This is a hot button topic that I would like to delve
into. Often adoptive parents are asked questions like this: Why not adopt from the U.S. ? How can you go outside of the country to adopt
when there are plenty of kids in U.S. foster care that need families? This is a very complex and personal issue,
and I cannot answer for anyone else. But
I will share how and why we came to our decision.
First, you should know that we believe in orphan care for ALL
orphans. All of them. That means those in the U.S. and those
abroad. And really, not just orphans –
children in abusive situations, in poverty, in foster care, kids who just need
adult attention, and on and on. We need
to find the needs and meet them. Children
are our future, and we need to take care of them! It is my personal belief that it is far
better to reach out and care for children than it is to attempt to reform them
later on in life when they are in trouble.
Yes, there is absolutely a need for more foster homes and adoptive
parents in the U.S. There is a need for
after school programs, mentors, family reunification programs. There is need for a lot. And I pray that if you feel a burden for
hurting children, that you will find YOUR area.
The need that YOU are called to fill, and fill it. But for us, right now, U.S. foster care or
adoption is not our place. Not right
now. I won’t say never; because that’s
up to God, but not right now.
Second, international adoption is a momentous undertaking!
(You should seriously see the stack of paperwork that I have!) We have already completed one domestic
adoption, and we are prepared for this.
God knows that our previous adoption stretched us and now we can be
stretched further, and that is what He is doing. (I also have a theory that you have to be
just a *tiny* bit crazy to commit to something this big, and He knows that on
the taking-on-huge-things craziness scale, we’re pretty close to the top!)
Most importantly, YES, we need to take care of OUR children
AT HOME in the U.S . If we want to consider the U.S. to be OUR area
to take care of because we live here and everywhere else to be someone else’s
problem, because it’s THEIR country. But
here’s the bottom line for us as Christians:
They are ALL God’s children! Kids in the U.S.
don’t get preference because we live here.
Those are HIS children in orphanages!
The lonely, starving, abandoned – they are ALL
His children. We have to look beyond our
own limitations and see that God cares for all of them equally. I believe that God has purposefully
orchestrated events to bring us to this point, to unite us with a child that is
thousands of miles away. I believe that
He understands what a huge leap of faith this is for us, and that is part of
the plan. But I also believe that to
God, her distance from us is of very little importance. We are talking about the Creator who spoke
our universe into existence! How big of
an obstacle is an ocean in His eyes?
Probably not very. God plans to
unite a child with our family, and the miles that we have to cross to make that
happen are the least important part of the equation.
So yes, there are many children in the U.S.
that need homes. If you feel convicted
about that, pray about opening your home to one of those children. If you are already an advocate for needy
children in the U.S. ,
I applaud you. But God has called us all
to do different things. For us, right
now, God has called us to commit money we don’t have, to fly across an ocean to
a country we've never seen, and adopt a child we've never met, who has unknown
special needs, and to bring her home as our daughter. Simple, right? It is to God.
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