It Has Been Awhile!

Well, this is my first post in two years! Some how adopting our third child from Ethiopia has kept me fairly busy. Lots of challenges, transition and growing for the Mandanis family and me personally. As I sit back and take stock of my life I am amazed at the beautiful tapestry that God has woven in my life. If you had asked me 10 years ago what my family would look like I would have never envisioned it as it is today. I am so thankful that God holds the master plan and I can relax and trust that he has plans to give this family a hope and a future. All I have to do is be willing to be "radically obedient and then I can enjoy the ride" as my friend Lysa Terukurst says.

What is on our hearts now? Many topics that are tough to talk about. Sexual slave trade, bonded slave labor, poverty, AIDS, malaria, unclean water and the orphans crisis in Africa!

My journey outside my nice little life began when I attended a leadership conference for my church at Willow Creek Church in Chicago. In addition to the many seminars they featured a segment called "What One Woman can do." They highlighted three women who had heard God speak to their heart about the compelling issues going on around the world and decided to do something. I was so touched and moved by all of these women. After these women spoke they had exhibits outside from organizations around the country that are making a difference. I grabbed books, pamphlets, brochures and started reading. All at once my eyes were opened to the stark realities and hopelessness of the majority of our world.

I noticed article after article in magazines and newspapers about the plight of orphans in Africa. I began a personal journey to learn what was happening and began educating myself on these serious and compelling issues. The numbers were staggering. I learned that there were 45 million orphans in Africa and 5 million in Ethiopia alone mainly due to the AIDS pandemic. Young children were watching both parents die and often caring for them throughout their illness. In some cases they were left to care for their younger siblings all alone. As I evaluated my own very blessed life, I felt compelled to make a difference in some small way. Although there are many serious and challenging issues in Africa, which can sometimes be viewed as overwhelming, I firmly believe that each of us can make a difference one life at a time.

I felt that God was asking me to go and see for myself. I spent ten days in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia visiting orphanages and seeing first hand so many children who have been orphaned by AIDs. The numbers were staggering but the children and their faces would haunt me for the next 10 months. I spent many sleepless nights sifting and processing what I had seen. Our family talked for hours about our responsibility to help others and what kind of response God was asking from us. My husband and I both agreed that after seeing the desperate needs first hand we could not look the other way. We could not look the other way and could never forget! And so began our journey to bring our son, Tam home.

Our trip to Ethiopia to bring Tam home reminded us again of the plight of these children. We knew we were being asked to never forget, to never walk away, and to never stop caring. After much research we decided to partner with Children's Hope Chest and the Kidd Family to reach out to our networks to help children. Andrea's husband, Pete took one more trip to Ethiopia on a "vision trip" and hand picked an orphanage/community center to come along side of and help. We have 88 children who are in desperate circumstances. We are currently working on sponsorship for these children, raising capital to help with improvements at the orphanage and I am hoping to lead a mission trip with our sponsorship community next summer to let these children know they are precious and dearly loved by the Lord. Your can also write to these children via letters or email and attach pictures of your family.

The website for Children's Hope Chest is www.hopechest.org and you look at who they are what they are up to around the world! Also here is a link to an interview done with the CEO that tells his personal story and his heart for helping orphans.

Here is the link for the Tom Davis interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfdv4tvQ21Q

Thankfully out of 88 children who need sponsors, we only have around 11 left! The family we partnered with (The Kidd Family) are adopting a little boy from Ethiopia (4th child and 2nd from Ethiopia) and will be moving there for 2 months. Ethiopia recently changed their travel requirements and are asking families to travel twice with a two month window in between. Their little guy is only 14 lbs at 1 year old and is severly malnourished. They have made the decision to move their entire family to Ethiopia to be with him during this time. Talk about amazing and sacrifical hearts! They are going to be visiting our care point/orphange while they are in Ethiopia and assessing the needs and loving on our kids. They have offered to bring care packages for our sponsorship community. We currnetly have a sponsorship community of 44 families who want to come along side this orphange/community and make a difference. God is definitely at work! I am so thankful for all of these families and desire to reach out and make a difference!

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Back In The USA!

Just a quick entry to say we are back safe and sound in the USA. We had quite the welcoming committee at the airport. Thanks to everyone who came out to welcome us home. It meant so much to have all of you there. It was a tough 18 hours plane ride back with no sleep and I caught a virus before we left and I was pretty sick on the plane ride. So to see all of you coming off the plane lifted our spirits. Tam is amazing and we are overwhelmed by God’s precious gift. He is speaking more English each day, smiling, laughing and enjoying his new home. No real issues yet although he likes to go outside without telling me. I am still not up to par but will try and write more later. Thanks again for all your love and support.

Crater Lake.. The Big Adventure!

We spent yesterday on a wild adventure driving 3 hours west of Addis Ababa to a breathtaking lake called “Crater Lake.” The last hour of driving was in our big bus on rocky roads and steep ravines. We brought along tons of food so we could pass it out to the many children we saw along the way. When we would stop they would crowd the bus wanting a glimpse us and oh so pleased when we had treats to give them. Tamerat wanted to give them his new backback that Kim had given him which made me tear. He ended up giving the pants he was wearing to a little boy who had pants on that were so badly shredded and pinned together with big safety pins. You could see his entire legs through the pants. We had brought an extra pair of shorts for Tam and he wanted to give him his pants.

Once we arrived we rode on horseback down to the lake. What an exciting experience for al of us. Each of us were on our own horse and led by guides. The guides ranged in age to 10 years old to 70 years old. We had quite a following of locals as we made our way down to the lake. It was of course Tam’s first time on a horse and he loved it.

Traveling that far out into the country is like stepping back in time. We saw the most beautiful landscape and countryside and the people were so friendly and curious. It was great to get out of the hustle and bustle of Addis.

Here is a picture of some of the children we met along our visit to Crater Lake. These kids have little or nothing and spend their days tending the livestock or taking care of each other. Some of the girls had little bouquets they were trying to sell. They are precious!

We are packing today as our flight leaves tonight and arrives in Dulles at 7:55am. We won’t clear customs till probably 8:45. It’s going to be a long flight as we leave at 10:30pm and fly all night. Both Stefan and I have picked us a hacking cough and I am praying it’s nothing to major. We are all so thankful for God’s hand of safety and provision while we are here. We could not have asked for a better trip or a better son! We look forward to seeing all of you upon our return. Will try and post once more before we leave with a picture.

We spent yesterday on a wild adventure driving 3 hours west of Addis Ababa to a breathtaking lake called “Crater Lake.” The last hour of driving was in our big bus on rocky roads and steep ravines. We brought along tons of food so we could pass it out to the many children we saw along the way. When we would stop they would crowd the bus wanting a glimpse us and oh so pleased when we had treats to give them. Tamerat wanted to give them his new backback that Kim had given him which made me tear. He ended up giving the pants he was wearing to a little boy who had pants on that were so badly shredded and pinned together with big safety pins. You could see his entire legs through the pants. We had brought an extra pair of shorts for Tam and he wanted to give him his pants.

Once we arrived we rode on horseback down to the lake. What an exciting experience for al of us. Each of us were on our own horse and led by guides. The guides ranged in age to 10 years old to 70 years old. We had quite a following of locals as we made our way down to the lake. It was of course Tam’s first time on a horse and he loved it.

Traveling that far out into the country is like stepping back in time. We saw the most beautiful landscape and countryside and the people were so friendly and curious. It was great to get out of the hustle and bustle of Addis.

We are packing today as our flight leaves tonight and arrives in Dulles at 7:55am. We won’t clear customs till probably 8:45. It’s going to be a long flight as we leave at 10:30pm and fly all night. Both Stefan and I have picked us a hacking cough and I am praying it’s nothing to major. We are all so thankful for God’s hand of safety and provision while we are here. We could not have asked for a better trip or a better son! We look forward to seeing all of you upon our return. Will try and post once more before we leave with a picture.

A Day On The Road

Today we spent the day on the road seeing so many things! We had the same bus that I rode on last year on my missions trip with Sammy “Mario Andretti” and Surafel at the helm! Our first stop was the National Ethiopian Museum where we saw lots of cool artifacts, clothing and history about Ethiopia. From there is was on to the “Mercato” an outdoor shopping market where they sell everything. You have to see it to believe it. We walked the streets for a couple of hours taking in it all. It is pure chaos and driving in it was an art form. Some of the sights were very disturbing. Things you would never see in the US. People with elephantiasis, leprosy and crawling on the pavement with twisted legs. You saw young girls with babies sitting on the streets begging and children that were no more than 3 or 4 selling things and roaming the streets. It puts our blessed life into perspective so quickly. Life is so hard here especially for women and children.

Just had to drop this picture in to show you how the kids live at Hanna’s orphanage. This is a neighborhood where the kids live. Each little house is two small rooms housing 8 children and a house Mom. They eat, sleep and hang out here and go to Hanna’s larger compound to study and play. The insides are neatly kept but pretty barren. There is one solo light bulb and no running water. Hanna is trying to buy a large place as she is paying rent for over 15 of these little houses and they keep going up in rent. Although these children don’t have much they are happy and joyful and so much fun to be around!

Hello to Mrs. Robertson's 4th Grade Class!

Salaam to Mrs. Robertson’s 3rd Grade class. That means “Peace be unto you.” This greeting is being sent all the way from Ethiopia to Dominion Academy! Ethiopia is on the continent of Africa. Take a look on your map in your classroom and see how far it is from the United States. It took us 16 hours by plane to get here! We only stopped once in Rome, Italy so they could refuel the plane but we did not even have to get off the airplane. Madeline wishes she could have been there for her first week of school but she is in Ethiopia picking up her new brother Tam. Tam was born here in Ethiopia and is six years old. He is experiencing all kinds of things for the first time! Ice cream, going to church, swimming, riding in an elevator, and eating American food are just to name a few. I know he will want to come to Maddy’s school to meet all of you!

Today we went to a big open air market called the “Mercato” where they sell everything. It is outside and there are so many people selling things. We were able to buy a few souvenirs to bring home to the US. We also visited an orphanage called AHOPE today that cares for children that do not have Mom’s and Dad’s. We were able to bring them many donations and some fun things too like candy. Above is a picture of Maddy handing out candy to some of the kids. Tomorrow we are taking a trip to the countryside where we will be able to ride horses down to a lake. Have a great first week of school and Maddy hopes to see you next week once she recovers from being seven hours ahead of you in time! God Bless!