What's in a name?

So who exactly are the “Sammys on Mission”? It’s us- Sammy, Lea, Chloe and Mia! Our good friends lovingly dubbed us the “Sammys” in a group text and it’s stuck as a great family name.

Obviously, the name comes from Sammy (Samuel) who has passed his name on to us girls. We go with him, and he goes with us. It’s a beautiful part of Ethiopian tradition that children receive their father’s first name as their last name. In fact, they can count back five generations in Sammy’s family!

We were presented with a predicament in our cross cultural marriage when it came to changing my name. To be honest, I was also a bit reluctant as “Wright” is the name that represents my finding belonging in a family.

Entering year seven of life in Ethiopia, it was the right time for me to make the switch. I’ll never loose my parents, but I am team Samuel. It’s a new and even deeper sense of belonging, representing God’s gift of a family of my own here in Ethiopia.

One of the biggest challenges we face with cultural acceptance of adoption in Ethiopia is the concept of giving an adopted child the father’s name. A changed name represents the inclusion of a non-blood relative in inheritance (a really big deal here).

We actually went to court two times after Chloe’s adoption was finalized to change her name officially. The judge questioned us intensely about why on earth we would want to/need to change her name. At one point, he even said she would need to come and speak for herself (funny because she was only a year old).

I will never forget the feeling of hearing Sammy emphatically respond, "this is my daughter and I want her to bear my name." He was unmoving in his desire to have her carry his family name and be seen as his daughter for all the rest of her life. Even typing that still brings tears to my eyes.

As believers we know that’s what Christ has done. Through his sacrifice, we have been given a new name and promise of eternal inheritance. There’s no way to God’s family without adoption!