abeba

I was sitting in the sick room at Asco on a Friday afternoon in December. I had a challenging day and was trying to process what jumping from Ethiopia to North Carolina might be like. There was this incredibly thin girl whom I did not recognize crying and crying. The nurse aid informed me she was brought to the orphanage earlier that day, and she knew only Oromenia, one of the many languages outside of Amharic that are spoken in Ethiopia.I picked Abeba up and cradled her in my arms. I remember feeling so helpless for her. She was new to this giant home, she was very sick, she doesn’t speak the language and she feels like a pile of bones in my arms. I saw her a few more times before I headed back to North Carolina for Christmas. She was extremely shy, clingy and rather miserable…TOTALLY understandable since she was ripped from whatever previous environment was in and thrown into this unknown compound with 450 new brothers and sisters.When I returned in January I could hardly believe my eyes. I want to share these two photos with you…

Here is Abeba before I left in December.

Here is Abeba (in the middle—to the right is Nigistine, another amazing girl) during recess in the beginning of February.

This precious girl has done a 180. She is now very active in class, practices Amharic all the time, energetic and about twice the size as before. It’s a real blessing to see these miracles happen right before my eyes. Praise God for his beloved children!