In sub-Saharan Africa,
1 out of every 8 children is an
orphan.
Of the 143 million orphans worldwide,
more live in Ethiopia than any other country in the world.
Just twice the size of Texas, it is home to five million orphaned children
While international adoption from Ethiopia has increased in recent years,
at the current rate it would take
5 million families, $125 billion, and 2,500 years
to solve the Ethiopian orphan crisis.
Statistic Source: the Together for Adoption blog
Choosing to adopt a child will almost never be decided by one single factor. The statistics are powerful. They represent real children who are deeply loved by God. Still, our passion for adoption is influenced by more than solving a problem. More than being numbered as one of those who have helped alleviate a humanitarian crisis. Our lives were forever changed by the good news of Jesus Christ and ever since then we have been drawn to know Him more. God’s heart is near to the orphan and we too are moved to love them. To be frank, we don’t know exactly why God bent our hearts toward Ethiopia in particular (most of these facts we have learned after our decision to adopt from Ethiopia). It’s even hard to explain to people sometimes. Yet, we know that God is preparing our hearts for they day we will be mother and father to a little one who will have already lost so much in this life. And we love them already…somehow.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:3-6
We Can't Adopt 