Conference call news - week of June 6/21/11

O.K. so this is a little delayed ... life is that way these days with all the kids home for summer break.
I wanted to post a little re-cap on our agency's conference call this past week.  I went in with a anxious heart and came away full of hope!  For those of you following along, I wanted to update you so you too know just how to pray.  So here goes in a nutshell;

• AWAA still sees Ethiopia as a strong program.  Both ET and US are still dedicated to the program and while the wait times are always unknown, there is still a need (lots of orphans) and there is still dedication to a strong program.  (whew ... I loved this!)
• Previously, MOWCYA issued a statement saying they would write 5 letters of approval/day.  They are at this time, issuing 10/day.  This may change.  No one knows.
• MOWCYA is behind on cases and are only currently at June 3 for approvals.
• Judge in Ethiopia issues 30-50 cases/day
• MOWCYA is still working through how adoptions to be process.  Still meetings taking place.  While it is still a sensitive political climate, the Director, they have found to be favorable/pro-adoption and is easy to work with/respond.  
• Court closes for the rainy season August 7 and will re-open the end of Sept./early October
• The "court" is closed during this time, however, MOWCYA is open so they hope during this time they will use it to catch up on backlog.  
• A few agencies/orphanages have been suspended.  
• AWAA continues to have a strong/transparent program.  Their is no concerns.  They have high standards for their work and for the orphanages they work with.  
• Embassy is doing thorough reviews of cases and families should prepare for this.  AWAA has seen a few harder cases and some delays but feel it's a good thing that each case is reviewed throughly.  
• Still issuing referrals.  Referrals can be delayed at times due to working to get children's paperwork/investigation complete (AWAA does their own investigations prior to referral), needing more information (may take a while to collect these things), health of children (will not refer a sick child).  
• NOT looking to extend wait times for referrals at this time ... 
• Will give referrals during court closures and until transitional home is "full" during court closures.  
• Wait time fluctuations and increases has been/is common
• could see more court dates before closure - few more weeks of time, however, families who receive referrals from here out will more than likely be after court re-opens.
• Still meetings going on with MOWCYA and other ministries on adoption process.  Their is still much to pray over ... 
• Rumor of specific cases per agency/per day not verified.  AWAA said this is not how court/MOWCYA letters happen.  Judge issues court cases and subpenas MOWCYA for approval letters.  

So, in a nut shell, that is what is going on in Ethiopia as we know it.  So we continue to move through the process and as with any international adoption - we pray and pray some more.  The reality is, the only thing we can rest in ... not our government, not Ethiopia, not MOWCYA, not America World ... but HIM!  He called us, we have to choose to rest in his call!