It's Sunday in Ethiopia and we were greeted again with the very early morning echoes of the call to prayer by the Muslim mosques followed by the groans of the Orthodox Church. It's bad every morning but Sunday is brutal - nearly an hour and a half. So, I slept with earplugs - that is I slept until the chanting started and then I laid awake listening to muffled chanting. It was good prayer time for Ashley and me. Thankfully, there were no middle of the night kills by hyaenas, at least, none that I heard.
Like last week, we went to church this morning at International Evangelical Church. It is fun to be in a church that is so culturally diverse. I met tons of people from Ethiopia plus Zimbabwe, Holland, Canada and Oklahoma. I was thinking this is what heaven will be like - people from every tribe, tongue, language and nation. The message was from Luke 12 about our need to keep our lives free of greed but instead be generous with what we have. If he had preached that lesson last week, I would have thought how irrelevant to preach on this in such a poor city. A private toilet (inside or outside) is a very rare luxury. Yet, after spending 8 days here I see the relevance. It's not that Ethiopians are greedy people as compared to Americans. It's that we tend to plan for a future too near to today. We don't plan and spend our money for treasure far enough into the future. This is a problem only the Gospel solves. The people of Addis need the same thing the people of Houston need - Jesus and He is seen through His Word. Praise God for faithful servants around the world who proclaim the whole counsel of His Word regardless of the economic condition of the people they shepherd.
After church, we visited Little E in the hospital again. It was the best time we've had with her all week. We nearly had the room to ourselves. We sat on her bed and talked and tried to play with her. We got to feed her a couple of times, change a dirty diaper and change her clothes. It is so good to get to care for some of her needs but it was hard to look at her body unclothed. She is so small. Thankfully, she was the best we've seen her all week. I pulled out my best 1 year old daddy trick and achieved a sustained smile and the weak sound of an initial giggle. She really warmed to us today. It is so hard to see child in this condition, especially your own daughter, but the improvement over yesterday was encouraging. Thank you God for a step of healing and a sweet time of bonding. My favorite moment was when after holding her and letting her lay her head on my shoulder she cried when I tried to lay her down. She liked my embrace more than her bed. I guess former orphans love squeezes as much as orphans.
Tomorrow is a big day, God willing. We complete the medical tests in the early am and then have our Embassy appointment at 1pm. If we pass, we get their visas and we plan to hop on a late night flight home. This has been our prayer - God please help us get her home quickly. We need God's favor on our little girl to pass the tests. I will fall asleep tonight praying that she passes.
All week I have been attempting to take every anxious thought captive with Jesus' command in Matthew 6:34 "therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow." Preceding this command, Jesus tells us to look at the birds and fields. The birds eat. The fields are not naked. Jesus says do not be anxious because we are of more value and our Father knows our needs. Right after the command, Jesus says tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Jesus says tomorrow is a worry-wart. I am a deeply loved adopted child of a Father who not only knows my every need but has the power to meet those needs. I am not a worry-wart. We will try to sleep tonight like loved children and let tomorrow roll around all night in worry.
Thank you for the unrelenting encouragement and prayers. We have not responded to every email because it would be a full-time job. You love us so well. Thank you!
His,
jb
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Hard pressed; not crushed
We woke up this morning at 5:45am to take Little E to the clinic for her second of three tests required by the Embassy. We were surprised to find that Big E spent the night in the hospital with her but we were happy to get to take him with us. As I walked through the shared living room of our guest house, my iPhone downloaded all the emails I received through the African night from our friends back in the States. This is highly unusual as the Internet is so slow here and only works when the power is on, the modem is working and the traffic isn't blocked. Typically, it takes about an hour of work to get a connection to download emails. It happened in seconds this morning. God was good to us!
As we jumped in a van with our translator, Bizzy (he's going to get an entire blog entry when I get home), I saw my email had downloaded and a close friend had sent me 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. Those verses begin with the great encouragement of Paul that they were "hard pressed on every side but not crushed." Amen! This is our great hope in this life that we cannot be crushed. We cannot be crushed for we are His adopted orphans. Our pain and hardship this week is nothing compared to the sufferings of our merciful Savior to accomplish our adoption. We are hard pressed but not crushed because He was crucified for us.
We got to the hospital and picked up the E's, the nanny who stays with Little E and a nurse from the hospital. We have to hire a nurse to bring to the clinic to draw the sample. When we arrived at the diagnostic clinic to have fluid drawn from Little E's nose tube, we were told that the clinic didn't provide the syringes to draw the fluid but we had to provide our own. When I return home, I'm going to open a BYOB McDonalds (that's bring your own burgers not beer). We were sent down the street to a pharmacy where you can buy your own syringes along with self-prescribing all the common prescription drugs we have in the US. Unfortunately, I missed the day that my professor explained in Intermediate Accounting 2 that a gastric aspirate test on an NG tube must be performed with a 3ml syringe not a 5ml syringe. One more trip back and I got it right. Once back at the clinic, I watched as the nurse barely attached the syringe to the tube but got no suction. At this point, I took over like a guy who'd stayed a Holiday Inn Express. I tightened the syringe to the NG tube and drew out some disgusting looking stuff. Then, I squeezed the syringe into the test tube, replaced the cap on the NG tube and handed it to the tech. I walked out so discouraged. My Little E has been trying to survive horrific malnutrition and a series of infections with medical 'experts' who have so little training and tools. God we need a miracle! We need the kind of miracle where hungry lions lay still while a man uses their soft fur as a pillow for the night.
After returning Little E to the hospital, we spent the rest of the morning at the orphanage playing with the kids. See the "Squeezed" entry - it happens every time. We played ball, colored, taught some English and handed out stickers and Pez. God please bring Godly parents to love these orphans. They are just like the kids that live under my roof in Houston. They laugh at the same silly dad tricks, want to do everything again and love to be chased and tickled. They so need a dad to hold them tightly and tell them of our great God who sent His Son to rescue us.
We spent the afternoon trying to investigate a backup plan for next week if we can't get Little E home. It was a futile effort. I pray it was futile because His miracles don't need backup plans. I'll just add the afternoon of May 21 to the hard pressed column of the week. We've been told by many about the best hospital in Ethiopia and after visiting it and talking with a doctor there it just isn't equipped to handle Little E either. They actually suggested the hospital she nearly died in 3 weeks ago. Prayed more in the van on the way back to my only Hope.
Today was a tough one. We're tired, hungry, discouraged, homesick, smelly, unsure but we are not crushed. Yes, we are not crushed! Corporate worship tomorrow will be sweet for us.
Not crushed,
jb
As we jumped in a van with our translator, Bizzy (he's going to get an entire blog entry when I get home), I saw my email had downloaded and a close friend had sent me 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. Those verses begin with the great encouragement of Paul that they were "hard pressed on every side but not crushed." Amen! This is our great hope in this life that we cannot be crushed. We cannot be crushed for we are His adopted orphans. Our pain and hardship this week is nothing compared to the sufferings of our merciful Savior to accomplish our adoption. We are hard pressed but not crushed because He was crucified for us.
We got to the hospital and picked up the E's, the nanny who stays with Little E and a nurse from the hospital. We have to hire a nurse to bring to the clinic to draw the sample. When we arrived at the diagnostic clinic to have fluid drawn from Little E's nose tube, we were told that the clinic didn't provide the syringes to draw the fluid but we had to provide our own. When I return home, I'm going to open a BYOB McDonalds (that's bring your own burgers not beer). We were sent down the street to a pharmacy where you can buy your own syringes along with self-prescribing all the common prescription drugs we have in the US. Unfortunately, I missed the day that my professor explained in Intermediate Accounting 2 that a gastric aspirate test on an NG tube must be performed with a 3ml syringe not a 5ml syringe. One more trip back and I got it right. Once back at the clinic, I watched as the nurse barely attached the syringe to the tube but got no suction. At this point, I took over like a guy who'd stayed a Holiday Inn Express. I tightened the syringe to the NG tube and drew out some disgusting looking stuff. Then, I squeezed the syringe into the test tube, replaced the cap on the NG tube and handed it to the tech. I walked out so discouraged. My Little E has been trying to survive horrific malnutrition and a series of infections with medical 'experts' who have so little training and tools. God we need a miracle! We need the kind of miracle where hungry lions lay still while a man uses their soft fur as a pillow for the night.
After returning Little E to the hospital, we spent the rest of the morning at the orphanage playing with the kids. See the "Squeezed" entry - it happens every time. We played ball, colored, taught some English and handed out stickers and Pez. God please bring Godly parents to love these orphans. They are just like the kids that live under my roof in Houston. They laugh at the same silly dad tricks, want to do everything again and love to be chased and tickled. They so need a dad to hold them tightly and tell them of our great God who sent His Son to rescue us.
We spent the afternoon trying to investigate a backup plan for next week if we can't get Little E home. It was a futile effort. I pray it was futile because His miracles don't need backup plans. I'll just add the afternoon of May 21 to the hard pressed column of the week. We've been told by many about the best hospital in Ethiopia and after visiting it and talking with a doctor there it just isn't equipped to handle Little E either. They actually suggested the hospital she nearly died in 3 weeks ago. Prayed more in the van on the way back to my only Hope.
Today was a tough one. We're tired, hungry, discouraged, homesick, smelly, unsure but we are not crushed. Yes, we are not crushed! Corporate worship tomorrow will be sweet for us.
Not crushed,
jb
Desperate for God
Hey friends,
Today was a very hard day. I feel like it seems like more than i can bear. We are still trusting Him. We went to take our kids to testing for the us embassy medical. We are in a difficult spot as Little E needs significant medical help and is acquiring more infections, which means it's more difficult to bring her into the country.
Please, please, please pray for us to be able to leave here after our us embassy appointment on Monday at 1 pm.
We are helpless and need God desperately.
Thanks be to God who loves us.
Jesus is the All-Satisfying Treasure!
Ashley Brown
Today was a very hard day. I feel like it seems like more than i can bear. We are still trusting Him. We went to take our kids to testing for the us embassy medical. We are in a difficult spot as Little E needs significant medical help and is acquiring more infections, which means it's more difficult to bring her into the country.
Please, please, please pray for us to be able to leave here after our us embassy appointment on Monday at 1 pm.
We are helpless and need God desperately.
Thanks be to God who loves us.
Jesus is the All-Satisfying Treasure!
Ashley Brown
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
May 19th Jesus is Glorious!
Opening my Bible this morning I was deeply deeply needing the Holy Spirit to use the Word to encourage and strengthen me. I open to John 11 and I read, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of Man may be glorified." I began to cry. "Yes, Lord Jesus. Be glorified here. Show us that you are the Resurrection and the Life."
Rarely have I seen the hand of God carry us through a day more than He has this week. Again and again, He is making a way for us and showing us His glory.
Jay woke up today still feeling bad, but he went out with Beezi to try to get everything we need from the government. He begged and pleaded with people to ask them to help us get the documents that we needed faster. He showed then a picture of our sweet daughter with a feeding tube in her nose, her head slumped over because it is too heavy to hold up, an iv in her arm, a peeling and bald head and her looking very malnourished. God moved their wills like a stream of water and they helped us. Praise Him!
I went with our 2 little ones to get passport photos and go get their medical approval done. Here is our snag. Our little ones have to have a tb test that takes three days for the us embassy. I praise God for the doctors who examined her today. It has been unclear what her condition really is. The 2 doctors here do not agree. We know now that her main problem is severe malnutrition. This has made her vulnerable to infection and sickness. The doctors think she has pneumonia and we are notsure about tb. She has been tested 3 times for it already and it has come back negative so I am very thankful for that. The doctors were kind and clear. The head doctor assured us that when she has good care she will get over her malnutrition and be fine. She is so weak and frail. This word was so encouraging.
I got to spend a good amount of time with our kids today. I loved and treasured every minute. Big E fell asleep in my lap 2 times and I just held him tight. He is so fun. He smiles easily with a huge beautiful smile. At first he was a little reluctant about me today. I think he is guarding himself from more rejection. He was really letting us love him by the end of the day. We had to leave him at 4 pm to run more document errands. He put on his little back pack to come with us. We assured him we would see him tomorrow.
Little E always seems like she is on the verge of sleep but we got to snuggle while she slept. She will make great eye contact with me now. She puts out her arms just a little to be picked up. She loves to be held. We went and visited her late tonight to arrange a nurse for her test tomorrow. We gave her some juice we bought and she so wanted to drink it. She threw it all up. We felt so bad for her but right after she half smiled 3 times. We got the little photo talking book that we made for her and she smiled at the pictures of Ethan, Kennedy, Braden and Jude. I was so excited to see her half smile, her lips tilted up. She smiled for Big E on Monday, but I didn't see it. She does not lift of use her hand with an iv and she barely uses her other hand. I think it just requires too much energy. But she used her iv hand to show us a place on her arm where the skin is raw from her last iv. She tried a little bit to make a noise. (Today she made 4 sounds that sounded like she was barely able to get out a sound of a word. Praise Him!) She was very concerned about this spot and we asked her if it hurt. She just kept pointing to it. We told her it was okay and kissed it and rubbed her arm.
Please pray that we would all see the glory of God through this and worship and believe in Him more. It so encourages me to see Him care so personally and intimately about every moment of my day. The fact that He cares for us this way is an amazing display of the riches of His love. Rarely do we get to see His purposes for the ways He has led us. It has been so clear this week. I will tell you more about this when we get home.
Please pray that we will be cleared by medical and will be able to leave on Monday.
Please pray that Little and Big E will believe that we love them and God loves them.
Please pray Little E will continue to heal and we will know how to help her.
Please pray that the hurt and the tears that I have for this orphans would not cease. I feel like every moment I am on the verge of sobbing. If you could see our little girl and the boney babies you would too.
Thank you so much for your encouraging notes and prayers. It means so much to us. The power goes off here and the Internet is spotty, but when we get to read your notes it feels like God Himself is whispering to us, " I am for you. I am with you."
We love you Ethan, Kennedy, Braden and Jude. We long for you. We miss you so so so much. Jesus is worthy of the sacrifice of having us gone. We can not wait to hear all your stories.
Thank you our wonderful Mimi and Papa.
Thank you Shannon for posting this for me. Blogger does not work here.
I will post a forward facing picture when we get home.
Jesus is the All-Satisfying Treasure!
Ashley Brown
Rarely have I seen the hand of God carry us through a day more than He has this week. Again and again, He is making a way for us and showing us His glory.
Jay woke up today still feeling bad, but he went out with Beezi to try to get everything we need from the government. He begged and pleaded with people to ask them to help us get the documents that we needed faster. He showed then a picture of our sweet daughter with a feeding tube in her nose, her head slumped over because it is too heavy to hold up, an iv in her arm, a peeling and bald head and her looking very malnourished. God moved their wills like a stream of water and they helped us. Praise Him!
I went with our 2 little ones to get passport photos and go get their medical approval done. Here is our snag. Our little ones have to have a tb test that takes three days for the us embassy. I praise God for the doctors who examined her today. It has been unclear what her condition really is. The 2 doctors here do not agree. We know now that her main problem is severe malnutrition. This has made her vulnerable to infection and sickness. The doctors think she has pneumonia and we are notsure about tb. She has been tested 3 times for it already and it has come back negative so I am very thankful for that. The doctors were kind and clear. The head doctor assured us that when she has good care she will get over her malnutrition and be fine. She is so weak and frail. This word was so encouraging.
I got to spend a good amount of time with our kids today. I loved and treasured every minute. Big E fell asleep in my lap 2 times and I just held him tight. He is so fun. He smiles easily with a huge beautiful smile. At first he was a little reluctant about me today. I think he is guarding himself from more rejection. He was really letting us love him by the end of the day. We had to leave him at 4 pm to run more document errands. He put on his little back pack to come with us. We assured him we would see him tomorrow.
Little E always seems like she is on the verge of sleep but we got to snuggle while she slept. She will make great eye contact with me now. She puts out her arms just a little to be picked up. She loves to be held. We went and visited her late tonight to arrange a nurse for her test tomorrow. We gave her some juice we bought and she so wanted to drink it. She threw it all up. We felt so bad for her but right after she half smiled 3 times. We got the little photo talking book that we made for her and she smiled at the pictures of Ethan, Kennedy, Braden and Jude. I was so excited to see her half smile, her lips tilted up. She smiled for Big E on Monday, but I didn't see it. She does not lift of use her hand with an iv and she barely uses her other hand. I think it just requires too much energy. But she used her iv hand to show us a place on her arm where the skin is raw from her last iv. She tried a little bit to make a noise. (Today she made 4 sounds that sounded like she was barely able to get out a sound of a word. Praise Him!) She was very concerned about this spot and we asked her if it hurt. She just kept pointing to it. We told her it was okay and kissed it and rubbed her arm.
Please pray that we would all see the glory of God through this and worship and believe in Him more. It so encourages me to see Him care so personally and intimately about every moment of my day. The fact that He cares for us this way is an amazing display of the riches of His love. Rarely do we get to see His purposes for the ways He has led us. It has been so clear this week. I will tell you more about this when we get home.
Please pray that we will be cleared by medical and will be able to leave on Monday.
Please pray that Little and Big E will believe that we love them and God loves them.
Please pray Little E will continue to heal and we will know how to help her.
Please pray that the hurt and the tears that I have for this orphans would not cease. I feel like every moment I am on the verge of sobbing. If you could see our little girl and the boney babies you would too.
Thank you so much for your encouraging notes and prayers. It means so much to us. The power goes off here and the Internet is spotty, but when we get to read your notes it feels like God Himself is whispering to us, " I am for you. I am with you."
We love you Ethan, Kennedy, Braden and Jude. We long for you. We miss you so so so much. Jesus is worthy of the sacrifice of having us gone. We can not wait to hear all your stories.
Thank you our wonderful Mimi and Papa.
Thank you Shannon for posting this for me. Blogger does not work here.
I will post a forward facing picture when we get home.
Jesus is the All-Satisfying Treasure!
Ashley Brown
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
May 18th 2 New Members of Team Brown!
Trusting in Isaiah 41:10
Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am you God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous night hand.
Big E and Little E have officially entered Team Brown! We can not wait for you to meet them.
I praise God that he granted us grace for Jay to sit through 3 hours of waiting through court. He felt very bad.
I praise God that the judge had mercy on us and granted us the court decree this afternoon.
I praise God that our agency's director here is going to try to help us get our things done tomorrow so we can submit our paper work to the embassy.
I praise God that I got to meet Ashley York, a young women who is here trying to help the orphanages. I will tell you some horrific stories soon.
I praise God that I got to see Little E tonight and the orphanage director told me that Little E is not putting her head down and hugging me because she is sick but just because she likes to hug. I praise God for another snuggle bug.
Please continue to pray for her. She does not seem to be I proving. She is weak and has no hair. Her head is covered with peeling skin. She is so beautiful but she really seems to be struggling to breathe.
Please pray for a health clearance for Little E so they will let her in the united states.
Please pray for favor with the government to be able to make a special exceptions to process their paperwork very quickly.
Please pray for Jay. He is still sick and feeling bad. We actually think it might be viral. 2 of the nannies got it at the same time. He spent the whole afternoon in bed while I ran around.
Please pray for God to prepare all of Team Brown's hearts as we come home.
Please pray for us to trust, hope and have more joy in our amazing Savior.
We can not thank you enough for praying for us, He is always good.
I promise to try to send pictures tomorrow. So much more to say but I am so tied after 3 hours of sleep. I am racked with hurt for these orphans. It is way worse than I thought.
Jesus is My All-Satisfying Treasure!
Ashley Brown
Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am you God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous night hand.
Big E and Little E have officially entered Team Brown! We can not wait for you to meet them.
I praise God that he granted us grace for Jay to sit through 3 hours of waiting through court. He felt very bad.
I praise God that the judge had mercy on us and granted us the court decree this afternoon.
I praise God that our agency's director here is going to try to help us get our things done tomorrow so we can submit our paper work to the embassy.
I praise God that I got to meet Ashley York, a young women who is here trying to help the orphanages. I will tell you some horrific stories soon.
I praise God that I got to see Little E tonight and the orphanage director told me that Little E is not putting her head down and hugging me because she is sick but just because she likes to hug. I praise God for another snuggle bug.
Please continue to pray for her. She does not seem to be I proving. She is weak and has no hair. Her head is covered with peeling skin. She is so beautiful but she really seems to be struggling to breathe.
Please pray for a health clearance for Little E so they will let her in the united states.
Please pray for favor with the government to be able to make a special exceptions to process their paperwork very quickly.
Please pray for Jay. He is still sick and feeling bad. We actually think it might be viral. 2 of the nannies got it at the same time. He spent the whole afternoon in bed while I ran around.
Please pray for God to prepare all of Team Brown's hearts as we come home.
Please pray for us to trust, hope and have more joy in our amazing Savior.
We can not thank you enough for praying for us, He is always good.
I promise to try to send pictures tomorrow. So much more to say but I am so tied after 3 hours of sleep. I am racked with hurt for these orphans. It is way worse than I thought.
Jesus is My All-Satisfying Treasure!
Ashley Brown
We passed!
We passed court today. Big E and Little E are officially Browns. Praise Him! Thank you for all the prayers for this day.
Ashley and I got traveler's illness last night. She feels better this afternoon but I'm running a fever and symptoms continue. Please pray that antibiotic wipes this out quickly.
Ashley and I got traveler's illness last night. She feels better this afternoon but I'm running a fever and symptoms continue. Please pray that antibiotic wipes this out quickly.
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