Why Adoption, Why Ethiopia?

Big news! We are officially in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia!  We are excited, anxious, nervous, and scared all wrapped up in one family.  We've just begun all of the paperwork so as far as time frame, it could be anywhere from 1-2 years if not more before bringing her home.  Our goal is to adopt between the ages of 1 and 3, but that can certainly change along the way.


Why Adoption?
We both feel like our family is not yet complete and adoption was laid on our hearts years ago.  There are SO many children without a family, a permanent home, and someone to love on them with an unconditional love.  David and I decided it was finally time to put the love God placed in our hearts into action. 
1 John 3:18  "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."


Why Ethiopia?
We researched all types of adoption:  Foster, Foster to Adopt, Domestic, and International.  The more we researched, the more certain doors were closed and other doors were opened based on how we felt God was leading our family. 

We were eventually led to international adoption.  There are restrictions and requirements for each country and the two that fit our desires the best were Russia and Ethiopia.  We prayed that God would make it clear which country.  He gave us several signs that led to Ethiopia, along with these staggering facts which I had read from our friend's blog:

• An entire generation of parents are no longer; there are 4.4 million + orphans
• One in six children in Ethiopia die before their fifth birthday
  
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
  
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
  
• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)
  
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.
  
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.
  
• In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent     nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.

                            Doesn't your heart break just reading this?

Why a different race?
We are aware that this child will look different from the rest of us. To us that will not matter.  An orphan needs a home, a family that loves them - period.  God did not just forgive us from our sins through the person and works of Christ, He thankfully adopted all of us as His children regardless of race.  We have learned that our identity is in Christ and we will do our best to teach our children the same.  Yes, we expect challenges, we will be armed with prayer. We are to take each day as it comes and work on issues as they arise.  We are not alone in this.  There are 5 families within the Raleigh area that I've met before and since we decided on Ethiopia that have or are adopting Ethiopian children.  We will have a support group where OUR children will see they are like other families.

So here we go with a HUGE step of faith in God to make this happen.  We can't wait to see how He chooses to bless us and would love to have you all prayerfully join us on this journey.  Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments and we will do our best to answer them.  If you would like to receive e-mails letting you know when I post, just sign up on the side of the blog.