*James 1:27  Care for orphans and widows in their distress.

Partnering with the Ethiopian Church
to care for Widows and Orphans 

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In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 out of every 8 children is an orphan. Of the 167 million orphans worldwide, more live in Ethiopia than any other country in the world. Just twice the size of Texas, it is home to five million orphaned children. God has clearly called Adoption Ministry of YWAM (Youth With A Mission) to help marginalized women and children in Ethiopia.

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Churches reflect the society they serve; thus, most Ethiopian churches are poor with very limited resources. While the corporate church in America, many with outstanding mission programs, can certainly be a strong advocate for the poor, more often it is small groups or individual Christians who galvanize effective, generous support to meet the countless needs of marginalized society. These individuals, reflective of an affluent society, can support the Ethiopian church and the NGOs who are indigenous and know best how to meet the needs in their communities. 
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Our three-fold ministry approach
to care for the widow and orphan:

 

1 Adopt A Child

 

 

Facilitating adoptions* for the children in our care homes has been a strategy Adoption Ministry has been actively doing for the past three years. This ministry consists of identifying children who are eligible for adoption and working to permanently place them in American or Ethiopian Christian Homes. 

 

More work needs to be done within the Ethiopian church to recruit strong families to adopt children. It is exciting to see the church recognizing the need for in-country adoption. YWAM’s partnership with like minded churches will encourage the church with creative vision casting and education that will result in more families adopting more children.

 

*Adoption Ministry is not a licensed adoption agency in Ethiopia. Adoptive families are recruited through YWAM but the adoption is legally processed through partner Hague approved and licensed agencies in Ethiopia. The Widows and Orphans Homes receive a referral fee from the part of the money the YWAM families pay the adoption agency.

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2 Adopt A Home

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Adoption Ministry currently has four Widows and Orphans Homes. Each of these Homes is staffed with Christ followers who lovingly care for the widows and orphans. We actively seek strong Christian homes to adopt the children.

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With fewer international adoptions from Ethiopia, our care homes will fill to a greater capacity. Those currently eligible for adoption will live there longer. The needs of vulnerable children are still just as acute and the social services the W&OH provides will be in high demand. There will always be a necessity for emergency placement of abandoned children, children with special medical needs, and a place for children who have been removed from their families by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs due to neglect. 

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Adopt A Home for $40 a month

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3 Adopt A Family
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The Ethiopian churches we partner with have identified the orphans and at-risk families in their communities who are in desperate need of help. Some of these children may have one parent laboring under unbelievable odds to provide for their basic needs (half-orphan), while others have no parents (full orphan).

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We define a “family” within our program by two main categories:

Single Parent Family: The ‘Adopt A Family’ program helps to care for and strengthen vulnerable families who are on the verge of collapse as a result of the loss of a parent or other disruptive factors such as disease or poverty.

Guardian Family: The ‘Adopt A Family’ program will enable the Ethiopian church to recruit, train and sustain parents within their churches who are willing to become guardians for orphaned children, and provide a child with a loving and caring home environment. These guardian families need the assistance of the Ethiopian and American churches through prayer partners and financial support.

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Adopt-a-Family for $40 per month

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Our hope is that Christian families and individuals in America will partner with Adoption Ministry of YWAM and the Ethiopian Church to Adopt a Family! We are looking for ministry partners who will commit to providing prayer and financial support to a family for $40.00 per month*. When you adopt a family, you will receive a story and picture of a family that is being cared for by your generous support. Because of the remoteness of some of the towns, individual updates will not be facilitated. We are looking for partners who can understand the culture and conditions of working in remote areas and can be intrinsically satisfied with general reports of how their money is helping these families.

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*90% of all designated money will go directly to the program. 10% will be used to fund the monthly salary of an Ethiopian family caseworker who will monitor the children’s care. Funds will also pay for bi-yearly trips for American YWAM staff to interface and problem solve with church and NGO leadership in Ethiopia.

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To adopt a family or for more information, please contact us:   jamie@adoptionministry.net