Day Four and Five (first half)

On Sunday we woke up and had breakfast again in the hotel. By the way, I think I had fresh bread, a cheese omelet, fresh squeezed OJ (super fresh--and very tart!) and tea every morning; breakfasts were very good. Aberra picked us up and we, along with Milkiyas, went out for coffee before church. Then we went to church, which was quite the experience. It was in a tin building, with wooden benches and a dirt floor. We got there around 9, which I think was when the service was supposed to start, but no one was around. When the prayer finally started around 9:45, about a fourth of the church was filled. By 1:00, when the service was over, the whole place was full. It was a long service in a language I didn't understand, but the worship was powerful and the passion for God was evident.

Here is the church:





After church we went to the hospital for a little while to visit Ruby. The doctor wasn't around, so we didn't get to talk to him, but at least we got to spend some time with our daughter. I think we were going to go to Milkiyas' house for lunch, but church went so late and then we wanted to make sure we made it to the hospital, so we didn't make it to his house.

Next we visited Bethany's Transitional House where the kids that are referred to Bethany's families will stay until their new families are allowed to come and get them. Here we met 4 beautiful boys that were waiting for court dates. It breaks my heart to say that since our visit, one of the boys has passed away and two more of them are in the hospital. Please pray for these hurting families who feel so far away from their kids during this tough time.

Here are a few pictures of the transitional house.









Monday, we went to the embassy first thing in the morning to make sure all of our paperwork was in line and to pay our embassy fee. The embassy was about a 45 minute drive on a busy Monday morning and it was very fascinating and eye opening to watch out the window as we drove. There are people walking everywhere and the traffic was crazy. Everything was in order at the embassy so we were only there for about an hour (we had to do some waiting in line and we had to fill out some paperwork). I was surprised that the embassy building itself was large, but not very nice. It was basically just a big cement building-- I am not sure what I was expecting, but this was different.

The entry to the embassy:

Views from the car on the way to the embassy.




This is getting so long; I will post the second half of day five later :)