"Nobody really wants to come in and adopt four kids, especially two of them being older at the time," Walling said.
"It's tough to adopt somebody... wait 6 months and pay all the fees. You only get them for two years," Walling recalled the long days wondering if a family might come to adopt them.
The nights were even harder.
"My siblings were the ones who were there for me emotionally, and the nights I wondered where my mom was, I wondered where my dad was," he said. "I leaned on my siblings."
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Walling's mother died when he was young, and his father was never a presence in his life. He received care and support from the orphanage staff, but the conditions were difficult.
"In the orphanage, we didn't have restrooms," Walling recalled. "There's too many kids. It would get (crowded). We had outhouses and holes in the ground where we would go."
One promise kept him moving forward while he hoped for his own family. "We told everybody one of us isn't going unless the rest of us go," he said.
A world away in Texas, a young pastor and his wife considered adoption when they were told they couldn't have children of their own. After their plans to adopt a child in Nepal fell through, Jessica Walling dove into research and saw a photo.
"I said, 'I think this is them,'" she told her husband. His response was, "That's a soccer team."
Gradually, however, Pastor Ryan Walling knew his wife was right. They were the ones who would adopt all four siblings from Ethiopia. Jessica recalled what the adoption advocates told them: "They need a family. They deserve a family. Please, please adopt them. And we did," she said.
Before they could make their first trip to Africa to meet them, Jessica found out she was pregnant. The couple who couldn't have children would now have five. Ryan remembers the first reaction from some people close to the couple. "When we found out she was pregnant, there were people who were like, 'You're not gonna adopt now, right?'" he said. " And it's like, of course we are."
Jessica first traveled to Ethiopia to meet the children who would be her own.
"Even if they aren't getting adopted, they're still excited. They want to meet you. They want to see you and hug you," she said.
"They're the most welcoming, friendly people ever." Eyasu's brother knew only a few words in English, but he had a message for Jessica.
"He wrote, 'You are mom' on my palm, and I have a picture of that." She paused to gather herself as she remembered one of the many moments that would change her life. Ryan Walling traveled later, and his children greeted him the same way. "To have my kids come up and hug me and call me 'Papa' brings back all the memories," he said as tears formed in his eyes.
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Eyasu, his two brothers, Yoseph and Solomon, and his sister, Rahel, were soon on their way to their new home. Eyasu told ABC13's Greg Bailey that he learned to speak English by watching television. Soon, his parents realized Eyasu had gifts beyond their imagination. Ryan remembers a message from one of Eyasu's teachers when his son had just started school: "He's correcting how I'm doing math," the teacher told him.
The youngest of the bunch from Ethiopia quickly embraced life in America, falling in love with all kinds of food and sports. When his family moved to a new home and church in LaPorte, Eyasu became a football team captain and two-time All-District linebacker. He also excelled in the classroom, ranking 24th out of nearly 600 students. He was accepted to Brown in the Ivy League but will attend Texas A&M this fall. "I've maintained a near-perfect GPA my entire time in high school," he said. "I'll be graduating with a 4.96 GPA."
Walling will study to be a nurse practitioner at A&M so he can actively help people daily. That decision will honor his mother, Jessica, who is also a nurse practitioner. He'll also honor the mother he lost in Ethiopia. She died when she couldn't get the medical help she needed.
He credits his parents for teaching him the importance of helping others. "Just learning from him and my mom that you've got to help people in need when they're in need. It's what we're called to do as people as Christians," Eyasu said. "Good people, and it was great to see that example set by my parents."
The Wallings now have six children - Eyasu, Yoseph, Solomon, Rahel, Evie, and Kee.
Pastor Walling and his wife moved their family to LaPorte to help revive Bayshore Baptist Church. Eyasu sings at his father's church on Sundays and welcomes teammates and classmates to weekly Bible study at the family home.
The Wallings marvel at the young man Eyasu has become, and they can't wait to see what he accomplishes next. "He's just got the biggest heart," Ryan said. "He gives and gives and gives."
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