We received an email last week from our adoption agency with some news about foreign adoption in Ethiopia. Without knowing much about who wrote the article or how it all started, I’ll give you the basics with some quotes:
“The House of Peoples’ Representatives and the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth urged stakeholders and the public to undertake integrated work to totally stop adoption of Ethiopian children by foreign families.
In a press conference, House Speaker Abadula Gemeda and the Minister Zenebu Tadesse told journalists that stakeholders should work closely to end foreign adoption.
Abadula urged the importance to give priority to use local means to raise orphaned children rather than giving them away to foreign families.
He suggested the importance to establish and support local NGOs which raise orphaned children with the close collaboration of the public.
Our agency told us about this as a heads up. Ethiopian adoptions are not closing today, but by the sounds of it people are pretty anxious to make it happen.
Our reaction:
Terrific!
Communities should be taking care of orphans. Countries should have facilities and programs in place that will allow orphaned children to not only survive, but to thrive. We think facilities and programs that will allow children to feel loved as a family will love them and cared for as a family would care for them, to grow up in the country and culture in which they were born, is the best option.
Until these things can be established, we will pray for the children who are waiting. Waiting for parents who love them, for a safe place to grow and develop, to have dreams and live them out, to know that they are valued and have a purpose on this earth. We know the authorities making these decisions have the orphans in their best interest. Therefore, we pray foreign adoptions do not close until there is a plan for orphan care.
We aren’t worried about what this will mean for us. We know God has plans for us to adopt some child, somewhere. If He didn’t, this wouldn’t be on our hearts. Whether the child comes from Ethiopia, we don’t know.
We will continue the adoption process knowing one day we will have the kid in our home who was waiting for us as we were waiting for them.
Our update on the process:
First meeting with our social worker for the home study is this week!
Meanwhile, here is a super cute picture of Uncle Roger with his new puppy cousin, Cauliflower. Jan and I like to call her La Fleur.
theeckerthouse 