Heading to Ethiopia - lots of fundraisers!!!

So back a few weeks ago we were called up by CMF (Christian Missionary Fellowship) and asked if we would like to go on a vision trip with them to Ethiopia this October for 13 days. At first I was like "oh wow yes I would be interested and I could take Maggie along with me" then the doubt starting setting in...

• wow I will be gone for almost 2 weeks! there is no way I can be away that long...
• there is no way I could wean Emery that soon (I always nurse my babies until they are two)-I would be terrible if I did that!
• leaving Adam that long with the kids would be really interesting, what would the house look like?, how would he handle trying to work, etc..
• I am just not ready to do this...
• I can't raise almost $4000 for Maggie and I to go on this trip...there is no way!
• What if Maggie or I get sick when we are there?
• What if it's just too much for me to handle without Adam?
  
• the list could go on and on...

But I am reminded...I can do all things through Christ who give me strength...Really, me, I can! I still have moments throughout everyday where I am thinking there is no way I can do this. But I pray or just think about it and really I can do this. This will be great! There have been a few things that seem to say "hey you are supposed to go on the trip" -like maggie being on fall break during that time. We homeschool but use a public virtual school so we have to stay with their schedule and I was worried about trying to squeeze in two weeks worth of school work before we leave...but today I found out we will be good to go! There have been other little things that pop up or I think of from time to time that give me a peace about going.

When we first heard of the trip CMF really wanted both Adam and I to go. Well, with the little kiddos and with him not having much vacation time left this year there was no way he could go. I really wanted to go back before moving there and I really wanted Maggie to experience it before we moved there. We felt like this was a great opportunity for us to go. We will be hearing and experiencing first hand what the missionaries living in Addis working with the Urban Poor team are doing. It will be great getting to experience Addis in a whole new way. Visiting as an adoptive parent just isn't the same as going on a mission trip there. My experience traveling there before was even more different because I was 10 weeks pregnant with Emery! I am excited to love on the people and stand in the place where our hearts are. We will spend the majority of our days there with the Urban Poor team, but also will be making a trip to Shashamane to visit our sponsored son, Misganow, who we sponsor through project 61. We are going to spend some time in an orphanage or two, spend some time in Korah (Kore), meet some missionary friends who work with other organizations (like No Ordinary Love Ministries), and I know that other things will pop up and I am anxious to see what God has in store for this!

I am collecting cloth diapers to take with me (if you know of a particular orphanage in need of them let me know). If there's any out there who would like to donate diapers let me know. I want to take as much as possible. I have been so blessed with my cloth diaper project and have already sent over 1000 lbs of cloth diapers to Ethiopia. I think that is pretty amazing!!! What started as a "little" project has become so HUGE! and it will continue as we move to Addis. We are going to be the contact in Ethiopia and a few other mommy's are taking on collecting donations here in the states!!! I am so super excited for this and it is totally a God thing...More on that at a later time...

Besides cloth diaper we are taking donations for things to take to this orphanage ...

• childrens clothing for ages 4-14
• childrens shoes for ages 4-14
• formula

I can't believe how soon we will be in Ethiopia visiting! We have about 9 weeks to raise these funds to go. We are counting on our t-shirts, bumper stickers, Ethiopian goods, flower clips, and donations to fully fund this trip. I know that God can make this happen! so this is where YOU come in...you can visit our store here... http://ourtriptoethiopia.storenvy.com/ and check out our awesome things we are selling (all proceeds go to fund our trip)! There is also a button over on the right of this page that you can click on. There is also a paypal donate button or you can donate through our store if you feel led.

On a slightly different note we will be attending our 3 day Assessment Center this weekend and a 1 day support raising orientation with our sending agency CMF (Christian Missionary Fellowship). We are super excited to "officially" get things up and running to becoming full time missionaries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Please pray for us this weekend as we want clear minds so we can focus fully on the time there. We can't wait to figure out all of the details as far as support raising and our projected time that we will move. We will keep everyone posted as we know more.

We did not fall off the face of the Earth

Not sure who actually follows this blog anymore considering it hasn't been updated in over 2 months! But, thank you to anyone who is actually reading this.

The last few months have been full of fun stuff. We finished up school with Maggie near the end of June, Maggie had her 7th birthday, Emery had his first birthday, and we have been getting our house ready to put on the market. We have been getting rid of a ton of stuff. It feels really freeing clearing out all of our unnecessary "stuff". Our girls have been great about getting rid of toys. They know that it just gets them closer to moving to Ethiopia. They are so excited to move there. We have been setting things at the curb for free, giving things to thrift stores, and selling things online. and now our house is now officially for sale!

We have also been in a lot of prayer about our upcoming Assessement Center with CMF (Christian Missionary Fellowship). It will take place August 12th - August 15th. Here is a discription of the Assessment Center...

"The three-day Assessment Center (AC) event is designed to provide a comprehensive approach to the selection of qualified cross-cultural workers. Your skills, abilities, and traits will be evaluated and matched with the profile of successful cross-cultural workers. At the end of the AC, you will receive thorough feedback, including a list of strengths and a personal development plan to help with your mental, emotional, and spiritual growth."

We also stay for a day of support raising orientation.

CMF is located just north of us in Indianapolis. When we first were looking into sending agencies I was looking into CMF and loved what they were doing and had no clue that they were located in Indianapolis. Then I found out that they were! It will be great with them so close. Totally a God thing!

We have, with Gods help, found people to take care of the kids all day for those 4 days. It's not easy trying to find sitters for us and it was something I was afraid of, but it's all working out. I will be coming home each evening to be with the kiddos and go back every morning (Adam will be staying at a hotel near CMF). I still nurse Emery so he nurses before naps. These next few weeks we will be teaching him to fall asleep without nursing for naptimes, so that I can be at peace during the day that Emery is ok. This is huge for me, so if there is anyone out there who could pray about this for me and Emery that would be awesome! Also, praying for peace for all of the kids and ourselves during those 4 days.

We are so excited to get started with this journey and would love all the prayers we can get. If you can commit to praying for our family please leave a comment and let us know that you are praying. I will post prayer requests occassionally and post about what's going on with us and the things we are doing.

After the Assessment Center we will either be a recruit or a candidate. If we are a recruit we will be invited back for LAUNCH.
-"During this intense and full 3 days of training in Indianapolis, the staff will provide further orientation to CMF, equip you with skills for raising support, and help you develop your support-raising strategy. You will have individual meetings with Leadership Team members regarding your budget, support-raising plan, specific field ministry, communication tools, and additional services available to you. Soon after LAUNCH, you will receive your personal promotional materials (display, printed materials, etc.). Throughout your support raising, your coach will continue to assist you with your specific questions and challenges."

Our prayers are that we get recruit status. If we are candidates we will receive guidance in further preparation for field service, such as training, practical experience, and personal growth. We will need to complete these steps before becoming a Recruit and beginning your support-raising.

Prayer requests:

• weaning Emery from nursing before naptime - easy transition for us both
• for our whole family and the sitters during our Assessment Center in August
• Our house - bring the perfect buyer for our house
• also, I have an opportunity to go to Ethiopia in October for 2 weeks with CMF! It is a vision trip that they invited us to take part in. I am totally up for it, but want to take Maggie (our 7 year old) with me. She is excited to experience going before we move there. I have emailed them asking if its ok. If it is (which i am sure it will be) then we will be going! So prayer for raising funds to go and also weaning Emery beforehand. (we are so excited that we will get to go so soon!) - and preparing Adam to take care of the 3 littlest while Maggie and I are gone.
• Prayers during the Assessment Center. that we can focus and be at peace. Our desire is to become recruits so we can get to Ethiopia sooner. We know it's all Gods plans, but we pray that this is what happens.

Thanks for all of the prayers! and thanks for following our blog. I promise we will update more often!

Ethiopia Mission Trip :: A Look Back

Ok, I know this has been such a long time coming and I promise I have valid reasons for the delay... 4 little ones to be exact... but I finally found the time to put together a video recalling the mission trip experience from this past February. Here it is...



It was an incredible journey that we set out on as a team; we came together from all sides of the states to form this close-knit, nearly indescribable bond... the best word I can think to describe our experience at the end of the trip was family.

Dealing with the emotions, experiences has been difficult. Christie and I have talked about it, but it is so hard to grasp unless you are there living the moment. A few highlights from our trip include...

• • • • • • • • • •

DIAPERS!!! :: Delivering 4 tubs of diapers to 3 different orphanages: A government orphanage in Addis [not allowed to give actual name], a private orphanage in Holeta [Debre Berhan] and a Catholic Orphanage in Addis [Kidane Mihret]; and giving away to a few different individuals too (including a few moms in Korah and one of our drivers who had a 2-month old baby girl!

• • • • • • • • • •

GIR-MON!!! :: (I'm not sure if that is how it's spelled, but that's how it sounds) is a 6'3"(ish) blind boy (well, he's 20... but I'm 30 so I can call him a boy). He came up to me while I was standing in the road in between the shelter and the church.... he asked if I had anything to help protect his eyes. [Cue Despicable Me voice..."Lightbulb"] "Marcy has sunglasses!" I thought. So I took him inside where the church is and the two of us sat down on the bench and chatted. He was/is amazing. I know I've said a lot of things on our trip were amazing, but this moment was "it" for me. I found out Marcy had left to help Mercy get new clothes so we were left w/o sunglasses for the time being. Then McKenzie came up and gave him her sunglasses... and they fit him perfectly... and I must say he looked pretty stylin' in them. He sung for me, hugged me, kissed me, told me he loved me, called me his best friend... affection for other men doesn't come the easiest for me, but I can honestly say I fell in love with this boy.

• • • • • • • • • •

SOCCER IN AMBO! :: When we met up with the kids in Ambo we played this huge soccer match. Kids vs. Adults. I have a little footage in my video... but it was a blast. It got pretty intense out there... I was dying for water and so were the kids. I had 2 huge bottles in my bag that were all but gone by the end... I scored a few goals (thanks to awesome assists from Spencer) but the most memorable moment came when a boy came up to steal the ball when I was kicking a goal and I kicked him in the shin. He fell down and got up with a limp... I carried him off the field but he ran right back out there... what a trooper... what a game. (Note: by the end of the day his limp was gone... I felt sooooooooo bad.) Another memorable moment came when I let Helen record with my videocamera and she held it backwards and recorded herself, upside down, for a good 45 seconds... my kids think it is the funniest thing. classic. :)

• • • • • • • • • •

ICE CREAM W/ THE BOYS! :: Every evening we'd get back to the Ethiopian Guest House and a group of boys from the neighborhood would show up looking to play some soccer and to see if we had any candy or anything. Well, about half way through the trip we thought it would be fun to treat them to ice cream... so we walked down to the market and each boy picked one out. Interestingly the two flavors available were: Coffee and Milk.

• • • • • • • • • •

COW STOMACH! :: One of the last evenings we were there the whole group went out for a traditional dinner. I sat next to one of our drivers... Bebe. (Who might I add is amazing!) Once dinner was served him and I dug in... we were the only two (at our table) that had embraced traditional cuisine while we were there. I pointed to this odd looking meat on the platter and asked him what it was. He said "Try it." I said "You go first." So, he ate it. Then, as a man of my word... I took a large hunk of injera, picked up the funky meat and plopped it in my mouth. Just about gagged myself, but I managed to chew it and keep it down. It had the consistency of rubber and the taste of worst gristle you've ever eaten. I asked him what it was, his answer... "Cow stomach." EWW!

• • • • • • • • • •

NATURE PARK! :: Returning to Addis from Ambo we stopped by a nature park where we say some amazing sites. Including a monkey drinking an orange soda. How about that. It was super cute. I took a 6-foot leap across the top of a waterfall and climbed to the top of another waterfall (with about 5 others). At the top we took a trail back about 1/2 mile to a super small village where we helped a lady break sticks that she would later use as kiln and met up with a bunch of kids. Upon returning we saw a lady washing her clothes at the top of the waterfall.

• • • • • • • • • •

SHOES! :: Shoes were another big part of our trip. We took part in a TOMS shoe distribution at a school in Dahley. We were able to bless these children (and a few members of the community) with shoes by removing their current shoes and placing new ones on their feet. The condition of the shoes was saddening... every foot was dirty, but several were cracked and bleeding and many were suffering from different types infections. I washed and sanitized my hands several times that day. :) Another part where shoes played a big impact were the 3 pairs I gave away to kids that lived on the street and needed them. One of the boys I gave a pair to (Ti) had asked my wife for her pair of shoes when we traveled to pick up Zek! He was still there and still needed shoes. I gave him the pair off my feet. I arrived with 4 pairs of shoes... I came home with a pair of flip flops.

• • • • • • • • • •

There are so many more things that I could talk about, those are just the ones that come to my head right now. As more come up I hope to share them with you.

This was an amazing experience and if you are considering a mission trip, I highly recommend it. Loving on the people I came into contact with was so soul-filling. I left nearly on empty, I came home overflowing. Joy is contagious and the people you meet are so joy-filled that you will never want to leave. In fact, based on the conversations I've had since returning home, most of our group feels that way.

God Bless!

Urgent Help Needed In Orphanage In Ethiopia

This young women named, Ashli moved to Ethiopia last November...

This is from a post on the Ordinary Hero Blog...

"as of recently she has been led to an orphanage that is entrusting her with the care of the children. To protect the kids in the orphanage we will call it Restoration Orphanage, because I think God will restore their lives from the mirey pit and use this place as a place of Restoration in the future for other children. God has handed this place to her for her to step in and help when there are certainly children on death's door. She has gone in and described the needs of these children to me, especially the babies, and it is devastating and heartbreaking! They need care and they need care fast. A few babies have not made it and I believe that is why God has now led Ashli to this place through a connection that I have and is now going to use her to bring these children back to life. It is going to take a lot of work, money, formula, supplies, etc but I know it can be done. AND it can be done by this one young girl.....WITH ALL OUR HELP. Here is an excerpt from her as of yesterday......"

BABY X

by Ashli York on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 4:15pm

"As I held an orphaned little girl tonight who is 10lbs underweight, I began to sing Jesus Loves Me. She stared in my eyes as I sang and I started thinking about her life. Her last name is X because she has no father, she is malnourished, found in the street, and has a horrible bacterial infection that if went untreated would kill her. As the song was ending her eyes slowly closed as she drifted off to sleep. A peace that passes all understanding was shown through the sweetest smile as she slept. I whispered, "Lord, you are her Father. She does have a name, and you know her by name. You know her life and her destiny. Protect her heart and give her peace." There are 15 other babies with a similar story in this orphanage, and 10 more on the way, and only 3 nannies to care for them. I pray that all who read this would prayerfully consider helping this orphanage financially care for these helpless lives. The nannies LOVE these babies but the funding just isn't there for proper care. You can turn tears of hunger into peaceful nights of sleep, and the longing for someone to just hold you into security and happiness. Will you help an orphan fall asleep in peace tonight? Please contact me if you are interested in helping!"

go here to donate through ordinary hero - click here - make sure you type in "for orphanage aid" in the message box

to read more about ashli and the orphanage and its needs - click here

Please pass this on...Put a link to the Ordinary Hero blog where you can donate on your facebook or blog!!!

A few pics from the last few days...and some questions answered

Emery fell asleep eating pasta :)

Homemade chalkboard that we made over the weekend.
The girls love it and Zek thought it was a slide :)



Zek playing in sand...do you see it all over his face?
yep he likes to eat sand. I gave up and he can eat it if he wants :)



He likes to eat everything. This is mulch. and no I didnt let him eat this :)



Emery likes to eat sand too! It must be a boy thing.


Aunt Abby (my much younger little sister) stayed the weekend with us.
The girls had a blast! (and it gave mommy a break!) :)



One of Hazels favorite things to do

Emery playing



more playing...

First, thanks to everyone who is praying for us as we begin this journey!

We have had a few questions or comments that people have asked or made about us moving to Ethiopia. So I will answer a couple...

When do you move?

After we do our 3 day assessement we will know a better time frame, but we are expecting 12 - 18 months from August.

You are brave...

We by no means feel brave. We feel that this is Gods calling for us and we are simply following Him and he is bringing us peace about it all along the way. There are days when I feel super excited and there are days when I wish God didn't lay it on our hearts. But we want to be fully devoted followers and we know this is the plan He has for us.

Does someone pay you to live there?

We will be fully supported by our church, other churches, family and friends. We will have to raise the support on our own (this is one reason why it will take 12-18 months before we move) We will raise the support from partners that can make it possible for us to work with and teach God's love to the people in Addis. We will know more details on all of this once August rolls around.

I want to challenge anyone who is reading this post who hasnt read the book Radical yet to read it. I just finished it last week and it is awesome!!! It took me over month to finish it because well it just takes me that long. I love reading but finding bits of time between taking care of the kiddos is impossible somedays :) I am currently reading When Helping Hurts. A missionary at CMF gave it to us when we went there a few months back. It is a really great book and very insightful. I have learned lots of stuff already! So I highly recommend it!

OUR SUPER BIG, SUPER EXCITING NEWS!!!!

So back a few weeks ago I said that our family has HUGE news and I couldn't announce it for a few weeks. We had to make sure that our parents knew before anyone else did!

This stirring in our hearts came long before we decided definitely to adopt and subsided for awhile during our adoption and our transition from 2 kids to 4 (in less than a 7 month span!). August rolls around last year and we feel it again. This longing for Africa. This desire to give it all to God. Whatever he wants for our lifes we will do. We want to be whole hearted followers of Him.

It was a rough year to say the least. Through this rough patch I could feel God saying to me "Christie just trust in my plan, I have big plans for you...give it all to Me..." It took me a long time to focus. To focus on God. Focus on His plan for our life. To creep into giving it all to Him. To fully trust in His plan...

Back to late August/early September... Adam and I both started to feel the tug...

We began to pray and seriously talk about moving our family
and becoming missionaries in Ethiopia.

So that is our big news!!!! We have been praying about this for several months and researching and talking. We feel that God is calling us to Ethiopia. In fact we know God is calling us to Ethiopia!

There is a peace about it...a peace that surpasses all understanding. A peace that would not be there if we said "no we aren't moving to Ethiopia." I have prayed this a lot lately - "Philippians 4 - 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Adam's mission trip really confirmed all that we had been feeling. (he is working on a video of his trip so he will be posting very very soon about the trip)

We have had our up-and-down moments a lot lately. One minute we will be super excited and the next really questioning and really asking for God's peace and it is always there.

I was listening to the radio on the way to take Maggie to school a month or so ago and really praying to God to please give me peace if this is His plan. A lady was talking about her job or something on the radio and she never imagined herself being where she is right now she said but God will put you exactly where he wants you. and I heard "even if it's 8,000 miles away" I know this was God. He was telling me it's ok I have you in my hands even if you are 8,000 miles away from home you will always be in my hands and these are the plans for you and your family. I could go on and on about things I feel God has said to me or songs that I listen to and know that I was supposed to hear that song at that particular moment. There's a Josh Wilson song that I say is my song. It says "Cause I don't want to live like I don't care...I don't want to say another empty prayer...I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else to do what God has called me to do myself... I could choose not to move... but I refuse." (The "I could choose not to move but I refuse" part makes me smile every time I hear it. - I could choose not to move but that's not God's plan) - if you haven't heard the song do a search for it and listen to it or read the full lyrics, it's a good song. (Josh Wilson - I refuse) Or the Matthew West song The Motions. "I don’t wanna go through the motions, I don’t wanna go one more day without Your all consuming passion inside of me. I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking, what if I had given everything instead of going through the motions " Songs speak to me a lot obviously :) I get some good God time listening to the radio in the car!

After lots of prayer and research about a month ago we decided to take steps to begin affiliating with CMF International. We are now getting our application completed, medical exams, psychological evaluations done, and references done. We will be going through a 3-day assessment in August. (The three-day Assessment Center (AC) event is designed to provide a comprehensive approach to the selection of qualified cross-cultural workers. Your skills, abilities, and traits will be evaluated and matched with the profile of successful cross-cultural workers. At the end of the AC, you will receive thorough feedback, including a list of strengths and a personal development plan to help with your mental, emotional, and spiritual growth.) Click here if you want to see all of the steps we will complete. It is a pretty rigorous process, but we are ready to get it started!

We love what they are doing in Addis Ababa. Here is what we will tentatively be doing when we move there. "Our growing urban poor team works in the slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, through Community Health Evangelism – an integrated ministry using Christ’s example of caring for the whole individual of any community, both physically and spiritually. Ministry focuses on those affected by HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and the orphaned and vulnerable children living on the streets." (taken from CMF website) Here is more about the Urban Poor Ministries click here . Click and read about it. It's pretty awesome and awesome to think that we will be part of this.

We are excited of joining the group of missionaries already working in Addis. We do not know details right now as we are just beginning. We do know that we need lots of prayers right now. Prayers for our decisions we are making, prayers for God's provision, prayers for peace, prayers for God's guidance as we begin this journey...the list could go on :) We know that Satan is going to try to make his way in and we have to stand guard. We have already felt it. We know that everyone we know may not fully understand why we are doing this and may think we are crazy. We are crazy. Crazy for Jesus! Pray that negative comments do not stand in the way of the joy and excitement of all of His plans.

Right now we are asking for people to please commit to praying for our family as we begin this journey and continue to seek God's will.

I am going to try my hardest to keep the blog up-to-date to keep everyone informed of the happenings of our family. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I want everyone who reads our blog to follow along on this journey with us.

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Sorry about being MIA

So we have been a little MIA lately. Sorry about that!

Adam does plan on posting all about his trip coming up soon. Since he got back he has been a little overwhelmed with work and stuff.

But I wanted to do a little update on Bottom Blessings. I still occassionally have people send diapers or donate monetarily through paypal. Thank you to everyone who is still helping out! We do have a ton of diapers in need of going to Ethiopia or any orphanage anywhere for that matter. So if you are traveling anywhere where you know there is an orphanage in need of cloth diapers please let me know. I can ship those to you for you to take. Just email us at knowingnobounds@gmail.com

I have a lovely women named Rachel, who has a ministry with young people and previously had a cloth diaper business. She made and sold cloth diaper covers. She stopped her business a year ago so she could focus on her ministry. (in a recent email she said "All glory to God. I am just in awe of how He's worked this all out - I gave up the business a year ago so I could focus on the ministry, and it's as if He's given it back, but with a purpose this time. All the fun, none of the stress lol."

Little did she know that God was going to use her cloth diapering business and her ministry together! She previously sent me a bunch of covers and diaper wipes she had left from her business. They are now being used by orphanages in Ethiopia.

Rachel and a group of young people have been busy sewing diaper covers for Ethiopia! She emailed some pictures to me of one of her sewing nights.

When Adam visited Ethiopia in February he said that at least one of the orphanages that he went to were only able to change the babies diapers once a day! Now they have tons of cloth diapers to keep those babies bottoms nice and dry!

Here are pictures of Rachels Ministries sewing night...














I am in awe of how God worked this all out for her ministry and for Bottom Blessings :)

Thanks so much to Rachel and her team of volunteers!!!!!

Here soon Adam will do a post on his Ethiopia mission trip. He has awesome stories and pictures.

Also very soon we will be announcing some big news for our family!!!! Sorry to keep you in suspense, but we will have to keep you waiting for another week or two and then we can make the announcement :) Just keep our family in your prayers as we have a lot brewing right now. :)