Prayers for orphans, MOWA and justice in Ethiopia!

Recently, there has been an immense change in the Ethiopian adoption process. In Ethiopia, it is the Ministry of Women Affairs (MOWA) that ultimately decides on whether or not an adoption will be finalized. MOWA provides a final approval and puts this into a letter. The letter is delivered to the court, and only then, will the court approve a pending adoption. Rather than writing 50 letters a day, MOWA will now be writing only 5, which is a significant drop and will obviously influence how many orphans can be adopted on a daily and annual basis. From what I understand, the reason this new process has been implemented is to help protect children from being trafficked, and to increase adoption investigations. 


While I do not know exactly why this change in MOWA's process has taken place, I do think it is related to and reflects recent reports of human trafficking. In the news recently, there have been a number of documentaries and articles that are implying (and actually proving) the harsh fact that children are being trafficked out of Ethiopia through adoption. This, of course, is horrible, and really made me fearful of receiving a child that is not a true orphan. As a result, my biggest prayer for the past few months has been for a true orphan in our adopted child! And I think this new process has been an answer to my prayers (and I'm sure to the prayers of so many)!


I do not want to wait another day without getting a referral! I think we've put in our "time" (21 months, already, come on!) and should be called today telling us our child is ready (forget MOWA and court and USCIS)! HOWEVER, I would much rather wait another day, another month, another year even, if it means that the children of Ethiopia are being protected, and I don't have to live with the "what-ifs" of wondering whether my child is a true orphan. 


The downside to this new process (other than the timing, there is, of course, a hitch to this) is the fact that there are 4.6 million true orphans waiting for their forever families! These children should not have to wait any longer, and should not have to be alone and without loving families because of this process. My prayer is for justice to be served! I pray for justice for those children already waiting and the families that are suffering as they wait to bring their children home! I pray for justice for those families that have had their children taken from them to meet our demands for international adoptions! I pray for justice for those children who need forever families today, tomorrow and in the future, as they too will have to wait even longer and living on the streets or in orphanages is detrimental to their development and childhood. 


Please join us in prayer, in that MOWA will ensure justice is served and that children will find their way to their forever families! Thank you, God, for embracing Ethiopia and the families waiting to adopt Your children! Together, we are answering Your call to "defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed" (Psalm 82:3, NIV).

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