4.15.2011

making our way to africa

Adoption has been on our minds for many years - and it has now very firmly wedged itself into our hearts, taking the very tangible form of a silly, chubby, curly-haired muffin of a girl. However, even before we adopted her domestically, we knew that we would end up in Africa one day. Over the years, we've read about different East African countries, their cultures, their political histories, their stances on adoption, the devastation of wars and famines and diseases,  and through our reading, our hearts have become very intertwined with the Great Lakes Region in eastern central Africa. As our domestic adoption placement was taking (what seemed to us) a very long time in coming, we considered pursuing an Ethiopian adoption. But before we could take the first steps, we received the phone call we'd been waiting over a year for - we had a daughter! So we put our plans on hold while we enjoyed our sweet girl, but we continued reading and praying about our future.

Right around our girl's first birthday, we began pursuing an African adoption again in earnest. We had learned about new requirements in Ethiopia, so we began looking at other possibilities. The Lord led us to a tiny little country we'd never heard of - Burundi. We considered the Ethiopian door closed, and we applied to an agency's pilot program in Burundi. While we waited for paperwork, we learned everything we could about that country, and we began sponsoring a little girl there. As we waited for months with no progress, there were many late night conversations about what we should do, where we should go. We weren't particular about where our children came from; we just wanted children. In the meantime, God was at work in the hearts of some friends of ours, who were working to form a non-profit to help the church care for orphans and who were, simultaneously, pursuing a Ug*ndan adoption. After hearing their heart and vision, we confirmed with our agency that the door to Burundi was closed for us.

Our children are in Ug*nda.

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