It seems the blog has seemed a little neglected lately if you take away all the adoption posts. A lot of my hours have been spent helping America World Adoption Agency (AWAA) coordinate a brand new Ethiopian orphan hosting program called Welcoming Angels.
Backstory:
Two years ago (or so), Patrick and I envisioned our church getting pysched about orphan care by participating in an Ethiopian host program.* Turns out there were none to be found and we didn’t feel called or equipped to start one so we shelved the idea and worked on other things like Grafted Families.
*Orphan host programs give older, healthy, international orphans a chance to come to America for 4 to 8 weeks. While the stay is beneficial in itself, the ultimate goal is for these children to find families. The hosting experience gives them and their plight lot of exposure (almost 80% find families). In addition, it takes some of the “scary” out of older orphans and puts a face to a staggering statistic.
Fast forward to last June. We receive a call from Patrick’s college roommate’s sister. Are you still with me? She had heard our names from a mutual friend in orphan care (who had no idea we had a heart for Ethiopian host programs). She called to tell us that she had just been hired by AWAA to start an Ethiopian host program in Maryland and would we help?!? Don’t you love when God shows up that way?!?
Needless to say, we dove right in. So here we are. Five children are coming to Maryland (only one to our church) in April and we need your help. The families are partially funding the trip with help from AWAA. We want them to be able to do some activities with the children while they’re here without incurring extra expenses. Plus we want to send stuff back to their orphanage. Plus…well we have a wish list. That’s where you come in. If you have a heart to support this program and these families, please click the image below to peruse the list. Thanks in advance!
