Archive for the Adoption
Monday, January 25th, 2010
What you need to adopt from Haiti
Many of you have asked about how to go about adopting from Haiti. Dan Cruver of Together for Adoption asks a question in return:
The day will come when the adoption process will open back up in Haiti; and when it does, what Haiti’s orphans will need is Christians who imitate the patience of their Father in heaven. How many of us who are now interested in adopting a child from Haiti will still be interested when the adoption process finally opens back up?
Please read the rest of his article. You may find it discouraging. Or you may discover that God is using Haiti to awaken desires in you and that now he wants to redirect those desires toward other children in need.
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Adoption or orphanage?
There is no easy solution to the orphan crisis in Haiti. It would be wonderful if every child could be placed in a loving, godly family. But until that day–which may never arrive–each child needs loving, caring people who care for him or her. That would probably be in an orphanage.
Orphan’s Matchbox is the blog of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. A recent post there expands on the thoughts I was trying to express about care and family.
No matter how else God is inclining you to be involved, please pray for these children.
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
What is an orphan in Haiti?
In a country like Haiti, that even in the best of times has so many needs, some of the children in orphanages do actually have parents. But for many reason the desperate parents are not able to care for their children.
Now the earthquake has created a multitude of new orphans, children whose family is nowhere in sight and no one knows yet who they are. Some children will be reunited with parents or other family members, but others are truly orphans with no surviving family members.
The latter are the ones we should be thinking about when we encourage adoption. It would not be right to whisk children away from their own language and culture without making a tremendous effort to locate their family. Imagine yourself the mother or father or grandparent of a child who just disappears. Is he dead? Has she been sold as a prostitute? Think of the grief and agony for the rest of your life, not knowing.
One category of Haitian orphans are children who were in the process of being adopted. Secretary of State Clinton says,“[We will] do all we can to expedite the travel of children who were in the line for adoption who have a legal permanent home, guardianship, waiting for them.” These are children who had already been cleared for adoption before the earthquake.
Now we should pray:
1. for a network of able people striving to reconnect “lost” children with their parents.
2. for loving care for the children as they wait and then perhaps discover that their family is dead.
3. godly homes and loving hearts open to adopting those who prove to be true orphans.
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Some Haitian Orphans to come to the US
We have prayed about the plight of orphans in Haiti, made so much worse by the chaos of the earthquake.
Yesterday the US Department of Homeland Security announced:
. . . a humanitarian parole policy allowing orphaned children from Haiti to enter the United States temporarily on an individual basis to ensure that they receive the care they need . . .
“We are committed to doing everything we can to help reunite families in Haiti during this very difficult time,” said Secretary Napolitano. “While we remain focused on family reunification in Haiti, authorizing the use of humanitarian parole for orphans who are eligible for adoption in the United States will allow them to receive the care they need here.”
Read the rest of the press release to understand more about humanitarian parole and to learn which children are eligible.
