Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Awaiting Ava

It has been twenty one days since we first opened your picture. In twenty one days I know you have changed so much. I wish I could be near you today if only for a moment to touch, hold and snuggle you. I wish I could whisper to you that we are so grateful for your little life and for for the ride of our lives in bringing you home to us. I wish I could touch your long fingers and kiss your tiny head of hair. Each day I wonder what you must be like. I wonder if you are active and smiley or quiet and peaceful.  I know so little about you and I so long to know more.

The one thing I do know is that you are in a very wonderful place. I know that through Hannah's Hope www.allgodschildren.org/misc/HHEthiopia/you are being loved and cared for by the Special Mother's who have made it their mission to raise each child in their presence with affection, warmth and love. For now they must take the place of your family that awaits you here.

Just yesterday Owen asked, "When are we getting our baby?" We are thinking about you, praying for you and praying for this process to move quickly. We want to get there Miss Ava to meet you, know you, hold you and love you. Keep waiting baby girl... We are on our way!

2 comments:

Becca Harley said...

Oh, praying that she is home soon! Cannot wait to see her in your arms!

Amy said...

I know how you feel! I kind of wish we got to travel for court so I could hold my little guy sooner.

Hoping you get a court date soon!!!

Into Our Arms Forever!

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welcome home ava! from melanie Strobel on Vimeo.

Meeting Ava during our first trip to Ethiopia

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Meeting Ava Ethiopia Trip July 2010 from melanie Strobel on Vimeo.

Korah- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

During our recent visit to Ethiopia I felt very called to the village of Korah in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. There have been numerous rumblings lately about the tremendous need to help the children of Korah who are growing up in and around the local trash dump. The village was established 75 years ago as a place to send people with leprosy who were said to be cursed. Now there is a 3rd generation of people living in Korah with nearly 100,000 suffering from such things as leprosy, HIV, misc disease and of course malnutrition. There are many children of Korah who have been forced to live and work at the trash dump in hopes of finding food and possible items to sell in Korah's center of town. With the start of the Great Hope Church in Korah and the building of a shelter, along with the ministry of local Sammy Liben and Sumer Yates, there is now a feeding program and a sponsorship program in place to rescue the forgotten children of Korah and send them to boarding school where they can escape the horror of the conditions of living and working in a large trash dump. For more information please visit: www.help4korah.blogspot.com or www.p61.org where you can learn more about how you or your organization can help the people and the children of Korah. Please send me a message or email Erin Allen at erin@p61.org to request sponsorship information. I will soon be posting the photos of my day recently spent in Korah. I must tell you it was life changing and beyond anything I have ever done to stretch, change and rearrange myself. God helped me to help the people who I met. Much of what I could offer was nothing more than the snap of my camera or a warm touch or an inviting smile. The needs in Korah are beyond our wildest imagination yet God is over Korah and there is already amazing work being done. I invite you to view the following videos to learn more about the beauty and the needs of Korah's people.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO SPONSOR A CHILD

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Hannah's Hope Orphanage- Ethiopia

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