Numbers = the souls of precious children

• 143-210 million orphans in the world


• 67.5 million orphans in South Asia and East Asia (25 million in India alone)


• 41 million orphans in Africa


• 34 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa
  
• 15 million children orphaned due to AIDS


• 11.6 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa
  
• 4-5 million orphans in Ethiopia


• Hundreds of thousands of orphans in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, etc...
  
• 500,000 children in U.S. foster care


• 150,000 children in U.S. foster care available for adoption


• 225 million Americans report themselves as Christians


• 159 million Americans say they "adhere" to the Christian faith
  

"Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way...but you may never again say that you did not know." ~William Wilberforce

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." ~James 1:27

The aforementioned numbers are from the blog of a dear friend whose family is in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue their journey.

The following are some thoughts that have been running through my mind lately (that is why I am still up posting this at 12:45 a.m.--I can't fall asleep!)

I believe it is oftentimes easier to ignore a need when one has not seen it firsthand. Perhaps that is why it is so difficult to get people to step outside their comfort zones and take action; out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes. I wholeheartedly believe, however, that with enough encouragement and examples, people's hearts will be touched and they will be motivated to do something. There is just no way a person can look into the eyes of a foster child who has been longing for a family for years, or see tiny hands reaching out to be held through the bars of a crib, and not be moved to action.

I will be the first to admit that it is uncomfortable at times due to the differences in cultures when dealing with children internationally, emotionally rending to the point of physical pain no matter the country, financially challenging, and frustrating. However, caring for children, whether due to the physical loss of their parents or social loss due to abandonment, provided a joy, contentment, and peace I had never known up until I was blessed to meet the children of Tutova, Romania.

Prior to volunteering at the failure-to-thrive clinic/orphanage, I had plenty of reasons why I would never adopt as a single person. Needless to say, my view changed thanks to 29 children who showed me the way. I realized that my reasons for not adopting stemmed directly from my personal doubts and fears. I had heard married couples say they did not want to adopt because they did not want to blend their families with biological and adopted children, and other couples said "We are just too old." Finally, single people like me did not want to raise a child alone, be stressed financially, or face the stigma attached to single parenting. I prayed and studied the subject and realized that I had been guilty of the very behavior that disappointed me when I saw it in others; I was making excuses. God tells us that Christians are to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and keep themselves unstained from the world. He directed that to each and every Christian, whether single or married.

People often ask me why I chose Romania; my reply is that I didn't choose Romania, rather God chose it for me as a way to show how abundant life can be if I only trust in Him and step outside my bubble of familiar places and faces. Romania might not be where God is calling you. Pray about it, trust Him, and He will lead you to the place you need to be in order to provide a family for the orphans and abandoned children; but, be prepared to be surprised---you probably won't even realize how badly you needed to be there until you have arrived. It is a soul-changing experience that cannot be described---it must be experienced.

Lord willing, I will return to Romania on Friday (June 4th). I don't know what He has in store for me in the future. I pray that my heart is willing to go wherever He leads me in the care of orphans, whether it is Romania, Russia, Africa, Ukraine, India, somewhere stateside, etc...

My earnest desire for you is that the borders of your comfort-zone will be expanded, overrun, or torn down completely---whatever it takes for you to recognize and live to fulfill the need of over 200 million children. There should be no stigma attached to adoption. We ourselves have been adopted: "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father". The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." ~Romans 8:15-16

"...we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." ~Romans 8:23

By God's grace, may we always be able to say with steadfast and cheerful hearts, "Here we are, send us!"