ethiopia trip 2011

So many of you are thinking, well it was just a matter of time, that Marjorie would get the idea of adopting again since she took that trip last year to Ethiopia to visit the orphanages.....

Well, maybe that makes sense sort of....yet Aaron and I have been aware of the plight of orphans and been on mission trips before.  We (just like anyone else reading this) are comfortable in our current life, and if God hadn't gotten our attention and moved us out of our comfort zone, you wouldn't be reading this blog.

Prior to last years trip, I would say that I was finished adopting.  Yes there is a need for children to be adopted, but there are also lots of other things that kids need too.  Is adopting a good use of my resources to help a child in need? I went on the mission trip partly to seek answers to that question.  How else can I be serving God and children without adopting?

 One thing I realized is that children around the world need love, advocates and safe places to live.  God did not call me to move somewhere else to serve kids, he called me to live in Warren, PA to (for now) work in a nursing home, be a wife and mother to two children. So I do my best to support missionaries who are called to serve in other countries and advocate on behalf of orphans and the poor as I can here. 




I also saw that the plight of women in Ethiopia is very difficult.  They do a lot of the hard labor, and they often give birth with no medical attention.  Ethiopian culture loves children but it is not supportive of women who have children out of wedlock.  This link from YWAM blog tells one of the stories from our trip...
http://thatwemightbeadopted.blogspot.com/2011/08/from-abortion-to-adoption.html

There were lots of other hard stories of children and women we encountered on my trip.   Adoption is a solution for a small percentage of children,  yet that small percentage of children also desperately needs someone to love and care for them.

Unfortunately, there are unethical things that do happen in the adoption community and 2 years ago I doubted I would ever adopt again.  Seeing YWAM projects in Ethiopia gave me a trust for their work, and faith that if a child is being cared for by them, it is because the child has no other way.  YWAM first of all is a ministry serving the 'least of these".

Read other good but difficult stories from the YWAM blog... and you'll see what I mean.  Warning: you may need tissues.

http://thatwemightbeadopted.blogspot.com/2009/08/two-boys.html

http://thatwemightbeadopted.blogspot.com/2009/03/where-have-all-babies-gone.html

http://thatwemightbeadopted.blogspot.com/2010/07/i-saw-jesus.html