Travel Call & Families Passing Court!

Yesterday we had a second conference call regarding travel to Ethiopia. During the course of the call, we found out some more information about what our time in Ethiopia will look like. Most importantly, we were told that Monday we will be emailed our tentative travel dates! This is what we have been waiting for!!!

One area of concern that was brought up during the call was the fact that there is a formula shortage in Ethiopia. Our family coordinator told us that the transitional home in Ethiopia is fine, but one of the orphanages where many of the babies come from is running very low....at this point, they only have maybe two weeks of formula left! Many of the families, including ours, are going to send over cans of formula with the families who will be leaving to pick up their children on October 25th. If you feel led to help, please email me (rtoney_2000@yahoo.com) and I will be glad to tell you how you can help! Also, please keep the entire country of Ethiopia in your prayers. The economic situation there is not good, and this effects everyone, but hits the children extra hard. Costs have risen tremendously, and times are tough. Imagine the economic situation here and multiply that by 100....

Also, an update on families passing court. Congrats to the Lusse, Redfern, Wempe, and Schmidt families as they all successfully passed court on October 8th!! Be sure to check out their blogs (links to the right) to see their adorable children! Unfortunately, due to new regulations that were not fully disclosed to agencies, the VanWetten, Hutchinson, and Wistrom families did not pass court. Basically, if the child has been relinquished, it will no longer suffice for the birthparents to be present to give their testimony. A letter must also be present, and this letter was not present for these families, as our agency was not made aware of these new regulations. They will now to wait around one month before their case can be heard again. Please pray for these families...I can't imagine how their hearts must be hurting as they wait to unite with their children!