Two Worlds Come Together

This week has definately been one of two world's coming together. As
we ventured halfway around the world, we never could've imagine who we
would meet. First, we met the Girtz family (Michael and Shelly). As
we began sharing stories late the first night, we found out that we
only live about 2 hours apart. As the conversations went on we found
out that we both had 8 year old daughters. The girls were all asleep
but could not wait to wake up and meet each other. Margo and Kylee
have been together every minute, and they love sharing this experience
together. Then as we shared pictures, we noticed that daughters were
both in the same pictures. It turns our that our two
Ethiopian princess are crib mates. The Girtz's daughter is age 4 and our's is
2. The care givers say they are great friends. Oh, what a great
experience this has been! We know that the Kuykendalls and the Girtz
will find ways to help these girls grow up together and for our
families to forge a special bond.

Thanks be to God for this connection.

Chow,

Mark, Marla, Kylee and Marcus.

Wednesday Update

Yesaterday was another great day visiting the care center. We missed
the babies laying in the sun naked. When we got there the children
were all out in the yard playing. Tuesday, "Baby Ethi" was much more what
we expected. She was much more reserved and did not offer much
interaction. We are realizing that it will take a lot of time. We
played with all of the children and Ufayse did allow Kylee to hold her
again.

After our meeting we traveled about a hour to the country side
to a lakeside resort. It was like something out of the movies. It
was beuatiful. We were there with over 75 to 100 girls in the
Kichanae orphanage. It was wonderful to have authentic Ethiopian food
and to see all the girls. Later that night, we had a processing meeting
with a social worker and all the couples.

Overall, it was a great day. Charlsie has been a lifesaver. Marcus is doing well and Kylee had her
hair all braided. Our driver Soli (my new best fried) wants to take
Marcus to a stream spa to help his cough. We will probably go their
today. He is really worried about him coughing and wants him to get
better. Today we are going to get some souveniour shopping done and
visit the Lion zoo.

We have one more visit tomorrow and then we have court on Friday.
Everyone is saing the MOWA group should have a resolution soon. We
have meet many other great couples. We miss everyone and can't wait
to share all this with you.

All our love,

Mark, Marla, Kylee & Marcus
--

A Day of Firsts

Today was full of first:

We have had an amazing day full of many emotions. We started off the
day with the visit of a lifetime. We went to the iorphan care homes
to visit the children. As we pulled up we were greeted by 15 precious
babies completely naked basking in the sun. It was one of the most
precious sights we have ever seen.

We then made our way into the room where "baby ethi" was. We prepared
ourselves for not much reaction because she is very reserved. But
were we wrong. After a few minutes she bounded over to Marla twice
and not long after she was allowing Kylee to carry her around. It was
a priceless morning.

We then re-grouped and had lunch with 10 other famlies who were
visiting their babies.

After lunch our afternoon was filed with visiting two incredible
places. The first was a hospital dedicated to leoprasy patients.
Here they train the people and allow them to make a living. We saw
women with nothing more than a few finger numbs knitting and
croqueting.

After the hospital we went to a place where silk farm. We got to
experience the entire process from the silk worm creating cacoons to
the finished silk products. Kylee had to have a scarf.

We then closed up our eveing by hanging our at our guest house. The
children love playing with the drivers. Oh how they are a God-send.

A long but unforgetable day.

Not the start we had planned for!

Today is the day that we start our physical journey to Ethiopia. Our hearts have been the for some time now. But things have not started off as we had hoped or planned for. I have been very sick for the past few days leaving Marla to do all the packing. But the worse part is Marcus. He has been very sick. We had to call our doctor early this morning. What a blessing our doctors have been. Our doctor meet us at the clinic to check Marcus over one more time. Marcus has developed a bronchial infection. We have load up on medicines and are just hoping and praying he can handle to plane ride. If you run across this post please pray for Marcus' health.

But now we are at the airport and waiting to board our plane to Ethiopia.

It is hard to believe this day is finally here.

Soli de Gloria!

What our Ethiopian Adoption IS and ISN'T

I have been thinking about this post for a while and feel that it is time to put these thoughts down.

Over the past 8 years we have had many conversations with others about adoption and orphan care. So this post is simply to publicly say what we feel ADOPTION IS AND ISN'T.

So let's begin with the positive:

IS or DOES:

• A God given passion and a biblical command. (James 1:27)
• Makes us aware of God's love for us. (John 14:18)
• A lengthy process that has taught our family many things about ourselves.
• Brings our prejudices to the surface so they can be confessed. (Colossians 3:11)
• Allows us to be a part of something that is greater than ourselves.
• Teaches us that we are not the center of our own universes.
• Confronts us in that we are not in control. (Isaiah 55:8)
• Allows our children to grow up by experiencing God's creativity in each of us.

Now for what Adoption ISN'T or DOES NOT DO:

• Adoption does not make us special or better than anyone.
• Does not make our adopted children more blessed than others' biological children.
• Isn't an opportunity to be the "Great White Saviors" for children all over the world. Jesus is the Savior.
• Does not make us more caring and loving than other parents, in fact, we could not have adopted without the help of others.
• Adopting from a foreign country is not saying those children are more deserving than children in the US and vise versa.

YOU CAN HELP - "BE MY VALENTINE."

VALENTINE'S DAY is a special day for our family. On February 14, 2003, Marla and I stood in a San Antonio courthouse and pledged our love, devotion, and support for our precious little girl - Kylee. Now 8 years later we are getting close to seeing our third child, "Princess Ethi," in person.

Next Friday, January 28 we will begin our trip (all 4 of us and Aunt Cha) to once again appear in court. Only this time it will be in Ethiopia.

This will be the 1st of two trips we will take to be able to bring "Princess Ethi" home. We are still in need of funds and here is a great way for you to be a part of our journey.

A fellow adoptive family from Oklahoma is selling shirts for Valentine's Day. Every shirt that they sale $10 will go towards a family that is adopting. If you purchase a shirt please tag "Kuykendall" in the order line. This will make great gifts, spread the awareness on the importance of adoption and help us bring "Princess Ethi" home.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

www.africaboundandrews.blogspot.com

Praying, Planning, Packing & Panicking

We are at home tonight and it is hard to believe that we are going to be boarding a plane in less than 3 weeks to start our physical journey to Ethiopia. You can probably imagine all the emotions that are invading us right now.

We are busy creating our list and checking it twice as well as adding to it daily.

Along the way we hope to be able to update everyone about our journey. And we hope to be able to share pictures of our new little girl soon.

Honestly, this is not easy and we have many concerns we are taking before our Sovereign Creator, Sustainer, and Lord.

We covet your prayers! Listed are a few areas of uncertainty that lend themselves to create anxious hearts.

• Will we forget something that we need?
• How will our youngest (16 month old) do on the 18 hour plane ride?
• Will our stomachs and digestive tracks remain friendly?
• How will our new little girl respond to us?
• How will we feel when we get to see our little girl face to face?
• Will we love the coffee as much as we hope we do?
• How will we handle leaving Ethiopia without our new princess?

And these are just to name a few.

On the flip side are hearts are soaring with excitement to see what God is doing and will continue to do! To Him be honor and Glory!!!

It is time to pack a few more things.