in the pipeline

from a voice of america article written last week:

Abigail Rupp, head of the consular section at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa says the cutback is likely to result in a drop in adoptions to the United States from last year’s 2,500 to fewer than 500. She says the biggest concern is for the estimated 1,000 children currently in the adoptions pipeline, who may be forced to wait more than a year for their cases to be considered.

"We share the government’s concerns about the vulnerabilities in the process. But certainly we have concerns about children who would be waiting longer for their adoptions to be final. That would mean they would be in an orphanage or transition home for a longer period of time," she said.

this is serious stuff, people.  as the momma of a baby who died waiting, i beg you to pray for those 1,000 children who are trapped "in the pipeline".  pray for the adoption establishment in ethiopia as well as the agencies and officials who control it. 

and please, please...pray for our son.  we expect our case to be heard again sometime friday morning (which, because ethiopia is nine hours ahead, will be sometime thursday evening/night here). 

we love you and appreciate your encouragement, notes, and most importantly, your prayers.  thank you!