Adoption

My heart is breaking over the ban of Americans adopting from Russia. (If you are not familiar with the story, please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/world/europe/putin-to-sign-ban-on-us-adoptions-of-russian-children.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& .) There are roughly 250 Russian children that have been matched with American families. Many of these children have already met who they thought would be their forever families because Russia requires a visitation trip before the actual trip to adopt. Also, 46 American families were in the final stages of adoption. That means 46 families are either in Russia preparing to depart with their child or were preparing to travel to Russia soon. Since the ban becomes effective Tuesday, there is little hope for these families. Even the families that are in Russia now may leave there with broken hearts and empty arms, depending on where they are in final stage of their adoptions. All I can think about is the 46 bedrooms that are decorated and have closets full of clothes for a child that may never come home. Many of these parents have spent $50,000 or more in adoption and travel expenses.  

The driving force behind my passion is I’ve had the heart of adoption as long as I can remember. People often ask me why I want to adopt at all. There are currently 143 million orphans in the world. More importantly God commanded us to take care of the orphans. If only 6% of Christians adopted, 143 million orphans would be reduced to zero. I have a deep desire to be included in that 6%. Another question I get when I tell people I want to adopt is where and why. God has not revealed to us when, where or why but I do feel like it will be outside of the United States. Many people are appalled when I say that. (It’s not like a product that was manufactured outside of the United States.) They say there are thousands of children that need your help here. And yes, that is true but the reason I feel so compelled to adopt outside of the United States is because there are resources here set up by our great government to meet the basic needs of our children while in other countries children are dying due to the lack of proper nutrition and basic medical care.

Please join with me and praying for these families, the 120,000 orphans in Russia and the 143 million orphans around the world.