We have had the distinct privilege of hosting two orphan brothers in our home for the past few days. I am reminded at how resilient and brave children can be. We heard testimonies tonight of children that have been through hard situations and dealt with pain and hunger like we cannot even imagine and here they were singing and praising God tonight. I wish I could express in words how tonight touched my soul. I am reminded that we have a greater purpose in life, to serve God and serve others.
It really was an incredible night, I hope to be able to post sometime soon some pictures and video of these children. They sing from their heart and share their love with America. As we have gotten to spend time with two of the orphans, Detcho and Nahaji, my children have learned what it means to appreciate your life and to put others first. They have been touched by these boys and I can see in their eyes how the world looks now.
As I sit in my nice house, typing this blog in my warm chair and fridge full of food, I think about how blessed I am as some of the children we met tonight, in fact the ones that are sleeping in a room just across the hall, may have one day not to long ago slept on a city street with no family and no food, hoping and praying for someone to rescue them.
So how in America do we help someone miles away? Well, we pray for these children and their home land. We sponsor children through ethical organizations like Compassion International or World Vision or even Because Every Mother Matters, making sure that their family is intact and whole or if already in an orphanage at least the children have food and water and clothing and a shelter at night. We support other families that are adopting or foster parents. We go on mission trips like Visiting Orphans or Church sponsored mission trips to meet the hungry and the needy. We rally our friends and our families and make a difference, once child, one family, one mouth at a time.
Are you aware that UNICEF opposes international adoption? UNICEF not only opposes sending children outside their birth countries for adoption, but works actively to make it more difficult for intercountry adoptions to occur. The other groups you mentioned are fabulous, especially BEMM, which works at the ground level to reduce the number of children who become orphans.
ReplyDeleteThank you for pointing that out. In my haste to write from the soul I mistakenly wrote UNICEF when I was thinking World Vision. I have read recent articles and I too was disapointed in their attitude towards international adoption and cultural bias. We just learned about BEMM a month or so ago and have been tracking their progress on the ground. What an awesome group! Thank you again for catching my late night mistake :)
DeleteNo worries! World Vision is also wonderful and we support their work as well. It is too bad UNICEF has taken such a staunch position that is not about putting children first.
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