Updates

I have been without a computer so I haven't been able to update like I wanted.

The yard sale went really well, we set up around 6am but no one really started coming until about 8am and it was pretty steady til about 10:30 and then we packed up and left. Things are different now with a little one along who needs naps and lunch, but we considered it a success. We are so thankful to everyone who came out to support us and for everyone who donated their "junk" to us to sell! :) We were invited to participate in a multi-family fundraiser next month so we look forward to going and selling some more! God continues to provide the money needed to continue forward with the adoption.

We received this e-mail last month, but I wasn't able to post it. I will kind of summarize but have copied it below if you'd like to read it. Basically things are continuing to slow down and becoming harder to adopt in Ethiopia. The PAIR process which was supposed to help speed the process up has actually slowed it down tremendously.  They have offered families to switch programs and move forward to adopt in other countries, we did look into the other countires but for now we will continue to wait in Ethiopia. America World continues to provide and care for the children in Ethiopia who are in need but it is becoming expensive with the wait times continuing to increase and they need help. Please check out www.awaa.org if you'd like to donate to them.

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Dear Allan & Elizabeth,

Thank you for your continued support of America World Adoption’s Ethiopia adoption program. As you may be aware, the environment of international adoption from Ethiopia has dramatically changed in the last several years and is continually changing. The U.S. Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues publishes the adoption statistics each year and we continue to see a sharp decline in the number of international adoptions completed around the world each year, as well as in Ethiopia.  Yet the number or orphaned and vulnerable children in the world continues to increase each year.  America World is committed to all of our international adoption programs, especially our successful Ethiopia adoption program.  However, to be fully transparent, we continue to experience increased difficulties working in Ethiopia. 

Many agencies have closed their Ethiopia programs for financial reasons and the impact of long delays in the paperwork and referral processes.  We were deeply saddened to hear that All God’s Children closed their Ethiopia program last week.  The cost of supporting our partner orphanages, maintaining two transition homes in Ethiopia and providing quality care for the children in our care, has become more and more difficult to provide. The amount of time it takes to process adoptions in Ethiopia, including the amount of additional paperwork that is required has increased significantly to the detriment of the children and families.  This increase also leads to longer timelines for adoptions to be finalized thereby increasing the timeline to care for children in our transitional home while they wait for their adoption to be finalized.  Amidst the increased timelines and expenses in adoptions, the time and investment needed to maintain positive partnerships with the orphanages in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian government has increased as well.  The PAIR (Pre-Adoption Immigration Review process that was implemented on September 1, 2013 to be an addition verification to confirm children are truly in need of being adopted) has intensified the amount of time and paperwork involved in processing adoptions from Ethiopia.  This process requires that even the most common clerical mistakes made by regional offices and remote locations of government agencies be corrected each and every time.  This is an extensive process as it relates to time, cost, paperwork and political challenges.  Many of these regional offices and remote government agencies do not share the same sense of urgency and need as the agencies, families and children affected by international adoption. America World is committed to ethical and transparent work in Ethiopia. 

Currently, America World spends roughly $1.2 million per year on our in-country operating expenses to run our Ethiopia adoption program.  With the increased wait times of additional years to the slowdown in the number of referrals issued each month, it is becoming more and more challenging for us to maintain our program in Ethiopia at the level at which we are comfortable.  We come to you, with the intent of being fully transparent  with the challenges that we are facing and our commitment to serve the children in Ethiopia.  Our ultimate goal is to not increase the already high costs for adoptive families in our Ethiopia program, but we have come to a time that we need to examine how we will continue to keep transition homes open, continue to serve the families in our program by maintaining orphanage partnerships and place children into families. Most importantly, we are committed to serving as many children as possible in Ethiopia that are in need of a forever home. 

Our heart’s desire is to keep adoptions from ET as financially reasonable as possible for adoptive families that have responded to the call to adopt. Therefore, we come to you to ask if you would be willing to invest in our Ethiopia program and support us fundraise in our work in Ethiopia.  Our support is an investment in these precious vulnerable children and the families that open their hearts and their homes to the “least of these”. Our financial need is significant and in order to continue to run our in-country program in Ethiopia we have set a goal to raise $250,000 by September 30^th, 2015.  America World will continue to be diligent to cut where ever possible within our Ethiopia program while still maintaining high standards of work and care.  Your support will allow us to continue in this critical work.

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Please join us in praying for America World, their finances and their heart to love on the children until they can be placed in their forever homes,  for the government to speed up the process and for these precious children who so desperately want and need to come home! We know God is in control and He has great plans!