I am your sister... The story of our second court date and meeting Sitina's birth mom.

Our second court date was on March 3rd. We passed! What a relief. We sat outside the court house with bated breath waiting and watching for our representative to come and share with us the news. As she approached the van we realized that SItina’s birth mother was there. Quickly we got out to greet them. Right away our representative hugged Gary and told him that it is over. We are approved. I was thankful for that because then we could just enjoy the visit that followed without wondering whether or not we passed. We were then introduced to the orphanage director that Sitina lived in and finally to her birth mother...

Sitina’s story is hers. Not mine. I have no intentions to share her personal history. That is for her to tell whom she will chose when she is older. I understand people are curious about her history but I am sure you can understand how sensitive this is. 

I would like to share my point of view with regard to meeting her birth mother. To some it up, it was an answer to prayer. She shared with us many important pieces of information with regard to Sitina’s tribal background, exact place of birth and things that she would like Sitina to know about her. We also found out that her mother is a believer! She asked us to pray for her and her situation. I assured her that not only will we be praying for her in detail but we will also teach Sitina Woyneshet to pray for her as well.  Sitina’s birth mother was very happy to know that Gary is a pastor. You should have seen her smile! 

My impression of Amerech (which means beautiful) was; she is radiant, when she smiles you can’t help but smile. She is beautiful. She is soft spoken. She is young. She is thankful. She is a hard worker. She has had a hard life. She needs prayer. I love her. 

Words cannot describe how I felt when she told me “you are my sister”. When she passed the blessing of being Sitina’s mother to me. I kissed her, on the forehead and  on the hand and we embraced many times. Gary and I had the privilege of praying for her. The translator started to interpret but we asked him to just let us pray. So there were, on the side of the road in Addis Ababa, with our hands laid on Amerech and pleading with God for this sweet woman. It was an experience like none other and one we will never forget. All thanks and glory to God for this blessed meeting.