Today is a day for only water. And only Jesus.
Justin and I, along with many many other families in the waiting process of being united with their Ethiopian child(ren), have received some very difficult news over the past 5 days from the Ethiopian Government. In the attempt to protect their orphans, the Ministry of Women's Affairs (a branch of their government who is responsible for inter-country adoptions) has announced that starting this week, tomorrow: March 10, they will drastically reduce the number of adoptions to the U.S. by 90%. Their reasoning is based on fact that there have been U.S. adoption agencies that are practicing unethically and providing child trafficking. In effort to protect their childing, ET has pulled the cord tightly and in doing so, this means that we now face many months, possibly year(s) before we bring a little boy home. We were planning on a referral (phone call telling us we have a son!) coming in the next 2-3 months. It is now looking like it could be very long before we hear anything.
Without going into great detail (please understand and trust that we have been in contact with our agency and we are choosing to not share every detail with every one--it is exhausting to revisit over and over again and frankly we have very limited information right now that we can believe as true--there is a lot of information floating out there that does not have sound backing, just people's speculations. We're choosing to receive our information through our agency, where they have people in Ethiopia who are able to bring facts to us as they learn all the details). Please know that there are two things that you can do that would support us in so many ways.
First, we believe in the power of prayer. We are on our knees, bringing every aspect of this to Jesus, asking for His direction and providence over this decision. Would you join us in praying, please? Today, I (Kati) will be joining other waiting families by fasting to focus on these following prayer points that were shared with us from our agencies blog group: 1. For God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.God is in control. For those of you who are facing being stuck, remember that God is in control.
2. For God to breakdown strongholds of the enemy.Every child deserves the right to grow up in a health family, and adoptive families provide that for thousands of children each year. Pray that God would demolish the strongholds that are set up against adoption.
3. For God to fulfill His promises.God defines Himself as the Father to the Fatherless. He declares He will set the lonely in families. He warns those who would interfere with His plan to bring justice and mercy that is due to them. Find the orphan scriptures, pray them to God, and ask Him to fulfill those promises to the children of Ethiopia now.
4. For the courts and judges and government officials making this decision.
Ask the Holy Spirit to permeate the courtroom and convict the hearts of the judges and other government officials. Bring the power of the Holy Spirit into these discussions and proceedings--not that we would get our way--but that God's perfect will would be fulfilled in these decisions.
5. For the children and familiesThat God would shorten their wait times. Fortunately, God is bigger than these obstacles. Pray that waiting children would receive comfort. And pray that waiting families would experience peace, grace, and love from those around them.
2. For God to breakdown strongholds of the enemy.Every child deserves the right to grow up in a health family, and adoptive families provide that for thousands of children each year. Pray that God would demolish the strongholds that are set up against adoption.
3. For God to fulfill His promises.God defines Himself as the Father to the Fatherless. He declares He will set the lonely in families. He warns those who would interfere with His plan to bring justice and mercy that is due to them. Find the orphan scriptures, pray them to God, and ask Him to fulfill those promises to the children of Ethiopia now.
4. For the courts and judges and government officials making this decision.
Ask the Holy Spirit to permeate the courtroom and convict the hearts of the judges and other government officials. Bring the power of the Holy Spirit into these discussions and proceedings--not that we would get our way--but that God's perfect will would be fulfilled in these decisions.
5. For the children and familiesThat God would shorten their wait times. Fortunately, God is bigger than these obstacles. Pray that waiting children would receive comfort. And pray that waiting families would experience peace, grace, and love from those around them.
We are also asking that you would consider signing this petition on our son's behalf:
We believe God has called us to Ethiopia for a reason. We believe that there is a little boy over there who is waiting to be apart of our family and we believe that God turned our hearts with such passion and drive towards Ethiopia that our only response is to continue to trust Him through this rocky period. Thank you, each and every one of you, for the incredible support you've shown us ever since our announcement thatwe're expecting. As we find patience and peace, we continue to expect that God will guide our hearts towards His beautiful and best plan.
Phillipians 4: 6-7 (taken from the Message Bible)
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life
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