Sitting on the stream's bank
Top ten things you learn from 2 yr old Ethiopian after 25 hours on a plane
10. Airplane food is actually really good
9. Seat belts are from the devil
8. Bumpy is fun
7. Fits come in all languages
6. Butter can be consumed as a separate food
5. Flushing the toilet is the bomb
4. Chapstick can be used as leg moisturizer
3. Sleeping is easy
2. Hand sanitizer should applied first to the neck and face
1. When he says "caca", something smelly is about to happen very quickly.
One of my favorite Proverbs is the Lord directs the hearts of kings like a stream of water. It is an odd analogy to say that hearts of kings are directed like streams of water. Why this analogy and not a bit in a horses mouth or a rudder on a boat? Water willing seeks the lowest point. The stream bed draws the water that willingly comes. We were eyewitnesses to this Proverb throughout our 10 days in Ethiopia.
As you probably heard us explain, the process in Ethiopia is a two trip process. In order to adopt, the adopting parents must appear before an Ethiopian court, which sets in motion a series of steps necessary to request a US visa. These steps are taking 6-8 weeks in Ethiopia recently. God had a different stream than 6-8 weeks for Little E. The kings' hearts willingly sped up the process.
As we navigated our way through the Ethiopian processes of getting an Ethiopian court order, a letter from the Ministry of Women's and Children's Affairs, a new birth certificate with their new name, a Ethiopian passport, medical exams and US visas, we were not asked, not once, for money to speed things up and we never offered. We just laid out the prayer requests, asked you to join us in our prayer requests and God made a new stream bed. Water flowed willingly. The first four Ethiopian processes were completed in less than 24 hours. The comment from a senior Embassy official was "I don't what you did but I've never seen an adoption move this quickly through the Ethiopian processes." The comment from our Ethiopian attorney who has been processing adoptions for over 10 years "did not think it was possible." The comment from our translator who works almost exclusively with adoptive families "I've never seen anything like this."
In the technical sense of the word, this was not a miracle. It was not a supernatural event like making water into wine or making a blind man see. He chose to work through natural means to bring about His glory. He cut a new stream bed and we watched from the banks the water go streaming by with ease while people remarked how the streams never came this way in the past.
As I'm writing this, we are 3 hours from Houston having just entered US airspace. It has been a long way from Ethiopia with a 2 year old who has no where to run and play. We weren't prepared to find our daughter so sick and weak and we didn't prepare to bring them home this time. However, we are thankful and grateful for His purposes. In Matthew 8, Jesus says that the man was born blind so that God might be glorified. We pray that He has been glorified in the sickness of Little E and the cutting of a new stream bed. This long on an airplane also reminds us of the desperate spiritual condition of our children and the need for a new stream to be cut in their hearts where Living Water will flow.
After we arrived in Houston, we took Little E directly to Texas Children's Hospital. After an initial exam, our doctor determined that she had to be admitted. She had a whole battery of tests run tonight. Hopefully, we have a good idea about the diagnosis and treatment plan in the morning.
We pray that this week has changed us by more than adding 2 more kids to Team Brown. We pray that the Christ dependence of the week in Addis carries into life in Houston. We pray that we will pray for faith and hope in Christ for us and our kids as much as we prayed for their homecoming. We pray we will be diligent in teaching them the truth of God. We pray that our household will be full of grace and patience as we adjust and our new arrivals learn English. We pray that God would give us wisdom as we consider how to discipline them in a Christ-exalting way. We pray that God would use this experience to help us be better advocates for orphans in the world. Pray that Little E recovers quickly and her doctors have wisdom.
Many thanks to all who have prayed for this day and all who met us at the airport today. We feel so loved that you would come join us as brought the kids home to Houston.
His,
Jb
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Prayer request
Pray for the Browns during their flight that they would be able to find a way to feed and hydrate Little E. Also pray for them as they sit on an airplane for 20 hours with a two year old. Pray for grace as they journey with two children that do not speak English and have never flown on an airplane before.
Team Brown is heading home!
(This is Shannon filling in)
Praise the Lord! The U.S. embassy approved both of the kids' visas and Team Brown is headed to the airport! They will be getting into Houston tomorrow morning around 10 a.m. Jay and Ashley have requested that everyone who is willing to come to the airport to welcome them back home. So come and celebrate with them!
Flight info is as follows:
They will be coming in from Dubai via Emirates flight EK213. They will arrive into Houston Intercontinental Airport tomorrow morning (Tuesday) at 10am in Terminal E.
Little E passed her tests
Praise 1 - Little E passed medical diagnostic tests. Embassy physician working hard to clear us before Embassy appt at 1pm. God is moving with favor towards these orphans.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Tomorrow is a worry-wart
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
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
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
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