Ethiopia!

Ok so I wasn't sure when I would announce this but now seems as good of a time as any and most people already know anyhow:) We have decided on Ethiopia! YAY! One step closer! Now I just want to say that there is still a chance we may change to Rwanda. And since I don't want people to read this and wonder why, I will tell you.

Ethiopia

- We feel for many different reasons that God is leading us to Africa, which is where Ethiopia is:). He has united us as a couple on this and you will see how cool that is when Paul finally gets around to writing his side of our story! (yep I am throwing you under the bus!)

-There is a huge Ethiopian community here in Dallas which would benefit with teaching our child about her culture.

-There is a huge Ethiopian adoption community as well. This will allow our child to see other kids adopted from her same country.

-There seem to be a ton of opportunities opening up with people I know to help minister to the people of Ethiopia. Very excited about that!

-This is kinda the kicker....and feel free to comment if you feel differently because I need to see others perspectives on this since I am unsure of how I exactly feel about it. There is a lot of corruption in the international adoption world, especially in infants. I am not saying its all corrupted, I am just saying its out there. For this reason, countries have shut down and new countries have become the hot place to adopt. We did not realize that Ethiopia is now the hot spot until we had already chosen it for our family. When places have a lot of adoption activity, wait times get longer and the possibility for corruption increases. So saying that, I want to be extra sure our agency is ethical in receiving referrals of true orphans and our presence there only helps a child and a country in need and does not hinder it.

Rwanda-

-Our very very good friends, The Musekaras, founded A.L.A.R.M. ministries which works in Rwanda and eight other African countries. They are also from Rwanda. We absolutely love them!

-Still in Africa:)

-Rwanda is a BRAND NEW program, lots of unknowns but lots of need.


So there you go..... Ethiopia is what we would like to do but we are still exploring the options for Rwanda. Hey, you never know, maybe we will adopt one from each! Please comment if you have any info on either of these countries as I am trying to learn as much as I possibly can!

This video is just one opportunity for Ethiopia that I am excited about. This is Tom Davis and he is the president of Children's Hopechest and the author of two books on my side bar. If you want to know anything about orphans and how to help them you need to know about Tom Davis and the amazing work he does:)