Adoption at 50!!

Denver Colorado

I was blessed to share a seat on the airplane next to a gentleman who observed a book I was reading called 'Adopted for Life' by Russell D. Moore. I was on my way home from Denver, CO having just attended a staff retreat with World Orphans.

He shared with me the story of he and his wife (both 60 years of age) adopting 2 abandoned and vulnerable babies 10 years ago. He welled up with tears as he relayed how he wouldn't have waited so long next time if he knew how much adoption would change his life and how deeply he would love two precious, once fatherless, baby girls.

He and his wife had struggled through infertility all of their married life and unable to conceive children, didn't consider adoption until much later. At 50 years of age they were gripped by the 'fatherhood of God' and in brokenness and anticipation, began their journey to adopt children.

They realized that protecting children meant rolling back the curse of fatherlessness, inasmuch as it was within their power and willingness to do so. The result? They discovered a parental and familial love much deeper than they could have ever imagined. They were confronted with a love so intentional that 2 girls who were once without family, were given a new name and were now called 'beloved daughters'.

I was riveted; holding onto every word as I listened to the tender heart of a father tell of the wonders of God to bring joy and life through the deep pain of infertility.

The 60 year old father of 10 year old girls was on his way home from a business trip and his greatest anticipation was to hug his girls and enjoy dinner with his precious family. My heart was so full hearing this story as I continue to consider more about what it means to defend the cause of the orphan 'until they all have homes'.

"He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children, Praise the Lord!" (Psalm 113)

Kathy and Kate in Denver

Haiti - One Year Later...

Haiti - One Year Later...

Haitian churches continue to care for orphans

Today marks the anniversary of the devastating Haiti earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left 1 million people homeless. Left behind were thousands of orphans, adding to the estimated 380,000 children previously without parents or someone to care for them.

Following a February 2010 trip to Haiti, World Orphans established the Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program at ten Haitian churches. These churches had already taken in orphans in their community and placed them within church families. With the OVC program these families receive the support they need to continue caring for the children.

By partnering these churches with a U.S. church that provides financial support, the 200 children in the OVC program are receiving food, education, medical care and trauma counseling.

We praise God that all 10 Haitian churches identified last February have been partnered. But, of course, the need continues.

World Orphans would love to expand the OVC program in Haiti as we can raise fund and identify U.S. churches or groups of individuals who have a desire to get involved in helping the orphans of Haiti. For more information, e-mail Alan Hunt.

$8 for Clean Water

What if you could make a huge impact with just $8?

World Orphans was given 300 water filters to distribute to our OVC families and others in need. To use the water filters those families need two buckets which cost $4 each.

Your $8 donation will provide clean water, critical in preventing disease and malnutrition, to a family. We still need buckets for 266 filters.

GIVE NOW

East Africa Holistic Care Training

Holistic Care Conference in Kenya
November 2010

What a joy it was to participate in World Orphans first Holistic Care Training in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2010. Our focus was on emotional care and our holistic care team spent a week with pastors and care givers from three of our Church to Church partnerships in Kenya and one in Uganda. Many of the orphaned children have serious emotional issues to work through to include rejection, abandonment, physical, and sexual abuse. What a blessing it was to help equip and encourage those already caring so well for the orphaned and vulnerable children within their communities. As a recipient of God's great mercy, salvation and rescue in my own life, it is with great joy that the spirit of the Lord is allowing me to bring good news to the poor, bind up the broken hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of prison doors that are bound, to comfort those who mourn, to see beauty come from ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, praise instead of a faint spirit...that they may be called Oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that HE may be glorified. (Isaiah 61)

Psalm 71:2 - Rescued from the pit!

~In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me!~

As I watched the miraculous Chilean mining rescue yesterday where 33 men were brought safely home from spending over two months 1/2 mile underground, I was deeply moved and keenly aware at how helpless they were outside of other rescuers to provide the means to bring them to safety. I was reminded and humbled that while I was trapped in my sin, Christ died for me. Christ provided a way out of a very dark pit of sin that would have left me eternally separated from God. Jesus Christ died a sinless and sacrificial death to provide the deliverance, salvation and rescue that I would desperately need and will continue to need until I see Him face to face. I am blessed with a beloved husband and three amazing daughters with whom Jesus has saved and are also recipients of Christ's grace and rescue. I am forever grateful and could ask for nothing more except that God would be glorified through our lives for our remaining days on earth and for all eternity.

My Beloved Family...(left to right) Amanda, Kathy, Amy, Keith, and Anna