Is our child in Uganda?

Ever since we have been married, my husband Dee has talked about wanting a big family. He comes from a family of two and I come from a family of four. His good friend from college came from a family of eleven and Dee really enjoyed the time he spent with them. They had such a neat family. If you asked Dee how many kids he wants, he would say, "four biological children and two adopted children. One African American boy and one Asian girl." I did not know if I could handle two children, much less six. Now after having two children we feel that the Lord is calling us to adopt. Will we have more biological children? Yes, we want to have one more, but that is in the Lord's hands. My heart has been really drawn to Africa, but my husband has still thought we should adopt a stateside African-American boy. He thought, "Why go over seas when there is a need right here at home and the cost is less." After talking to Lifeline Adoption Agency, located in Birmingham, AL, he is almost convinced Uganda could be our calling. He learned:

     *90% of Uganda is rural and very poor.

     *Uganda has a population of 24.7 million people and an orphan population of 2 million set to rise to
        3.5 million in 2010.

     * The poor healthcare infrastructure leaves 51% of the population untreated. So the HIV/AIDs epidemic
        is getting worse and affecting more people.

      *Northern Uganda has had 19 years of ongoing civil war between the Lords Resistance Army (LRA)
        and the government which affects 2.3 million people. It is often described as a war of "children against
        children". Many more problems have stemmed from this conflict, which have resulted in more orphans.

      *It is less expensive to adopt from Uganda than other African countries. This is a plus for us! God even
        uses money to show us his plan.

      *There is a great need in the states for people to adopt African American children, but most of the babies
        get adopted and our foster system is well run. But God seems to be leading us to the greater need in
        Africa.

We both talked to the Ugandan connection at Lifeline Adoption Agency and we have requested an application. Uganda has only been open for three years, so there are not many options for agencies. We are praying that God will open or close the door to Uganda, according to where he has a child for us!

This is our family as of now!

 Henry is 3 years old and Mary Taylor is 11 months.

For Halloween, Henry was an "individual band member" and Mary Taylor was a "little majorette". Henry is very passionate about the marching band, not football. He makes that very clear!