Read more about the Orphans Refuge mission team sent out by Together for Adoption and Carolina Hope Christian Adoption Agency.

Nightlight is pleased to announce that our first two families to adopt from Ethiopia are home!
Rocky and Suzanne Clark are the proud parents of Bryson (pictured below). Rocky traveled to Ethiopia for the adoption proceedings, and he and Bryson arrived home on May 24, 2009. (Before the adoption, Bryson was Bekhabil.) Bryson came home as [...]

At the end of last week we had the very great joy of sending out the following message from Assistant Director Lisa Prather:
I am writing to let everyone know that our last Carolina Hope baby came home from Guatemala this week.  I’m so happy to be able to say that every child is home with [...]

Tomorrow, March 5, at 9 pm (ET).
From our course page (which is where you can get info about signing up)
In this approximately 90-minutes webinar, we will discuss the practical aspects of traveling to Ethiopia fro adoption, the required paperwork and forms to submit to the U.S. Embassy and how to complete them, and bringing your [...]

Reported by AP on February 25, 2009. (I can’t find the actual recommendation online — if you do, please let me know, and I’ll post it.)
ATLANTA (AP) - A federal advisory panel is recommending hepatitis A vaccinations for everyone who has close contact with children adopted from countries where hepatitis A is common.
That includes Guatemala, [...]

Carolina Hope and Liquid Highway are teaming up to present an Ethiopia Adoption benefit concert on February 18 (Wednesday). Here are the details:
Where? It will be held outside at Liquid Highway’s Halton Road location (map). If the weather does not cooperate, it will be canceled and hopefully rescheduled.
When? The concert will begin at 6:30 PM [...]

Lisa Prather, Carolina Hope’s Assistant Director, sent the following note out this morning:
Dear Ethiopia Families and Carolina Hope Staff,
I am pleased to announce that last week we were able to match 4 families who were waiting for referrals from Ethiopia. The following children have been matched:
One boy: age 10 months old
Twin girls: age 4 [...]

On October 22 the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (of which Carolina Hope is a member) issued a policy recommendation about cultural sensitivity for U.S. families traveling to Ethiopia to complete an adoption. Here’s the policy recommendation (PDF).
Carolina Hope supports these recommendations and plans to implement them for our Ethiopia Adoption Program.

We just made the following announcement on our Ukraine Adoption page:

On October 14, 2008 the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports published official Order #3899 approving revised procedures for submission of new adoption dossiers from foreign citizens in the fourth quarter of 2008. The annual adoption dossiers quota for 2008 had previously been set [...]

On October 7, I posted a call to action from JCICS. JCICS’s advocacy — in conjunction with the advocacy of other stakeholders and concerned Americans — has resulted in at least limited success. Here is JCICS’s announcement.

Dear Colleagues,
After advocating on behalf of adoptive families for the past 6 months, Joint Council is very pleased to [...]

JCICS is urging all adoption stakeholders to actively participate immediately in encouraging USCIS to implement a policy that’s good for families and children regarding I-600A Renewals.

The Ethiopian Orphan Benefit Dinner and Auction was a great success: through the generosity of our sponsors and of those attending, we raised $3600!
Thanks to all who participated.

Joint Council and others in our field have great concern regarding the one-time renewal of I-600A approvals and the impact on Potential Adoptive Parents (PAPs). It is very clear that the authors of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 intended to ‘grandfather’ all I-600A petitions filed prior to the date on which the Hague Convention went into force in the United States (April 1, 2007). At the time the legislation was drafted, the authors did not foresee the lengthy processing time now associated with adoptions from countries such as China and Haiti.

From our Ethiopian Orphan Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction page:
On Saturday, September 6, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., Carolina Hope is having an Ethiopian Orphan Benefit. The event will be held at Furman University in Greenville, SC.
In addition to dinner, the fundraiser will feature…

live musical entertainment

a silent auction with jewelry, rounds of golf, clothing, home interior pieces, [...]

Tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept. 2) at 7 pm, Carolina Hope Christian Adoption agency is presenting a 2-hour workshop introducing domestic and international adoptions. The workshop is free of charge and will be held at Carolina Hope’s office in Greenville, SC.
More information and sign-up information is available at Carolina Hope’s adoption workshops page.

Carolina Hope invites you to join us for an Ethiopia Orphan Benefit Dinner & Auction at Furman University (Greenville, SC) on Saturday, September 6, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
In addition to dinner, the fundraiser will feature…

» live musical entertainment
» a silent auction with jewelry, rounds of golf, clothing, home interior pieces, purses, spa treatments, a girls night [...]

Back in March I asked you to consider donating to the Ethiopian Group Home that we’re helping out. Well, I’m asking again. We’ve made some good progress, but there are many items that are still needed. Please take a look at the needs and consider making a donation.
Thanks!

James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” God’s people are to be marked by a compassion for orphans and widows. We have received compassion that we might have compassion on others who are in need of it. [...]

Carolina Hope announces the launch of our new International Adoption website. The site features our country adoption programs and a new interface to maximize usability.

If you haven’t yet watched our Ethiopia video, let me encourage you to take the next 3 1/2 minutes and watch it.
[[ This video has been removed to honor Ethiopia's desire that photos of orphans not be displayed on websites. ]]