Sorry

Sorry its been so long since I have posted anything new.....I tend to post on FB and then don't get around to the blog.

I am coming back to USA next week- not because I want to, but because my visa expires in a couple of weeks. We had thought by now we would have our work permits and residence cards----but we have met with obstacles and problems. I wont go into any detail here-but it has been very frustrating and time consuming trying to obtain these necessary permits in order for us to legally work in Ethiopia.

Highland horses on parade.....

Some of you may have heard that the Prime Minister of Ethiopia recently passed away. He had led the country for over 22 years.
No one is sure what the next few weeks will bring- the last time something like this happened there was much violence as various factions struggled to gain control over the government.
We must wait and see what happens now-but in the meantime, the whole country is in mourning.
Today,  we happened to catch the following video. A national day of mourning was scheduled in all cities around the country with all churches closed down and all people told to gather in the stadiums of their towns for a memorial service. There were many horses from up in the highland mountain areas and they were decorated in all their finery for this important occasion. They must have started way before dawn to to get from the highlands down to Arba Minch by 9am.
We were lucky to see this and would have liked to see the whole show---but decided it wouldn't be prudent to try and go to the stadium with all the crowds and the emotions running high....
Please pray for Ethiopia that godly men will be placed in positions of power and authority these next few weeks.

Poverty

I am aware that I am living a life that most people never experience. The things that make up my daily life here in Ethiopia are things that you only see on NatGeo.

Remote tribal peoples- bodies decorated with colorful beadwork, intricate braiding of hair into traditional tribal styles that have been the same for hundreds of years. Ethiopia is rich in culture and traditions- but it is also one of the poorest countries in the world.

When we first came to Ethiopia two and a half years ago, we had many ideas of how we could help these people. Many lofty ideals of how truth and justice and compassion would prevail. If we just loved enough....just tried hard enough...just were patient enough.....we could make a difference.

The problem of poverty here is so overwhelming that it seems insurmountable.  

Time and again we have tried different ways of helping- our hearts were in the right place for sure. But the way that it works out is often complicated by the culture. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try and understand--they just view it from an entirely different viewpoint. For instance:

We have been helping a very poor family named the Bekeles for 2 years now. 

This family of five lives in a mud house with 2 rooms. A father, a mother who is handicapped (walks with leg braces and crutches) a grandmother, 12 yr old Yigermal- the son who is also handicapped with the same genetic condition as the mother, and then daughter Misganye, who is (so far) unaffected by this disease.

Anyway- they are truly one of the ‘poorest of the poor’. The neighborhood where they live is pretty rough- extreme poverty, packs of small children 2 and 3 years old running loose and unattended, mothers working from dawn until dark and men drinking the local brew and neglecting their families. People see that the Bekeles have a farenji (foreigner) who helps them. They see me visiting them and sometimes bringing small gifts of sugar or coffee, etc.

I love this family and we have become very close. I take Amarech to the market every 2 weeks to get food supplies for the family and since she walks with crutches I pick her up in my bajaj. Now the neighbors are jealous. They come into the yard and steal clothing drying on the bushes. They mock them and say cruel things. Bekele has a goat that they bring into their house at night because they are afraid someone will steal it. Can you imagine sleeping in the same room with a smelly goat? And yet they do.

So-enough is enough. We had someone come and build a kokoro (corrugated sheet metal) fence all around their ‘compound’ so they will feel safe and secure at night.

We built a drainage ditch along the side of their compound so they wouldn’t keep getting flooded out of their house during the rainy season. Nothing fancy here- not talking marble floors or even flushing toilets-just a fence and a ditch. Now the neighbors are jealous. “Why does your farenji help you like this?” they say. “I am hungry same as you- I need a fence also”. I thought to myself in amazement-how could ANYONE begrudge these poor handicapped people a little bit of help? Where is their compassion? 

I was disgusted by their callousness and petty jealousy.

But then an habasha friend (Ethiopian) explained to me--when you are this poor-your empty stomach aches just the same as a handicapped boy’s.  Have you ever gone to bed at night truly hungry? Not because of a diet- or because you were too busy to take the time to eat all day........but because you had nothing in the house to eat?

As sad a commentary as that is, it did help me to understand the situation better. 

Poverty changes the way we see things- the way we see life.

Coming from affluent USA-where I never have really gone hungry or been helpless to do anything about it- I can’t possibly understand these people.......but it does help me to have more compassion for these ‘callous and petty’ neighbors.....to not fault them too badly. After all- I can escape all this anytime I want to. All I need is my credit card and a plane ticket and I’m back in easy living. But the Bekeles and others have no safety net- no escape from the sometimes bitter and harsh life that is theirs.

So I learned something out of all this- not to judge others too harshly even when it first appears to be a slam dunk about the appropriateness of showing compassion to others.

Here is another example of problems with poverty alleviation. Mangos.

Something as simple as mangos. We have an abundance of mangos from some trees that we have. Mangos sell for 2 birr each in the market. So I asked my habasha friend if it would be a good thing to give all these mangos to a very poor person in our neighborhood. Then she could sell them in the market and earn some money for her family. After a few minutes of thought, she told me that although she knows my heart and that I just want to help people--how will we decide who indeed is the poorest of the poor? As soon as we pick someone, then another person will complain-”why did you not give these mangos to me? I am poor also and need to feed my family”.

OOps.....can’t do that......so instead we decide to give away a few mangos to several of my friends in the neighborhood. Discreetly, without attracting notice. So we walk to a few sick friends’ houses and give them each 5-6 mangos. They were very happy to receive this treat. But now the ‘paparazzi’ have spotted me, and the cry goes up “Teresa! Teresa!” and I am surrounded by children. All rubbing their tummies and asking for a mango. So we try and make them stand in an orderly line. This too is impossible. One thing that Ethiopians do not do is stand in queques or lines. Push and shove is the name of the game-even adults in government offices and banks. They simply are never taught to stand quietly in a line and wait their turn. I can’t tell you how many times someone has pushed in front of me....

Anyway, we handed them out one by one-keeping an eye out for a few rascals who tried to get back in line for another one!  Soon mothers started coming out of their huts-asking for mangos for themselves or for their ‘baby’ who is in another place. I quickly ran out of mangos. Now some of them are mad because they didn’t get a mango. Or the mango they did get had a bruise on it.

What started out as a simple gesture of sharing turned into a big ordeal. I had to really get ahold of myself and not let their attitude upset me. I did not want them to rob me of my joy in simply giving.  But it is hard, sometimes.

These are some of the lessons that Tom and I are learning about life in a poverty-ridden nation. Simple things are not always so simple here. Things that sound good in the beginning don’t always work out like we thought they would.

When we first came here, we had ideas of how we were going to help.

It sounded pretty simple really. But maybe after reading about ‘Fences and The Great Mango Giveaway’, you will better understand some of what we are up against. 

May God bless you and keep you.........TnT

Shipping container arrives in Arba Minch!

Finally!  The container has arrived!

And so ends the most frustrating and tiresome effort ever undertaken by Tom-who is my new hero in the patience department! Who could have thought last December as we loaded up that 20’ shipping container full of donated equipment and tools that we would still be struggling to get it here 6 months later??

Money, ultimately, was not the problem-because many of you generously contributed to help defray the costs of shipping this ‘free container’ to Ethiopia.

Once we maxed out our credit cards and then simply directly asked some of you to help--the result was immediate and gratifying. Our friends and supporters are the best anywhere! If you had a part in this effort, please accept our heartfelt thanks once again.

The problem was dealing with a system of bureaucracy not understood by Westerners.

Crucial papers were lost-misplaced-misfiled-whatever could go wrong went wrong.

Tom was forced to make 8-10 separate trips back and forth to various towns trying to secure stamps and signatures of approval--which had already been approved-and yet he was made to do it over again. The things he had to do made no sense to us---I would have lost my cool months ago--but Tom stayed calm and on course. We later found out that the agent we had hired was unscrupulous and had delayed the release (probably in hopes of ‘augmenting’ his fee!)

But finally, the container was stamped approved and Tom had it immediately loaded onto a flatbed truck and then high-tailed it out of there to our town of Arba Minch, a 10 hour drive to the south.

So the repair work can really continue now in earnest-as we have many necessary tools at our disposal now.

         

First items to tackle in Turmi are:

Installing two rope pumps in two separate wells in surrounding area.

Repairing two cement tanks that were leaking due to cracks in the walls.

Installing solar panels on roofs of dorms to enable children to have 2-3 hrs of light in evenings.

Again, thank you to all of you who prayed and gave so we could get the container over here.

One last note- if you notice the photo attached here below-the case number of our trouble-plagued container????? 

C-6666   That explains a lot, don’t you think???

In His joyful service,

Teresa and Tom 

Container sitting on dock in Djibouti

We have run into a problem with the shipping container......although we were assured that all the paperwork was in order and the order was then given to sail from Houston to Djibouti-there has been a problem.
Not wanting to go into detail because it is all so frustrating-but basically they are re-assessing more taxes on what had previously been determined as 'duty-free'.  We must raise another $5000.00 in taxes and overland shipping costs to get the container to Turmi.
We are asking all of you who have been so faithful in supporting us with prayers and financial support to continue in both those regards. We need your help now!
You may donate by clicking the "Donate" button on this blog page, or you can pay by credit card or PayPal. Also, you can pay by check making it out to "Emerald Bay Church" and writing "Project Ethiopia" in the memo line of the check.
Please mail it to the address below:  160 LaSalle Dr.  Bullard Tx 75757

We are confident the container will be released soon and the tools inside will soon be on their way to Turmi.

Thank you for your prayers!

In His joyful service,

Teresa and Tom

Running water for first time in Turmi

What an exciting time it is for the women and children living in the compound in Turmi. Tom and the men he is training for the water projects have been working very hard (while I have been here in USA)
They have been installing solar panels to run the pump for the well located 1/2 mile down by the river. This pump feeds water into the main line that they trenched and laid pipe in. This line then feeds the new showers and hand washing station and a tap in the main compound. For the first time ever, the women and children do not have to carry 48 lb jerry cans down to the river every day.
The smiles on their faces and rejoicing by them all, made the effort well worth it! All the thanks and glory goes to God our Father--because it is only through His love for us all that these things are accomplished.

After this compound is finished, we will head to the next village in the area we have targeted for development.

Here Am I

I created this video to emphasize the overwhelming need for clean, potable water in Ethiopia. Water collection is the main activity each day. If clean water was available, children would be able to attend school. This next generation of educated Ethiopian's would begin to raise their country from despairing poverty.

We currently have a container full of tools and equipment to build ready to build or repair water wells and water collection systems. Shipping of this container from Houston to Ethiopia costs a staggering  $10,000. If God has stirred your heart to participate in this project, a link to donate funds is on our blog at http://projectethiopiaet.blogspot.com/ or our website projectethiopia.net

water progress in Turmi

After months and months of struggling with government regulations, we have finally started doing some actual water work. These photos are from the compound in Turmi where approximately 28 children now live. This construction work is to feed water from a well down by the river into the compound so that the children have water to drink and to take a shower. It is powered by a solar panel on top of the pump building so that water will continually flow through the pipes. We have also been working to put solar electric power into the main dining room and the dormitories.

 This is the well head. It is connected to a pipe that runs through the entire compound. The water is then pumped throughout the handwashing and shower stations. The stone wall is a retaining wall to defend the well head from erosion due to the heavy surface water runoff that occurs after the infrequent rains in the area.

 building the solar pump house

 water now is operational in showers

 there are eight outdoor showers

 hand washing station in compound

 this is the type of well we are working on. The concrete base with channels cut in them help to keep the water gathering area clean and also collects any water runoff and gives it to the cattle to drink-away from where the humans get their water.

 a hand pump well with concrete run offs

 people fill their jerry cans using a funnel from a plastic bottle

 the end of well station is for the cattle to drink from.

Sunglasses and Tippy Taps

Sunglasses and Tippy Taps

While we were in that same village of Mino Geltie giving Uree the wheelchair, we had another fun thing happen. I had brought along some sunglasses donated by our friends Adele and Francois (Thanks, Atlas in Africa) I offered a pair to a Hamer women who looked at them suspiciously, then let me put them on her face. A big smile lit up her face! Then, ALL the women wanted a pair!  It was so much fun, and I’m sure you will agree that these are some pretty ‘hip’ Hamer women now!

Last October, our two visitors from America (Jen and Lauren) came with us to Turmi and conducted a Health and Sanitation training session for about 30 Hamer women in Mino Geltie. They taught some basic sanitation ideas like hand washing with soap and water.

They also built a Tippy Tap to demonstrate how they can sparingly use their precious water and still wash hands properly. If you don’t know what a Tippy Tap is, go to our website and check it out. www.projectethiopia.net

Anyway, while on this last trip to bring out the wheelchair, I checked up the women to see if any of them had followed through on the previous training. I was happy to see that 5 of them had already built their own Tippy Taps next to their houses. They proudly showed them off to me and told me that their families now used them regularly, but unfortunately, now there is no soap available in the market. So they are using wood ash and water. Next time I am bringing several boxes of soap for them!

Wheelchair for Uree

Wheelchair for Uree 

Last year I put out a request on FB asking if someone could buy a wheelchair for a boy named Uree. He lives in a very remote Hamer village called Mino Geltie. This boy uses his arms to drag himself through the dirt to get to where he wants to go. He is also mildly retarded. No one cares for this boy so the evangelist Cheneke and his family take care of him. After posting my request on FB within hours someone offered to buy the chair. (Thanks, Andreason family!) The chair was purchased from Tanzania- a rugged, rural designed chair especially for the bush. However, when it came time to ship it to Ethiopia, we found out that the shipping cost was misquoted and was actually $400USD  . So I again put out a call for help and my friend Jana and her sunday school class (Thanks, Flint Baptist Church) responded with the shipping costs. The chair was then flown to Addis Ababa where it sat in the customs office for one month due to a clerical error. My friends in Addis, Bob and Betty, were to pick the chair up from customs and hold it for me until I could make the 9 hr. journey up to Addis. Unfortunately, Ethiopia does not recognize nicknames and since my friends names are actually Robert and Bethel, they would not release the chair. Betty made numerous trips to them trying to get the chair released, standing in lines for hours each time, making phone calls-to no avail. Finally, I was able to come to Addis and Betty and I went to do battle with Ethiopian bureaucracy! Eight hours later and several ‘interventions from God’  we had the chair!  It really was a miracle that we got it at all. We ‘just happened’ to bump into a customs employee who suggested we try another way. We found the offices closed but one light was still on, so we barged in and found the head of customs still in his office. He listened to our plight (and my tears!) and wrote us a letter to release the chair! After paying for ‘storage’ of the chair for that month, we loaded up the precious chair and were on our way!

So last sunday we drove the 9 hours down to Turmi for the Big Event- Uree gets his chair!

We pulled into the remote village where he lives and Uree came dragging himself out to greet us. I wish I could describe the smile on his face when he saw that chair! He just beamed!! The villagers all gathered around and were curious and also genuinely happy that he had this wonderful new chair. It had taken almost 6 months to get this chair to Uree, but it was worth every minute of frustration and aggravation as we watched him roll himself around the yard, smiling all the while.

What a great day that was- I am putting some video and photos on FB and this blog so you can see for yourself the good things that can happen when people care enough to try and help each other. I hope you feel the joy-because you are partners with us in all this-Tom and I are only the hands and the feet- we are your representatives over here in the bush.

You all made this happen!  God bless you all........

Nomadic Conference April 1-4 2012

Nomadic Conference       April 1-4 2012

Recently I had the privilege to attend a conference at Lake Babagoya in northern Ethiopia. I say ‘privilege’  because Dr. Malcolm Hunter was the conference leader and spending several days with this guy truly is a privilege. Dr. Hunter has devoted his life to the nomadic peoples of the world- the lost and forgotten ones of this planet. ‘Settled people’ or those who live in villages or towns, are the first and sometimes only people who receive the gospel message. The same goes for financial aid- whether from foreign governments or their own. But nobody goes after the poorest of the poor-those who travel with their animals in search of grazing land-the nomadic pastoralists. 

I admit, I never gave them a second thought before coming to ethiopia-I don’t even think I knew they really existed anymore. But they do- and there are millions of them- in Africa, Mongolia, Pakistan, and many other places in the world.

And they are all people just like us- with families and a social organization, with dreams and ambitions and a sense of humor--in short, they are people, too!

So here are some things I learned about this important and mainly forgotten people group:

Nomads have no land security. They do not have a paper title to any land. Therefore, they are constantly being challenged as to where they graze. If a rival tribe attacks them they will try and flee to escape having their animals taken from them. So they are always on the move- with no permanent dwelling places. Nomads do not make their wealth from planting  crops.Their wealth is ‘on the hoof’ - derived from their animals, only. 

There are 3 types of nomads:

• nomadic pastoralists- they herd their animals, follow the rainfall
• hunter-gatherers- live in forests, eat berries,honey and wildlife
• service nomads- move around offering their skill as blacksmiths,tanners, ferriers, etc..

Nomads are resourceful and flexible- they will do whatever is necessary to survive. When the rains are sparse, some of the nomads will go live in towns so as not to strain their meager water source that they have for the animals and people. Then, when the rains return or increase, they will go back to their people and be reunited with families.

So there is a continual ‘urban ebb and flow’ to areas. ‘Range management’ is another term I learned. The wise old men of the tribe make the decision as to how long this particular source of water will last. When must they begin to move the herd to another source of water? This is a matter of experience gained over generations--they know what time of year a particular spring of water will surface and where. Malcolm told a poignant story of a year that was particularly dry. He happened to be at the Weyto river (in the southern omo region of ethiopia) one day, when many herds of desperately thirsty cattle and men started arriving. They had traveled for days with no water- desperate to reach the Weyto and quench their thirst. But the river was dry!  Malcolm said he will never forget the looks of despair on the mens faces when he saw their hope disappear. Death was now certain for all their cattle-all their wealth- even some of the people as well. I had never given rain much thought when I lived in the US. Rain was always more of an inconvenience to my plans than anything else. But that was before I moved to Ethiopia. Now I know that for many people, their very survival depends on rain. Funny how a change in my location can have such a change in my outlook on things. Now when the rain comes, I say along with my ethiopian friends, “Thank you Jesus!”.

Hospitality is a major part of their lifestyle. Anyone wandering through is welcomed into their homes for food and rest. If a mans’ herd is decimated by disaster or disease, the other nomads will each give from their own herds to re-stock him. Nomads share and care for each other- this is their own particular brand of social security as well. They know they will be taken care of by the tribe.

Malcolm made the comment that Jesus was a nomad!  I never really thought about it like that- but Jesus was always on the move. He never had a home to settle down into. He went from place to place talking to people. Jesus was all about relationships. He took the time to live and eat and tell stories among the people where He was. He developed friendships with them. We should learn from His example. Jesus didn’t say “come to my church- we have a really big building” or “Come to my Bible study group- we have coffee and donuts too!”   He said, simply, “Follow Me”. Another way to look at it is that when Jesus said follow me, that implies that He is always on the move ahead of us. He is leading- we are following- at least thats the way it SHOULD be! (sometimes, well....actually many times, WE tend to lead......!) But wherever we go, or whatever we are involved in-Jesus has already been there ahead of us. Nothing that happens to us is out of His knowledge or care. We should take great comfort in that truth--and get up and get moving!

We also discussed ways that we can be sensitive to the different way that nomads will begin to build their church. As one nomad told Malcolm-” we nomads will not be interested in your church unless we can take it on the back of our camels”.  So it is senseless to build a permanent stone type of building for these people. They must be allowed to develop their church based on relationships rather than real estate. So a humble and sensitive heart is what is necessary for future nomadic missionaries. They must let the nomads themselves define their church and gently walk alongside them and help.

A word about these pictures from Babagoya. The early missionaries built this place. It was their own little shangri-la--an escape from the harshness of the lands in which they ministered. In those days, travel was prohibitive and they could not afford to take a ship back to England or Australia or wherever they came from for furlough. And yet they needed some rest from their labors.....we all do from time to time. So they built this place on the shores of Lake Babagoya. Planting many trees and flowers, building little cabins and pathways...bit by bit they transformed it into the lush little hideaway it now is.

Thank you to all those early pioneers who had the foresight to do that! I was able to rest and reap the benefit of their labors.

Markus and me

Markus and me

Markus is 10 years old and lives by himself on the streets. His mother died years ago. His father lives in a distant city. He has no one. He survives by shining shoes. He is a mischievious kid-with a ready smile--and I think he is a bit of a rascal--he must be pretty resourceful in order to survive on his own....

We met on the busy streets of Arba Minch. We always draw a crowd especially when driving my bajaj-Tom likes to scare the little kids by motioning to them and encouraging them to come closer to him and then he yells Argghh!! at them. They usually scream but laugh as they run away.  Once he did it to a young boy (Markus) who even though he was startled and jumped- he was a good sport about it. What was funny though was that a few days later as Tom was driving the bajaj down the street Markus jumped out at TOM and yelled Argghh!!  We’ve been friends ever since!

Whenever I drive into town, Markus would find me within minutes. He speaks absolutely no english except “ Yes”.  A typical conversation goes something like this: “Markus how are you today?” Yes. “Markus, can you watch my bajaj today?” Yes. “Markus, can you do brain surgery?” Yes. 

So communication between us  is difficult- it has taken several different people to translate and get what little information I do know out of him.

  So I started asking him to be my guard- my zebunya- while I did my shopping in the market. He loves to sit in the bajaj and feel important- and when I take him with me as I do my errands he never misses an opportunity to shout out at his friends as we pass them on the streets. Sometimes I drive fast and zig zag all over the road and he laughs and laughs. 

One day, I was sitting in a cafe trying to access the internet on my computer. Markus hailed me from the street and gestured he wanted to sit in my bajaj. I gave him the OK and he happily piled his shoe shine kit into the bajaj and took his place as ‘guard’.

I went back to work on the computer. Suddenly I heard a commotion out by the bajaj and saw a man hitting Markus with a stick! A crowd had gathered and I went charging out there shouting to leave him alone! Markus was standing his ground but crying and

I got between him and the man and grabbed my own stick that I keep in the bajaj and told the man that Markus was my zebunya and he was supposed to be there and he should be ashamed of himself hitting a small boy etc...Of course who knows if he understood english but my actions were pretty clear I think! Anyway, Markus was pointing to his bottom and he pulled down his ragged little shorts and I gasped-

there was a jagged gash on his buttock and three crooked stitches. Obviously this had happened a few days ago but the man unknowingly had hit him there with his stick and that was why he was crying so much! I immediately put Markus into the bajaj and took him to the hospital. The doctor told me that the wound was already infected and so he couldn’t stitch the wound up and all we could do was to give him some penicillin and try to keep the wound clean and bandaged. Apparently there had been a fight and someone had cut him with a knife. He had one of his shoeshine buddies try and stitch him up with some coarse thread. Poor little guy......no mother to soothe him or take care of him.

In Ethiopia the clinics and hospitals do not have any medicine on the premises. It is the patients responsibility to go get the medicine at a pharmacy and bring it back to the doctor to administer. So I went to get the penicillin and syringes. The nurse explained to Markus what she was going to do- made more complicated by the fact that his mother language is not Amharic but Gamo ( a different tribe) The government has declared Amharic the national language, but since there are 82 different tribal languages in Ethiopia- it is taking a while before the population has one central language.

Anyway, she gave him a shot of penicillin and told him he would be feeling much better now.

Then, the unthinkable happened! Unknown to anyone, Markus was allergic to penicillin- he started  having a reaction. The nurse recognized what was happening and got him back up on the table and gave him the antidote injection. Meantime, I was holding him down and saying ‘wodeshallo’ (I love you) over and over and praying “Dear God, dont let me have just killed this little boy!”

He recovered and then began a week long course of him going to the clinic every day to have his wound and bandage cleaned and changed. Of course I had to go buy the bandages and bring them to the clinic first. Then he had to take some antibiotic pills every few hours. Well, that posed a problem because he had no pockets to keep his medicine in. He only had one pair of raggedy shorts and a torn tshirt. So off we went to the market to buy him a pair of pants with pockets! His eyes lit up over a pair of jeans and a matching jacket-he pleaded with his big brown eyes and his cute little smile- so how could I say no after all that he had been through? The little rascal grinned and strutted around in his new duds. 

So everyday I would drive to town and check to see if he had gone to the clinic to have the bandage changed. From that time on he started calling me ‘mommy’ and whenever he would catch sight of me he would run up grinning calling me mommy and hug me and kiss me.  I guess I am his mommy now. I dont mind at all.

In fact, it is so hard not to take him home with me, but I know that would not be a good thing for him. For one thing, there is the language barrier- and also if he gets to live in ‘disneyland’  for a while, what happens when we leave someday-and he is forced to go back to the streets? That wouldn’t be fair to him....so I am praying that a particular family I know of here will take him in. They are a wonderful Christian family and Markus needs a mother and father who can speak his language and teach him things- somone who can love him and comfort and encourage him.....so my hopes are leaning in that direction. Already I have orchestrated several ‘chance’ meetings between them and they seem to like each other. Next week we are having dinner at their house to introduce him to where they live. Then we will approach Markus with the idea of him living with them. 

I hope that the idea of belonging to a family will outweigh the freedom he has of being on his own. Maybe it is too late for him to function in a family setting? I hope not...he deserves to be a little boy for a while and let a family take care of him for a change.

Please pray for him and that he will be willing to try this arrangement.