Africa Awaits...

I'm sure some of you have wondered when this post would appear.  I've had many people begin to ask us what our next plans are.  Would we have a biological child?  Would we adopt again?  And when?

Truthfully, we always knew we would adopt again, we just didn't know when.  But we've felt a stirring in our hearts that last couple of months that led to subsequent prayer and the decision to go back to Ethiopia.  We've been accepted into AWAA's Ethiopia program again, this time to bring our son home.

So now we begin this crazy process all over again, but this time with a little less fear and a bit more confidence. My goal is to have our dossier completed and sent off by around the time Mia turns 2 in February (a crazy thought in and of itself!).  Infant boy referrals have been around 4-6 months after dossier submission, so we're hoping for a referral by the end of next summer.  One big difference this time around is that Ethiopia has changed their travel policies so we'll make 2 trips this time.  (Before you think anything bad, please know this is for the good of the children, and I can explain it later in another post.)  Tentatively, we'll all three go on the first trip, and then my mom will accompany me on the second when we bring our son home (approx. 4-6 weeks later). 

Although we don't look at adoption as just a mission, it's how God is building our family, it is clear in Scripture the responsibility we as Christians have to the fatherless.

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; 

maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. 

Psalm 82:3

Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.  

Isaiah 1:17

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  

 James 1:27

So now we come humbly before you to ask a question we didn't our first time around.  Will you help us in this journey?  God may or may not be calling you to adopt, but perhaps He's calling you to be part of this ministry, prayerfully or financially.  Adoption is expensive, we're looking somewhere around $25,000 - $30,000, but we know that what God begins, He will finish.  He is faithful to His word. 

Please click on the links above to find out how you can get involved and help bring hope and love to the fatherless.  It all starts with one...