Why Ethiopia?

My first response is "I don't know."  If someone had told me a year ago (heck, even 4 months ago) that we'd be adopting from Ethiopia I would have told that person that he or she was cray-cray and that we would be doing nothing of the sort.  But, for some reason, God has planted a deep, burning love for this country and her people in my heart, and has miraculously made my husband jump onboard this crazy, runaway adoption train with both feet.  

Facts like these are why:

60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition.
Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.

Only 42.7% of adults can read and write.
Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.
There are approximately 5 million orphans in Ethiopia, 800,000 of whom are AIDS orphans.

An Ethiopian child is 30 times more likely to die by his or her fifth birthday than a child in Western Europe.

Faces like these are why:

Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’  Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 43:5-6)