From one of the oldest countries in the world

In 2003, Ephrem, Meheretab, Yodit, and Bethlehem (see a photo of them here) Teklu came from Ethiopia to the United States to join Mark and Gayll Phifer-Houseman as a family through adoption.  In less than six years they have learned English (their third language), held their own in sports and academics in a new culture, participated in volunteer service projects in Mexico, Honduras and the U.S., and made many new friends along the way.

In 2006, Ephrem returned to Ethiopia for a month to visit his grandmother (the children’s only living relative) and help her refurbish the small adobe home that he and Meheretab had built several years earlier.  At that time he used some of the skills he had learned building houses in Mexico to install a sewer, bring running water on to the property, and make the home warmer and water-tight.  Aday (“grandma”) was deeply moved by his care and longed to see her other grandchildren as well.

Like other parents, Gayll and Mark want their children to learn to be outward-focused, joy-filled givers who see service as the natural overflow of the gifts they’ve been given.  Their concern in bringing four children from Ethiopia to the US was that the consumptive, me-first values of our society might ultimately harm them. And yet their hope in adoption was to embrace not only their kids, but their Ethiopia heritage and their grandmother as true family - and in doing so to inspire other families towards love that knows no borders.

Since the time Gayll brought the children home from Ethiopia in 2003, the Phifer-Houseman’s have always had a hope that they would eventually be able to return to Ethiopia---both to see Aday again, and to provide an opportunity for their kids to begin to see themselves as part of Ethiopia’s future.

This past December, Gayll, Ephrem, Muhr, Yodit, and Bethlehem traveled to Addis Ababa for three weeks to spend time with Aday after an absence of six years and volunteer with Hope Enterprises, an outstanding Ethiopian NGO that runs the only feeding center for street children in Addis Ababa.

They believe the work they began this year could begin building partnerships in Ethiopia, partnerships that will enable them to involve other individuals and families in the future.

And -- lucky for us -- they blogged while they were there.  Stay tuned for some posts from one of the oldest countries in the world!