Acacia Village Ground Breaking

This is a picture of an Acacia tree in Ethiopia. Christian World Adoption/Foundation's new orphanage complex is named Acacia Village. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Acacia tree offers shelter and protection and this is the goal of the new CWA complex.
Phil and Ken were honored to attend the Ground Breaking for Acacia Village.
This is a picture of Bob & Tomilee Harding, founders of Christian World Adoption and Christian World Foundation, at the groundbreaking ceremony. They have put so much of themselves into making this dream, the Acacia Village, a reality. They are truly selfless and have a passion for the children in Ethiopia. Phil says, "We truly can see God is working through CWA in Ethiopia!"

There were 65 children at the groundbreaking. They were all wearing flowing streamers and hats which said, Welcome to CWAE (Christian World Adoption Ethiopia.)

All of the children present at the groundbreaking are orphans. CWA has been caring for these children in temporary housing while beginning the Acacia Village. Praise God that all of these children are placed with families! After waiting for the required court dates and paperwork, their parents can fly to Addis Ababa to pick them up.

Phil says, "The people are more content and friendly here than in any other country I have ever been to... despite the fact that it is the poorest country in many ways." Phil has been blessed to travel internationally, serving on missions trips to Australia, Mexico, and Peru. He's also been to China for the adoption of one of our daughters. He has enjoyed all of these countries but is struck by the sweet spirits of the Ethiopian nationals. The expression on this little girl's face seems to embody that spirit of contentment.

Phil and Ken (a friend of ours and cinematographer) landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, on Saturday morning (Ethiopia time...8 hours ahead of us). They connected with Bob and Tomilee Harding, who had flown down a few days earlier, and had "planning" meetings for the events of the upcoming 7 days. They were in the capitol city, today, for the groundbreaking and on Monday they will visit one of the children's homes. On Tuesday they will travel to Awassa (a small village) and Soddo....about a 7 hour car trip from the capitol. They will have the privilege of meeting orphans waiting to be matched with loving families as well as meet some nationals and hear their stories.

Now for some fun details of their day...Today, after the groundbreaking, the Hardings, Ken and Phil were invited to attend a dinner at the Ethiopian Presidential Palace. Phil says, "It was quite an experience seeing the culture of the Ethiopian people around their President. We were able to greet him from about 10 feet away. He had about 10 men around his table that would make any NFL line look small."....he goes on to say, "one thing they served we did not try...large pieces of raw beef. They hung the halves of the cow right on the porch area and you could walk up and point to the piece you wanted." Phil enjoyed the dinner, getting to spend time with the guests, and of course he was honored to be invited to attend!!

After returning to their hotel, Ken and Phil were riding the elevator when Haile Gebre Selassie joined them. According to one article, Haile is "regarded universally as the greatest distance runner of all times." ..."As a child, Haile, ran 10 kilometers a day each way to go and come back from school. At age 16, without any formal training, he entered the Addis Ababa marathon and finished in 2:42." Amazing!! Haile has gone on to compete and medal in 3 Olympic games and has broken many standing long distance records. I've included a photo, from the internet, of Haile in one of his races. The photo next to it is of Haile and Phil at the hotel. Phil said, "standing next to him helps me understand why I am not a distance runner:)." Please continue to pray for the Hardings, Ken and Phil as they travel in Ethiopia.