With Shannons & Benkerts (click to enlarge)

Hello to all of you at Zion and our friends and family back in the US and elsewhere.  I have joined Nate, Rebecca, and Malachi Erb on this journey to Ethiopia to meet and adopt their new son and brother, Abel.  After spending a few days with our dear friends and God’s servants here, Jerry, Christy, Joshua, Micah, Caia, and Hanna Shannon, of Embracing Hope Ethiopia, we came to the orphanage to meet Abel on Sunday afternoon, 11/28.  We were deeply blessed to see the work the Shannons are doing as they prepare this week to expand to a second daycare building, increasing their numbers of young children approved for their care from the original 30 to 120.  They had started in their home in April 2011, then moved to a separate daycare building nearby, and are now opening the second facility this week.  They provide care for many young children of moms who are the poorest of the poor here in Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa.  This frees the moms to work, enabling them to build better lives for their families.  Check out www.embracinghopeethiopia.com.

We also were blessed to see Levi and Jessie Benkert, of Bring Love In (www.bringlovein.com), and their four children, Nickoli, Luella, Ruth, and Everly (Edalawit), for a wonderful lunch with great conversation all around.  Malachi truly loved being with all the other kids.  Their ministry is growing as well, as you can see on their website.

Another highlight was when we visited Tikuret, the orphanage from where the Erbs adopted Hadassah and Malachi.  He remembered the place and several people, especially the director, Sister Asayech. There were some very moving and tearful times as Malachi made himself at home, and he at one point spontaneously sat with one of the orphans on a rug hugging and kissing him.  Members of the staff were elated to see him, and Sister Asayech mentioned repeatedly what a blessing it was to see “Teshale” again.

Sunday brought us our greatest joy as we reached our main reason for coming to Africa, meeting the Erb’s new son, Abel.  The experience was a blessing beyond belief, as Abel entered Rebecca’s arms in total peace and calm, content to look directly into his mother’s loving eyes with a trusting and lasting gaze.  He moved his eyes only to look into Nate’s eyes, which reflected as well the love and care that brought these family members together.  Big brother Malachi anxiously held his new sibling with smiles that extended all the way across his joyful face, kissing and hugging Abel as if it was all he had to do that afternoon.  The Shannons, who brought us across the city for this special time, all took turns marveling at what the Lord has done.  They entered into our excitement as if they represented the whole Christian family that is now Abel’s as well.

Keep up to date by following http://erbadoption.blogspot.com – Pastor Steve