Ethiopia Mission Day #2

Today was an event filled day. We had breakfast around 6 AM local time and headed off around 7:30 AM. Our first destination was Arada sub city in Addas Ababa. I looked back at a picture we had taken of the school that was next to where Eli was found and was able to get the name of the school. With the help of our friend Fikre and some locals in the area we were able to locate the school and the location where Eli was found. This time it was not pouring rain and I was able to talk to several of the locals. We talked to a couple of kids that remembered what had happened and they went and got two adults who provided us with great information. One lady who lived right next to the school remembered exactly what had happened. She told us that she and others had seen a young man leave Eli on the path. The police were called and when they arrived they pointed out the young man and he was detained by the police. The lady was there and heard the young man tell the police that Eli's biological mother had left him alone with Eli andy that he could not take care of him so he left him on the path. She told us that she thinks she knows where the young man lives. Andrea and Pete Kidd passed along the name of a private investigator in Ethiopia that I am going to meet with this week and enlist his help to find the young man. There should be a police report and he will try to find that so that we can get a name. If we are able to find this young man we may be able to find out information about where Eli came from. I am so excited to be able to find out information to tell Eli when he is older. I am also excited to let them know that Eli is doing well. Please pray that this new information would lead to us finding out about Eli's biological parents.

We left Arada sub city and headed to Greenlight Ministry around 10 AM. We attended church for two hours and then spent the rest of the afternoon building concrete floors for the three rooms of the new kitchen. Just as we were about done it poured raining and we retreated indoors for a coffee ceremony. The coffee we drank was so strong that I am wondering if I will ever be able to fall asleep again. We left Greenlight around 5 PM and headed back to the Ethiopia guesthouse to freshen up and head to dinner. We went to dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant where we feasted on Anjera and all sorts of Ethiopian food. We were entertained with traditional dancing and a few of us actually got to join in on the dancing fun. Now we are back at the Ethiopian guest house and everyone is journaling and getting ready to go to bed. Overall this was a great day and we got to spend some time with a handful of the kids from Greenlight. The kids are so cute. There was one little girl name Deborah that I want to bring home. She sat next to me during the church service and she kept looking over and smiling at me the whole time. Jim got to meet his sponsor child Laul and he hung out with Jim for the entire church service.

Tomorrow we will go back to Greenlight and we will paint the inside and outside of the new kitchen and help with installing the cabinets, sink and countertops. We will also get to see all of the kids and give them the care packages and gifts that many of you sent over. I will take pictures and video for everyone to see. Asrat, who is the leader of the Greenlight ministry, has invited us over to his house for lunch next Saturday. He is such a wonderful and godly man and we have discussed him coming to America next year to help us with our annual fundraiser. Thanks again for all the prayers and support. Everyone is doing well and we are excited about the rest of the mission trip and the work we will be doing and the relationships that we are building. Praise God for this awesome opportunity.