The ETHIOPIAN CHURCH Journal

In posting Adopting "Hordes of Orphans" [April 26] we were trying to bring attention to phrases that reflected the users mental image of the problem and of Africa. Africa is described as "that war-torn and disease-stricken continent." We don't deny Africa has real problems. However, such descriptors are often employed to raise funds at all costs. Words do have power and result in fostering stigma. Another case in point is the now popular term "Lost Boys" of Sudan. Christian Solidarity International's "redeeming slaves" is another of those projects that end up perpetuating the very problem they try to address. There is a better way; prayerfully read Paul's letter to Philemon! In regard to Village of Hope's Board, Fundraising, Adoption Policy and Year End Report we sensed an absence of higher standards of accountability and professionalism. We were also struck by the comment below and the kind of reaction it is generating. sweetit...

"...After hearing a report on National Public Radio in 1991 about the hordes of orphans in Africa, they decided to adopt a child from that war-torn and disease-stricken continent... Read More And read here for Adoption Policy and here for 2008 Year End Report.

A rarely contested truism is that politics and religion do not mix and that religion should not interfere with one’s political decisions. President George Bush was savaged not so long ago for not keeping God out of his politics. Tony Blair while in office was not particularly forthcoming about his faith. His advisers, in fact, went out of their way to make sure the public did not identify him as a practicing Christian. It was only after he left office that Blair finally declared himself a convert to Catholicism. And he has been making waves ever since. Islam is a “very beautiful religious faith ,” said, Mr. Blair [who now is special envoy for the Middle East] and that he read the Qur'an “practically every day.” And just last week he came out to challenge the Pope [the Catholic Church] to “rethink entrenched attitudes” toward human sexuality and [urged] “religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal.” It appears it did n...

British Society and the Church By Mitiku Adisu Nearly sixty percent of British citizens believe they are now a “surveillance society.” More electronic “eyes and ears” are planted in public squares in Britain than anywhere in Europe . More people [especially Londoners] are fearful than ever before. Number of people having mental problems is on the rise. There are complaints about government intrusiveness but not enough to mobilize public outrage. One reason is that the issue of monitoring the public was framed as a device to keep terrorists in check. It is indeed a thin line to tread. The first casualty under these conditions is of course democracy itself. Democracy flourishes in proportion to level of trust within the particular society. Trust must be voluntary or else fear, corruption and distrust will gain the upper hand. Each society surely reaps whatever it sowed in its public policy. There has been aggressive secularization going on in British society. What is appalling is that ...

"In 2004, just 289 Ethiopian babies were issued U.S. State Department visas. The numbers have quintupled since then, accounting for 1,725 of the 17,438 international adoptions last year. But with international adoptions on hold in Guatemala — from which 4,123 American families adopted children in 2008 — and in serious slowdown in other nations, including China, from which Americans adopted another 3,909 babies past year, and Russia (1,861), Ethiopia has become an increasingly popular option ... China poses challenges as well. Not only does the process often take three or more years, but the parents must be married, preference is given to families of Chinese descent, and the list of requirements includes age, finances and body mass index. Ethiopia, by contrast, allows both married and single parents to adopt, and the process typically takes less than two years ..." Read More .