The Ethiopian Church Journal Blog

Source: The New Yorker, The American Prospect, NPR The practice of adoption goes back at least as far as Moses, who, the Bible says, was adopted by the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt. In ancient Greece and Rome, adoption was commonly used, in the absence of male heirs, to transfer property rights to protégés. International adoption, however, is a more recent development. In the United States, it grew out of orphan-rescue missions in the wake of military conflicts, beginning with the airlift of German and Japanese orphans at the end of the Second World War. Similar rescues followed the Korean War, in 1953, the Bay of Pigs debacle, in 1961, and the Vietnam War, in 1975. These “babylifts” were, in part, political, fuelled by a new superpower’s desire both to demonstrate its good will to the rest of the world and to rescue children from Communism, but the press covered them uncritically, as humanitarian mercy missions. International adoption became widely available to ordinary Americans

The dark side of Chinese adoptions Source: NPR When Americans adopt babies from China, most assume they've been abandoned. But a scandal in 2005, in which 6 orphanages were found to be buying babies, threw that in doubt. Scott Tong reports that baby selling may be more widespread. Kai Ryssdal : A key Russian politician said this week there's been no formal ban on U.S adoption of Russian children. There is, though, a new agreement being worked out between the two sides. Last month, a Tennessee woman sent her Russian-born son back to Moscow unaccompanied. Russia is the number three source of international adoptions for American parents. China has been at the top of that list for years. Beijing is generally assumed to run a clean program -- orphanages that are above board and children who've actually been abandoned. But a scandal five years ago shook a lot of that confidence. Six orphanages were found to have been buying babies who were then adopted by families from other coun

The Deadly Virus of Celebrity Christianity Source: FireInMyBones Some bigheaded preachers demand rock star treatment. If the apostle Paul were around today he might throw rocks at them. Just when I thought we charismatics had finally taken enough abuse from the egomaniac ministers in our midst, I’ve learned that some of our leaders are taking things to a new extreme. We’ve moved beyond the red carpets, limousines and entourages of the 1990s. A new strain of the celebrity virus is spreading in large segments of the church. “What is this sickness spreading in the body of Christ? All I know is that God is grieved by all of this shameful carnality.” One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent preacher could speak at her conference. The minister’s assistant faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to book a speaking engagement. The demands included: a five-figure honorarium a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane a manicurist and hairst

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,and its place knows it no more. [Psalm 103: 8-16]

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." I AM the Bread of Life . He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty …All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all… For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us… In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [Isaiah 53:4-6; Romans 5: 6 ; 1 John 4:9-10]

Ethopian charity owner charged with child sexual abuse Source: abc4.com A man who helped form a charity to help children in Ethopia is now charged with child sexual abuse. Forty seven felony counts were filed by Wasatch County prosecutors against Lon Harvey Kennard Senior on Tuesday. The charges involve the abuse of seven underage girls over a 15 year period. Investigators claim during that time Kennard would sexually abuse some of the girls several times a week. According to their report, "Kennard also has an African girlfriend who is now 17 or 18 years of age." Investigators claim he even maintains a house in Ethiopia that he kept from his family. "We believe there could have been some things going on there," said Todd Donner of the Wasatch County Sheriff's office. Kennard and his wife co-founded Village of Hope, a charity that reaches out to a cluster of villages in southern Ethiopia to help them with food, clean water and education. The charity and the Kenn