Bringing Us Close

I recently posted my thoughts on how adoption saves us. Here is an article on adoption from the Ethiopian perspective. They are absolutely right that all of the money that is spent getting children out of Ethiopia could be spent helping families care for their children in Ethiopia. There are some children in the orphanages that have living family members that could care for them if they had assistance. In fact, AAI has humanitarian programs to help the children that are still in Africa. They provide sponsorship for children that are still living with extended families in the community. They make every effort to find the children's family so that adoptive families can meet them. They want the children's family to know the family they are going to. It gives them an opportunity to say goodbye and to keep in touch. I believe it is good to make sure that orphans are really orphans. I support having siblings adopted together, rather than separating them. And like I said in my earlier post, not everyone is called to adopt. Not every child needs to be adopted out of the country.

At the same time, I have always had a problem with just throwing money at the problem. I want to see the people I am helping. I want to see what their needs are. We have sponsored children through larger organizations in the past, and I always felt like there was too much corporation between me and the children I was sponsoring. Their letters would be full of needs that I had no way to address. With AAI, I can email the office and find out more about the people in need. I can go to Ethiopia and meet them and see what their needs are. It is small enough that I can have contact with the people doing the work. I can't quote C.S. Lewis from the Screwtape Letters, but I know that he discussed the principle in that book. He talked about keeping our good works removed from us so that we don't see the result and so that our works are always "out there somewhere," and the works we do close to us are not usually so good.

There are ways to help widows and orphans in Ethiopia without adopting. Adoptive families sign an agreement that includes a commitment to continue supporting children still in Ethiopia. This can be through sponsoring children, volunteering to work for NGO's working in Ethiopia, gathering supplies for the orphanages, advertising programs in their communities, or simply getting the word out that there are needs that ordinary people can meet. Some families have started their own organizations to help other families adopt. Some have taken their vacations in Ethiopia volunteering at the orphanages. There are so many ways to help; we are only limited by our imaginations. You can make micro loans to people trying to start businesses, you can sponsor children, you can support NGO's like AHOPE that provide financial support to orphans. Always, they can use our prayers.

I am not adopting because I think adoption is the answer to Africa's problems. It is just one way for us to reach out to them and provide for some. It 'brings home' to us that these are real people. It is also an opportunity for us to meet some of these beautiful children from this amazing country. Ethiopia is an ancient country with amazing history. It is a land of kings and empires, it too has tasted blessing and power. It is a reminder to us all, that we in America are full to overflowing today. How will we use that overflow? We are all in this world together. And I think how we treat those in need now will come back to us, for better or for worse.