Joseph Besufekad never knew the love of an earthly father and quickly became Daddy Jesse’s personal stalker. Things that seemed new and unusual, like brushing teeth and taking a bath in a bathtub, became okay when he saw his little brother doing it and his overall adjustment has been relatively easy.
This precious little boy has brought much joy to the Young family. The frustration of paperwork and the agony of waiting melted away in an instant when Jennie reached for her son and held him in her arms for the first time.
A New Assignment in Gimbie
by Joy Casey
As we bumped along the road heading west out of Ethiopia’s capital city, I wondered, “What did God have in store for Adoption Ministry in this out of the way town on the western border of Ethiopia?” I had been invited by the head nurse of the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Gimbie to help with the adoption of a baby left at the hospital by his birthmother. The nurse and his wife also shared some gruesome stories of women who had self-aborted their babies with tragic results for both mother and baby. My heart ached for these women who were caught up in such desperate situations. How did God want us to minister to them and their babies?
As we bumped along the road heading west out of Ethiopia’s capital city, I wondered, “What did God have in store for Adoption Ministry in this out of the way town on the western border of Ethiopia?” I had been invited by the head nurse of the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Gimbie to help with the adoption of a baby left at the hospital by his birthmother. The nurse and his wife also shared some gruesome stories of women who had self-aborted their babies with tragic results for both mother and baby. My heart ached for these women who were caught up in such desperate situations. How did God want us to minister to them and their babies?
Twelve long hours later we pulled up to the front doors of the Adventist Hospital and were met by Scott and Monica Barlow, the missionaries serving at the hospital. Scott took us on a tour of the hospital and as we passed the labor and delivery room he indicated a small cardboard box by the door. “That is a baby. We bury two to four babies every day here,” he sadly informed us. Most of the women deliver their babies at home and only come to the hospital in dire circumstances. Many labor for days and when they come, the baby is either already dead or dies shortly. They also get many botched abortions.
The Barlows told us that there were two babies whose mothers wanted to place for adoption. One baby was an abortion survivor. We went to the huts and met the mothers and their small babies and began the intake paperwork necessary to start the adoption process. A single father of a 7-year-old girl who had lost his hand during a war asked us to take his little girl and find her a home, too. The staff at the Adventist Hospital encouraged Adoption Ministry to provide ongoing social services to Gimbie and the surrounding countryside, and so we started the process of introducing ourselves to the local governmental offices and ask for approval to begin work.
The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly in Ethiopia, but we were encouraged with a warm reception and will shortly open an orphanage for children in the beautiful, exotic town of Gimbie. Will God lead us to begin a home for unwed mothers as well? Time will tell.
The morning I left, I stepped onto the veranda overlooking layer upon layer of rolling hills and watched as the sun spread morning light over the tropical countryside. “I lift my eyes unto the hills from whence comes my help.” We will continue to pray for the hospital, our emerging work in Gimbie, and most especially for the women and children God has allowed to cross our path.
If you are interested in adopting a child from Ethiopia, sponsoring a child or praying for a child,
please contact us at
Also, please be sure to check out our website
www.ywamethiopia.com
and our blog ‘That We Might Be Adopted’
www.thatwemightbeadopted.blogspot.com
Jennie and her .jpg)
