Melkam Genna in Washington!

If only every YWAM Ethiopia adoptive family could have joined us yesterday to celebrate Christmas!  (You can read about another YWAM family Genna celebration which took place in N. Carolina here!)  As many local families as were able met at Lighthouse Christian Center in Puyallup, Washington for a family potluck lunch and celebration. 

There was lots of preparing…

Haley made Key Wat – a spicy beef stew

She had lots of help!



Jackie made Doro Wat – a spicy chicken stew that is the Ethiopian national dish.



She had a helper too! 



Hannah Schmick made a delicious version of kitfo – we were happy to know that she cooked the beef!



Joy Casey, our ministry director, welcomed everyone.  We had about 70 people in attendance!



Then it was time to eat!  In addition to the traditional dishes mentioned above, families brought salads, desserts and popcorn.









Liane Wolbert planned some crafts and games for the kids… 



including a rousing game of MonkeyMonkeySnake (DuckDuckGoose):



What a blessing to gather with all of these families to celebrate Christ’s birth and also what God has done and is doing to put children in families.










If you thought it was difficult to get a good Christmas photo of your family, imagine getting everyone in this group together!  But we did it!!  First, all the kids…



And then, all the families…



Thanks to Mark and Liane for all of your hard work making this event such a success!  Thanks to Lighthouse for providing such a great facility.  Thanks to Jeff Burns for capturing these moments for us.  Thanks to everyone who came and we missed all of you who couldn’t be with us. 


And a special thanks to those who stayed to help us clean up!




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