Julie Gumm - Author

Ethiopia

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My sister in law asked me today if, besides the fact that it means we are getting the kids, I am excited about out trip to Ethiopia. My answer is a resounding YES. In fact, I yearn to travel to this beautiful land. It’s different than the excitement I felt before our trip to England our Germany. It sounds totally hokey, but it is as if part of my heart is in Africa.

And honestly, I don’t think it’s just about the kids. I think God has truly placed an incredible love for this land in the heart of both Mark and I. That is without me even having been there yet. I know it must be doubly so for Mark who got to travel there in April (other parts of Africa).

Our current plan, based on passing court and traveling at the same time as the Slonigers, give us 5 full days in Ethiopia to experience it’s beauty. Unfortunately we won’t get to see a lot of the beautiful outlying areas because of the time we plan to spend at Hope for the Hopeless. But it is my hope that this will just be the first of many trips to this beautiful country.

ethiopiabluenilefalls

Bringing You Up To Date

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Seriously, I have been so bad at the blog posts lately. So this is the get-you-up-to-speed blog post.

Noah had a great birthday. The “sleepover” went amazingly well. The boys were all out by 10:45 p.m. which I consider a minor miracle. They were up around 6:30 a.m. but dad had morning duty 🙂 So Noah is officially 9! We are so proud of him. He’s doing really great at school and making new friends. He’s decided to play baseball for the Diamondbacks when he grows up. He loves a good joke and is frighteningly smart. Has an incredible memory (which sometimes drives me nuts) and is a bit of a perfectionist.

Natalie will be 6 in just two weeks. She’s having a small slumber party and very excited about it. She’s been talking about it for months. Any day now she’s going to start the “How many days til…?” questioning. She’s started taking ballet after school. One of the parents comes and teaches the K/1st grade girls once a week. We’re doing the 3 week “trial period” right now and then will see how she likes it and how much it costs. Natalie had a blast with her cousins last week while we were in Ark.

They got to climb the giant haystacks at the Haak Dairy (Mark’s Aunt & Uncle).

Here’s all the cousins, minus Annabel in the UK. From left to right are Isaac (2), Trevor (almost 8), Caleb (6), Averee (9), Natalie, Noah and Jayden (4)

Despite the 4 year age difference, Natalie and Averee have a great time together. They kind of have to stick together since they’re the only girls. I have no doubt they’ll watch out for Annabel when given the chance.

We had a great time hanging out in Arkansas. Unfortunately it seems we all picked up either allergies or hay fever or something so we’re trying to kick that out of our systems and get everyone rested back up.

On the adoption front our papers FINALLY got finished and our filed. Now we’re just waiting on a court date. At this point the end of December would be the EARLIEST we would travel.

So that kind of brings you up to date with what we’ve been doing.

Where this journey has led us

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It was almost a year ago that Mark and I first began discussing adoption. Since embarking on this journey our lives have changed forever… and we don’t even have the kids home yet.

Quite honestly we view everything in a completely different light. When you soak in the true need of others and the plight of so many in this world I find it hard to believe that anyone can be the same. While Mark has gotten to see it first hand during his trip to Africa last Spring, I have immersed myself in it in other ways.

There are times when the needs seem overwhelming and it is so easy to say “I can’t change anything”. But that is a lie from Satan himself. One person can make a difference. One person can change one life, or many. It is a choice we must each make for ourselves. Will we surrender all and let God use us?

For us, the care of orphans has become a passion, including spreading the message of caring for orphans as we are commanded by scripture. For some that will mean adoption, for others it will mean sponsorship, or mission trips.

Several months ago we joined forces with several other Christian adoptive families to form The Grafted Tree. Our vision is to:

  • Present people with the truth of God’s word and challenge them to meet the call to care for orphans.
  • Advocate for orphans by educating others about the needs and presenting opportunities for sponsorship, foster care and adoption.
  • Equip others to create a culture of caring for orphans in their church or community group.

One of the ways we are doing this is by creating a presentation team that would be available to talk to church groups, MOPS groups or any other gathering about the great need to care for children both locally and globally.

Not long after our group had formed, God crossed our paths with Pastor Surafel – an Ethiopian national who pastors an evangelical Ethopian church here in Phoenix and who also runs an ministry in Ethiopia called Hope for the Hopeless.

Hope for the Hopeless is in the progress of building two new dormitories on a 7 acre piece of land in Ethiopia. These homes will provide for 72 orphans. An additional $25,000 is needed to complete the buildings – windows, doors, furniture, etc. The need is urgent because until the children are moved in and the land is being used it can be seized by the government and all Hope’s work would be lost. (Read more.)

Several Phoenix churches are joining together to host a night of worship for Hope for the Hopeless. If you live in the Phoenix area we would love to have you attend.

Windows and Doors Worship Event

Friday, September 26th

6:30-8:30 p.m.

Free – Love offering will be taken

The Salvation Army Citadel

628 N. 3rd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ