Why the Congo?

One question that I've heard several times is why we would choose to adopt somewhere else in the world when there are so many children here in the U.S. that need to be adopted? So I thought this would be a good place to voice our heart.

I believe that all orphans no matter where they are from should have a family that loves them and cares for them. I don't think it is a domestic vs. international adoption debate. It isn't "either/or" it is "both/and" (to quote my big brother)! Children here in the U.S. need to be adopted just as much as those around the world. However, I think God directs each of us and places different issues on our hearts so that we can use that passion to bring attention to others and ultimately bring glory to our Saviour.

I have learned so much through this journey and my eyes have been opened so much more to things that I had no idea even existed in our world. When I started reading about the Congo, I came across this information about the DRC:

• At war from 1999-2003
• 1500 people die per day in the DRC due to the conflict
• 5.4 million people have died since 1998 due to conflict, hunger and disease
• Deadliest conflict since WWII
• Malaria kills 400 children a day
• The sexual violence against women and female children is the worst anywhere in the world
• Children are stolen from families; boys are forced to serve as child soldiers, and girls are forced to be sex slaves
• There are over 5 million orphans in the DRC

We decided to adopt from the Congo because we believe that is the direction God is leading us. We see the opportunity we have to make a difference in a child's life who otherwise could possibly be forced into sex slavery or forced to become a child soldier. We hope to bring the number of orphans in the DRC down to 5 million -1 and one less orphan in this world!

Hannah

Update!

It's been a while since my last update! A lot has happened and God continues to guide us through this journey we are on. We finally received our final notarized homestudy approval on December 18th! Just in time for Christmas! We've had so many blessings and doors open and we are so excited to see what and WHO God has for us this year! We are so blessed to have the support of our family and friends. You have been so encouraging to us and we are thankful to have you in our lives!

A lot of you may wonder about how we chose to adopt from the Congo. So I thought this might be a good time to explain how Josh and I came to the decision to adopt there. Late 2009, we decided that we would truly start pursuing adoption in 2010. In late Jan./early Feb. last year we attended an orientation meeting with an adoption agency. It was right after the earthquake in Haiti. This agency had been contacted by the government to start preparing temporary housing for Haitian orphans should they come to the US. In the meeting, we were given the chance to go through a process to become one of those families. Josh and I decided we would love to do this and we signed up. It took a couple months of basically going through a "mini homestudy" to become one of these families. Ultimately, they did not bring Haitian orphans here, so nothing really came of that except an even stronger desire to really pursue adoption.

It was during this time however, that I was constantly researching different countries for international adoption, and domestic adoption. I had seen the Congo on a few different websites, but hadn't paid much attention to it. After a few different situations of friends and family telling me about someone they knew who had or was adopting from there, I decided to start looking into it. The more research I did, the more my heart was feeling a tugging towards Africa and specifically Congo. When Josh and I started talking seriously about it, we knew this was the direction God was leading us. It's hard to understand the love I feel for a place and people that I have never been or met. But I know God is preparing my heart for our baby to come and to be a voice for those who don't have one.

Well that is it for now!

Love,
Hannah