The enemy NEVER wins in a battle waged against GOD!

WOW. The enemy has sure been busy trying to mess with God's will to join together forever families! Aren't you so THANKFUL that when the enemy battles our Heavenly Father he NEVER wins!?!?! Thank you, God! {can I hear a WOOP! WOOP!...???}

Our hearts have been heavy after hearing a recent report from an AWAA momma who was currently in Ethiopia, with her husband, to meet their precious son and daughter for the first time. Amidst their JOY in meeting their children (and PASSING COURT!), they also visited a nearby orphanage that broke their hearts. And the news broke our hearts as well!

What she wrote is gut-wrenching. She described cribs without mattresses. Yes, babies sleeping on the hard wooden bottom of their cribs. Not one baby had on a diaper! In the absence of diapers, the caretakers had no choice but to tear pieces of cloth and wrap it around the babies' bottoms, using the onesie to hold it in place! Cloth strips for a diaper! Can you imagine?!? The children's clothing was clearly soiled, and when the child was changed, it was on the same floor that the kids play on!

It breaks my heart to think that our child or children may very well be starting out in that orphanage ~ or one much like it. The caretakers do the best they can, but they only have so much available to them. I am so pleased to report that many families joined together to provide an urgent need for these children, and families traveling for court dates this week and next took the items over with them, such as crib mattresses, mattress pads and sheets,wash cloths and towels, cloth diapers and plastic covers, blankets....the list goes on!

It was amazing to see everyone come together for these kiddos! And we are all awaiting for an update when the new group of families arrive, to give us an updated list of the needs for this orphanage, so that we can continue to send items with other families going before us! God pulled through and WON! Hip Hip HOORAY! (Note: this is not to say that we aren't giving donations to our transition home or other orphanages, but the drastic condition of this one increased the need to URGENT!)

Also, the enemy tried to take two twin girls from their forever family ~ but after a month (or longer) the family received word just the other day, that God and our agency (AWAA) convinced the Ethiopian government otherwise, and this family finally passed court! They now await an embassy date to go get their girls! GO, GOD!

Now there are a group of families whose children come from one particular orphanage that is facing what is hopefully a minor glitch with finalizing paperwork for these children to pass court and become officially adopted by their families! We are not sure how long this issue will take to get corrected, but in the meantime, these children and families, and likely future referrals wait. And wait.

Please join us in praying that God moves whatever obstacles stand in the way. And quickly! We have seen our Heavenly Father move HUGE in so many ways as of late, may this be yet another opportunity for Him to be glorified as the issue resolves with ease!