Adoption FAQ #3: “What’s the Need in Ethiopia?”

ethi-LMAP-mdAfter last Sunday’s message, I have received many questions concerning why we choose Ethiopia.  I answered why here a few months ago.

I’ve also been asked about the need in Ethiopia and how to get more information on the adoption process there.  I want to make sure that I say this before going into the need in this country: Adoption from any country is a glorious action.  Adopting internationally over locally doesn’t make you love Jesus more.  Adopting a more challenging child doesn’t make God love you more.  Orphans exist in America, in Ethiopia, and everywhere in between and they all deserve adoption.  God just led us to adoption this time in this country.

We know this.  There are 143 million orphans in the world today.  5 million of them live in Ethiopia.  That is 3% of the world’s orphans in one country!  So many orphans live there due to famine, war, and the AIDS epidemic.  Many orphans in the care system in that country die each year due to not enough food or medicine.  Simple stuff, but the country is overwhelmed with orphans and they can’t care for all of them.

Here’s some info from another website:

Children placed through our program are generally between birth and 48 months at the time of referral.  As expected in all international adoption, children are likely to exhibit some degree of social and physical developmental delays.  Most children in need have experienced mild to moderate, if not severe, malnutrition.  Children may also have minor and/or correctable medical or developmental needs that may be routinely addressed in the U.S. with predictable approaches and successful outcomes.

We are using an agency called Wide Horizons for our adoption.  There are plenty of good organizations out there, we had a recommendation to use this group and have been very happy with them.  That’s a small picture of the need in Ethiopia.  Go to those websites for more information or ask me any questions you might have.  Just do something (James 1:27)!

Also, be engaged with this powerful video below.