August Official Numbers!

Hi friends! Here are our August numbers.

For a girl, we are:

For a boy, we are:

So we moved three spots on each list this month to make us 15 and 5!!!

Although we are so excited to be in the TOP FIVE for a boy, we are expecting things to slow down for a few reasons.

1. We are updating our homestudy due to a move/ job change- even if we get to number one we may be skipped over until our homestudy documents are updated (this may not take long, but I am prepared that it could take a month or two).

2. It is the "rainy season" in Ethiopia. This happens every fall for about two months. This season means that courts are closed, so families that have not been to court will have to wait until October when court reopens to go or be given a court date. This always causes a backlog, so the next few months will slow down. Add to that, the Ethiopian MOWA department is processing fewer cases than years before, so families are not typically passing court when they go- a specific letter has been delayed for most families so the families have to come home from the first trip and wait until they get court clearances to then be given an embassy date... this means the whole process of the two trips takes longer. So the babies that are already at Hannah's Hope will be there longer than "normal" so it means less children are coming in... does that make sense?

3. Several orphanages closed in Ethiopia, including one that AGCI contracts with. Hannah's Hope, the transition home that our baby will come from, partners with several government orphanages including one that just shut down. These orphanage closures were for many reasons, including the Ethiopian government wanting to find an alternative solution to the orphan problem aside from international adoption.

This will affect Hannah's Hope because 1. They get many children from that orphanage. Although AGCI partners with other orphanages, this may allow for a slow down of children brought into HH. 2. Some families have been referred children that were at one of these now closed orphanages, and their cases will require more time and work- so these children won't come home on a "normal" time frame. (Please pray for these families and children!!!) 3. I'm sure there are many other ways I'm just not educated about!

So please pray for Ethiopia, for the many families caught up in court closure and the orphanages closing. We pray that the Lord would be glorified and He would be the healer of these precious children's hearts as they wait for redemption and a home.

***Updated to Add: My friend Leigh encouraged me that the orphanage closures may not affect referrals at all. "I know it seems like it should but because kids are pulled from all the bethzatha orphanage and go to the main center in Addis then to HH all it means is that more kids will be able to be pulled more quickly from those other orphanages into the Addis care center.  The reason so many kids this last round are from the south is because it seems like bethzatha moves kids in groups so paper work for kids from regions are submitted at the same time.  Like how all those Gambella kids had referrals at the same time then this time there was a group from the south, ect.  Of course, it's very sad that the orphanage closed and those kids were transferred out and they region does need some prayer so that they can sort through their issues so the kids that are stuck can get through.  Just don't want you to be discouraged about that" Thanks Leigh for the information and encouragement!