This was taken when we got to the Transition House to pick Bereket up and he knew he was going to be coming with us this time.

These are some of his friends, they are siblings and their family will be coming soon to pick them up. 

Bereket with his nannies.

We took him to 2000 Habesha an Ethiopian traditional restaurant 

and had a great time with two other families and Yonas, our guide. 

We got to enjoy some lively Ethiopian entertainment.

David, Sandy & Mebret Palmreuter, on the left are a family from Birch Run, MI and John & Lisa Rutter are from Maryland.

Another amazing day in Ethiopia!

This country is an amazing and unique place! The sights and smells are like no other. Once you have been here it is easy to recognize that we are in Ethiopia.

This morning we woke up wide awake at 4:00 a.m. local time. When I wake up that early at home I usually am under the impression that God wants me to spend time talking with Him about someone or something specific. So I spent time praying for my family, my church family, and God's intervention for Heaven's Gates. I am sure He is going show Himself in another amazing way!

After a great breakfast served at our guest house, (nothing as good as Ethiopian scrambled eggs!!!) we went to the US Embassy to sign the final paper work for Bereket's visa, and citizenship papers.
It was a very interesting place, nothing like what I imagined.
The security was very, very tight! Once we made it through security we went into a very large room, which I would compare to a license branch back home. We were one of a couple families at Embassy today so we didn't have to wait very long.

We signed our papers and Bereket has a visa to travel and will become an American citizen when we go through customs in the US.

The interesting thing about the Embassy was the room was filled with hundreds of people attempting to obtained citizenship to the USA or obtain travel visas. Our guide told us that 80 - 90 percent would be turned down. In our short time there we saw many people rejected. The challenge for the Ethiopian people is they have to pay $200 dollars just to file an application, which takes them years to save up for and then a high percentage of them are turned down.

We had the opportunity to go shopping with another family (they are from Birch Run, MI and adopted a sweet 9 year old girl) before lunch and were able to take Bereket with us. He has never had the opportunity to shop and purchase something he would like.
We were able to pick him up a few small Ethiopian souvenirs for him to remember his birth country.

We met up with 2 more families and enjoyed lunch at Amsterdam. The Bennett's chose pizza, spaghetti and a shish kabob, it was very good.

After lunch we went to a small playland place for kids with a family we met here on our last trip. Bereket and Abel had a great time playing on the games and toys.

This afternoon and evening we spent chilling out at the guest house, we watched a movie, played a few games, Bereket and Abel had a squirt gun battle and we went for a walk up on the roof.

Again we are so blessed and privileged to be a part of changing generations to come and impacting lives for eternity!

Thank you for praying for us today, God was very real!

Blessings
Sam & Diane

Well it is 9:45 Tuesday evening in Ethiopia, which means it is 2:45 Tuesday afternoon.

Our trip has been a whirlwind and we have had about 4 or 5 hours sleep in the last 30 hours so I thought I would share a few blessing that God has demonstrated to our family because of your prayers.

We were blessed to share a pizza with Jon, Nicole, Kyle and his children in Valparaiso Sunday evening.

After about three hours of sleep we arrived at Chicago O'Hare at 4:00 a.m. where we were swiftly checked in.

Our seats were booked at the back of the plane, known for a bumpy ride. As we were waiting at the gate our name was called, the agent said she was moving up to seat 11. Yes!
Once we arrived at seat 11 we found out they were Economy plus which means there is more leg room. Thank you Jesus!

We boarded to find out our plane had a lavatory problem, I was happy to have them fix it on the ground.
An hour and half later we took off.
We were a little concerned about our connection, however I knew God was at work.

Because we were in the front of the plane (Thank you Jesus) we were able to depart quickly, as we were transferring a gentlemen in an electric cart came and asked us if we would like ride, he quickly escorted us to our gate (Thank you Jesus).

The flight was long but went well.

We arrived in Addis, we had about twenty minutes to change our clothes and go pick up Bereket.
We met with his doctors and gave out all the donations we were able to collect and two care packages for two other families.
The kids loved the donations, it was like Christmas, they were so happy and smiling (thank you Jesus for a church, friends and family that are willing to give to the least of these!)

We were able to get about two hours of nap time in the afternoon before we went to supper with the families. We took Bereket to an Ethiopian restaurant where they serve an Ethiopian traditional meal and offer lively entertainment!

One other family that we traveled with 6 weeks ago arrived today to take their son home also (Thank you Jesus)

Please pray for the Thomas family, we traveled with them last time and they are still waiting to clear Embassy.

We have a fabulous room and are more than ready to dive in a nice bed! (Thank you Jesus for a nice place to stay!)

Tomorrow we go to Embassy at 9:00 a.m.

None of these blessing would have been possible without your love, prayers and the faithfulness of Jesus our Lord and Savior.

We will write more tomorrow,

Love and blessings
Sam & Diane

We made it safe and sound to Ethiopia, we are leaving to pick up Bereket so I will write later

Sam

God's timing is always perfect, today we cleared Embassy and our appointment is set for Wed. April 24th to interview and finalize our adoption.

We will be traveling back to Ethiopia on Monday the 22nd and will Return on Saturday evening.

Thank you for your prayers as we travel, we will keep our blog updated as we travel.

Hallelujah, today we heard our case has been submitted to Embassy!

Most families we have contact with have been traveling about 10 - 14 days after their case is submitted.

Please keep the Embassy workers in prayer, because it rests in their hands and we are praying everything is in order.

Blessings

Sam 

See our story - http:/bennett.give5.us/

We are very hopeful that this week we will hear that our case has been submitted to Embassy. Two families that we traveled with, there cases were submitted to Embassy this past week. Our American World Adoption agent told us that our case would most likely be submitted Wednesday (April 10), which would mean we would most likely travel two to three weeks following our submission.

We are overwhelmed by all of those who have prayed and supported us in so many ways.

We will keep you posted, as soon as we hear about our submission to Embassy we will let you know.

Sam & Diane