Some of you may not even have known we were starting this process at all and so first we'll explain what we're doing and why.
WHAT: We are applying to the Ethiopia adoption program through Bethany Christian Services. We are looking to adopt a child between 0-24 months. Through Bethany's program you cannot specify a gender, so it's kind of like being pregnant - we won't know until we know!
WHY: Abe and I have always felt strongly about adoption and orphan care and as we thought about our growing family, the number of children we would someday love to have, etc. We felt strongly that God was calling us to grow our family through adoption. So many people have asked us why adoption when we are seemingly fertile people and that question is both easy and difficult. First of all, we feel strongly that the care of orphans is left to the church - not just to the infertile (although that definitely has it's place and is a definite blessing from the Father). Secondly, we have seen the horrible outcomes of fatherless and motherless children time and time again in our ministry and in Joni's job at the orphanage. We'd like to say its all about reading the scriptures and seeing God's heart for orphans and that's definitely part of it. But it's more just that we see the practical need for kids to have parents, a future, a loving family support structure - and we want to be that. God has already grown a love for this unknown child in our hearts and we so excited to know them and love them. We are already praying for this child and it's mother and father.
Another question we get frequently is, "Why not the US? There are thousands of children waiting in foster care." And the answer to that is many faceted. First, we don't feel prepared or called at this time in our lives to parent an older child. We are still quite young and we feel ill prepared to face many of the challenges that come with parenting an older foster child. Secondly, we want to remain in some type of birth order. So Zeke will always be the oldest and we will always adopt younger than our youngest. This will give some sense of "birth" order for the children (yes, eventually we may adopt again!). Thirdly, we feel very called to adopt from a country that has a great need for orphan care. While it is true that there are about 300,000 orphans in foster care in the US there are approximately 6 million orphans in Ethiopia alone. Ethiopia is not blessed with the kind of orphan care system that we have in the US and most children are in overcrowded, underfunded (that is a huge understatement) orphanages with poor nutrition and terrible living conditions. As we considered all of this we felt that we will continue to do what we do here in the US to support the fatherless, and focus our adoptions efforts on Ethiopia. Later in life, when we are older and (hopefully) wiser, we will work within the foster care system here in the US.
WHEN: Now! Yesterday our formal application to Bethany's Ethiopia program was mailed out. After it is received and finalized we will begin our home study!
HOW CAN YOU HELP? There are so many ways you can come along side what God is doing in our family through adoption. First, please pray for us. Pray that we would not push our timing or our will on the situation and would just step back and allow God to do what he does best. Secondly, you can support our adoption financially. International adoption is very expensive and by the time it is all said and done it will cost approximately $25,000. We will be applying for grants and doing some fundraising to help to cover this cost, as this is clearly not the kind of money we just have lying around. We will be selling coffee through Just Love Coffee and will have that link up soon. We will also be selling a support T-shirt later in the process. We will also be putting up a link to donate through Pay Pal or you will be able to send tax deductible donations through Covenant Church. If you aren't able to donate we completely understand and have some other creative ideas for how you could help: donate yard sale items to our huge yard sale we'll be holding in July, host your own yard sale and donate the proceeds, or have a bake sale! The third thing you can do to support us is to spread the word - through the blogging world, through the church, through facebook, however you can! Let people know about our adoption and how they can pray too!
We'll be updating you all through this blog and our facebook page, so watch for updates as we go through this long waiting game!
2 comments:
Yay for adoption and caring for orphans (okay that sounds cheesey). I'm friends with Sarah and Dan Smitley they directed me here. We just finalized our sons adoption and are starting the adoption process using All God's Children to adopt from... Ethiopia!!! I can't wait to follow your journey as I'm sure ours will be similar. God Bless and my prayers will be with you, your family and your baby waiting for you.
Congrats on starting the process!! You all are in my prayers. I thank God for families like yours that believe in adoption and more so in helping those in other countries.
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