Ethiopian Art Night and Lecture

We are just getting home from such an awesome night. Sojourn Community Church had an Ethiopian Dinner/Art Exhibit/Lecture tonight. There was some beautiful art and photography. A few of the families from our agency that have adopted children were also there. All the kids were wearing their beautiful, Ethiopian traditional outfits. So cute!
As soon an we walked in, I felt a wave of emotion. It was so wonderful smelling the food, smelling the coffee, seeing the art, and meeting local Ethiopians. The whole experience made both Justin and I feel closer to Chera and Kenenissa.
The speaker was a missionary who grew up in Ethiopia. His talk was on Ethiopian Christianity and it's influence on art, music, and life. During the talk, he mentioned an Ethiopian king named Kaleb. The king was very instrumental in the spread of Christianity in Ethiopia and was a wise and discerning leader. What is wild, is that we were planning on giving Kenenissa the name Caleb. It really made us happy that the name we chose to give Kenenissa is both important to us as Christians and to their Ethiopian culture. I think that we are probably going to go with the spelling with a "K."
After the talk, we met the speaker to find out more about King Kaleb. We didn't plan on finding out anything about our boys, but we found out some great things about their names. In Ethiopia, names are very important. All names have beautiful and thoughtful meanings. We have not been able to find out the names of the boys from anyone! We have asked 5 Ethiopians, and none of them knew. Considering there are 72 languages in Ethiopia, I guess that is not that strange! I have searched and searched the internet, but have found nothing. When telling the missionary about the boys and without asking him, he immediately told us the boys name meanings! Chera means "Grace" and Kenenissa translates to "one who is taken care of by the community." A pretty nice ending to the night that I did not expect. I am including some pics of our night.

Lifesong

We have been approved by Lifesong! This means that through Louisville Orphan Care Initiative we will receive a matching grant of $4,000. Now, we need to raise $4,000 to receive the grant. We are planning a fundraiser in August to raise funds. More info to come!

Learning more about our Boys

Through pictures, video and friends we are learning so much about our boys. As I previously mentioned, some friends of our were just in Ethiopia picking up their little girl. We have found out from them that the youngest, calls himself Kenessisa. We have heard and seen so many variations on his name, I think since that is what he calls himself, then we will stick with that. Hollie said that he is very active and is the "leader" of the toddler room. Hollie said that Chera was quiet and shy.
Our agency director's husband, Pat, has just returned from a trip to Ethiopia. He returned with some great pictures and video of the boys. These pictures show them playing with each other and loving on each other. In the video they are running, jumping, and playing ball. I can probably cancel my gym membership with the workout they are going to give me everyday!
I wish I could post the video and the pictures! Hopefully we will have news on a court date soon!