We received and email today with some pictures and video of Jemal and Martu. We also found out that Martu is having some allergy problems. They are starting saline drops for her nose and some medication to help with the symptoms. Please pray for a speedy recovery. Thank God she is being taken care of.

We also received some news from our adoption agency about the area we are adopting from today:
Court re-opened on Monday, October 12th and we have received our first trickle of new court dates for late October. We expect more dates to be assigned soon. Cases in progress for children from the S region will continue as scheduled. However, no new referrals can be expected from that region until the government finishes conducting an investigation of the orphanages operating in that area. CWAE’s Country Representative reports that the Adoption Service Providers working with partner organizations in the S region will be meeting together to determine how they can best assist the various orphanages with addressing any government concerns. This process is expected to require several weeks, much as did the investigation earlier this year into abandonment cases within A A city limits.”What this means: ALL agencies working in the S area have been put “on hold” while investigations are conducted to make sure the procedure is done properly. If the investigation is done properly and thoroughly and fairly, then I would expect all to be fine. However, at this time, there is no guarantee that the officials in that region will allow adoptions to continue.

We are praying very hard for these kids and would encourage you to do the same. The only thing we can really do right now is pray… and I’ll send you updates as I hear them. We know the children need a family, so just praying that they will get that chance! No one expected this to happen… and it’s currently not affecting any other region we work with. We can hope that all will be ok.

That’s where we stand right now. This isn’t too uncommon really with international adoption—even different countries (different areas going on hold for different reasons), but the outcome is yet to be determined.

At this point, they have deposited our initial check and therefore will go ahead and send us the adoption planner, etc to move us forward.

We know that God's will will be done. Please join with us in prayer for this whole situation and that we learn from and grow into a deeper relationship with the Lord through this.

Today we mailed our IAP forms with our first payment for initial processing to Christina World Adoption. We also mailed our application to our home study provider with the initial payment. Praise the Lord! We have had a few set backs with getting the initial funds, but God is good and has once again provided. So on with more paperwork. Thanks for all your prayers.

Our application was approved! Yesterday, we attended an informational orientation Webinar about the adoption process. It was neat to be able to talk with other couples who are adopting as well. Next is getting a case worker and filling out many forms.
We are so excited to hear that the family that is adopting the siblings of our kiddos are on their way home from Ethiopia. PTL for all he has done!