the Youth Workers I met were as young as 15years old, who had the responsibility of meeting with and training another 14-16 teens in their area. Then those 14-16 teens were challenged to teach and train their own families and friends. I was drawn to them, and inspired by their deep passion to help their friends have healthy relationships that honor and respect God, and each other. I asked them why they do what they, and several responded because they know the affects that HIV/AIDS can have from their own experience through a family member of their own. God is working powerfully in this group of World Changers – I hope we can meet again.

When we finished meeting with the Youth Workers, it started to rain some but we had a bunch of saplings to plant so everyone got to be a part of that together. I pray that the rains that come are adequate and that the soil will remain fertile to help the trees grow strong and healthy to provide shade and begin to restore the soil around them for years to come.

We said our goodbyes to Jido when we cleaned up and took some more pictures. Tomorrow we will be visiting some homes in Bebula, and heading out to Sabana Beach for some R and R.

It was hard leaving… we’ll be back.

PS… Rog told me that the Elem. School Principal leaned over to him as he got in the van and said, “Don’t forget us.”

Wednesday Feb 10, 2010

Processing it all

After Breakfast we had Devotions together and Trent shared a little about how he got here, and shared Ps. 139 and talked about he has begun to see how God created him intricately and intentionally for a purpose. He also shared some insights he’d picked up this week from the book Dawn gave him before he left, The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson.

After we left the office we headed to the little town of Babula just south of Ziway. The first family we visited lived in a home that built on a sandy hillside and was literally collapsing in on itself because of where it was built and what it was made of.

The mother, Mulu lived there with her three children. Kalkedan 14yr. (Covenant); Besuskah 2.5yrs(In His Will); and Mahlet 9yrs old. The three children are being supported by FH in the CDP for their education and Mulu is receiving support in the Income Generation Program.

We learned that when she and the father divorced the local Govt in Babula allowed her to rent the home she lives in now, but the home is collapsing and she is required to keep the house in good condition or she will lose the privilege of renting it – for only 2.5BIRR/month. She explained that she is very afraid of what would happen if the house did collapse because she doesn’t have any other family in the area, and they would be out on the street. Mulu has propped up thorn bush branches and a tarp over the area of the back of the house that collapsed, but it is not enough, and she is concerned that the home will be taken from her. When she was sharing this story through Mark translating her words to me, I also asked her how old her little boy was that she was holding – She told me that Bususka is 2.5 years old – That is the same age as my son, Tariku.

She created a way to earn her money by bringing a portable coffee ceremony set out to the street to prepare and sell coffee for anyone that will buy it from her. That is her sole source of income.

This is another family I want to follow up with, to find out how FH is able to continue to help her. I’m confident they will stay close to her, to help her meet her own needs.

The second home we went to on Wednesday morning was a woman with three children: Chaltu 14yrs, Chala 9yrs, Bieftu 6yrs. They live right next to a water point that the British Government completed just two weeks before. The mother’s brother died 12yrs ago and left her the home and property the four of them currently live in – her only source of income is filling “jerry cans” of clean water from the water spigot for people. She earns a portion of what people pay her to get the water for them. She explained that her oldest daughter Chaltu and youngest son attend school, but Chala had a falling out with his uncle and was discouraged with school for some reason so he quit, and stays home with his mom.

It was good to get a chance to meet Chala and encourage him to go back to school. It sounded like he might, but I plan to follow up with FH to see if he actually does. As we were getting ready to leave, I was talking with Kassim, and a few neighbor kids gathered around us and one of the older ones began asking who we were, and why we came. So, since he understood some English, Kassim was able to translate into Amharic what he didn’t understand, and he asked about my tattoo – probably about the 5th or 6th time the kids asked about it… but this time a captive and curious audience literally surrounded me and kassim as we shared the story of how we are all like Peter the Apostle, and that we have to get out of the boat if we want to follow Jesus, but we are desperate for him, and it is through He alone that we can accomplish the impossible. I shared the story, and Kassim preached it to almost 40 children, teens and parents surrounding us. I think Mark snapped some pictures of that experience – That will be another one of the memories I’ll treasure most.

We left there and headed to Sabana Beach for some R and R…

Sabana was an awesome time, but it was hard being in such a lush and beautiful experience, knowing what was just minutes away from us.

We left Sabana around 5:15p and got back to eat some dinner at Jazzy’s Restaurant one last time. Kenni took some more pictures at Jazzy’s – we’ll see how many of them are keepers.

Thursday Feb. 11, 2010

Determination goes a long way

So it’s our last day with FH. In many ways I can’t believe it’s been a week already, but in so many other ways, I feel like we’ve been here an entire month from all we’ve experienced. I was asked to share during the devotion time this morning. Over the last several weeks, I’ve been studying 1 Peter and Paul’s letter to his friends in the Philippian church… and over the last few days, Phil. 1:2(and 1Peter 4has never been so real for me. Check this out:

“Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God upon all the remembrance of you, always, in every supplication of mine for you all, with joy making the supplication, for your contribution to the good news from the first day till now, having been confident of this very thing, that He who did begin in you a good work, will perform it till a day of Jesus Christ” Phil. 1:2-6

“Everything will soon come to an end. So be serious and be sensible enough to pray. Most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins. Welcome people into your home and don't grumble about it.

Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well. If you have the gift of speaking, preach God's message. If you have the gift of helping others, do it with the strength that God supplies. Everything should be done in a way that will bring honor to God because of Jesus Christ, who is glorious and powerful forever. Amen. Dear friends, don't be surprised or shocked that you are going through testing that is like walking through fire. Be glad for the chance to suffer as Christ suffered. It will prepare you for even greater happiness when he makes his glorious return.” 1Peter 4:7-13

I guess you’d have to be here to understand what I’ve experienced in seeing these two passages come alive here - in and through – the FH staff here in Ethiopia so just trust me, they’re for real.

I don’t think I could explain this experience any clearer than what Paul and Peter shared in those passages.

After devotions we headed across town, not far from the FH Office for our final two home visits of our week. We met a beautiful lady named Kabubush… she might have been between 25-30years old, and she was HIV+, but she got connected with FH soon after she learned she had the disease and they were able to help her get proper medical attention so neither of her two girls are HIV+. What an incredible blessing. I couldn’t take my eyes off the little 2year old Sitota, and her 6yr old sister Titina. We had some time to spend with Kabubush and as she shared her story she explained that she used to beg for money near a local hotel, when one day she asked herself how long she would have to beg decided to change her life, and with her own creativity and initiative she started selling coffee in the market area, and is now supporting herself and her children. She has incredible determination and tenacity for a full life. We had a special time of prayer with her, and then went to the last home and met a lady with three sons. She explained that several years earlier she and her husband lived in the rural area near his family, but her husband got sick and died… then something happened and the relationship she had with her in-laws got ugly, and she had to leave. She fled that area with her sons to addis, and some friends and new neighbors helped her build her home that they still live in, and she started making baskets to sell in the market. She has three sons: Tamisken 15yrs, Beyene 14yrs, and Dejene 12yrs. FH is helping her pay for two of her sons to go to school, which enables her to take care of her other food and shelter expenses, and to finance sending her youngest son to school on her own. All three of her sons work around the house and do the chores so she can dedicate her time to making georgeous hand made baskets. She said that one of the largest baskets she makes took her two months, and she sells it for 130-140BIRR each. She has done an incredible job raising her sons. They are polite, and hard working, and I’m sure they will impact their community for Jesus too, as they clearly recognize what He’s done in their lives.

After we left their home, we headed back to the FH office one final time for a debriefing with Melaku and several other staff we worked with all week.

Debriefing on Thursday at 11:30a –

Everyone on our team expressed how incredible the week was, and that the FH organization and results they are achieving are phenomenal. Rog and I shared how much we appreciated their hearts to completely integrate the saving messge of Jesus into helping the poor and helpless, help themselves and their community in significant ways, for life-long transformation.

Josh said that even though he didn’t have any idea what to expect, he has been so blown away by the needs that are being met. He’s so excited to go home to tell everyone he knows what they can do to help us help the people we’ve grown to know and love here in Ziway/Jido. His only concern is how to share the experience he had in the best way with everyone at home.

Roger - Well organized, loved the connection and reputation in the community, mobilizing the churches and community leaders to lead their communities for lasting growth both physically and spiritually. We all love that all the staff in Ethiopia are from this area of the country and sees that funds being used well. He also appreciated the sensitivity that Dawit had to be close to the community, and has the desire to have their offices NEAR the families.

Roger doesn’t want to leave.

He said that he also loved the fact that we aren’t just giving money to people… but FH is providing tools, training, encouragement and Jesus! That allows them to create income that builds their lives and builds the community. He sees that FH is pursuing long term and sustainable goals…and fulfilling them.

Roger: “Almost every organization has gaps, but I don’t see any with FH.”

Trent – We experienced a small amount, but it was overly obvious that FH is having a great impacvt in the community. Just a small amount of interaction, but we’ve been amazed to see how much love is pouring out of this organization… and it excites him to see how we can go home and share what we’ve experienced with FH.

Mark’s comments: “Many try to connect, but to have firsthand experience is the best way to bring that back to Hope Church. May God help you to help bridge that gap of a desire, to reality.”

Now we’re off to the Bole Airport to meet CHSFS, and meet Ashebir tomorrow!

Counting the days...

2010-01-25T22:56:00.000-05:00

8.5 days till take off.
I'm not ever going to try to plan a youth retreat and an ethiopian adoption/mission trip at the same time.

Travel date confirmed -HERE WE GO!

2010-01-14T17:19:00.002-05:00

We bought flight tix today...
(I have a good friend who flies F-15E's, I wish he could take us)

To bring you all up to speed, here's some of the things going on the background -
Over the last two days, I’ve had some additional communication with SIM Ethiopia, AHOPE, and Food for the Hungry - which has helped to put some remaining details in order for the Vision and Serving portion of our trip as well.

The team is made up of:
Roger Martin - Sr Pastor of our church (http://www.cthope.com/)
Roger has an awesome heart for people, and has led his own family so well. Roger knows himself well, and communicates truth well through his authentic living. I look forward to see what God will do in Rog through this trip, and how it will affect our Church as a whole.

Rachel Martin, Roger's college age daughter who is looking forward to investigating Africa as a possible long term personal mission as well. Rachel is so talented in so many ways... She will be a huge help with Kenni, and helping all of us see things on this trip that we may never take in without her keen eye to see God's fingerprints in even the most unlikely places. Rachel is so sincere and has a gift with young children - anywhere she is showing unconditonal love. Some have even shared that they wonder if Rachel will even come back to the US. If she does, I don't think it will be long before she returns. ... On a bit of a selfish note - I am stoked to see how she captures the "normal" (and the most unique) elements of this trip with her camera for life-long memories.
Trent Donohue - Awesome Husband to wife Dawn, and Dad to their three kids. (Trent and Dawn don't know exactly what may transpire in the lives of their family through this trip, but they're filled with anticipation!) Trent is a great thinker and detailed planner, he will be a valuable asset to this team in many ways to help us assess our opportunities in Ethipia.

Josh Shook - a 20-something with a great heart, and lots ahead of him. Josh has SO much to offer. His dilligence, commitment in his walk with Jesus and humble spirit is a perfect fit with his servant-leader gifts.  He's got a sensitive and dedicated heart to move with God's nudges. It will be interesting to see the God's next steps for Josh through this adventure.

Kendalyn Zipf - 8year old... going on 17 I think. Kenni is our first-born. Her incessant reading, academic mind, passion to serve and leadership-framework is a force to be reconed with even now. Amy and I began to discuss investing into Kenni in this way months ago- and we have become even more convinced that taking this challenging yet intentional step with her will have an invaluable impact on her life. This time with her will be a life-memory for both of us.  We also forsee the great potential in the connection she will have with Ashebir when we meet him for the first time - it could be one of the most impressional experiences of all of especially their lives and has the power to be very influential in the transisition our family will experience in the months ahead.

...and Me. I wish Amy could be with us. She has blessed my life so incredibly, and not only would I love her to be with me when we meet Ashebir for the first time, there is no other individual I'd rather share this entire endevor with.  God has used Amy to change my life, and I love her more everyday for it. So, if it's BASE jumping, attacking Waimea, or Walking for clean water... there's no one else I'd rather be with.

After we arrive and get settled in at the SIM Guesthouse, we'll have the privilege to bring medicines and supplies we've obtained from Cross Link International to bring to AHOPE for Children in Addis.
Check out CrossLink's work around the world - they do great work. (http://www.crosslinkinternational.net/).

Now, we just prepare for Take Off.

I'm sure Josh would appreciate a big welcoming party on Friday Feb. 12th when he gets back to Hartford as well.

If you want to come meet us at the Airport on Feb. 19th in Providence it would be great to see you. Besides, It would be good to have the extra help to bring home all our stuff.
We'll attempt to keep this blog updated through our time in Ethiopia, but the internet connection is sporadic at best there.

Lastly, here's our Rough Itinerary …

(2/3) DEPART HARTFORD - Wed Feb 3 @1:50p

(2/4) Arrive in Addis- Thurs evening Feb. 4 and stay at the SIM Guesthouse
(2/4) Friday – Morning - Bingham Academy visit till about noon (approx)
Afternoon – AHOPE Visit to bring donated Medical Supplies and spend time with children and AHOPE Staff.

(2/5) Saturday AM– Pack up at SIM, meet up with FH Staff for our adventure to Ziway! (We may not be able to visit CURE until we return to Addis the following week.)

We would remain with FH Staff until our Return to Addis on Thurs evening 2/11.

(2/11) Thurs evening – arrive at CHSFS Guesthouse and spend the following several days finalizing Ashebir’s Adoption (the 300.00 cash USD would be due to CHSFS then)

(2/12) Friday - Meet Ashebir in the AM!
JOSH will be arriving back in Hartford Friday morning since he is not able to stay for the second week.

(2/13-2/17) Sat-Mon - Time with Ashebir, interact and time with the other adoption families from the group, short trips around Addis – Shopping and Museum visit, etc.

(2/16) Tue – US Embassy Visit to get Asheibir’s Visa and Passport

(2/17) Wed - time with Adoption families, around Addis... and debrief with Families to transistion home.

(2/18) Thurs eve Depart Addis for HOME.

(2/19) Fri Arrive home to PROVIDENCE (via Dulles)

moving around in the starting block...

2010-01-13T03:21:00.000-05:00

We're preparing to launch...but...
Unfortunately we still do not have the CONFIRMED word yet on Ashebir’s Medical paperwork that is being processed by the US Embassy in Addis. I hope that CHSFS will have that information soon, but as diligent as they are, we are all at the mercy of the government processes at this point. This information is the LAST piece we need to finalize a travel date. As of now, we are moving ahead as if we are departing on Feb 3 and returning Feb. 19. (I will ask our agency tomorrow if they have a date by which they would decide to postpone this until March.)

Over the last two days, I’ve had some additional communication with SIM Ethiopia, AHOPE, and Food for the Hungry - which has helped to put some remaining details in order.

I will address the details below, but please take immediate action on the following items. The most time critical items are our application and participation fees to FH for the first part of our trip.

1. Print and Complete the Application Then, fax OR scan and email to Kristin Brooks by Friday Jan. 15

2. The Disclosure of Risk must be Notarized (pg 5 of the Application)

a. Kristen Brooks: kbrooks@fh.org or FAX to her at 480-889-5401

3. 175.00 - Send this participation/Ethiopian Staff fee for our Trip with Food for the Hungry by Monday Jan 18 or before.

a. 390.00 is needed to be sent by Wed Jan 20th in a separate payment to cover food water lodging and transportation ($78.00/day).

4. Print the directions to and purchase International Health Insurance.
5. Current Passport with 6 mos prior to expiration date.

6. Immunizations Current?

Additional Costs to be expected:

The first week:

$100.00 – for SIM Guesthouse Fees on Thurs/Friday Nights and Meals. This is a LIBERAL estimate. I have not received a response yet on our Rate at this SIM Guesthouse, but if you plan on $100.00 for our time there you’ll be over prepared. This will need to be in CASH and they do accept US Currency.

$50.00 – For a hippo expedition boat ride and a half day trip to a beach park with wildlife.

(I will double check to see if this is to be paid there or before we leave.)

Once we pay FH - everything is all inclusive except snacks or souvenirs.

The second week:

$300.00 (CASH USD) to CHSFS for the week – All meals and transportation are included. This is to be paid in cash upon arrival at CHSFS Guesthouse on Thurs night Feb. 11th (Josh will not need to pay this since he is departing for the US that night.)

Recommended SPENDING MONEY (just personal thoughts here) – Last time we brought $200.00 extra per person and we were fine.

As soon as Kristin gets that info and money from us, she will send the FH TShirts and Training Manuals.

Additional Info:

Attachments: Info Sheet about Ziway Jido, Ethiopia, Application, US Embassy Reg Info, International Health Insurance info.

Medical Donations for AHOPE

Earlier this week, I contacted Melinda at Crosslink International. Cross Link specializes in low-cost (and some donated) Medicines and Medical Supplies for organizations like AHOPE and other Medical Mission organizations all over the world!

Based on my latest conversations with Roger and AHOPE, we are going to use the 1300.00 we have allocated for AHOPE to purchase as much as we can of the most significant prescription medicines. Crosslink has that info, and are working on assembling the Meds now.

It has been recommended by CURE Int’l. staff that we get a REFERENCE LETTER from Crosslink and AHOPE to Travel with Medicines.

Dress Code: Regarding dress, we ask for modesty and that you wear closed toed shoes at all times while out in the community. Pants and t-shirts are fine for everyone, long capris ok for girls. For church, it is nice if the girls wear a long skirt and if the guys wear a collared shirt.

List of Amenities

Batteries, Laptop?, AC Adapters for Africa, Personal OTC Meds, Water purifier?, TO BE continued…

Rough Itinerary – Slight change from the last proposal…

(2/3) DEPART THE USA - Wed Feb 3

(2/4) Arrive in Addis- Thurs evening Feb. 4 and stay at the SIM Guesthouse (I am awaiting confirmation correspondence SIM.)

(2/4) Friday – Morning - Bingham Academy visit till about noon (approx) -- (I am awaiting confirmation correspondence from Bingham.)

Afternoon – AHOPE Visit to bring donated Medical Supplies and spend time with children and AHOPE Staff.

(2/5) Saturday AM– Pack up at SIM, meet up with FH Staff for our great adventure to Ziway! (We may not be able to visit CURE or AHOPE again until we return to Addis the following week.)

We would remain with FH Staff until our Return to Addis on Thurs evening 2/11.

(2/11) Thurs evening – arrive at CHSFS Guesthouse and spend the following several days finalizing Ashebir’s Adoption (the 300.00 cash USD would be due to CHSFS then)

(2/12) Friday - Meet Ashebir in the AM!

(2/13-2/17) Sat-Wed - Time with Ashebir, interact and time with the other adoption families from the group, short trips around Addis – Shopping and Museum visit, etc.

(2/16) Tue – US Embassy Visit to get Asheibir’s Visa and Passport

(2/ 18) Thurs eve Depart Addis for USA.

(2/19) Arrive home.

Confirmed travelers so far are:

Trent Donohue, Roger Martin, Rachel Martin, Josh Shook, Pete Zipf, Kendalyn Zipf

Lastly, we should all meet sometime soon to work out the last details and questions and pray together. Maybe at the Zipf house on Friday night January 22nd unless someone has a better idea??

getting much closer...

2010-01-05T01:10:00.001-05:00

I got word today from our agency that the likely-hood of our travel time will be planned as we thought around the Feb. 16th Embassy appt date.

But since that is the second leg of our journey, we would be arriving in Ethiopia several days before that. (From my conversation today with CHSFS, there is a SLIGHT possibility that it could be delayed until the first week of March, but it is not likely at this point.) We are ONLY waiting on Ashebir’s medical exam paperwork. Once that comes through hopefully in the next couple weeks or so, we’ll have the confirmed travel dates.

As for now, we’ll plan on the Feb time frame and adjust accordingly. Assuming it is, we have to be at the CHSFS Guesthouse in Addis on Thurs evening Feb 11th(local time), to finalize Ashebir’s adoption from then till Feb. 18th. I will find out the exact time we have to be there.

I’ve put together a tentative itinerary below – EVEN THOUGH WE ARE NOT BUYING TIX, until I hear from CHSFS about Ashebir’s Medical exam. (*Hear that everybody? ;) ) But, again assuming this plan… We would depart the US Wed Feb 3… then the following is the tentative schedule could look like this:

(2/3) DEPART THE USA - Wed Feb 3

(2/4) Arrive in Addis- Thurs evening Feb. 4 and stay at the SIM Guesthouse (I am awaiting confirmation correspondence SIM.)

(2/4) Friday – Morning - Bingham Academy visit till about noon (approx) -- (I am awaiting confirmation correspondence from Bingham.)

Afternoon – AHOPE Visit to bring donated Medical Supplies and spend time with children and AHOPE Staff.

(2/5) Saturday – Pack up at SIM, possibly another AHOPE visit or more likely, visit the CURE International Hospital for a tour of their ministry site (very close-I think- to where the new US Embassy is currently located.) (I am awaiting confirmation correspondence from CURE.)

(2/5) Saturday afternoon/evening – Meet up with FH Staff for our great adventure to Ziway or Belo??

We would remain with FH Staff until our Return to Addis at the latest on Thurs evening 2/11.

(2/11) Thurs evening – arrive at CHSFS Guesthouse and spend the following several days finalizing Ashebir’s Adoption

(2/12) Friday - Meet Ashebir in the AM

(2/13-2/17) Sat-Wed - Time with Ashebir, interact and time with the other adoption families from the group, short trips around Addis – Shopping and Museum visit, etc.

(2/16) Tue – US Embassy Visit to get Asheibir’s Visa and Passport

(2/18 or 19) Thurs eve/Friday Morning (Depending on the Airline)– Depart Addis for USA.

(2/19 or 2/20) Arrive home.

Confirmed travelers so far are:

Trent Donohue –
Roger Martin –

Rachel Martin –

Josh Shook –

Pete Zipf –
Kendalyn Zipf (Kenni) –

Ok, I need to get some rest… been a long day. I expect another full day tomorrow,

Birth Certificate complete! But, still waiting for a travel date

2009-12-19T09:35:00.000-05:00

We got Ashebir's birth certificate earlier this week, but due to the continued backlog at the Embassy we won't have the Passport and Visa for Ashebir until the final Medical Exam is done that the US Gov't Requires. At this point it still looks like a February travel time...

The following is the response from our agency regarding the travel date details as of now -

----------------------------------------------------
Hi Pete,

There are a few more steps that have to be completed in Ethiopia before we could give you a tentative travel date. The Embassy medical exam is the final step. As soon as we have an update about Ashebir’s medical exam, I’ll let you know. Then we’ll be much closer to planning for specific dates.

The Embassy appointments are currently only twice a month and we have many families already scheduled for the January appointments. We work closely with the Embassy to try to get additional appointments when needed, but we can only appeal for those appointments once a child has passed through the medical exam process.
-------------------------------

We'll keep you posted!
Pete

I talked with our case

2009-12-15T14:09:00.001-05:00

I talked with our case worker yesterday and she said some delays @ Ethiopian Govt office- could delay Birth Cert.& travel date

Ashebir's big sisters are excited!

2009-12-01T21:00:00.003-05:00

Ashebir's excited big sisters are having a hard time getting to bed tonight!

"small" miracles... and next steps

2009-12-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

First, I'll put out the next steps to bring Ashebir home...and I'll share a bit about the "small miracles of today's approval -

NOTE: For those that plan to join me in this Ethiopian Adventure, we will not have a confirmed travel date for possibly 6-8 weeks - but it looks like a POSSIBLE February or March travel time.
Feel free to contact me with any additional questions

As you are aware, Ashebir's paperwork as of today, has been processed through court.

This week, the court will draft a letter to the Ethiopian Minisistry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) -Since all Ethiopian Adoptions are managed by them after the legal proceedings are complete. That letter communicates the court's approval to proceed with the Ashebir's adoption.

When MOWA recieves that letter from the Court, (in about a week or so) MOWA will review the information to verify it, and send a letter to CHSFS (our agency) to proceed with the adoption to OUR specific family.

That letter (could take another 1-2 weeks) will provide CHSFS the authorization needed to apply for Ashebir's "Zipf Birth Certificate", and begin the process for the US Embassy to approve the Birth Cert to create Ashebir's passport and visa. Before the Birth Cert is issued however, a final medical exam is required by the US Embassy. This is to ensure adopted children are healthy before they enter the US.

Therefore, we will not get a travel date until after the Birth Cert is confirmed. NOTE: Occiasionally the Medical Exam takes a little longer, and until the final Medical Exam is confirmed by the Embassy, we will not be able to enter the US. It's not likely, but it's possible that last minit travel plans would need to be adjusted if the medical exam results aren't complete in time.

At this point, we are still estimating a Feb or March travel time. We are looking forward to how this Expedition could change many lives!

For those of you not already aware, we are beginning to put together the remaining details to coordinate this adoption adventure with a "Vision Trip" - to meet up with a few mission and development organizations to investigate where we can invest long term to do our part to help end the causes and effects of poverty in Ethiopia.

We'll be in Ethiopia for two weeks total. The second week our time will primarily be finishing the remaining details to bring Ashebir home, but the first week our team will be spending with 3 organizations that share the heart we do for Ethiopia, and are making an increidible difference in hundreds of families there. For part of a day, we'll visit the children at the care center and offices of AHOPE for Children in down town Addis. We'll be bringing medical supplies with us that our church is collecting from now until the end of December. Another partial day will be spend visiting the CURE International Hospital and learning about their work as well.

The majority of our first week will be traveling and spending time with Food For the Hungry to an area where our church may begin investing in, to work in cooperation with a local church there. While there, we will learn about potential projects we may partner with FH and the church to assist in areas of need including, but not limited to: Leadership development, "brick and mortar" projects, micro-business, teaching Bible to children, agricultural development, health and wellness teaching, and other projects depending on the needs of that given community.

To sum up, we're still about 6 weeks from a Birth certificate and travel date, but stay tuned...

Finally, for those of you that pray, here are a few things to consider in your time alone with God in the days and weeks ahead...

1. We've recently learned that some of the delay these last few weeks was partly attributed to locating Ashebir's Uncle, then confirming his ID, and getting an official statement from him. So, he was in court today and his testimony and documents were a major part of the court's approval. The details that came together for this part of the process was miraculous.

2. We are so incredibly thankful for all the staff at CHSFS and their tireless efforts to protect and provide for some of the most helpless children of the world - they have done and are doing a great job, especially considering that so much is beyond their control when they are depending on other governments processes.

3. There are several families waiting - just like us -due to the backlog at the US Embassy created by the necessary Gov't organizations involved and paperwork they are processing

4. This week (12/1-12/8) Staff from the US Office of CHSFS are traveling to Ethiopia to meet with the Embassy officials to ask alloting more appointments to process additional children per month - this will open up the "backlog" for us, and many other waiting children heading to loving families! We expect these meetings to take place Wed, Thur or Friday.

5. We're putting together the plans now to coordinate this trip - there are still many variables - but we are excited about who has already committed to going, and look forward to the rest of "the team" that God is assembling.

The adventure continues.

still relentless...
Pete

officially a Zipf

2009-12-01T11:19:00.001-05:00

Ashebir's paperwork was officially approved earlier today (Dec. 1) in Addis Ababa Court. Ashebir's Uncle was recently located and was asked to appear to confirm the details of the Adoption. I will post more information as I am able, but today's Court hearing was a "small" miracle. Stay tuned for more pictures and details...

2009-12-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

meet Ashebir Zipf! his court hearing went through just hours ago - more details soon!
-PeteZ

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2009-11-30T10:02:00.001-05:00

Just testing a new feature i found out about - TK & i having breakfast & reading The Word together this morning. Hope he doesn't spill his cereal again :-)

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Giving Thanks

2009-11-30T00:57:00.001-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family – We trust you did too.

Ashebir’s court date is scheduled for Tuesday…

Steps in the process...

2009-11-22T15:41:00.000-05:00

After the court date, these are the next steps...

1. When the decision is granted, the written court order is drafted and is usually issued within a week

2. Once the court order is issued, a letter of support is requested and received from the MOWA office

3. Once the MOWA letter is received, the birth certificate is issued-this usually takes about two weeks

4. When the birth certificate is issued, CHSFS will receive a scanned copy of it and will verify that the information is correct.

5. CHSFS will advise Ethiopia staff that the birth certificate information is correct and they will proceed to obtain the child’s Ethiopian passport, Embassy medical exam and will prepare the final paperwork to submit to the Embassy.

6. Once CHSFS receives verification that the child has completed the visa medical exam and that the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa has all of the documentation that they need for your case, we will advise your family of a travel date – you will receive approximately 4-6 weeks advance notice before you must arrive in country.

preparation...for something big.

2009-11-22T15:07:00.000-05:00

To bring you up-to-speed – you may know by now that the Court Hearing for Ashebir’s adoption did not take place as expected on Friday Nov. 20. So, the Ethiopian Court has rescheduled the hearing again. This time to Dec. 1^st.

Ashebir’s aunt still was not able to show up for the hearing, and at this time we don’t know why. Amy and I had a good talk with our Adoption coordinator on Friday after we learned of the rescheduled date. Our agency has been great in this process, and trying their best to get more information from the Ethiopian Government – but they are also at the mercy of their process and decisions.

The questions below are what we’ve asked our Adoption Coordinator to answer for us, hopefully within the next few days.

1. How long would CSHFS allow the postponements before concluding the timeline is indefinite and adoption is not likely to be completed?

2. Is there anything that can be done, especially for Ashebir?

3. What is the longest we’ve seen a case like this go on? What is the longest a family has waited from referral to placement?

4. What type of previous court process occurred to make Ashebir eligible for adoption and why are these things holding up the process now?

We will let you know as soon as we know more. Until then, we would appreciate your prayer especially for Ashebir’s aunt because we don’t know her condition, and why she was not able to attend the hearing on Friday. We would also appreciate your prayer for us through this process as well – patience, grace, understanding, and TRUST that God has Ashebir and this situation completely in His care. We would also appreciate your prayer specifically for Ashebir as he’s been waiting now since early July. He has received some gifts from us including a small picture album and some small toys – so he’s beginning to “know” us. I don’t know exactly what’s going through his young mind and heart, but we are trusting that God is preparing him to be an integral part of our family. Who knows, maybe this is some extra time God is using to assemble the team He wants to bring to Ethiopia to be a part of something big.

If you have any other questions, we’ll be happy to answer them as best we can, but we’ll provide additional updates as we get them!

Relentless,

Pete

1Thes. 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

join the rescue mission

2009-11-05T12:09:00.000-05:00

Thursdays are my day off. I get to hang out with Tariku, do some housework, read, and try to relax a bit.

I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning listening to Crazy Love by Francis Chan writing some email on my laptop while Tariku was playing in the dish water. After a few minutes TK came over to sit on my lap and wanted to watch me... but that always means pressing buttons - so I successfully redirected his attention to a small fold-able book lamp. So as he sat with me, all of his concentration was on that little movable light and I continued typing. After a few minutes, he laid his head on my arm still sorta playing with the light... and then fell asleep. I let him sleep there for a while. I didn't want to bring him to his bed - too cool of a moment.
... but I did eventually get up and lay him in his crib.

It got me wondering about Ashebir though. Currently Ethiopia is 8hours ahead of us here in the EST zone. So he's hopefully sleeping soundly now too, but I wonder what goes on in his little mind these days. I wonder how aware he is of his situation. The detailed social report we got a couple days ago reveals a lot about how he's developing and interacting with the wonderful care providers, and his young friends. The report says that he's a strong willed and very healthy kid - but I wonder how he'll adjust to our family and life here. I wonder how he'll connect with his new sisters and with TK.

I'm just thinking about my son on the other side of the world - wondering how much he knows he's loved. I would do anything for him. Just like I would do anything for my three kids that are here now. That leads me to this thought... regardless of how much HE knows he's loved, and how much HE knows he needs to be embedded into a loving family... it doesn't change the truth - He is loved, and he needs to be an intimate part of a loving family.

Regardless if he KNOWS he's "desperate" at some level- it doesn't change the fact that he is- and that I would give my own life to overcome any obstacle on his behalf.... (Don't misunderstand me here, Ashebir is in excellent care... but he wasn't created to live in an orphanage. He needs a rescue, and I wonder if he grasps that.)

I'm a sucker for rescue stories... I'm always at the edge of my seat watching a rescue - whether it's a movie or on the news.
I think it's because there's always sacrifice of something big in a rescue mission...

One of my favorite stories of a rescue mission is in Donald Miller's book Blue Like Jazz... I think it's on pg. 33-34... Miller writes:

A long time ago I went to a concert with my friend Rebecca. Rebecca can sing better than anybody I’ve ever heard sing. I heard this folksinger was coming to town, and I thought she might like to see him because she was a singer too. The tickets were twenty bucks, which is a lot to pay if you’re not on a date. Between songs, though, he told a story that helped me resolve some things about God. The story was about his friend who is a Navy SEAL. He told it like it was true, so I guess it was true, although it could have been a lie.
The folksinger said his friend was performing a covert operation, freeing hostages from a building in some dark part of the world. His friend’s team flew in by helicopter, made their way to the compound and stormed into the room where the hostages had been imprisoned for months. The room, the folksinger said, was filthy and dark. The hostages were curled up in a corner, terrified. When the SEALs entered the room they heard the gasps of the hostages. They stood at the door and called to the prisoners, telling them they were Americans. The SEALs asked the hostages to follow them, but the hostages wouldn’t. They sat there on the floor and hid their eyes in fear. They were not of healthy mind and didn’t believe their rescuers were really Americans.
The SEALs stood there, not knowing what to do. They couldn’t possibly carry everybody out. One of the SEALs, the folksinger’s friend, got an idea. He put down his weapon, took off his helmet, and curled up tightly next to the other hostages, getting so close his body was touching some of theirs. He softened the look on his face and put his arms around them. He was trying to show them he was one of them. None of the prison guards would have done this. He stayed there for a little while until some of the hostages started to look at him, finally meeting his eyes. The Navy SEAL whispered that they were Americans and were there to rescue them. Will you follow us? he said. The hero stood to his feet and one of the hostages did the same, then another, until all of them were willing to go. The story ends with all the hostages safe on an American aircraft carrier.
-----------------------------------------

We all need to be rescued... regardless if we think we do or not.

I'll leave you with this... When we're rescued, what should our response be?
To leave with a handshake into a "life as ordinary/average?"...or something else?
... c'mon, are YOU compelled by ordinary and average?

Were you rescued? Do you live like it?

For those of us that have been rescued, we must position our life in such a way to do whatever it takes - to help rescue others.

...is a child with a strong personality

2009-11-02T18:25:00.000-05:00

Go figure...would you have guessed that Ashebir would have any other type of personality.

That info, came in a detailed report of Ashebir. He's doing awesome. I can't share a lot of detail here now, but I will share more when he's through court. As of now, his court date has been moved back to Nov. 20th. We don't know the status of the lady who is connected to him - she is the one that needs to attend court on his behalf - but please continue to keep her in prayer. We don't know what her health condition is right now, but she had - or still has malaria. We are disappointed that it is delayed more now, but we know that his loving and nurtureing care providers are lovingly caring for him, and ultimately, we know Who's hands he's in.

I fly home tomorrow morning from Brussels... I'll arrive back home around 9p EST. more soon.

Nov 2

2009-10-29T12:24:00.000-04:00

Ashebir's court date has been rescheduled for Nov. 2nd. We won't likely know anything further until then. We're praying for Ashebir's aunt... we don't know her condition now, but hope she returns to full health for her own family too.

As far as the Ethiopian partnerships are concerned, I heard back from Compassion the other day. They were very encouraging and look forward to investigating further opportunities in the future, but they are working with the first 30 Churches so far. This information helps tremendously as it further refines our vision. I will be placing more time and emphasis in initial work with Food For the Hungry, Ethiopia. They've got a great history, and an awesome strategy.

What we do in life, echoes in eternity

2009-10-22T23:25:00.000-04:00

To bring you up to speed…

On Monday morning this week we got a call from our Agency that a court date had been scheduled for Ashebir in Ethiopia on Wednesday this week (that would be attended by our CHSFS Rep and another woman with a connection to Ashebir)

We didn’t broadcast this because we knew it might get changed at the last minute…It did.

We got word on Tuesday that the woman connected to Ashebir was ill (malaria actually) and would not be able to attend. So his court date was scheduled for Nov. 2^nd.

We are in close communication with our Agency, but we don’t expect to hear anything until much closer to the court date.

For those of you still seriously considering joining me on this adventure, get your things in order. Do not delay. We’ve got “a hill” to conquer.

Get your passport secured (must have at least 6 months before expiration date, when you arrive in Ethiopia), your immunizations taken care of and get ready to launch. I am beginning to secure accommodations – so your plans need to take some shape.

I have set up tentative plans to meet with Food for The Hungry and CURE International. I am still waiting to finalize details to connect with the C2C Program that is a partnership program with Compassion International and Willow Creek Association. These meetings and travel plans will incur some additional costs (ie. Travling with a Food for the Hungry Rep into the Ethiopian “outback” to visit on-site ministry opportunities) I will have details of those costs in the next week or so.

I will be in contact as I have more information.

Until that time, get ready. Pray, Plan, Prepare, and Pray some more.

What we do in life, echoes in eternity,

-Maximus

Below, is a list of consecutive steps that need to be completed before we are able to travel. Based on the information we have, we still estimate a Dec/Jan travel time – but now MORE LIKELY it will be in January.

We receive a family’s child acceptance. – Done Mon. 8/10/09

We notify our staff in Ethiopia to proceed forward. – week of 8/10/09

The staff in Ethiopia prepares a family’s documents for submission to the registrar. – Aug/Sep 09

The family’s documents are submitted to the Registrar – Aug/Sep 09

The Registrar logs the documents in and awaits assignments of court dates by judges – Aug/Sep 09

A date for a hearing is given (we are here- now scheduled for Nov. 2, 2009) – Oct. 21, 09

At the hearing, the judge reviews the case and either advises his/her decision or requests additional information

Decision is made or new court date is scheduled

When the decision is granted, the written court order is drafted and is usually issued within a week

Once the court order is issued, a letter of support is requested and received from the MOWA office

Once the MOWA letter is received, the birth certificate is issued-this usually takes about two weeks

When the birth certificate is issued, CHSFS will receive a scanned copy of it and will verify that the information is correct.

CHSFS will advise Ethiopia staff that the birth certificate information is correct and they will proceed to obtain the child’s Ethiopian passport, Embassy medical exam and will prepare the final paperwork to submit to the Embassy.

Once CHSFS receives verification that the child has completed the visa medical exam and that the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa has all of the documentation that they need for your case, we will advise your family of a travel date – you will receive approximately 4-6 weeks advance notice before you must arrive in country.

court date... almost.

2009-10-20T22:16:00.000-04:00

I got a call yesterday from our Agency Rep and she said that Ashebir's court date was scheduled for Wednesday - this week!

Yeah... that's what I thought. You've gotta be kidding!

I know that these dates often shift - even with a "sure thing" like this - so as our agent and I talked some more, she agreed that it was possible for the date to shift, but at that point to plan on Ashebir's process to be expedited.

Now.... today Tuesday 10/20
We received communication today, that the lady who brought Ashebir to the care center is ill.
She is the one who would be required to be in court to finalize the separation papers and because she is ill, she cannot attend this week.
Please pray with us for her health - and for the details to be worked out.

At this point, we still anticipate a December or January travel time.

Ashebir Update

2009-09-24T17:08:00.000-04:00

We just got a new pic of Ashebir today! He's doing awesome! We'll post them as soon as he gets through court...
He's progressing really well - he's now about 25lbs and 31" - Funny, that's the identical dimentions of TK right now. It'll be cool to see how he develops when he comes home. TK grew like crazy when he came home.

more to come...

belgium will help us get to Addis

2009-09-21T06:23:00.000-04:00

I'm in Belgium this week doing some P/T work with a friend from church. It is a blessing to do this contract work that will help us financially toward bringing home Ashebir.
We should hear something from Ethiopia by the Middle of October about a Court Date.

Together,
Pete

two calls away...

2009-09-18T17:52:00.000-04:00

We're two calls away from a travel date now gang.
The courts are closed till Oct 1.

The next call we'll get will be for a Court Date that will put through Ashebir's paperwork.
Often, because it's the government... those dates change sometimes.

My guess is that the Ethiopian Courts will be backlogged when they reopen the first of October so I think we should get some kind of info by the second week of October. No one from our agency has made any commitments either way - they don't make guesses which is good I guess - so we might get a call earlier, or later depending on "the system."

The second call we'll get will be "Ok, he's through court, come get him." or something like that.

We THINK we'll be traveling Dec or Jan, but it could be before or after that.

So... we wait...

I must admit, I'm more anxious to go get Ashebir to get him home than I was with TK. The last trip, we were all going together, and I guess I didn't know exactly what to expect so I wasn't as anxious... This time, man... I'm ready to go get our little boy today!

Not because he's NOT being loved and extremely well cared for. He is. The nannies and nurses at the care center are TREMENDOUS! We couldn't be more thankful for their care, but I know now what an incredible joy it will be to bring our little boy home.

I'm also psyched because of what this trip could mean long term...
Not just for our family - that's a given - but for other families too.
This time, Amy and the girls aren't going with me.

I've specifically asked a few other close friends to join me on this trip.
The goal is to go for about two weeks total. The second week will be dedicated to the final paperwork, embassy visit to bring home Ashebir. However, the first week will be dedicated to traveling around Addis, and other parts of Ethiopia investigating opportunities where we could invest long term. I don't know exactly what that will look like yet, but I'm in the process now of looking into different non-profits and NGO's to visit and to meet with to see how we as Hope Church, or just individual families could begin to invest in for years to come.

If there is any reader here that has a connection to an organization in Ethiopia that we could talk about. Post your info here, or email me.

Anticipating "The Call" ;)

pete

Summer ends big.

2009-09-01T10:40:00.000-04:00

If you didn't know already we moved. ... yes Again.
The first week of September we returned from Vacation, the girls started school and we finished moving our stuff from our 2nd Fl apt to our new place, we've settled in since then and we love it.

A few months ago, Amy learned about a home near us in Middletown that would become available to rent either Aug or Sept. When Amy told me about it initially, I was very skeptical...why? Because it was across the street. How rediculous would it be to move ACROSS THE STREET?!

But then she gave me the details..
Roughly the same amount of space, but FIRST floor (we're now on the second fl), Closet space and storage space (our previous apt had almost none). Also has a yard for the kids and a deck (neither of which we have now) to top it off it's less rent per month as well. So it was a no-brainer.

So, we confirmed the apartment with the new landlords, and gave notice to our current landlords and finalized the Sept 1st transition.
Only one problem...

We had booked our family vacation to Camp Spofford, NH 6 months ago - for the 3rd Week in August. Just in case that flew by you, it takes a while to pack up all your stuff and move. Trust me... this is the 7th move since we've been married (and I think it was 11 moves our family had in the first 18 years of my life and honestly that's why I wasn't really excited about moving again - that is before I knew of the new amenities.)

It worked out pretty well though because the new landlords allowed us to begin moving in our stuff the second week in August.

We arrived home from Family Vacation on Saturday 8/28 and attended a back to school bash for the girls elementary school. (which, by the way was an awesome event put on by a couple churches in our area. CatalystChurch.tv partnered with another local church and they did a fantastic job!)

That said, we had a busy afternoon and evening.

Oh... did I mention that Amy just started Nursing School? Yeah... she did.
Since we scheduled our vacation 8mos ago, we didn't know then that as a result of her registering for classes we learned that she would have her first week of classes... DURING our vacation.
Good thing we spent our vacation only a couple hours from home, so Amy was gone only about a day and a half of our vacation week as she began her pre-req courses the last week of August : Statistics, Chemistry and Lab, and Anatomy and Physiology and Lab.

She's doing ok.. she's taken a few quizzes so far and is pretty happy with them.
The program is actually an accellerated one that will give her a BSN degree from CT Southern Univ. If all goes as planned, she'll be accepted into that program and be able to finish the complete program in two years.

Therefore, I've taken a hiatus from my Master's program at Bethel Seminary so she can complete her nursing degree. We'll see what happens after that.

more on the adventure soon...

whatever it takes to get fingerprinted!

2009-08-20T23:02:00.000-04:00

So, the only hurdle left to jump for our i600 paperwork (US Immigration) was our fingerprints. Yep. We had to get our fingerprints done again. Correct me if I'm wrong folks but I believe the reason why we get our kids finger printed when they're young, is if in case God forbid something ever happens to them and the police need to ID them... they use their fingerprints. No matter what age they are. So, help me understand why they can't just load up our fingerprints that are already on every thinkable database in the US Gov't right now from all the background security checks we had to do when we were in the middle of bringing TK home. Not to mention all the paperwork I had to do for military clearances when I was in the Army National Guard. Good grief. Anyhow, we're at their mercy... so we do as they ask.

The appointments that we were sent were scheduled originally during our family vacation. So when Amy attempted to reschedule there's only one little checkbox at the bottom of the schedule form to confirm your appointment, or to request another date and time. So we did that. When we got the second letter back for a fingerprint appointment ... the US Gov't efficiency shows up again! They scheduled it for the following day! ARGHH!!! So, I decided to just drive up to Hartford to see if they'd let me in to plead my case.

So last Tuesday I arrived as soon as they opened the door, talked to the officer in charge and they gave us an appointment at 11am that day.

I went back to get Amy - our wonderful neighbors watched Cutie and TK for us - and we got our fingerprints done. woot! Seems like all we're waiting for now is a court date.

you'll know when we do...
Later.

another adventure!

2009-08-17T22:32:00.000-04:00

Recent timeline...
Monday July 27 0630 - Amy and I learned that there were some children that had just recently arrived at the CHSFS care center in Ethiopia, so Amy contacted our agency to learn more information about the children - specifically about the little boys that had recently arrived there.
Same Day... 0930 - Our agency responded and let us know that there may be a family that the little boys were connected with already...but would confirm later.
Through that week: Amy and I chatted about the possibility of the adoption happening sooner than expected, but I was quite skeptical because I thought the boys that were there were probably matched already, and that we shouldn't expect a referral until at least winter this year...besides I was pretty consumed with getting things taken care of for our trip to SoulFest 09 (thesoulfest.com) since we were leaving that next morning.
..............
We returned from SoulFest on Sunday evening 8/2 about 1800
That night (Sun 8/2 @ 2100)- Amy inquired (via email)about the little boys we'd asked about earlier that week. We knew that these little boys had some medical issues, but as we talked a lot about it, and prayed through it, we felt like God would lead us where He wanted us to go. So we waited to hear back...

Monday 8/3 1830 - We received word from our agency that some families are still considering the little boys in question...(honestly I was kinda breathing a little bit of a sigh of relief, because I had NO idea how we would come up with the 9000.00 to accept the referral if we got one this early)... but what do I know. ;) Our agency said they would contact us when there was more info....

Details are a little fuzzy the next couple days... (you'll understand why in a minute)... I think it was Wed (8/5) in the afternoon sometime that Amy called and said that we have the opportunity to review two little boys that would fit our family. Both have some medical issues, but nothing we thought was worth denying based on what we knew...so we were given verbal information about two little boys and asked if we would like to review their information and if so... which one would we like to learn about first.

... what a gut wrenching dilemma... so many things running through my heart and mind. Could we take proper care of them with what we have to offer? information is hard to process like that without all the details first... Hard to make a decision like that without knowing and seeing more... I was trying to process what was written on paper, and if it was as potentially difficult as it sounded or not? Could we say "no" to the referral after we saw the story of the little boy we would choose - and then review the next one? Sure, but what were we willing to say "yes" to? What were we going to say "no" to? ... We did a lot of talking and praying then... There were a ton of unknowns to process - but "the river doesn't part until you put you foot in the water first"...

We talked and prayed about that off and on the better part of that day and the following day (Thurs Aug 6) When I arrived home Thursday night we talked more and by 2300 or so decided to- as best as we were able - to “remove from the decision” the stuff we couldn’t control, and make our decision based on both boys being completely healthy. So, we contacted agency to request to review the file of the three year old little boy.
Friday morning 8/7 0900 – We received the pdf file and Amy said she wouldn’t be able to go the whole day without reading it, and I didn’t know if I would be able to review it in detail because of a conference I’d was attending that day…so she wanted me to open the file first. I read his story, saw his picture and began to weep
That morning we were able to schedule an appointment with our Doctor to review his blood work that was included in his referral information. Off and on that day Amy and I discussed the concerns we had about some of the medical issues, but we felt confident based on the Doctor’s review that we could make a wise decision.
Saturday 1000 – We met with our Doctor and gave us some difficult news…. There was nothing in the medical details that would give him any reason to deny confirming his referral, but there was always the unknown stuff that could possibly have long term ramifications.. but no one would be able to tell that for sure. At that point, we were still in a bit of a quandary but felt even stronger that this was our little boy… but we … at least I … didn’t feel quite prepared to handle this now.
Funny thing about how God works… often times I am impatient that God didn’t move quick enough, or when I wanted Him to… this time, I’m wrestling because apparently he’s answering faster than expected. I guess I still have to remember who’s really in control.
So, we talked about him all day Saturday and honestly by Saturday night all we could do was kinda veg out on the “food channel” …
We had a little more peace about it on Sunday morning and were getting more excited about the possibilities and we shared our story/dilemma with a few friends.
I was having a hard time trying to figure out how we’d swing this financially, especially now that our home is empty again and the mortgage company still needs a monthly check… hmmm…
We decided to accept his referral verbally and start working hard to arrange some way to creatively come up with the funds to start the next formal stage of the process… so we looked around the house for stuff to sell… there wasn’t much of anything we aren’t willing to sell these days….
- Sidebar: if your child was sick, or needed something and all you had was your stuff… what would you be willing to sell to get your kid healthy? Yep… we thought of everything.
We’ve got some stuff up on ebay right now too ;)
So… in the last week, some substantial miracles have taken place and God has provided what we need so far.
We received the formal acceptance information and mailed it with our check and a few other checks from friends, family and some children of kids who wanted to help and heard about the need… to rescue our little boy.
From the deepest part of us… we do not have adequate words to describe our appreciation for all of you that stepped up in HUGE ways to help us in this process… we’ve still got some details to work out.. (US Immigration paperwork, and the courts are not in session in Sept in Ethiopia so the soonest that the paperwork could go through the Ethiopian courts would be Mid to late October… then when to travel.. and expenses surrounding that etc…
So we’d appreciate your prayer for the remaining details…
PS… When I read his record for the first time I learned his name means… “to stir up”. When I read that I thought - this is no accident.

….I’ll try to keep this current
To be continued!

Zipf Kids bringin in the Summer09

2009-07-09T18:22:00.000-04:00

what a ride!

2009-07-09T12:53:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I got one of the greatest compliments I've ever heard, one of the teens we work with told Amy, "I think Tariku's starting to look like Pete!"

I'm not sure how that works, but Tariku’s definitely one of us...we cannot think of life with out him. Our family has become so much more with him – He’s added another dimension to our lives. I can’t fully explain it, but it seems we understand God’s compassion, grace and desire for our lives a little more clearly now because of Tariku and his story. His life has affected ours in more ways that we ever knew possible.

It’s kind of ironic too… his name actually means “his story” … Because of that we felt like it was too important not to keep his given name. His story has affected us forever. We’ve tried to come up with an appropriate nickname, but nothing’s confirmed yet. I've started calling him TK once in a while, but we'll see if that sticks or not. Amy's not convinced yet. ;)

It’s been about 15 months since we returned from Ethiopia and about eight or nine months ago Amy and I began to talk about adopting another little boy. It’s never made a ton of sense “on paper”, but after a lot of thinking, praying and investigating, we began the process to bring home a little boy between 3-5 years old. To make a long story short… it's been a crazy process for us this time –last time was crazy too, just different. Seems par for the course though… So, as of about a month ago, we finished our paperwork and we're now officially waiting for a referral for our new little boy. We don't know his name yet, but God does. We would appreciate praying with us for him. We'll keep you posted on this new adventure.

Amongst the new adoption process…
It's been a wild year in general. Last September we moved to Middletown about 20 minutes from where we were living and we love it here. We’ve got great people living near us in our diverse and loving neighborhood. Our girls both love their new schools and their teachers and they have fit perfectly in their classes.

Shortly after we moved, I began taking two seminary classes and in June I finished my third term at Bethel Seminary of the East. It has been such an enriching time for me, but over the last year Amy and I have talked about her going to school to pursue her nursing degree. This has been something we've been kicking around for probably more than 3 years. So, we’ve concluded over the last couple weeks that it would be a better use of time and resources at this point in our lives, that she pursues this degree now. Afterall, she’ll be able to complete it in two years. We're both excited about the kind of opportunities this could open up for us in the months and years to come.

It's been a cool thing too- living in a more urban area now- we’ve been able to connect with our community in some different ways as well. This summer, we're able to serve at one of the homeless shelters with some others from church, and help out the summer program for the kids in our community held at Kenni's school. .

Church life...
It's been about 6 months since we began our worship services for Hope Church in one of the local High Schools, and God has done some tremendous work in the lives of many among us. The stories that God is shaping in the lives of students is even more thrilling for our Alien Youth Ministry Team. We just returned from our summer mission trip, The Hartford Project. You can learn a little more about it here- http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/TheHartfordProject?v=info&viewas=526845182

The local TV news came out to cover an event that was part of the week's serving time: www.wfsb.com/video/19920314/index.html

The Love Wins event described on that news segment was only one piece of our week together. Over 190 teens and youth workers worshiped, prayed, and worked hard with over 20 different non profit organizations all over Hartford that week. Powerful stuff…can't wait till next year!

As for this summer, we're looking forward to see how God will use our time in connecting with students, serving together and making deeper footprints. We've got some aggressive goals, but we are even more convinced of intentional living… act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. We know that there are a ton of things attached to that 'call'- but we've got some amped people around us who are preparing for greatness.

Looking forward to how God will continue to refine and focus us, as we hang on for the ride!

Tariku's First Birthday is tomorrow...WOW!

2008-11-17T20:38:00.000-05:00

We can't believe it!.... Tariku's 1st Bday is TOMORROW!

Thought I'd post this article link. (below) Several days ago we got a call from a local reporter who wanted to publish our story about Tariku's adoption and the Birthday Party/Fundraiser we're doing on 11/22 for AHOPE AIDS Orphanage . AHOPE has a home office here in the US, but their Ethiopian Care Center works closely with the CHSFS Care center where Tariku was.

Our fundraiser event is on Nov. 22 from 10-12 EST. We're expecting many friends, and many others from our community that wish to learn more about adoption and investing in AHOPE to help HIV+ Kids. We will have community leaders, adoptive families, those interested in adoption, and financial supporters to help others adopt too. We'd appreciate prayer for that event, and we'll let you know how it goes.

If you aren't aware already, we've just submitted our application (about another 12mo process) to bring home a second son from Ethiopia. He will be 3-5yrs old... so between Sasha and "TK" ;)... We don't know who he is yet, but the Lord is caring and preparing him now.

Love to all, Pete... for the rest.

http://easthampton.htnp.com/around_east_hampton/1661.html

Tariku and The Girls playing around

2008-07-10T17:09:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T12:22:00.000-04:00

Hey Folks...

Just thought I'd jot a quick post for those of you keeping up with this crazy journey. ;) I will try to post some pics from this past weekend soon, so stay posted.... We had some great family time this weekend!

Amy's sister Michele graduated from Rutger's Law School on Thursday, so we left Wed night for NJ to spend time with Amy's family (We'll have to dedicate an entire post to Michele's incredible success at Rutgers...and her upcoming position with the NJ State Supreme Court Chief Justice! We're all SO proud of her - Way to go Shell!)

On Friday morning we left for the Hershey area to hang out with my family for a short time too. It was my mom's 60th Birthday... (I'm not so sure she wanted that made public... but oh well) Mom doesn't look a day over 40. She looks great! ;)

Since it was such a special birthday, we decided to drive out and surprise her. We stopped in to see Dad at his office in Lancaster before heading over to St Joan of Arc School where Mom's been a music teacher for several years now. She was pretty excited to see Kenni and Sasha when they ran up to her in the lunchroom on Friday. We were also able to see Ben and Kami Deppen in the Lancaster area later that afternoon, and then had a nice birthday meal with Mom, Dad, Nate and the five of us. We had a great time... and Tariku is loving Grammie and Papa more all the time!

We planned to head back home on Saturday, but we had a great time a great food with the Ensminger/Epler crew in Annville! That was a great time relaxing and catching up, and watching the kids have a blast getting dirty.

ok... I'll post more pics of the weekend soon.

Love to all,
Pete

New Pics!

2008-04-17T12:01:00.000-04:00

So, we've been home for a little over three weeks now Tariku is transitioning better everyday, as you can tell in these pictures...

Amy and the kids are in S. Jersey right now with her Parents and extended family so I'm catching up on some things here at the office. I talked to Amy yesterday and she said Tariku woke up every hour the other night... I hope he slept better last night.

Anyhow... Here's some new pics!

Recent American Idol ... my response

2008-04-05T11:32:00.000-04:00

I wrote this in response to a thread on our agency's adoption forum ... it was in response to the American Idol show highlighting Ethiopia and her struggles. There is a lot of controversy amoungst the Adoption community as to how "negatively" they chose to portray our children's birth country.

So ... I don't usually say much on the forum, but here go some thoughts I've been trying to collect ever since our return 2 weeks ago from Ethiopia with our son.

We traveled to Addis early and were able to spend a week and a half there before our adoption week started. It was during those days prior to meeting our son that we were able to really see the devestation in that city. Having been to West Africa before, we thought we were prepared to see and handle the poverty, etc. in Addis. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw ... the impact poverty, drought, disease has had is far greater than any other place we had been.

During our week with CHSFS we were significantly sheltered from the worst parts of the city. In their defense, I think they were just trying to keep us safe. We never drove through the Mercado (spelling?) ... which is the center of the largest slum in Africa. People/children sleeping on the median and lined up down the sidewalk. A million people living in an area with no sewer or water system. So many people ... living in condition I did not even know existed.

It was only during our early time there that we were able to really see all this.Before we left for Ethiopia we had put together this beautiful picture of our son's birth country in our minds. We had done the reading/research and we knew so much of the amazing history and rich culture Ethiopia has to offer. We knew about the beauty of the people and the countryside. It was easy to focus on the beauty when we were a half a world away.But when we actually were there it was very easy to do the exact opposite ... be so completely overwelmed by the devestation that we could not even bear to think about the beauty.

It is so hard to explain in words and always comes out wrong when I try to write it. It's sort of like this ... the beauty is there, it is amazing and overwelming and striking. The history is deep and the culture is fascinating and wonderful. But when I held an HIV+ little girl in my arms at AHOPE (an orphange for HIV+ children) I could not even think about the beauty because the unfairness and overwelming grief that surrounds her is so big I can't even see it all. It's like the beauty makes the poverty so much more real. It's the contrast between the two that is so overwelming and hard to deal with.

When I watched my two bio daughters play with the kids at AHOPE ... play with them without any regard for language or nationality or sickness ... it make my heart ache with grief for these people. Not because I am any better than them ... not because I have some ability to "save" them from anything. But because all of a sudden I felt guilty for my life of priviledge ... for my life that has come so easily by comparison.

We worked hard to make this adoption possible ... working extra jobs, cutting way back on things we used to think necessary. And our friends here honored us with this huge going away party/fundraiser before we left. We were sent off with this huge encouragement for all the "good" we had done as a result of our "sacrifice."

I stood at AHOPE a couple days later with my bags of donations and felt so horrible for even thinking I had made a sacrifice. Nothing I had done really qualified as a sacrifice in light of what I was then staring in the face.

And now that I'm back here in the States I've gone back to my regular life ... the shock of what I saw has worn off in so many ways. It is when I stare into my son's eyes that I feel this overwelming responsibility to him ... like I owe it to him to try and make a difference.And if me, as a mother who has traveled to Ethiopia to pick up her son, can move past what I saw in such a short amount of time ... then surely the majority of our American population can do the same. And if it takes pictures and statistics of the worst to compel us to give ... then so be it.

Ethiopia is a beautiful place ... probably the most beautiful place we've ever been. But her beauty is being overshadowed by her struggles ... struggles that we as a country could significantly impact. Not because we are better in any way ... but because for some reason that I don't understand ... we have access to more resources.

So ... there it is ... the rambles of a mom who gazes at her new son with so many emotions going all the time ... love, grief, guilt, sadness, joy and more. What happened to cause our son to need our family should never have to happen.

Right now we are trying to figure out the next step our family needs to take in order be a part of the rebuilding of our son's birth country. Adoption turned out to be so much bigger for us than we ever thought it would be. So much bigger ... and so much more amazing. Truly the journey of a lifetime.

We're HOME!

2008-03-23T14:33:00.000-04:00

It's so good to be home! I'll write more about the 20 hour journey later...you'll get a kick out of it ;)
Thankfully it was less... well... eventful than the trip there.

Email or call us we'd love to hear from you - petezipf@sbcglobal.net

Love to all!
Pete

Mr. Rogers was right

2008-03-21T10:02:00.000-04:00

I’m trying to type with Tariku sleeping in the crease of my and Sasha is yearning for lunch, so this won't be long... Sasha and Kenni both are ready to get on the plane to watch the seemingly endless selection of Disney movies as well. Soon enough. I think we're all ready to come home.
Do you remember Mr Roger's song he sang when he closed his show everyday?I think the song was: "It's Such a Good Feeling" or something like that ... remember?
I was just thinking about a couple lines he sang everyday at the end of his show..."It's such a good feeling to know you're alive.",,, then later he sings..."I'll be back when the day is newAnd I'll have more ideas for you.And you'll have things you'll want to talk about.I will too."Being here in this wondrous country makes you feel good to be alive - not because we feel like we're "missing comforts of home" but because the Ethiopian country and her people are beautiful. Yes there is a lot of problems and literally millions in deep despair, but when you walk down the street, even though the beggars you meet would love to be as rich as the panhandlers on the streets of Philly or NYC – the people here are… well they’re neighbors. This is a great place to be "in community"... because being "in community here is natural. ...
Today I met with Pastor Gizatu. A few days ago, I emailed a close friend of mine, Jerry who is the Global Outreach Coordinator for CURE (http://www.cureinternational.org/). I’ve known Jerry now for more than 15 years. Several weeks ago when he and I were chatting about our trip to Ethiopia he offered to connect me with the local CURE office here.

So, today I met Mr Gizatu who is the Spiritual Life Director for CURE here in Ethiopia. He picked me up about 9 and we quickly got acquainted. We talked about the social and spiritual culture here, the differences between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Evangelical Christianity (For those of you that are curious, there are FEW differences, but the way Pastor Gizatu explained it to me is that the Eth. Orthodox teaches giving alms to the poor is part of obtaining salvation.)

Before we arrived at the CURE Hospital – which is probably about five or six months from completion – we chatted more about our visit here. Mr Gizatu asked how I was connected with CURE and shared that the first mission trip I was ever on, was to Monterrey, Mexico in 1990 with Jerry when he was my Youth Pastor, and we talked about that trip too.

We had a great time sharing about the things God is doing here in Ethiopia but the car ride question that was a bit more difficult to answer was, “So how does your church work with other churches in your area at home?” I diddn’t have a hard time answering it because of a language barrier… I had a hard time answering it because to be honest. US Churches typically have their own agenda. They (We) typically have our own cliques’ and church culture to “worry about.” I could write pages more on my thoughts surrounding this issue as you may concur with too… but I wish that the body of Christ in the US… the most “civilized or developed” country in the world would take more lessons from the humble people in “developing” countries like Ethiopia.

Mr Gizatu said The Church is growing very quickly here in Addis and all over the country. So many people we’ve met here have made an incredible impact on our lives, and we know that God did not connect us to Ethiopia without a specific purpose in mind for us, and I believe for our Church. We’ll see what that looks like, but I believe there are great things in store for our Church family and prayerfully… other Churches in our East Hampton area too. We live in an area of ridiculous wealth, and with the resources that God has provided we WILL make a difference in this world. So what if it raises eyebrows, turn heads, makes people gasp, or makes their sphincters pucker.

We are being picked up to head to the Airport in about 30 minutes so this is likely the last post before we get home, but I will continue this blog as a vehicle to keep you abreast of the lives of our family, and what God unfolds to us in our community as well.

Until we connect again…
[we'll] have things you'll want to talk about.I will too."

No Reserve, No Retreat, No Regret

Pete… for our PARTY of 5.

Zipfs...Party of 5!

2008-03-19T22:43:00.000-04:00

Tuesday morning we went over to the Care Center to pick up Tariku and bring him with us permanently. First we toured the facility with the head CHSFS Physician. She is the perfect Doctor for all the children and she and the whole staff provide an excellent standard of care. She is the onsite Physician there all week, and then during the night and weekends there are nurses attending round the clock. During the tour we learned that from the time a child is brought to the orphanage they are cared for in an isolated area for 15 days to make sure they are not sick. During that time they are monitored, and provided the best attention. Once the 15 days are up, they are brought in with the rest of the children permanently. CHSFS is also in the process of adding additional full ICU care capabilities on site as well. As of now, they can do a lot, but with the addition of more medical equipment, they will be able to care for the sick children even more effectively. We got a chance to see several children’s pictures and progress from the time some of them arrived at the Care Center many were very gaunt and malnourished (Tariku was pretty weak when he arrived too) and those same children we interacted with during our time there were totally healthy, and very active children.
After the tour, all of us headed downstairs for the ceremony. A group of older children (3-5yrs old) sang some songs, and then Tariku and the other 6 children who are being adopted this week with our group were brought in one last time and given to each family in our group. Each of us was also given a booklet created by the nannies that took care of our children. The booklets had personal stories and memories that we will treasure always. Then one by one, we brought up our kids and they did a hand print for a booklet that stays here at the Care Center. After that we were invited to share our adoption experience with the entire group. To wrap it all up, we all gathered around in a circle and a few staff ladies prayed for the children, and invited anyone of us to pray as well. We could not have been more impressed with the transition, and all of the ceremony is included in a video story we get to keep.
When we finished the ceremony, we all said tearful goodbyes – especially the nannies who were responsible for each child – and we headed off to go to the American Embassy. Everything we did for the last 15 months leads up to this moment. We got to the Embassy sometime about 2 or 3pm and we only waited for about an hour and a half before we all sailed through the final stamps of approval to bring our children home! Again, this is another area where CHSFS has done an incredible job making sure that all the details in the paperwork are completed properly and according to US and Ethiopian Government standards.
We’ve met some families this week in our journeys around Addis who have not been so fortunate. The ones we’ve met that have had some issue with a legal document of some kind that was not processed - or just not processed correctly - still have been able to take their kids home within a day or two, but our agency had us prepared with everything we needed. We felt like some of the things we were asked to do may have been a bit ‘overkill’ but now we understand why CHSFS will be able to do over 600 adoptions this year alone. They know what they’re doing, and are helping to save hundreds of kids’ lives a year because of the program and the processes they’ve developed.
Today we just kinda chilled out. It was great to recap the special moments of the week with many from our group throughout the day. We’ve all bonded well with each other and with each others’ children. We’re all thinking about ways that we can reconnect soon because of the special relationships that were developed this week.
I might have a chance to write more tomorrow… maybe I’ll at very least try to post some more pics… but everyone else leaves tomorrow afternoon because they’re all flying different airlines, and Air Emirates doesn’t fly out on Thursdays from Addis. So, we’ll head back to the SIM Guesthouse to stay the night tomorrow (Thurs) because our flight doesn’t leave until Friday evening at 19:30 local time. We don’t have net access at the SIM Guesthouse so after tomorrow; maybe I’ll be able to post something here during our short layover in Dubai… in the middle of the night on Friday.
PS… please pray for our travel back home. We’ll have less luggage coming home, and hopefully less carry-on bags too, but we’ll have not two but THREE tired little ones and we’ll be a bit worn out… and worn thin too.

Love to all.. until next time…
Zipf, Party of Five

CHFS invests in eternity

2008-03-17T21:57:00.000-04:00

It’s Monday late night March 17th.
I’ll tell you all about the events of today… but let me first fill in some of the gaps from the last couple days. Honestly, after writing until almost 3am on Saturday … that whole day is kind of a blur… but it was a good day. After breakfast we headed over to the CHFS Office and met with the social worker who’s been assigned to Tariku from the time he was brought there on Nov. 21st. During that meeting, went over a few other details about the transition for Tariku, and then we were shown a video produced by CHFS staff and the CHFS Journalist. The video included every detail that they could find about our son. We are so thankful and very impressed at the thoroughness of the CHFS team to get the most accurate information possible for not just our son, but also for all the other orphans in their care as well. The Journalist went to Butajira and interviewed the Farmer who first found Tariku. They even played out a reenactment of the events from the time the farmer heard Tariku crying to the time the police got involved. The journalist did a great job with the filmed interviews and helping us understand as many of the missing pieces as possible. Through those interviews and documentary account of the first few days of Tariku’s life, we were given more information than we thought was available. We are so incredibly thankful for the intentional effort by the whole CHFS team to better prepare us as a family to help Tariku learn the details of his story as he grows up. We learned a little about the farmer who found him, and that he dropped everything he was doing and got in touch with the Butajira police. Two police officers, Genet and Alemayue came back to the site where Tariku was found to do some additional investigation and it was quickly determined that until they found the birth mother or decided what to do with the little guy that Genet, one of the two officers would take care of him temporarily.
ON a short side note: Amy and I are still processing –with the help of our agency – how to best communicate Tariku’s story to our close friends and family… please be patient with us as we learn what to say… and how much to share about his story before he knows his own entire story.
Genet took care of Tariku like one of her own children. We are so grateful for the farmer and for Genet and Alemayue who made sure Tariku was safe and placed in the hands of folks who could and would care for him.
After that meeting, we all went out to the local open markets to pick up a few things… can’t wait to see how much our suitcases are gonna weigh now?! …lol… they just can’t weigh over 50lbs. After we had a good time haggling for goods, we went to a famous Coffee Shop here in Addis. Starbucks…eat your heart out. I promise you’ve never had real coffee until you’ve come to Ethiopia! There’s long told story that Coffee was first discovered and developed here into a drink. More details on that later… The Coffee show put us at almost 7pm that night so Amy and the girls and I opted to remain at the Guesthouse and eat there instead of heading out to a local hotel for dinner and dancing.
When we talked later about Saturday nights activities, most everyone was thankful for the opportunity to learn a few other Ethiopian traditions, but wished they were able to rest more because we all headed out in a caravan of Toyota Land Cruisers at 5am Sunday morning for the three hour ride south to Hosanna. Sunday morning had been carved out for everyone to meet our children’s birth families if they were able to be there.
Most of us thought we were going to be in for a very bumpy slow going ride over rough roads all the way to Hosanna, but over the last few years the Ethiopian government has worked with international contractors and their own government contractors to begin building major roads throughout the most traveled areas of the country. Maybe picture the equivalent to a wide 2 lane country highway in the US and you’ll have a pretty good idea of the road we sped south on from Addis to Hosanna. It was obvious though that even though the roads were newly paved, they were established roads from long ago because every several miles we’d have to dodge crossing sheep and goats or wait for livestock ‘driven’ by children - literally kids, most between the ages of 4-16yrs old - to readjust the herd as they guided the animals from one village to the next along the highway. It was kinda chilly on the way there. It was really dark when we left from Addis and was probably about 60 degrees, but is cold when used to dry 80+ degree weather. We didn’t see much except an incredible sky of countless stars as we sped along the desert mountain road, however, as the sun came up we did manage to catch a baboon headed into a treeline. I got a picture and some video of him just before he disappeared. It was a great experience too - heading south – because we got a better idea of how MOST of the country lives as Addis and other larger cities are just a small proportion of the people in the country. We got a chance to see small towns and rural areas and areas pretty isolated from towns it was a way to see how most of the rest of the country lives.
Of the 7 families in our group, all but two made the trip to Hosanna. We all knew it was going to be a very special but difficult time for us. We arrived at the Hosanna CHFS Office about 8:30 on Sunday morning and two or three families at a time got to meet their birth families for almost 30 minutes. Amy and I didn’t know if anyone would be there to meet us until Saturday night when we learned that they were able to get in contact with Genet, the policewoman who cared for Tariku for the first two and a half days of his life.
When we walked into the small plain room with our translator, we introduced ourselves and shared a little about us and our family. For the next twenty minutes or so we talked with Genet about the first few days of Tariku’s life, her family, and her hopes and dreams for Tariku. Genet is a police officer and her husband works in a local bank and they have two children. She explained that when the farmer brought her and a fellow police officer, Alemayue to Tariku, the three of them determined the next course of action for him. Genet readily agreed to care for him temporarily until they could bring him to someone that would provide permanent care. She gave him her child’s clothes to wear, bought milk and water for him, and made sure he felt safe and loved. She and her husband already had a six month old little girl and another small child and even though she wished they could care for Tariku permanently, they knew they could not afford to properly care for him too. It would have been too much for them, and they knew that he could be adopted and cared for by a family that would provide a caring and loving home for him. The meeting time with Genet was very special, and we will always treasure it. After we met with Genet we gave her recent pictures of our family, and of Tariku along with a map of the world showing the areas we both lived so she had an idea where we were from too. We able to get a picture of our family with Genet too.
After meeting with Genet, all of the birth parents’ met together with all of we adopting parents for a short ceremony. We read a prayer to each other that was translated for both of us to read and understand. When the prayer was finished each of the birth parents lit a candle and gave it to each of the corresponding adoptive parents as they kind of spiritually gave over their children to us.
We’ve learned recently that everything from the video that we’re provided, to the connection that we’ve shared with birth parents, along with the very special ceremony we shared on Sunday – that that is all very unique to our agency and to Ethiopia. Evidently, no other agency goes into this much detail. We have all been more impressed with CHFS as the days have passed. Now we know why this agency is so highly regarded and respected by not just folks in the US trying to adopt from Ethiopia and other countries, but their reputation precedes them as children are brought to their care centers from all over the county because families know that as difficult as it is to give up their own children or a member of their extended family, they will be provided the best love and care available! After that time together we were all pretty ‘drained’ but just before the ride back to Addis from Hosanna we were able to visit another satellite orphanage run by CHFS. Again, everyone of the children there were loved and cared for in a special and individual way.
You know, when Amy and I first looked at CHFS, we were a little bit hesitant because there was some additional costs associated with working with them. However, after seeing how they not only care and provide for our children, but SO many more… I don’t know if I’ll ever recommend working with a different organization!
We got back Sunday evening and most went to bed early to prepare to pick up our kids on Monday morning to spend half the day with them here at the guesthouse!
Today - Monday (3/17) was a great experience… at least for most of us. I’m really glad that the agency only allows us a half day at first to spend alone with our kids because especially the older kids can have an incredibly difficult time adjusting. For us, we had a great morning with little Tariku. He was a little baffled by the idea of leaving the familiar sights and sounds and smells of the orphanage, but his wimper died down in a short while as we held him close. He is really enamored with his big sisters, and he loves the carrier we got for him too. We all went up to our room and laughed and played together. We even got to feed him a bottle and put him to sleep for a little bit before we left to bring him back.
Most of us had a great experiences this morning, but I’m sure the parents with older children would really appreciate your extra prayer. For older children the transition is many times much more difficult, especially if the older child remembers their birth family. Can you imagine… consider a child almost 3 years old, Mom (or Dad) finally admits to herself and the rest of the family that the only way she can love her child the best is to give it up for adoption. That is not uncommon here. It is hardly ever a quick or easy decision. Sure there are some parents who die young from various reasons, or some moms who die during childbirth (that almost always would not if in the US, Europe or Canada). Many times parents come to the point that they love their kids so much that they want them to have a better life so desperately; their prayer becomes: God please provide a loving home for my child to have the life that I wished I could provide. I wish it didn’t happen either but it does… what can we… what can you do about it?!
After we dropped off our kids back at the care center, we headed off to visit two places. First a womens’ and baby’s hospital and then a school – both funded and operated by CHFS sponsored staff. This hospital was not completely up to Western Standards in many ways, but it is the most state of the art facility in the area right now, and they are raising the standard of care as they bring on more trained staff and doctors. The Supervising Doctor that gave us the tour of the hospital was so excited that we were there and was so glad to show us the entire facility and its capabilities. It was a huge privilege to see how far they’ve come in a short time. They’ve only been open since October 2007!
After the hospital tour we headed over to an elementary school funded largely by CHFS. More and more there are individual investors and companies that fund it as well. The great thing is that they are able to keep the tuition about a third of what other comparable schools charge with the same level of education that other schools like them provide. As I said, I am even further impressed with CHFS for not just caring for our children in the care centers but investing into their communities in such orchestrated and intentional ways!
After that hospital visit we went to visit the Ethiopian National museum. One of the premiere exhibits there is this skeleton they call “Lucy” don’t ask me why they call it Lucy … maybe it was named after the archeologist… I donno. Anyway “Lucy” is supposed to be the oldest known homo sapien skeleton on the planet. You know you’d think that the silly thing would be behind more than a sheet of plexi glass in the basement of a museum in a country that struggles with their own security. I guess the real skeleton is in Houston, TX …”on tour” – I guess they’re trying to find similarities in early humans, in Texans. … who knows. I guess “lucy” will come back to Ethiopia some time. We had fun taking all kinds of pictures of Ethiopian history and archeology stuff. I must admit… T’was kinda cool.

When we got back from another long day, a few of us took a walk over to a local pizza joint… yeah it WAS good pizza. It was good to decompress some too….
The next couple days will be jammed packed for us, so I’ll write as soon as I’m able. Tomorrow, all of us go pick up our kids from the orphanage, and go to the local court to finalize the final Ethiopian documents releasing them into our permanent care. It will be a long day, and depending on a few things, it could be a stressful day. CHFS does an incredible job, but sometimes things change it seems almost at the drop of a hat in this court system. We’d appreciate your prayer for all of us as we get through court tomorrow. I’ll try to post something soon so you know at least we all got through court ok.
Wednesday will be kind of a chill day for us, and Thursday apparently we have a final meeting with CHFS. Then as most of the other families head to the Airport to fly out with Ethioain Airlines, our family will actually head back to the SIM guesthouse because we don’t fly out until Friday evening the 21st. with Air Emirates. We would love to hear from you via email… let us know if you’re enjoying following this crazy story.
Until next time…Pete for the girls and Tariku !

Orphanage Visit and… Life Lessons in the strangest of places

2008-03-15T11:33:00.000-04:00

It’s Friday night… well, I started writing this on Friday night, and now it’s almost 2:30am Sat 3/15. I’ve written about our first visit with Tariku today, and then wrote some about the last several days experiences.

We are now here at the Guesthouse operated by our agency, Children’s Home and Family Services. We arrived here on Thurs (3/13) night after a great dinner with friends at Bingham Academy where I taught this past week. We finally met the rest of the travel group that came in Thurs night from all over the US to pick up their children too. Steve and Devin from Hawaii, Brian and Jill from WI, Rosemary from Brooklyn NY, Erwin and Heidy from NM, Lindsey and his wife Cindy from NV, Selia and her teen daughter from NC, and then us. A few couples have one or two other of their own children but the rest do not… regardless this is an incredible journey for all of us. It’s funny how one of the most personal times in your entire life you go through with folks you just met. These are some great folks though and we’re getting along really well.

So, we got up this morning (Friday am) to a great pancake breakfast. Kenni and Sasha loved it too. About 10a or so we all piled into the mini bus and drove the rough 10 mins over to the CHFS Orphanage Office. We had a short meeting, and then we were all brought over to the other facility a 5 min walk away. Steve and Devin’s son was in a different facility so they were brought over to meet their son. We were not allowed any cameras at all into the orphanage where our children were but they have 2 camera men who capture those first precious moments on HI FI digital video cams so we’ll get a chance to save those memories forever. We sat with Kenni and Sasha in the waiting room… which seemed like forever… and then they called us. Amy was pretty choked up and the girls were just giddy all over… when they opened up the door to the room that Tariku was in I think we all recognized him right away. He was even more adorable and precious than we imagined! Honestly, my first thought was boy he’s still pretty tiny! Ha ha… He is after all, just shy of four months old… I outta give the kid some credit. Maybe since his nannies are a bit smaller in stature he looked a little larger in the pictures we have next to the smaller women that have taken such good care of him. Shoulda got them to take a pic with him next to a yard stick or something…J That said he’s absolutely beautiful. He looked up at Amy right away when she picked him up… he liked looking around and was probably a little taken back by his smothering big sisters. I think Amy forgot I was there for a sec… as I waited for her to let him go for a minute or two before I held him. He grabbed on to my finger right away, he grabbed my gotee a few times and then loved it when he sat with Sasha in my lap. Awesome stuff. We were able to then take him outside in the courtyard play area in the sun. When I was playing with him, his little finger caught the loop in my right ear… and he gave a little grin. I think he’ll be a handful. Maybe he can teach me how to play basketball someday. ;)

You know though… even as I write this…this is all still a bit surreal… but I’m sure as we spend more time with him tomorrow and the rest of the week we’ll become even more attached. I’ll try to write more in the next coming days since we have a little bit better net connection here in this guesthouse. Our court date with everyone else in our group here is on Tuesday and we’ve got a full schedule all weekend and the rest of the week until we come home. Thank you for all of your prayer and support for us as you are a part of this journey with us!

Thursday 3/6/08 - We arrived here in Addis around lunchtime and Haille, the driver employed by Bingham Academy picked us up at the Addis Airport. I took some video during the drive … we’ll see how well it edits later. We headed over to the SIM guesthouse on Thursday afternoon then went over to Bingham Academy and met the Principal and the Director.

Bingham Academy was established in the 1930s by SIM (Sudan Interior Mission) originally as a mission school and currently has about 250 students in grades K-12. Bingham has become one of the most prestigious schools in Africa so there are kids from all over Ethiopia, and from over 20 additional countries. Some of the kids live on campus but many of the kids live with their families around Addis. About 40 percent of the students are from Missionary families, but since Bingham is so well respected there are kids there whose parents work in local businesses in Addis, the UN, international businesses, and foreign Embassies based in Addis.

Most of the reason we came several days early was to get to know the Ethiopian culture so we could share this life experience with Kenni and Sasha, but we also wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to be able to serve with some folks who know and love this country and the people here. So together we worked out an opportunity for me to teach HS Bible Classes Monday – Wednesday and then do their two Chapel services on Thursday and they planned to put Amy to work filling in where they could use her in some of the other classes substituting. That way, Kenni and Sasha got the chance to attend 1^st Grade and kindergarten with the rest of the other kids! What an experience that was! When we got closer to our travel date, we began investigating ways we could come to serve in some capacity. It was through that investigation we learned about BA. Originally we got connected to Bingham through our good friends from our church in Connecticut, the Blackwells, that put us in touch with friends of theirs (the VanGorkums) who have served with Christian Veterinary Mission for the last 25 years.

Over the last several days we’ve had the chance to interact with many of the teachers and staff at BA. We’ve been so impressed to hear so many stories from the teachers that have come from mostly the US, but also from many other countries to Bingham. In every single story, you can clearly see where God’s spirit nudged the hearts of each teacher and clearly carved out a divinely orchestrated path that they followed.

Teaching in a school like Bingham is an incredible privilege. Right in their midst there are ‘World Changers’. Think about it, every one of those kids come from families with an incredible amount of influence – whether they work in foreign business, embassies and government offices, or on the mission field. These kids are exposed to things that their peers in their home countries might never experience. The worldview that they are forming from being in that environment is fertile ground for them to grow into decision makers that could affect not just a way a company might do business, but to influence the decisions of world leaders someday!

It’s great that those kids have such great examples in their teachers too. The teachers at Bingham are incredible examples of humility and faith. God is clearly using them in to impact the lives of the students they teach and their own families.

Friday 3/7 – We spent the morning at SIM Compound in the AM and then relaxed and headed over to the Addis Hilton Hotel. We swam all day and chilled out with Kenni and Sasha - it was the best move we made that week. We got some sun, and we all had a great time relaxing and getting adjusted. Amy and the girls loved the pool water too. We learned that there are hot springs that run hundreds of feet underground so the pool water is naturally heated to something like 85 degrees Fahrenheit. I dealt with it, but would have liked it about 10-12 degrees cooler. It was already over 80 degrees outside. Very nice weather though because it’s so dry here, and there’s pleasant breeze often as well… the weather has been gorgeous.

Saturday 3/8 – Chilled out at SIM compound in the AM, then I went over to visit meet with some teachers to finalize my teaching strategy for the HS kids for the week. Amy and the girls ventured out with a friend we met at the SIM Guesthouse… she could share more about her adventures on Saturday, but she and the girls did some errands with Mary from the UK.

I think now might be a good time to pause to share a bit about the folks we’ve met at the SIM Guesthouse. SIM has been in Africa for many many years and we’ve met the most incredible people there.

Mary has given her entire life to serving the Ethiopian people and she’s been teaching Bible to grad students at the seminary here in Addis for many years. She’s on the SIM Board and left a couple days ago with a team to do an evaluation on another seminary I think in Uganda. In Mary’s spare time, she also edits and writes Bible Commentaries for Tyndale House Publishing. Whodaknown.

Judith is originally from New Zealand but she’s been a missionary in Pakistan for over 15 years. She’s working with mostly women in her little rural home. She does hand crafts with women in her community who come to be with her for love and tender care. Women in Pakistan are treated in many cases worse than dogs. Just thinking about it, it’s really hard for me to imagine, but as she has earned the trust and credibility of the people in her area God has done miraculous things. She’s seen people healed from all kinds of physical and spiritual ailments and many have come to know and love Jesus in deep ways… things that can ONLY be attributed to our Almighty God. Judith arrived at the SIM Guesthouse shortly before we did, and I believe she’s going to stay for another week or so. She said that when she first got to Pakistan there were almost 30 other missionaries in her area, but for the last eight years, she’s been the only one. God has blessed Judith’s faithfulness and her commitment - to especially the women there - but she’s been very lonely and discouraged lately. I know she would appreciate additional prayer for God’s strength and endurance for her.

Paul and Laila Biloski are originally from a farming family in Alberta Canada, but have been in Ethiopia for 39 years. They came to do Church planting and then later teach African seminary students who are now impacting and teaching in places all over the continent! In 1974 the Biloski family was driving back to their home somewhere around Addis, and as they drove into their driveway there were military vehicles outside their house, and their door was sealed off, and all of their possessions were confiscated by the Communist Government that overthrew the prior government. At that time there were over 300 SIM Missionaries in Ethiopia that dwindled to 28 that year. With not one thing but the clothes on their backs, they were able to live at the SIM Guesthouse and finish out the seminary year teaching some remaining grad students. They left Addis after the school year was done, and thought they’d never come back, but God had other plans. Now that Seminary here in Addis, is one of the best on the continent!

The Launders family from Cortaline, ID. were only at the Guesthouse for a few days before they left for a family get-a-way to Zanzibar in Tanzania. They are waiting for their resident visas to get through the court system here, so they have to leave the country every 6 mos. Mark told me that he turned 50 a short time ago, and he and his wife Sydney started to take a hard look at their lives and what they were doing, and what God might have them do. Mark and Sydney have two teenagers… whose names I’ll have to mention when I can recall them. Mark had a well established home building business and the Lord led their family to the rural Ethiopian town of Sodo. Apparently Sodo has a population of about 55 thousand, but has few places with clean water, sporadic electricity and incredible needs for business infrastructure. Mark and Sydney are currently spending most of their time working in a local hospital with a Doctor friend of theirs that led them to Sodo from Idaho about 6 months ago. Mark is using his gifts in construction, management, and love of people to create some infrastructure first in that hospital and then outward in the community. They have focused their efforts there in Sodo because it is the last hospital between the Ethiopian and Sudanese boarder so there are people that come there from all over along with Sudanese refugees.

Rowan looks like he just dried off after catching a few waves on the coast near his home. About 3 months ago, he came to Ethiopia from a prestigious hospital near where he grew up in New Zealand -- to work in a needy, rural hospital in the southern area of Ethiopia. I think it’s near Sodo… but I don’t recall exactly. Now 28, Rowan told me he feels like this few-month investigative journey will bring him here for a long time. He was at the guesthouse here in Addis with Dan and Kim who’ve been serving in the same area for about 30 years or so. Dan does Church work, and Kim helps run the hospital where Rowan is working now. The three of them were leading a group of Baylor nursing students from Texas through their clinical work that is required to complete their nursing degrees. Several of the 7 or 8 nursing students we met plan to return to Africa – many to Ethiopia to serve.

Sunday 3/9 – The girls internal clocks weren’t quite adjusted yet so they woke at 4am so we were all in and out of sleep until about 6:30 when we all got up to get ready for breakfast. The international evangelical church is across town and is right next to the Addis Seminary here that is training about _??_ students for ministry all over Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. We came out to another gorgeous sunny day and hailed Abraham across the street and he drove his cab quickly over to us as the girls and I piled in his little Russian taxi.

Allow me to deviate here as I talk a bit about Addis Roadways… you’ll enjoy it. ;) All the taxi drivers have the same little Russian four door compact cars.. and they all look like they’ve been through a war: Missing handles, missing hinges on some doors, cracked mirriors and windows, dents in various places, limited interior and never any seatbelts to be found. Doesn’t really matter though cause you never seem to get above about 15 – 20 mph in Addis. Imagine driving through a State Fair… all the time. Or… for those of you that have been to a HUGE concert festival… kinda like that. Only with hundreds of thousands of more people. It seems like all 5 million people in Addis are all out at the same time on the streets and in the open markets. The driving is even crazier here than in Senegal in W. Africa. NO street signs, NO street lights.. oh wait, I saw one the other day that worked. I was astonished. Actually I was more surprised people actually paid attention to the lights since it’s the only one in town I’ve ever seen at least. Crazy stuff. You might be asking… how in the world does any one get to and from their destination in any motorized vehicle with conditions like that. I think I’ve realized that as frustrated as some Ethiopian drivers can get… this is a pretty selfless culture. Sure they try to take care of themselves, but this is a culture in which families bring in other family members and care for them when the need arises. This is a culture that gives guests the BEST of what they have to offer…and it’s a culture that is generally speaking content with who they are and what they have. For the ones that are more selfish and impatient, I’m convinced it’s the self-centeredness of the western “civilized world” that have created a desire to have more stuff and to have a higher status.

Now kinda take that culture idea toward driving and you begin to realize that when there’s literally 15 cars in the middle of the intersection everyone gets to where they’re going… eventually. Even though every driver has to be aggressive to get anywhere, they all just continue to honk and point and let each other get by when it’s their turn… and speed up on the straight-a-ways. Another significant thing to note is that no one really owns property here in Ethiopia. I’m not entirely sure how all that works, but evidently you can just kinda set up a house wherever you want. Literally thousands of people live on the street. Some create beds for themselves from things they find lying around… stuff that others throw out, or things that fall off of trucks or taxis driving by. For the people that do have homes it’s all pretty basic. Often a few walls of corrugated sheet metal and a roof to match. There’s really no sanitation organization either. So, on the roads with thousands of people walking or lying around on the streets all day and all night…you run into some very uh… interesting sights. Goats, Chickens … if you live in an urban area consider a well traveled city road with drivers as I described, Police officers trying to direct the traffic making it worse, people sleeping on the medians, pedestrians creating non-crosswalks anywhere they feel like crossing, others reading the newspaper as they wait for a friend using the community pit to relieve themselves on the end of one of the medians (pick a gender), and then instead of a traffic jam in the opposite lane due to an accident, it’s just a local dude driving his few donkeys up the street with loads weighing more than the animal carrying it.

So… back to Sunday morning…we arrived at the beautiful facility of the International Evangelical Church and were greeted by two pastors or staff of the church from different countries. The Worship band started up shortly thereafter and even though I can’t sing well at all, I typically really enjoy making a joyful noise… but that Sunday I couldn’t. I’ve never felt the spirit come over me like he did that Sunday morning. I couldn’t sing a word without choking up. I was totally overwhelmed. I think it had to do with realizing that that environment was what Heaven was gonna be like someday. I was so humbled… When we were done singing the kids were released to attend Sunday School and Kenni and Sasha were SO excited to go with all the kids. Funny thing about that though… that particular service was ONLY in the Ethiopian language of Amharic. We got Sasha into the nursery since she was only going to be there that Sunday… and I tried to explain to Kenni that she would not understand anything that was being said in the class with other 1^st graders, but she said that she wanted to be with the rest of the kids and meet some new friends. She stayed the entire service and I found her still in her class interacting with a bunch of the other kids when the class was over. She had a great time.

Monday 3/10– Can’t believe my ‘baby’ brother is 22! Happy Birthday Ben. God’s got some great things in store for you just around the corner. We’re so proud of you bud! Since all of our internal clocks were all still a bit off kilter… we all woke around 5am and had breakfast. We went over to Bingham and I taught 9^th Grade Bible Class in the morning, and then after lunch we took Kenni and Sasha to AHope Orphanage to bring all the donations we had for them. As I wrote before- it was an amazing experience. That didn’t just help me put my life and all God’s gifts he’s blessed me with in perspective, but if we ever felt like we were serving the Lord in some way and that what we do in The States is significant… did we ever feel small and insignificant that afternoon. We were around some of the most selfless, humble, spiritual ‘giants’ I’ve ever met. They serve those special Orphans in an extraordinary way… for the rest of those children’s lives.

Not long after we finished playing with the orphans, we headed over to have dinner with the Johnson family. Most all of the teachers and staff at Bingham actually live right on campus and the apartment as ‘fishbowl’ as they are, are very nice and spacious for the families that live there. After sharing late into the evening, we drove back to our Guesthouse across town and got a great nights sleep!

Tuesday thru Thursday 3/11–13 Were pretty similar days as our mornings at Breakfast discussing world events, and my Bible Classes with the HS Students and dinners with BA Families in the eves.

Tuesday afternoon we met up with Fred and Vicky VanGorkum. They are awesome people. I think they’ve spent some significant time out in “the bush” helping villagers care for their animals that is their livelihood and helping them understand what it means to care for their animals, but also to make sure their children don’t get neglected in the process as they try to keep their animals healthy to provide for themselves. I think now Fred and Vicky both are doing more admin and support type work as their three great kids (Jesse, Aaron, and Jodi) are in school. From what I understand Fred still travels to support other missionaries and help them care for animals to help livestock owners begin to understand the message of Jesus in the process. Tuesday night we were with the Emery Family from VA. Beach, VA. (traditional Ethiopian Injira, beef, Chicken, Hot Sauce, Greens, etc) Scott, Janet, Jared and Allison – they’re headed back to the US this summer since their time is up. Scott taught Bible, and some Sciences and became a great help and friend the week we shared at Bingham.

Wednesday was another day of teaching for me, but Wednesday afternoon I decided to head out of the Campus area to get to meet some of the locals, and maybe even get some pictures. I walked down to the end of the street past some shops and ran into a couple of teen guys about 14-16 years old. They only knew a little bit of English and I only knew a couple Amharic words but we struggled through a short talk by the time a couple other guys started to gather round… and then there were more questions about America, and I asked more and more about Addis, and their families… pretty soon there must have been about 15 or 20 guys just hanging around chatting in broken English and Amharic along with a lot of hand motions. They were all fascinated by the camera and loved being able to see all their images on the camera as soon as we took the picture. In the middle of our conversation, one of the guys invites me to come visit his shop… I assume he wants me to buy some things and I was prepared to, but didn’t find anything I wanted or needed… as we were talking more a midst this gagle of teen guys, one of them asks me more about what I do and teach. So I am able to get across that I teach Bible to teenagers so they ask me if I have my Bible… I take it out of my backpack and then they insist on me reading some… you would have been amazed at the silence as those 15 guys crowed around Daniel Chapter 4 as I read it. I’ve got some great pictures to take back of those guys and the memories attached to those pictures. I also had a few snack food items that I gave some of them while I was there on Wednesday afternoon – but promised to return on Thursday with more fun American junk food. Later on Wednesday night we had dinner with Allie and Carey (vegetarian spaghetti and Salad). Carey is from North Carolina and she’s been in a couple different countries in Africa. She’s also served in an AIDS orphanage in South Africa too. Her step dad was the president of Columbia International University… I think his name is Robertson. Anyhow, Allie is recently from the Washington DC area and she found out about this opportunity at Bingham via the relationship that one of her pastors at National Church has with the pastor of her Church here in Addis. They’ve got a great vision here in the area to help with local economic development and care for the needy in the process. Very cool stuff. Another teacher that works here at Bingham this year Ann Faulkner that also attends the same church as Allie, will be working with that church full time next year, and there sounds like some great short term mission opportunities could surface from the work that this church will be doing soon!

Thursday 3/13 –

Thursday I taught Bible class again returned to bring my new friends -down the street from BA -some good ol’ American snack food and to say goodbye… then later we had Dinner with Cara, Amanda, Summer and Cara’s fiancé Rob Bustin. Cara and Rob are from Canada, Summer is from … I forget where, and Amanda is from South Central Illinois. Cara is doing her student teaching in Canada and she came to teach at Bingham because Rob has been working with Food for the Hungry in Addis and the surrounding area. Rob explained that he finished his engineering degree in Canada and came to work with Food for the Hungry in Ethiopia. When he first arrived he was out in the bush I think helping get water to villages, and now he’s doing some with Food for the Hungry Canada, and the Ethiopian Govt working on various projects to establish long term results to get food and water to those in need. I plan to contact Rob’s Director (…his name escapes me for the moment but he’s a fellow Penn St. Football fan) to see what kind of short term/long term projects we might be able to help with later on. After dinner we left for the Agency Guesthouse!

3/12 update

2008-03-13T16:25:00.000-04:00

It's now Wed alm, and the girls and I have acclimated and adjusted very well over the last several days... and we are taking in all we can. Both of the girls are in much better health now too. The last couple days, I have been teaching a bible class to the HS Students that lasted until this morning. (Wed.) Since we arrived last Thurs night, we've been staying at the SIM Missionary guesthouse... and that has been an incredible in itself! I'll share more later about all the people we've met this week that have come through the guest house. There are so many doing incredible things for God in Africa and in many other parts of the world.

On Monday afternoon the girls and I brought over many of the donations to AHope Orphanage. Many of those donated medical supplies and clothes came from you and other friends in our East Hampton area. There are about 70 kids there between the ages of 9-11mos old. We laughed, danced, played, threw around, wrestled with, tickled and kissed the kids for half of the afternoon. It was a precious beautiful time. I would have to say that that experience had to be one of the most impactful times in my life. You see, the orphans there at AHope, all have HIV/AIDS. I don't know if I can adequately describe how special that experience was... it's not something I'll ever forget. We're also learning about ways EHBC may be able to continue to help the people here and the orphans in some ongoing ways too. We'll see where God might lead us down the road.

Tomorrow night (Thursday) we will head over to our Adopion Agency's Guest House on the other side of Addis ... then on Friday am, we will meet Tariku for the first time...

What should life be all about?

2008-03-10T12:36:00.000-04:00

Written by Amy, Thurs afternoon March 6 …sometime in Ethiopia, Dubai

While in Dubai all the tourists make a go at an authentic “desert safari.” Not wanting to miss out, we decided to do the same. *After spending the morning on Wednesday wandering around, doing some shopping, we all took a much needed nap. We had to drag the girls out of bed a couple hours later to head off on our safari into the desert.Okay … so the safari started off with a Land Cruiser “Sand Bashing” through the desert. Sand Bashing basically means you are hauling you know what through the desert and over the sand dunes. I have no idea how we didn’t get sick. Kendalyn was shrieking the whole time because she thought it was great … Sasha was asking when we could go back home. She’s asked that question a lot over the past few days. *After we finished bashing through the desert, we were able to try our hand at Sand boarding, which is basically snowboarding on the sand. Pete tried … I’m not as adventurous. The girls sat in the sand and played. It was hard to believe we were actually in the middle of the desert in the Middle East. The sand is beautiful, about the color of terra cotta pots. After sand boarding we headed off to the camp for camel riding (we’ll try to post pictures) and a BBQ dinner. Kendalyn was even able to belly dance on stage … her current favorite part of the trip. Overall, it was a great day. Full, but great. Dubai is a huge place … we were not able to even see a fraction of it in the time we had, but we’re glad we were able to be there. I (Amy) had a huge moment when Kenni was on stage dancing. This journey of following God has really allowed us to live some major dreams. It really is true that God gives you the desire of your heart when you follow Him. There we were, with our daughters in the middle of the Emirate desert. I pray every day that our girls will be globally minded … and I pray that this trip is only a piece of that.Plane ride to EthiopiaWell, the plane ride to Ethiopia from Dubai was not quite as good as the first one. We had to be at the airport at 6 am … but our driver was running kind of late. The rest of the world does not run on American time! *Because we were late, we had to run all the way across the airport (like 15 miles, I think) in order to get our plane. Arriving at the gate, with not much time to spare (and having not eaten anything that day so far) we spend the rest of our Durham (Emirate money) at Starbucks on breakfast. Yes … Starbucks is in Dubai.Sasha caught some sort of cold the last couple days, so she spent the first half of the trip coughing up a lung. We were the Airborne commercial. * I could just see the people around us cringing as she is coughing and coughing.About the time Sasha fell asleep, Kendalyn threw up all over herself (and her seat, and the seat in front of her and the floor and all her bags). I can honestly say, I have never seen that much vomit in all my life. So, now the guy across from us that was glaring about the coughing is only wishing the coughing was his biggest worry. So, with antibacterial wipes and the help of the very gracious airline staff, we cleaned up Kendalyn (and her surroundings), stripped her of her clothes and wrapped her in a blanket (note to self … bring extra clothes next time!). She was fine after that … watched some tv and got annoyed when I would not let her eat anything. * Kids. She had no idea about what was going on around her. Nor did she care really. We would all be better off if we didn’t care so much about people around us. So, here we are …getting off the plane… with Kendalyn wrapped in 2 Emirate Airlines blankets and Sasha crying about how she wants to go home. We apply for our visas and wait for our luggage. Our driver (thank you Bingham for arranging a great driver) picks us up and takes us to the SIM guesthouse for our first weeks’ stay. ------------------------------

Saturday March 8, 2008 –

Pete is somewhere in Addis Ababa, EthiopiaAs most of you know, our family is here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to pick up our son Tariku Daniel Zipf. We flew out of JFK last Monday and had an uneventful flight into Dubai United Arab Emirates. I think Sasha had the best of the 12 hour flight as her 4 yr old self stretched out nicely into the chair that reclined a half inch. We were just a tad groggy as we stumbled off the plane to locate our luggage. When our bags piled up, I started looking around for a couple camels to load up... but the carts had to do while we searched for our very gracious driver from our hotel... We had a hard time finding him at first - I don't know if it was because I couldn't see over the luggage I was rolling, or that I couldn't read 'Zipf' in Arabic. We ventured around Dubai on Wednesday via a sand-dune-blasting Jeep and on Camels... and then on Thursday morning took off for Addis Ababa. Since the first flight went so smoothly, we expected an even better flight to Ethiopia... it was --except that Sasha woke up with a hacking cough she's still trying to kick... and for Kendalyn's projectile expelling of the entire contents of her stomach all over the isle and the seat in front of her in a matter of seconds - all at 35000 ft...However the Emirates flight crew were so helpful ... even helping us wrap up Kenni in a couple blankets and cleaning off the crevasses of the dinner tray in front of her. Shortly after Kenni's things were plastic bagged, we touched down in Addis Ababa and were brought here to the Missionary Guest house where we will stay for a few days while we serve at an international school, and bring donations to A Hope Orphanage - for Children with AIDS. Next Thursday night we will meet Tariku for the first time, then on Friday morning we will start our journey back home to CT, and arrive via Air Emirates at JFK Airport on Saturday March 22 at 0745 EST.The last few days have been good to get acclimated and adventure out a bit around the Guest House. I wish every one of you could see, hear and experience this. This environment forces you to put your life into perspective. Your whole life. -- What is most important? What should life be all about? How should we communicate that? How should we live that out? I think I could speak for the EHBC Leadership team in this... God has big things in store for all of us at EHBC... what are we willing to do to accomplish His mission? I know I have some more assessing to do. To those of you that have helped us in SO many ways to get to this stage... We don't have the adequate words to express our gratitude. The dinner that was put together for us last Sunday night was incredibly powerful and so special - that, and the cards and notes have further confirmed our desire for Tariku to grow up with you as a special part of his life. This journey would never be the same with out you!We love you and we'll see you soon! PS -- For those of you that are attempting to stay current with our adventures via our blog site ( no-reserve-no-retreat-no-regret.blogspot.com ) I've had to find a creative way of getting around the block that the Ethiopian Govt puts on blog sites... just stay tuned and it'll be updated as we are able. ;)No Reserve, No Retreat, No Regret...Pete for the Girls… and Tariku!

Beef Jerky at 5 am

2008-03-04T20:44:00.000-05:00

Here we sit in our room, 5:45 am local time ... waiting for someone else in our hotel to wake up. :) We're pretty sure breakfast is included in our room, but we're not quite sure what time that is offered. Since our internal clocks are obviously not in line with the local time, we were up at 4 am, wide awake. The girls were sitting on their bed, eating beef jerky by 5 am.

Our motel is really sweet. We have a family room, so the girls each have their own twin bed. The doors are all like castles ... with wood beams that come down to lock them. The lights are lanterns and it took us a half hour to find google in English instead of Arabic. :)

We have heard the call to prayer twice already ... we'll have to do some research to find out the significance of the times. It's very similiar to Senegal in that regard. The call to prayer is a regular part of everyday.

This morning we are going out exploring in the city. We'll have chwarmas for lunch (local sandwiches, like gyros) and hopefully take a nap before we head out for our safari in the dessert.

Interesting side note ... the first thing Sasha said when we got off the plane: "Where are the sand and camels? This is not Dubai, mama." :)

en route... Dubai

2008-03-04T15:08:00.000-05:00

Reporter Amy here, from the plane. 8428 km from JFK (how far is that anyway?) to Dubai

What do we currently know about Dubai? Well, one things for sure … it’s really far away. The good news is that we were wrong … the flight from JFK to Dubai is only 12.5 hours (not the 14 we thought).
The girls have been amazing. Kendalyn stayed up for a while last night, watching movies (she had her choice of 100’s via the screen on the seat in front of her) … ate some dinner, then slept for about 7 or 8 hours. Sasha, on the other hand, was asleep within minutes of taking off (it was 11 pm) and just woke up now to watch a movie. Regretfully, I was unable to find Sleeping Beauty, but they did have Cinderella. J
I’m starting to worry about how this flight will be with a baby. I guess it’s too late for that now, eh? J
The food’s been great … last night it was a big spicy for me, but I just gave some of mine to Pete. The girls had kid meals, which was great. Chicken nugget, mashed potatoes, veggies. We had a snack sometime in the middle of the night (what do you call that) … sandwiches, fruit. There is a brunch before we land … that should be soon.
When we land in Dubai it will be 8pm their time. I’m hoping that since we didn’t have much sleep (Pete and I are arguing about who got less), then we’ll be able to go right to bed even with the time zone difference. Strange thinking we missed half a day basically. We sort of just skipped over it I guess.
A huge thank you to all our friends and family who were a part of our going away surprise fundraiser event Sunday night. Seriously, we were surprised. We knew something was up maybe 45 minutes before, but we had no idea at what it would be … or how amazing it would be.
We love CT. We love our church (www.ctehbc.com). We love our friends. Thank you for all the hard work and time you put into our event. You have blessed us beyond measure … words cannot even say how loved we felt. We miss you already and can’t wait to see all of you on Easter Sunday.
Thanks mom and dad (Zipf and Westcoat) for coming out … we both have amazing famlies and would never be on this plane without them behind us.
I have watched all the flight episodes of Grey’s Anatomy (season 1, I think … it was fun to flash back) … so now I’m off to see what other mindless show I can use to fill my way over tired mind for the next 2 hours. 10.5 hours down. The rest should be easy, right?
Until next time …

2 days and counting

2008-03-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

Today was spent packing. Packing, packing, packing!

At latest count, I (Amy) have packed 5 of our 8 suitcases ... each weighing in at the maximum 50 pound limit.

Thank you to all who donated items that we will bring to Ethiopia. They are going to the AHOPE for children orphanage. Check out their website www.ahopeforchildren.org for more information about these amazing orphanages that care for HIV+ children.

It's hard to believe that we will be on our way to JFK in only 48 hours. Only 2 more nights in my bed ... then Monday night will be spent sleeping in a plane! 14 hours from JFK to Dubai ... the girls are excited now, we'll see how they feel after they've been sitting in the same seat all night long. :)

We'll spend 2 nights in Dubai, then off to Ethiopia. We'll be spending the first week volunteering at a school ... and then we'll meet Tariku on Friday, March 14. :) We're turning inside out these days ... the wait is finally almost over.

Well, I am off to more packing. We'll keep you posted along the journey. Stop by often.

Amy