Ethiopian Community Thanks Families During Ethiopian Christmas Celebration

DENVER (CBS4) - Ethiopian Christmas time at the Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Denver means it's time for their annual celebration with families. The official date is Jan. 7, but on Saturday they celebrated families that have adopted children from Ethiopia.

"This is the one time of year we can all get together to celebrate, and celebrate the community and the culture," said Dana Guilfoyle. She adopted her daughter, Beza, 10 years ago.

Families like theirs, with children adopted from Ethiopia, come from all over the state to spend time together and support one another.

"It's a challenge to be part of a trans-racial adoption family, and it's nice to have a community of Ethiopians that care about us," Guilfoyle said.

They also get a taste of Ethiopian culture with music, a coffee ceremony and Ethiopian food. The associate pastor for the church, Ermias Amanuel, says hosting the event is a labor of love for the families who have taken in Ethiopian children.

"We just say thank you to them by loving and cooking and just fellowshipping with them," he said.

Beza Guilfoyl said seeing her friends who are living a life similar to hers is great.

"It's really cool getting to know people who have a lifestyle like I do coming from a different country and living in a biracial family," she said.

And as if the friendship wasn't enough, Beza also really likes the culture's cuisine.

"Yeah the Ethiopian food is really good too."