Category Archives: Orphan Care

Adoption, Everyday Life, Orphan Care, Second Adoption

Why Russian Adoption Matters

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…in my humble words.

I’ve been silent on the Russian-U.S. adoption ban. Any words I come up with seem inadequate. It’s too familiar. There was a time when I was filled with the fear that my baby would never come home. We were told his region was CLOSED. Uncertain when it would open again. At this point, we had already lost Alyona. And then, Gus’s region screeched to a sudden halt. No, it’s not the same. I can’t imagine the real-life nightmare that these children and families are living through. But, I still remember my despair, fearing that my baby would never come home.

Why does it matter? Why is it so important to reinstate Russian adoptions, when there are millions of orphans in the world and hundreds in our own country? 

In short, a child is a child. No matter where this child lives. And, the conditions that many Russian orphans live in are horrid. Unimaginable. This collection of photos is not how all Russian orphans live, but it is the tragic reality for many. If you’d like a more detailed explanation of why a family choses to adopt from Russia instead the US, I really like Bethany’s. There are so many different options for adoption and it is absolutely not a one-size-fits-all sort of journey. Hundreds of thousands of orphans wait in Russia, and for many American families, Russia is the best fit for their family.

And as for the children? Is it really best for them to leave their culture and all that they’ve ever known? No. I don’t believe being adopted internationally is the best option, if there is any other option. I cannot speak for every single Russian orphan, but for so many, being adopted internationally is their only chance. Particularly for children with special needs, like Anton, there is NO ONE else coming for them. Dasha waited years for her family to show up. Charlotte was turned down by 500 families under her mama and papa said “yes”.

Adoption is far from perfect. We cannot deny the tragedies of 19 Russian children adopted by Americans. But, for so many Russian orphans, international adoption remains their only hope of a life beyond the orphanage walls, beyond the bars of their crib.

Please pray that Russian/American adoptions resume soon. Please pray for the orphans and the families who want to bring their babies home.

Adoption, Orphan Care

What You Can Do

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I am always hearing about ways you can help orphans, and there are things at every level, in every budget, for every ability, that we can do.


If you have little money…
Advocate & pray for an orphan. Print out his or her photo, carry it in your wallet, tell people about her. Blog about her. Have a fundraiser for this child. A great time to get involved with this is Reece’s Rainbow’s Angel Tree event in November and December. Talk to your pastor about having an Orphan Sunday at your church.

If you lack the time, but have money…
Add some money to a child’s grant on Reece’s Rainbow. Find a family who is adopting to “adopt” and help them bring their child home. When you buy things online, go through Reece’s Rainbow’s iGive.

If you can’t commit long-term…
Consider a program like Christmas for Orphans in Ukraine. You get to sponsor a child for Christmas. Put a quart size bag full of goodies together for that child. Get involved with a Buddy Walk, volunteer, and educate others about Reece’s Rainbow.

If you want to be involved and commit to a particular child, but you can’t adopt…
Sponsor a child long-term. Send him or her at least two packages a year. Send some money for her to have a real birthday party. Bethany has some HIV+ children on her website who need sponsoring.

If you have room in your home for a season, but cannot adopt or just aren’t ready to adopt…
Host an orphan. Over the summer or for the holidays.

If you have room at your table and room in your heart…
ADOPT.

No excuses. There is something simple & completely manageable each of us can do for these beautiful children who need a family.

Adoption, Orphan Care

Radical

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I mentioned to you a few posts ago that I ordered the book Radical by David Platt. I received it earlier this week and I am about halfway through.

I’ve really been enjoying it, agreeing with what he has to say, but this really hit home…

“It is easy for the numbers and statistics regarding the poor and needy to seem cold and distant. The idea of billions in poverty or twenty-six thousand children dying from starvation or preventible disease before we lay our heads on our pillows tonight seems hard to imagine.

This was the case for my wife and me when we began the process of adopting our first son. We had read the statistics before…. and they were staggering. Millions of orphans in Africa, a number that is rising dramatically as a result of the AIDS crisis that is currently taking the lives of moms and dads across the sub-Saharan plain. Millions of orphans in Asia, many if not most of whom are destined for lives in crime and prostitution if they are not adopted. Millions of orphans in Europe, Latin America, and the United States.

As overwhelming as these numbers were to us, I have to admit they were still just numbers to us before we traveled to Kazakhstan to get our son. It’s not that we didn’t care. After all, we were going through the adoption process. But the numbers still seemed distant, removed from our daily life in suburban Birmingham.

But everything changed when we made our first trip to the orphanage in Kazakhstan. We saw children playing outside. We walked past their rooms inside. Suddenly those numbers on a page came alive in our hearts. We realized it was Caleb who was sleeping in one of those cribs, and it was Caleb who was included in those numbers. All at once the numbers became real… and personal.

We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend that they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes. “

Adoption, Orphan Care
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“Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing. Get involved in what God is doing — because it’s already blessed.” -Bono

Tonight, we watched the movie Lord, Save Us From Your Followers. I had watched it a few months ago when my sister recommended it. It is an interesting movie– honest yet hopeful. I would absolutely recommend it… it’s available on Netflix Instant Queue.

The narrator uses a few positive examples of Christians– Bono, Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II. Another Bono quote which I love…

“Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives… But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.“