“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas just as we did here in Ethiopia. No, there was no snow, but we did celebrate the birth of our Beautiful Savior with food, friends, and fun! We were very blessed this Christmas! We also trust that you have had or are having right now a very blessed New Year as well.

This is my 8 year old little friend, Yerus, who I have asked you all to pray for. Just to remind you, she has full-blown AIDS and is very sick right now with a simple bacterial infection, which for her could be very life-threatening. Please continue to pray for her. She is a very dear friend to us, whom we love immensely! Last year she would come to our house often and we would play a game or two (or three) of Sequence. She’s very intelligent and such a delight.

Our last two boys have left our house in search for independence and a chance to prove to themselves and to the world that they are truly changed men. Neither Abush nor Binyam have been to the Bible studies in the past few weeks. We also have a lot of evidence that makes us believe that Binyam has stolen our bike. Please be praying for them. It has not been even 6 months since they were on the streets doing drugs and begging for food. Pray that the Spirit would lead them and that they would have wisdom and strength to follow Him instead of their fleshly desires.

So, maybe you’ll think this is pretty nerdy of us to put a picture of the orphanage license on our newsletter, especially when you can’t even see it really! Well, maybe it is! However, we are so happy and so proud of our Lord for doing this amazing work for us that we couldn’t help but boast in Him for finally working it out for us to have this license. Again, we will hopefully be finding out the costs of all the building aspects of the orphanage and probably how much we would need yearly to sustain it, and we will let you all know when we return to the States in March. Praise the Lord for promising to finish the work He’s started!

Praises and Prayer Requests:

• Praise God for the orphanage license we’ve been waiting for over a year now!
• Praise the Lord for his faithfulness in speaking truth to the boys, whether they are changed or not
• Praise Him for providing for every financial need we have
• Pray for Yerus and Almas, her mother, for peace, comfort, and healing according to God’s will
• Pray for Abush and Binyam and their journeys of life they are on right now
• Pray for the Lord to provide tickets for us to return in March to the States

Thank you so very much for your prayers and support. We are so blessed with friends and family like you!

Argaw, Rachel, Adonijah and Baby Ayele