Daniel's first trip to Ethiopia was in September of 2007. He travelled to Gambella to meet our now newly adopted daughters LemLem & Shara. The trip was about 6 weeks long and ended with tension as he and his travel partner struggled to figure out how to process the adoption of our girls in a region where no adoptions had been performed. The following year was a long drawn out process of trying everything and anything we could to try to make it happen.
In the summer of 2008 our adoptions were finally being processed and we knew we would be travelling to Ethiopia sometime in the fall of 2008. We had decided to take a little extra time and do some volunteer work. We had become associated with Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministries based out of Spokane, WA during our home study process. We contacted the director to see if there was any need for us to volunteer with her organization. She was happy to have us.
So we made all the necessary arrangements back home and planned to put our American lives on hold for a few months and head off to experience Ethiopia.
