Day 2: Visiting the Foster Center and Embassy Appointment

We’re almost to the end of day 2 and it’s been great. The end of the day yesterday was spent with us getting to know Malachi a little better. Daddy and Mally got to play for a long while just the two of us so he could get used to me. He still prefers Mommy over Daddy, but I’m OK with that.

This morning when we woke up, Malachi acted like he was in shock that we were still here. I think he expected to wake up to the usual hustle and bustle of the orphanage. After we ate breakfast we walked to the Gladney Foster Center, which is literally a block over. In fact, one of the homes is on our little street. It was so great to see the caregivers and their love for the kids. We met Beti, Malachi’s “special mother” which is what they call the primary caregiver for each child. He loved her and we really got to see his personality when he was at the foster home. He is still pretty reserved around us, as you can imagine. One of the best moments was when we got to see his room and the crib that he stayed in. The picture book we had sent him was there and Beti picked it up to show him and when he saw the pictures of Brandy and I he said, “Mama” and “Papa.” I think he made the connection with us as Mama and Papa after that, though he obviously doesn’t fully understand what that means yet. It was a great moment. It was really tough on him, and on all the kids, when the caregivers gave the kids back to their families. Malachi kept reaching for the door after we left, which is such an encouraging sign of just how well he’s been cared for by them.

We also got to see the other foster care centers including the one that the Fournet’s twins are at. It was so great to see them and we are praying especially hard that we get to see them again very soon back in Dallas. We weren’t able to see the Tucker’s little boy, but Travis who works for Gladney, was nice enough to take the package to him and to shoot some video of him that we will bring back to Cary and Sarah.

After that, they did a coffee ceremony for all of the Gladney families which was great. They roast the beans in front of you over a little pit of hot coals, and then grind the beans by hand. The coffee was amazing (at least I liked it). Afterwards, we all went to lunch together and then headed out to the Embassy. I was pretty nervous about that, just praying that we hadn’t forgotten some little piece of paperwork. All went well and the Embassy worker congratulated us and sent us on our way.

Today has been great to meet the other adoptive families. We sat next to a really nice family from North Carolina at lunch and got to know them and their journey to adoption. While waiting at the Embassy, I had a great conversation with Jed, who is the Director of the Christian Alliance for Orphans out of California. We had a great talk about all things related to orphan care and churches. He is just getting started in this post, so it will be great to get to know him better over the next couple of days.

Tomorrow, we will tour Holy Trinity Church here in Addis and then Brandy and I are going to meet up with Peter Abera, the country director for Children’s HopeChest here in Ethiopia. We are excited to see the work they are doing here in Addis caring for orphans and connecting the local churches to that cause.

All in all, it’s been a great day and we’re looking forward to the rest of our time here, though we’re anxious to get home. Thanks again for checking in and we’ll try to update again tomorrow.

Wes, Brandy, and Malachi

P.S. We posted a few pics on Facebook. Click here to see.