Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

As the title says, this is my 1,000th post. I never thought I would have stayed in the blogosphere that long but alas, I did. And in my 1,000th post, I want to highlight a great post / article recently written by Rachel Judd. On her site, "Nasha Pryhoda", Rachel talks about the adoption process that she and her family are going through, she speaks of a place that's near and dear to my heart, Korah, and she shares her thoughts on Ethiopia in general. So, if you have a few spare moments, click-through to Nasha Pryhoda and give Rachel's site a read, especially the most recent post titled " Living Beyond Ourselves "! You can reach the site by click the image-link below, a VERY cool header from the Nasha Pryhoda site: Also, if you get a chance, check out Rachel's husband, TC's site: " Taking Thoughts Captive ".

In my last few posts, you've encountered through story, photos and video, firsthand experiences of Addis Ababa's poorest area: Korah. I've talked about the leper colony, the HIV patients and the city dump as well as the Great Hope Church. I've also talked about a friend I've met, Sammy. In this post, I want to introduce you to Sammy, a kid who grew up in the leper colony, ate out of the trash dump every day and help start / found Great Hope Church after he was led to Christ through the ministry known as Young Life. I met Sammy in Ethiopia because he was my translator. In getting to know him, I really grew to know his heart and his passion: ministry to outcasts. My desire is to help Sammy go to school so that he can better serve the 80,000 lepers, prostitutes, HIV/AIDS patients, orphans, etc. that he lives among. In Ethiopia, Sammy can get a full, 4-year education in ministry from an accredited theological college for only $400 a year, that's $1600 for 4 ye...

Several days ago, I walked through one of the poorest places in the world: Korah. I've mentioned Korah in a few of my posts on Ethiopia so far, but here's a brief history of Korah and then some first-hand footage. Also below is an overview of Great Hope Church in Korah. In my next post, you will hear from my dear friend Sammy, who was my translator in Ethiopia and who is ministering in Korah. +++ About Korah +++ 75 years ago the village was established because of leprosy. The people came from the countryside to seek treatment for their illness. They came to ALERT Hospital, which was established by Dr. Ross, from the U.S. and a Dutch doctor named Chris Dorman. When they heard of the spread of leprosy, these two men approached King Hale Selase to request land to establish a hospital specifically for the treatment of leprosy. King Hale Selase was willing to give land, but only land that was far from the town and in the forest so as to keep the people with leprosy separate from ...

In this post and the next several to follow, I want to introduce you to some of Ethiopia's outcasts. These people have been ousted by all of society due to their perceived threat to its purity. These are people who have fallen victim to HIV/AIDS, orphans, prostitutes, lepers, those with physical ailments, etc. In this post, you will see the Leper Colony and ALERT hospital which serve the 80,000+ who have been ousted by society! These 80,000+ people make up Ethiopia's largest and poorest slum (described by them as the "Super Super Poor") called Kore or, in English, Korah. The wealthy people named the slum Korah which has the Old Testament connotation of "cursed". What these wealthy people don't understand however, is that ailments such as leprosy aren't contagious and they aren't genetic. No, when persons are forced to walk miles on rocky roads with no shoes, carrying heavy loads of water, over time, their feet, legs, backs and hands begin ...

I have so much more to share and post about but given the bad internet connections and the busy schedule, some of it will have to wait until I return to the States. That being said, here's a little more from my stay in Ethiopia. Outside of our lodging, we have guards who sit 24 hours. This is not because Ethiopia is very dangerous or violent but these guards also act as gatekeepers for visitors, workers, etc. One of the guards I've been getting to know is Afera (who goes by Alfred in English). Afera is a native of Addis Ababa and recently started trying to learn English (he's in his 50s, though, he still looks quite young). So, I started using the English Bible to help him with that. In turn, I asked that he share with me his Amharic Bible. Here are some scenes from our conversations. Click the image-link below to view the photos & videos:

I have many more thoughts, photos and videos to post soon but in the meantime, here are a few pictures of some buildings under construction. One of the buildings, Acacia Village, will soon be an entire campus created to serve about 500 Ethiopian orphans per year. On this campus there will also be a chapel, family housing, administration offices and a medical facility, which will also serve the entire surrounding community. The organization through which we have adopted, Christian World Adoption (CWA) is hoping this project is done within the next 2-3 years. Click the image-link below to view the photos & videos:

Yesterday, Drew Tatusko mentioned on Facebook that when he and his wife were in Ethiopia years ago, they realized that there are some beautiful diamonds in this rough. I believe our son Silas is one of those diamonds! Traveling around Ethiopia's capital city Addis Ababa is not simply disheartening, it is gut-wrenching! The poverty here is more rampant than I could've ever imagined. Everywhere you look, cubicles of sheet metal make up houses. and shops. Try to imagine some large city you've been to, consisting of nothing but sheet metal shacks, well, that's what you have here. With over 4 million people in this one city, it's like a never ending sea of destitution and injustice. Of course, there are some here that are filthy rich but they are the minority and they use the poor to do their hard labor and dirty work. I know we talk about poverty in the United States but honestly, I don't know if it can even COMPARE to what's going on here! Praise be ...

Here are a few snapshots of us meeting our son Silas for the very first time! Click the image-link below to view the photos & videos:

We're headed to see our son for the first time in about 2 hours. Until I can post some pictures again, here are some photos from Addis Ababa during sunrise. Click the image-link below to view the photos & videos:

We've touched down in Ethiopia's capital city and have made it to our housing destination. Internet access is VERY spotty but hopefully, I'll be able to get in a few periodic updates and / or photos. Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging us, we appreciate it! We meet our son at 10am Ethiopia time, so, I need to get some rest, that's not too far from now! Good night!

We leave in just a few hours. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some photos or footage soon. We have a couple of layovers and then an incredibly long flight (16+ hours direct/non-stop). We're excited to finally meet our son and can't wait to bring him home to meet his big sis. A year and a half after we started this process, we're on the last leg! Keep us in your thoughts.

As I mentioned yesterday and as many of my frequent readers know, for about the last year and a half, my wife and I have been working through the international adoption process (in other words, we're adopting a child from overseas). We have been working with a great organization called Christian World Adoption and would recommend them to anyone looking into international adoption (we chose to adopt from Ethiopia and they are one of the few organizations that the Ethiopian government works with). Several months ago we were approved as parents for our son and ever since then, it has been a challenging waiting game. We've only been able to see 3-4 months of the first year of our son's life through a few random pictures and cell phone videos. Well, finally, we're going to get him. We are set to leave right around the last day of November and should be gone for a week. We have appointments at the Ethiopian embassy to make and we plan to stay close to our "Guest Ho...

As many of you know, my family has been enduring the process of international adoption for over a year and a half now. Finally, it is coming to a close (more on that later). One fact I've been awakened to throughout this process is that Americans are quite out of touch with the world reality of orphans; there are billions of orphaned children across the world. In the United States, while some foster situations aren't the greatest, even these, compared to true orphanages, look like great situations. The truth is, the U.S. has no such thing as a "true" orphanage! This is a good thing, indeed but I wonder if it has also blinded us to the fact that there are so many orphans across the world. Sadly, tomorrow is Orphan Sunday all around the world and I've only been able to find one church in the Lexington, KY area that even recognizes this!!! While that is good, even that church has given the event 2nd place recognition by holding it at 6pm on a Sunday night. I j...

It has been a little while since I've talked about our adoption here on Pisteuomen, but in this brief post, I want to say just a few things about it. First of all, it has been a lengthy process. By the time we fly to Ethiopia and return home (not exactly sure when that will be), this process will have taken about a year and a half. That's a long time to be "expecting". Regardless, we are so glad that some time in the near future, we will see our son. Throughout the course of the adoption, numerous people have asked us questions like: Why are you adopting? Why from Ethiopia? How long does the process take? What does it cost? Will you have to travel? How can we help? Etc., etc. Below is a short video that my wife and I created. We have sent this to a number of people and have played it in a couple of ecclesiastical settings. This video is a 3-minute attempt to capture our feelings about the adoption and to answer some of those questions. Please, if you have 3 minutes, w...

Recently, we received a package from Ethiopia that bore some very cool and authentic, hand-crafted relics. As many of you know, the wife and I are adopting and we will be heading overseas, hopefully in November or December of this year to wrap things up. Anyway, the gifts shown in the pictures below really got us excited, so, have a look at them. The image of the square looking photo is actually Ethiopian wildlife painted on a piece of papyrus; pretty cool!

As many of you know, my wife and I have been going through the adoptive process; we are adopting a child from Ethiopia. Some good news came via UPS today which said the following: Dear Adoptive Parent, Congratulations! Your dossier for Ethiopia has been reviewed and approved for the authentication step. Now it is time to send it to Washington, D.C. to be authenticated at the U.S. State Department and the Ethiopian Embassy. Of course, there was much more that the letter said but that was the opening paragraph. Anyway, it was some good news.

Today has been an incredibly busy day so far (it's 3:45 pm) and there's still a lot to do (e.g. Small Groups tonight, band practice, etc.). One of the things we did today was have our first of two meetings with the social worker who is updating our "home study". We had completed this in KY but since we moved to MI, much had to be updated. Thankfully, we've jumped this hurdle and can begin to move on. If all goes as planned, we should have our dossier to Ethiopia by mid-February. From there, it's only more of a waiting game as we wait for our child referral and then our travel to Ethiopia. I must say, however, that getting the ball rolling again has been tough and tedious and that it's certainly a kind of weight lifted off of our shoulders. We're excited about meeting our future son!!! Oh yeah, another weight has been lifted off of my shoulders as I got my flight for SBL booked and am pretty sure that I found a roomate! Good things are happening!

Here's one reason (click the picture to start the brief video):

At present, I have three growing interests in the field of biblical studies and in this post, two of those have come together: the Gospel of Mark and Barrenness/Infertility issues (from a biblical-theological standpoint). I noted in an earlier post that when one facing sterility/infertility struggles reads the Bible, there seems to be little hope and much condemnation (read this post too). However, as I continue to read Mark’s Gospel, I am beginning to find a lot of hope in some of the images and words that Jesus uses, as well as in His actions. For the barren Christian couple, there is hope. Take Mk. 13.17-9 for instance, that passage says: “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.” We find the parallel to this passage in Luke’s account at verse 23 and following: “D...