Adventures in Adoption
Tax deductible
As you may or may not be aware, I had the mind-blowing privilege to host two orphans from Eastern Europe this summer - Šandars (age 9 [above left]) and Artjoms (age 14 [above right]). By God’s grace and provision, I am going to host them (and Rolands, a 15 year old from Latvia whose picture is at the very end of this short letter) over Christmas.
I am asking God whether He will allow me the privilege of adopting Artjoms and Šandars. With your kind indulgence, I simply would like to talk with you about the realities of orphans, walk through the Word of God to explore His heart for the fatherless and His answer to it, and ask you to consider joining me on this adventure. (At the suggestion of several people, I am inserting a link to our GoFundMe adoption campaign here. www.gofundme.com/2hhq64vg It is also at the end of this letter, but as hard as it is for me to believe, some have suggested that not everyone will read all 28 pages.)
I. How Did This Adventure Begin?
My involvement with orphans began many years ago. It actually started in 2000 when at-risk teenage boys (who were not orphans) started show up on my doorstep. I didn't ask for them to show up . . . they just did. The first one (a 15 year old) was in my home for a few weeks. The second one (an 18 year old) was with me for a year, and he brought a friend (a 17 year old). Those two led to the fourth kid, which in turn led to the fifth, and so on.
God was definitely calling me to care for at-risk youth, so I decided it would be a good idea to become licensed by the State as a foster parent, and have the oversight and imprimatur of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. I commenced the licensure process and my training in 2004, and received my foster care license as a therapeutic foster parent in early 2005.
From 2000 to 2013, I fostered 24 teenage boys. All of the children placed with me from 2005 and afterwards were orphans. In 2013, I decided not to renew my foster care license. You may not believe this, but foster children are rather time-intensive. I adopted two of the boys, Danny at age 16 (who is now 23) and James at age 17 (who is 21). Despite my election not to renew my license in 2013, various people and organizations (the Juvenile Probation Office, the Bonneville Youth Development Council, and others) are still sending kids my way.
In November of 2015, I saw a YouTube video mentioned on Facebook, the title of which was, "My Miracle - How adoption saved me." It is the story of a boy from Russia who was orphaned at the age of 8, at which time he was placed in an orphanage. When he was 14, he was selected on the last possible day in the last possible hours to come to the U.S. via an orphan hosting program.
Some of the things he said in the video were absolutely chilling:
Dreams and hopes of a better future do not exist
there. Hoping for anything good only leads to
disappointment . . . We are all alone.
The great news is that one year after he came to the U.S., he was adopted by the couple who hosted him! He writes in the video:
Hugs, kisses, help, and support are . . . normal.
I really encourage you to watch the video on YouTube. Here is the link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUguiCiLZvg.
Despite my experience in the worlds of foster care and adoption, I had never heard of "orphan hosting". That prompted me to do some research. I was amazed at what I found!
There are a handful of organizations here in the U.S. that bring children from (usually) developing nations such as Ukraine, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Peru and others. They bring orphans from these countries to the U.S. to: (1) give them a break from their orphanage or foster home; (2) allow them the opportunity to experience life with a family; and (3) set up the possibility for adoption with their host family or a family that gets to know them.
Hosting organizations bring children to the U.S. for Christmas, from mid-December to mid-January, and for the summer from anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks. By the time I learned about orphan hosting in November, all of the Christmas deadlines had passed. In February, the hosting organizations started posting the profiles of the children. So I applied.
As the saying goes . . . one thing led to another . . . and on June 20, Šandars and Artjoms arrived in the U.S. . . . and that's when the adventure began!
II. May I Introduce You to the Boys?
A. Artjoms
Artjoms is extremely bright, speaks English very well, and is almost always smiling. He is usually soft-spoken (unless he is yelling at Šandars), has a very gentle nature, yet is super playful and definitely "all boy".
He is amazingly helpful and often takes the initiative without being asked to lend a hand with chores (like cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, etc.). One night, he and Šandars wanted to stay up late to watch movies. I told him that they could do so as long as he cleaned up the TV/living room. When I awoke the next morning, he had cleaned the entire main level of the house - TV/living room, kitchen, dining room, halls, and even vacuumed the carpet!
I will tell you that he is the pickiest eater of a teenager I have ever met, which is a complete mystery to me. Nevertheless, he is almost always willing to try new things. This is not only true about foods, but also life.
When we were in Yellowstone National Park during the last weekend the boys were here, he told me that he wants to be a Christian. I asked him why. He replied, "Because I believe in God." The next day, he asked if I could help him get a Bible and a cross necklace. We picked them up the last day the boys were in the U.S..
Artjoms has been previously hosted 8 times in the U.S.. At the risk of stating the obvious, none of the families that hosted him moved forward with adoption. Unlike Šandars, he never called me "Dad". I believe this is because he has been disappointed so many times before and has simply lost hope that he will ever be adopted. The fact that he has not been adopted absolutely astounds me . . . but maybe that was because God was waiting for us to get together?! I had the benefit of talking with Artjoms' most recent previous host father and he told me that Artjoms very much wants to be adopted. I asked him on a scale of 1 to 100 (with 1 being "no interest"), how interested he was in getting adopted. He said - "99".
B. Šandars
Šandars is all boy. I describe him as the Energizer Bunny on steroids. He is not hyper-active. He has the capacity to be very quiet and still when it is appropriate to do so, like church, restaurants, or the car. He is simply extraordinarily energetic ( OK, that is a massive understatement).
Like Artjoms, Šandars is very bright, cheerful, and super sweet. You can see that in his pictures. He is also a big ham. He likes to sing, and would often do his best to sing along with some of the Christian bands that he heard in the house or the car.
He also has a heart to serve. While my sister Dena was here, she prepared some wonderful dinners for us. The first night she did so, Šandars helped her make several items. When I fed the dogs, he would often jump in to take over.
The most amazing thing about Šandars occurred whenever any other children or teenagers were around me. He would walk up to me, give me a big hug, and then proclaim - "My dad!"
But there is another aspect of Šandars that is hard for us, as North Americans, to appreciate - he is Roma or Romani. That probably does not mean anything to you because the Roma really don't exist in North America. The problem is that racism against the Roma is extremely severe in all of Europe. With your kind indulgence, I would like to "set the stage" so that you understand the incredible discrimination and poverty Šandars will experience if he grows up in Europe.
From the time they entered Europe from India a thousand years ago, the Roma were targets of discrimination. Roma were living in Spain, France, England, and large parts of what is today Russia and Eastern Europe by the late 1400s. Countries passed laws to suppress their culture and keep them out of the mainstream. They suffered persecution in those countries ranging from laws against their language and dress to expulsion.
The subsequent centuries of their life in Eurasia is pretty much one ugly tale after another. Almost from the start, they were kept as slaves in Romania, even by monasteries. They were subject to a special tax in the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the first half of the 15th century, they were welcomed in nearly every corner of the European continent as they migrated west. However, before the century came to a close they were targeted by governments across Europe, largely due to political turmoil. In 1548, for instance, the German Diet in Augsburg declared that the killing of Gypsies by average citizens would go unpunished. They were expelled from Czech lands, England, Spain, Venice, Warsaw, the Duchy of Lithuania, and Rome. They were constantly the target of decrees regulating their work, religion, marriage, housing, and taxes. It wasn't until the mid-1800s, when it was estimated there were 200,000 enslaved Romani in the Romanian provinces, that the process of emancipation began.
The Nazis judged Roma to be "racially inferior," according to the Holocaust museum. "Their fate in some ways paralleled that of the Jews," the museum states. The Nazis subjected Roma to internment, forced labor, and murder. Estimates of Romani deaths in the Holocaust range from 25% to 30% of the entire Roma population in Europe. They were still the target of sterilization programs throughout the 20th century in Scandinavian countries.
For centuries, the Roma have suffered from the stereotypes of being untrustworthy and unable to integrate into larger society. At all levels of society, it is perfectly acceptable to regard the Roma as a subclass of humans and to treat them accordingly. Roma are stripped of their individuality as human beings and are characterized primarily by negative traits that are imposed upon them. The basis for this discrimination is pure racism.
Today, one in three Roma in Europe are unemployed and 90% live below the poverty line, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Human Rights. Roma almost always reside in ghettos at the outskirts of cities where the living conditions are poor. In periods of shortages, these districts are the first to be cut off from water and power. Advocates say the Roma are denied a fair chance to secure housing, employment and education. And the EU human rights agency said governments must act to stop the "exclusion" of the Roma from mainstream society.
Amnesty International says European governments continue to actively discriminate against the Roma. The organization says the French government, ignoring court rulings, continues to evict people from Roma settlements with inadequate provision for other housing. Amnesty International is spotlighting segregation of Romani children in schools in Slovakia. School segregation also has been an issue in Greece. The European Court for Human Rights ruled that Greek authorities discriminated against Roma children in the town of Aspropyrgos, where non-Roma parents in 2005 blockaded an elementary school to demonstrate against the admission of Roma children. The Roma children were placed in a separate building.
In Romania, a far-right group last January called for the sterilization of Roma women. Bulgaria last year saw anti-Roma demonstrations in the capital, Sofia. In 2012, a mob in the Czech Republic chanted "gas the gypsies" after a 15-year-old claimed he had been beaten up by Roma people.
Racism is present throughout state institutions like the police and the courts. For decades, Roma children were put into schools for mentally disabled children. Both Bulgaria and Romania had to fulfill various criteria regarding minority rights to join the European Union – but when it comes to the Roma, most of these rights and protections only exist on paper.
The lifelong prospects for a Roma are horribly bleak in Europe.
The lifelong prospects for a Roma orphan who is not rescued from fatherlessness are unimaginable.
Do you want to do something beautiful for God?
There is a person who needs you.
This is your chance.
Mother Teresa
III. Just a Few Statistics
Somewhere in the world a child is orphaned every 15 to 18 seconds.
Every day 5,760 more children become orphans.
Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out of an orphanage or foster care with no family to belong to and no place to call home.
Each day 38,493 orphans age out of care.
Each year 14,505,000 children grow up as orphans and age out of the system by age sixteen. They enter into the world with no permanent family to support or love them.
Studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit suicide before they reach age eighteen.
These studies also show that 60% of the girls who age out become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become hardened criminals.
Another study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 10% committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years. In the United States, within 18 months of turning 18 and aging out of the foster care system, 27% of the girls are incarcerated and 44% of all the boys are incarcerated. (Casey Foundation report, Aging Out - A Time for Reform.)
It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide (State of the World's Children 2012, a recent UNICEF [United Nations Children Fund] report.) The UNICEF orphan numbers do not include abandonment (millions of children) as well as children who are sold and/or trafficked. The current population of the United States is just a little over 300 million (roughly 5% of the world's population) . . . to give you an idea of the enormity of the numbers.
According to data released in 2003 as many as eight million boys and girls around the world live in institutional care. Some studies have found that violence in residential institutions is six times higher than violence in foster care, and that children in group care are almost four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than children in family-based care.
An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year (The State of the World's Children 2005)
The likelihood that a child will be adopted starts to plummet after age 5. About 7% of the children who are adopted internationally are between the ages of 6 and 10 - Šandars' age group. Only 2% of children who are adopted internationally are between the ages of 11 and 17 - Artjoms' age group.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Remaining as an orphan has devastating consequences.
The statistics are daunting . . . if not depressing.
When we look at the circumstances of many other places around the world and see just how dire the circumstances are with unimaginable poverty, terrorism, and wars, and then to compound that for a child who has no parents, nobody to love and care for them, it is total defeat for them to have absolutely nobody.
Or is it?
What is God's answer to this massive and devastating issue?
It turns out – the answer is us. You and I are the answer.
And so, I want to invite you into something extraordinary.
I want to invite you into something that is
intimately and tenderly close to the heart of God.
I want to invite you into the
rescue of two orphans.
IV. Adoption
A. How Often Are Children Adopted?
Although we speak of them as though they are common place, adoptions are very rare. About 30 percent of Americans have considered adopting, but less than one in 1,000 have done so. In 2008 (the last year for which I could get any statistics), 135,813 children were adopted in the US in all types of adoption, including foster care adoptions, inter-country adoptions, and private baby adoptions. Although the total number of adoptions has risen, the adoption rate per 100,000 adults in the United States has decreased. The adoption rate per 100,000 adults in 2000 was 61.5 . . . and again, that is per 100,000 American adults. The adoption rate in 2008 was 58.3 per 100,000 adults – a 5-percent decrease.
Adoption from foster care accounted for 41% (55,303) of all adoptions in 2008. International adoptions accounted for 13% (17,416) of all adoptions in the U.S. in 2008. Other adoptions (private adoption from adoption agencies or adoption attorneys, tribal, step parent) accounted for the rest—about 46% (63,094) in 2008.
B. God Loves Orphans
Down through the ages, from before the days of Job to the present time, a faint cry has echoed across the vast face of the earth and ascended to heaven. A solemn lonesome cry for help. Only understood through the revelation of Scripture. A cry spanning continents, people groups, cultures, and languages.
It is the cry of the orphan.
A sound so easily replaced by the demands of our busy lives. One quick to be ignored for the sake of things we deem more important. Yet there is one ever faithful friend who has never turned away from this crying.
He desires to make known that He is the defender of the defenseless. The provider of those who have not. The father to those who have never known their own. The lover of the unlovely. A hope for the hopeless. The comforter of those who have none. And the rescuer of those are helpless.
These things He does not just for the sake of the orphan, but for the manifestation of his own supreme glory.
He is none other than Jehovah Shammas (Jehovah is there), our heavenly father.
Yahweh.
God.
Scripture is replete with His declaration of love for the orphan.
"He executes justice for the fatherless . . ."
Deuteronomy 10:18
"Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from
the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow."
Deuteronomy 27:19
"Father of the fatherless and protector of
widows is God in his holy habitation."
Psalm 68:5
"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold
the cause of the poor and the oppressed."
Psalm 82:3
"The Lord watches over the sojourners; he
upholds the widow and the fatherless."
Psalm 146:9
"Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the
oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow."
Isaiah 1:17
Since God repeatedly draws our attention to this inescapable aspect of his character, why would we not extend our love to the orphan in like fashion?
This causes us to ask whether the church, and we as Christians, are doing all we are called to do to care for orphans? What exactly does it mean to care for orphans? Does it all mean adoption? Or does it extend beyond adoption? What issues impact our view of orphans and the extent to which we ought to provide help? To whom does the responsibility of orphan care belong?
James 1:27 gives the church a solemn reminder.
"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." (NIV)
". . . to care for orphans and widows in their
difficulties . . ." (Common English Bible)
"You must help needy orphans and widows . . ."
(Contemporary English Version)
God calls the church . . . and He calls you and me . . . to care for widows and orphans. He not only calls us to do that, but defined true religion in that way.
Because we are so tempted to forget that.
One of the reasons the church misses the glory and the beauty of adoption in the earthly realm, is that we don't really hear much about it from the spiritual realm. We spend a lot of time and energy talking about justification, how it happens, what comes before, what comes after it, how faith relates to it, and how the work of Christ relates to it.
But we miss the end game.
Jesus did not come to earth simply so we can be forgiven. In fact, we are so focused on that, I think that most of us believe that what happens when we die is that we stand this long line, and at the end of this line there is God in his black robe and white wig and a big judge's desk and when you finally get called up there, he sort looks over the top of his glasses and he says, "How do you plead?" Because we have our theology right, we plead the blood of Christ. He looks at some papers and takes a stamp and hammers his gavel and says, "Not guilty. Next!"
And we just sort of, embarrassedly walk around the judge's desk and head through the pearly gates. In the biblical picture, there are some similarities. In the biblical picture, God is wearing a robe. In the biblical picture, we do come to him. But while we are still pretty far off, according to Jesus, God takes his robe, and girds it around his waist so that he can more freely run to go and greet us. He doesn't say forgiven, but he throws his arms around our neck and says, "My son my son!" We are justified so that we can be adopted.
The promise and the glory of the gospel is that we are able to be called the children of God. When you get that, you want to reflect that in adoption in the earthly realm.
C. Adoption is God's Idea
The concept of adoption came straight from the heart of God and is a Scriptural metaphor that emphasizes the depth and permanence of our relationship with Him, the rights we have as His children, and His redemption of us.
For he chose us in him before the creation of
the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons
through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his
pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious
grace, which he has freely given us in the One he
loves. (Ephesians 1:4)
Russell D. Moore, a theologian and an adoptive father, in his book, Adopted For Life, says that some rude questions about adoption taught him about the Gospel of Christ. When the Jewish Christians demanded to know if the if the newly confessed followers of Christ, Gentile believers, were really brothers (circumcised), when the tribal fracturing of the church was most threatened, Paul laid out a key insight into the church's union with Christ – the Spirit of adoption.
Moore writes, "For Paul, adoption isn't simply one more literary image to convey "Jesus in my heart." It has everything to do with our identity and our inheritance in Christ, with who we are and where we're headed" (Moore, 2009, p. 24). He goes on to say that he and his wife went to Russia and back, twice, to complete the paperwork and attain legal custody of their sons and they found a truth of adoption more ancient, more veiled, but just as real: our own adoption. He says,
None of us likes to think we were adopted. We assume we're natural-born children, with a right to all of this grace, to all of this glory" but those who are in Christ have found a home through the adopting power of God, we have received sonship. We are here by the Sprit of adoption. We are here by grace and our adoption shows us just how welcome we are. (Moore, 2009, p.30,31)
D. Adoption IS Spiritual Warfare
Adoption is spiritual warfare. And that's what we are called to do from the beginning in Genesis chapter 3 to the final consummation of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of our lives are lived in the context of the battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
It's not just impersonal economic and sociological factors at work in the lives of orphans. "The course of this world" is driven along by "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). Jesus showed his disciple John what the story behind the story is. It's the picture of a woman giving birth to "a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron" (Revelation 12:5). Crouching before this woman's birth canal is a dragon, the Serpent of old, who seeks to "devour" the baby (Revelation 12:4). That dragon then "became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring" (Revelation 12:17) and has done so ever since.
The demonic powers hate babies because they hate Jesus. When they destroy "the least of these" (Matthew 25:40, 45), the most vulnerable among us, they're destroying a picture of Jesus himself, of the child delivered by the woman who crushes their head (Genesis 3:15). They know the human race is saved—and they're vanquished—by a woman giving birth (Galatians 4:4; 1 Timothy 2:15). They are grinding apart Jesus's brothers and sisters (Matthew 25:40). They are also destroying the very picture of newness of life and of dependent trust that characterizes life in the kingdom of Christ (Matthew 18:4). Children also mean blessing – a perfect target for those who seek only to kill and destroy (John 10:10).
But Satan always uses human passions to bring about his purposes. When new life stands in the way of power – whether that power is a Pharaoh's military stability or a community leader's reputation in light of his teenage daughter's pregnancy – the blood of children often flows. Herod loved his power, so he raged against babies. In the middle of all of this stood Joseph, an unlikely demon wrestler.
The rescue and protection of children isn't charity. It isn't part of a political program fitting somewhere between tax cuts and gun rights or between carbon emission caps and a national service corps.
The rescue and protection of children IS spiritual warfare!
E. Adoption IS the Gospel
The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans. And this act is not part of his ordinary providence in the world. It is at the heart of the gospel. Galatians 4:4-5 is as central a gospel statement as there is: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." God did not have to use the concept of adoption to explain how he saved us, or even how we become part of his family. He could have stayed with the language of new birth so that all his children were described as children by nature only (John 1:12-13, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."). But he chose to speak of us as adopted as well as being children by new birth. This is the most essential foundation of the practice of adoption.
1. Adoption Was Blessed and Is Blessed with
God's Pouring out a Spirit of Sonship.
Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of
his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
(Galatians 4:6)
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)
God does not leave us in the condition of aliens when he adopts us. He does not leave us with no feelings of acceptance and love. Rather, he pours his Spirit into our hearts to give us the experience of being embraced in the family. What is remarkable about these two texts is the term Abba. It is an Aramaic word. Why then does Paul use it, transliterated, in these two letters written in Greek?
The answer is that it was the way Jesus spoke to his Father, in spite of the fact that virtually no one in Jewish culture referred to God with this endearing word Abba. It stunned the disciples. They held onto it as a precious remnant of the very voice of Jesus in the language he spoke. In Mark 14:36, Jesus is in Gethsemane and prays, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Therefore, in adopting us, God give us the very Spirit of his Son and grants us to feel the affections of belonging to the very family of God.
In the mercy of God, in our families God works to awaken affections in adopted children for their parents that are far more than legal outcomes. They are deeply personal and spiritual bonds. Adopted children do not infer that they are our children by checking out the adoption papers. A spirit pervades our relationship that bears witness to this reality. Like the other children in the family, they all cry, "Daddy."
Praise God that he give us both legal standing as his children and the very Spirit of his Son so that we find ourselves saying from a heart of deep conviction, "Abba, Father."
2. Adoption Brought Us, and Brings Our
Children, the Rights of Being Heirs of the
Father.
Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:6-7)
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:16-17)
Notice that Galatians 4:7 says we are heirs "through God" and Romans 8:17 says we are heirs "of God." In Galatians, the context is the promise of Abraham—through God, that is, by his sending his Son to redeem us, we are heirs with Abraham (even though many of us are Gentiles!) of his inheritance, namely the world (Romans 4:13). But in Romans 8:17, the context is that we, with Christ, are heirs of all that God has, namely, everything. "All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (1 Corinthians 3:21).
3. Adoption Was (for God) and Often Is Now
(For Us) from Very Bad Situations.
We . . . were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:3)
God did not find us like an abandoned foundling bundled on the front step and irresistibly cute. He found us ugly and evil and rebellious. We were not attractive. We would not be easy children to deal with. And, what's worse, God himself was angry with us. He hates sin and rebellion. We were then doubly "children of wrath."
These are the ones God pursued in adoption. Therefore, all of God's adoptions crossed a greater moral and cultural divide than any of our adoptions could. The distance between what we are, and what God is, is infinitely greater than any distance between us and a child we might adopt. God crossed the greatest cultural barrier to redeem and adopt us.
Consider too, that according to Romans 9:4, the people that God chose in the Old Testament, the Israelites, were adopted out of a terrible situation. "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises." But how was this adoption effected? Hosea 11:1, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." They were slaves in Egypt. But not only that, they were often also rebellious against God. "Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea" (Psalm 106:7).
Therefore, God went and took a son from Egypt who was both enslaved and rebellious. The pattern is set: adoptions do not just come from nice, healthy, safe, auspicious situations.
The Gospel is not a picture of adoption.
Adoption is a picture of the Gospel.
John Piper
V. God Call Us to Action!
A. What! You Mean Me??!!
In explaining what true love looks like, John tells us:
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ
laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down
our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has
material possessions and sees a brother or sister in
need but has no pity on them, how can the love of
God be in that person? Dear children, let us not
love with words or speech but with actions and in
truth.
1 John 3:16-18
John does not want Christians to walk away from his letter thinking of love in only generic, abstract ways. Love is not just some feeling, emotion, or impulse -- true love must be translated into action! As Jesus indicates in Matthew 7:16-20, people are known by their fruit.
John's very specific application involves the relationship between Christians of unequal class or wealth. One such brother has the "world's goods," and with those goods comes responsibility. As Paul shows in 1 Timothy 6:17-19 – we are not to trust in the uncertain riches of the world, but be full of good works, using our physical wealth to store up treasures in Heaven. One easy way to do that would be to assist his fellow Christian in need. After all, this is one of the standards of the judgment as portrayed in Matthew 25:31-46!
Yet, for whatever reason, some Christians with the "world's goods" have closed off their compassion for their fellow man. John's word choice here is deliberate, for the primary motivation we have to help others in need ought to be compassion. In the parable of the good Samaritan, the Samaritan is moved by compassion on the man, and that is why he provides the necessary assistance. We ought to follow the "Golden Rule" since we would want to be helped if we were the poor brother, we ought to provide that assistance!
The answer to John's rhetorical question is evident: if a brother has the world's goods, but closes off compassion to his brother in need, the love of God does not abide in him, no matter his protestations. It is not enough to just say or believe that we love one another -- we must communicate that love in deed and truth!
The message is quite important. It is akin to James 1:22-25, the exhortation to be doers of the word and not hearers only. A lot of people are willing to profess Jesus Christ and to say that they believe in His truth, but few are the ones who are willing to really act upon it.
It is easier to profess to love God and to love one another than it is to demonstrate that love through deed and sincerity. As John has just indicated, God has already demonstrated His love for us by accomplishing the means of our salvation through the blood of Christ (1 John 3:16). If God was willing to make such a great demonstration of His love for us, we ought to be willing to help one another in need and to demonstrate the love we say we have for one another. Let us do so, and fulfill God's purpose for our lives!
"Talk is cheap" as they say, and at least as it pertains to the topic of love. Sacrificial love is not abstract or theoretical but practical and costly. There are three key implications this will have for the disciple: (1) it means I joyfully embrace my obligation to sacrificially care for my brother; (2) it means I lay down my life for him in practical ways; and (3) it means God's love abides in me.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he
has faith but does not have works? Can that faith
save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed
and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to
them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without
giving them the things needed for the body, what
good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not
have works, is dead.
James 2:14-17
The two rhetorical questions about faith without deeds are: (1) "What good is it?" [answer: none]; and (2) "Can it save?" [answer: no]. The first question implies a general lack of any usefulness for a faith without actions. The second question specifies a particular use that is lacking – salvation itself. The combined impact is to declare a thorough uselessness of faith without deeds and, to make it absolutely clear, also to declare its particular uselessness in regard to salvation, which would be the primary point of having faith in the first place.
James's specification of a brother or sister (not just "someone") reflects an envisioning of real action toward real people. We know many of his readers were living in economic hardship. His illustration does not imply that all Christians were living in poverty, but that in their midst they would be encountering cases of hardship as severe as a lack of sufficient clothing and even food.
The hypothetical response to the need is good wishes without any actions, for the needy ones are merely "dismissed with friendly words". The response to the needy ones begins literally with the pious "Go in peace. May you be warmed and filled" as an expectation that God would provide for the needy one. This would certainly suit James's context, objecting to "faith" that has pious words but no actions. The uselessness of this response is so obvious and offensive that James needs only to repeat his first rhetorical question – What good is it?
The Bottom Line – If one's faith does not result in action to benefit those who God loves, that "faith" is dead.
B. As First World Christians Are We Merely
Popping Open Jam Jars?
I love this sermon by Gary Haugen, a Christian, Harvard-educated lawyer (you wouldn't think "Christian" and "lawyer" could go together), and President of the International Justice Mission.
Finally I would like to just close by considering a
question all of us think of, I imagine, which is, "Why
in a world of so much suffering and need have we
been given so much?"
You know, I grew up wanting to be a really good
football player, and sad to say, it turned out I just
really wasn't much of a football player, but
fortunately my two older brothers would sit me
down and explain to me why. And they said, "Gary,
you gotta understand. You're small, but you're
slow."
And so, this was helpful to me in an odd way and
so one of the things I would do, of course, is I would
go to the weight room to work out, right, to try to
get bigger, I would go to the weight room and I
would work out and work out. Nothing would
happen but I would go anyway, and I'd be workin'
out and workin' out and there in the weight room I
would always look over and there in their special
section of the gym were the bodybuilders.
Right, have you seen these guys? I mean, they're
huge! Huge chests and arms and legs and neck.
And, I used to just look at all that muscle mass, and
all that strength and all that power, and I used to
just ask, "But what's it all for?"
"It's for posing!" And the only time all that strength
and power is ever really brought to bear in the
world is when there's a crisis in the kitchen, and the
jam jar's stuck and they, they pop open the jam jar!
See, my prayer for us, my prayer for us is that in a
world of so much suffering and hurt and need, that
God will not leave us opening jam jars. But that he
will he will rescue us from all things petty, all things
small, and that he will rescue us from all things of
fear, and move us out with courage into the world
that is yearning to know the goodness of God,
through us.
May God yet find us useful for what matters to Him, in the world.
VI. The Costs of International Adoption
A. Typical Costs of Adoption
Most people know that adoptions cost money . . . but they usually do not know how much they really cost. The numbers below are from 2009-2010. As you might suspect, the costs have not gone down.
Domestic Adoption
Newborn ......................................................... $33,793
Newborn (Attorney) .................................. $31,465
U.S. Foster Adoption ..................................... $2,744
International Adoption
China ................................................................. $28,623
Ethiopia ............................................................ $28,254
Russia ................................................................ $49,749
South Korea ................................................... $37,586
B. The Itemization
The cost of adopting the boys is almost $50,000. As you will see in the itemization below, I have included the fees for hosting both boys over Christmas and New Year's since I probably will not be able to bring the boys home permanently until the spring or summer of 2017.
There is a massive amount of paperwork that must be compiled, translated, and authenticated. Once this happens, the "dossier" is sent to the Ministry of Welfare for review and approval. If approved, the Ministry extends an invitation to the prospective parent(s) to come to the country.
Three visits are required to adopt a child. The first visit is around one month in length. The prospective parent(s) must rent an apartment, into which the children are placed. Social workers observe and report to the orphan court whether and how well the children are interactive with and bonding to the prospective parents. If things go well, the orphan court will grant permission to bring the children back to the U.S.. The purpose of the second trip is to finalize the adoption in the regional court. This trip takes one week. The third trip involves meeting with the U.S. Embassy to submit the boys' Application for Citizenship and get their U.S. passports.
Here is what the costs look like from Children of All Nations, an international adoption agency based in Austin, Texas.
Adoption Fees
First Agency Fee ...........................................................$3,995.00
Second Agency Fee ......................................................$1,995.00
Dossier Service Expense Retainer ...........................$900.00
Third Agency Fee (for first child) ...........................$2,995.00
Third Agency Fee (for second child) ........................$995.00
First In-Country Adoption Fee (for first child) $1,620.00
First In-Country Adoption Fee (for second child) .....................................................................................................$525.00
Initial In-Country Expense Retainer ........................$300.00
Foreign Adoption Program Fee ..............................$6,995.00
Foreign Adoption Program Fee (for second child) .................................................................................................$2,495.00
Second In-Country Adoption Fee (for first child) .................................................................................................$2,145.00
Second In-Country Adoption Fee (for second child) .....................................................................................................$525.00
Third In-Country Adoption Fee .............................$2,145.00
Post Adoption Report Expense Retainer ...............$500.00
Post Adoption Commitment Deposit ......................$500.00
Home Study from Hague Accredited Agency
(Varies from $1,500 to $4,000) .............................$2,500.00
U.S. Customs and Immigration Service
Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child ........................................................................................$800.00
Adoption Fees Total ..........................................31,930.00
But wait! There's more.
Airfare
First Round Trip (for Kevin @ $1,500.00) .........$1,500.00
One Way ticket (for Artjoms and Sandars from
Eastern Europe to Idaho at $1,000.00 each) ..$2,000.00
Second Round Trip (for Sandars, Artjoms,
and Kevin @ $1,500) ...................................................$4,500.00
Third Round Trip (for Sandars, Artjoms,
and Kevin @ $1,500) ...................................................$4,500.00
Transportation Total .......................................$12,500.00
Lodging in country
First Trip (one month) .................................................$1,500.00
Second Trip (one week) ..................................................$750.00
Third Trip (one week) ......................................................$750.00
Lodging Total .......................................................$3,000.00
Adoption Sub-Total $47,430.00
Hosting for December 2016 - January 2017 ..$9,000.00
Grand Total ........................................................$56,430.00
Because GoFundMe.com and its partner take 9.25% of everything that is raised (over $5,200) for their fees, I have increased the fund raising target to $59.430.00.
If anybody understands God's passion for his
children, it's someone who has rescued an
orphan from despair. For that is what God has
done for us. God has adopted you. God sought
you, found you, signed the papers and took you
home.
Max Lucado
VII. Conclusion
Where would you and I be if God were not willing to adopt us?
If He has adopted us, will we follow His example and help make the rescue and adoption of an orphan possible?
In describing a particularly wicked people and a list of their attributes, God tells us:
"They do not promote the case of the fatherless . . ."
Jeremiah 5:28
Jesus tells us,
From everyone who has been given much, much
will be required; and from the one who has been
entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:48
Those are not my expectations, they are the Lord's.
God has a burning passion for the fatherless.
Do we?
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least
of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for
me . . . whatever you did not do for one of the least
of these, you did not do for me.
Jesus - Matthew 25:40 and 45
What you do unto the least of these is ultimately
how you are treating your God.
Eric Ludy
The special ones in God's Kingdom are the weak
ones. The ones who can't fight for themselves.
The ones who can't speak for themselves. The ones
who don't have someone to feed them. The ones
who don't have someone to protect them. Jesus
says, those are the prized ones and you treat them
as though they are royalty here on earth.
Jesus said that the way you treat them is ultimately
the way you are treating me.
What you do unto the least of these is ultimately
how you are treating your God.
Christianity is taking what has been purchased by
the cross, the behavior of heaven, the nature of
Jesus Christ and transplanting it into the hearts of
men and women down here on earth. So that they
behave not like this world, but like heaven! And so
when this world sees them, they are different.
There is something odd about them. They are from
another realm.
What does it look like?
It's noble. It's brave. It's courageous. It's selfless.
It is willing spend itself for the weak.
Eric Ludy
May I ask you to do four things?
1. Pray for Artjoms, Šandars, the adoption process, the orphan court judge, the regional court judge, the social worker, and me;
2. This is not about giving money so I can have two more sons. I am inviting you into a rescue mission. Please prayerfully consider a contribution for the rescue and adoption of Artjoms and Šandars. The question all of us should consider is, "Lord, how do you want me to live out James 1:27?" Of course, I very well understand that God may call you to support orphans in other ways.
3. Please advocate for the rescue of Artjoms and Šandars with everyone you know. This is perhaps even more important than number 2 (above). Would you please talk with your family and friends? I am absolutely serious. You know hundreds of people I do not. Remember, this is not about helping Kevin Grimes adopt some kids. This is about living out the Gospel and rescuing two of God's children who have no one. This is something about which Christians should be passionate. This request is not merely for my family and friends. This is an issue for the church. Would you be willing to strategically and passionately advocate for Artjoms' and Šandars' adoption in your church, and among your friends and family?
4. Lastly, I would ask you to watch an eight minute video from Eric Ludy entitled, Depraved Indifference. The web address is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHJ6-YhSYQ
If you have any questions about anything in this short letter, please do not hesitate to ask me.
The universe is at war, and some babies and children are on the line. The old Serpent is coiled right now, his tongue flicking, watching for infants and children he can consume. One night two thousand years ago, all that stood in his way was one reluctant day laborer who decided to be a father.
I thank God for you. Whether I live to see my sons grown or not, I will have done well to take them in. Life is very short, whether a few hours like some precious children, or 42 years like my father, or 90 years like my grandmother. What matters is not that we do all we might have done or all we dreamed of doing, but that, while we live, we live by faith in future grace and walk in the path of love. The times are in God's hands, not ours.
Kevin Grimes
Remember, you call yourself my body.
Your hands . . . those are my hands. Your feet . . .
those are my feet. That heart . . . that is my heart. I
work through my body. I am a father to the
fatherless through my body! I rescue the weak
and the vulnerable through you!
For the cause that is being laid before us now.
Heroes are made because they are moved. Not in
their head but in their heart.
Do we care at the level that God cares? Do we carry
a burden? When we go home tonight, we will grieve
over the fact that those children are God's children.
And He is longing for an advocate to stand up and
say, "I am willing God to fight for what is yours! I am
willing! Burden me!"
Eric Ludy
P.S. -- There may be a third child on the adoption horizon - Rolands (below). I will definitely be hosting him for December - January. His younger sister is being adopted by a family in Boise!
P.P.S. -- Here are couple of slide shows I put together of the boys from earlier this summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df6CzRM7tbg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlVHWEyVNYI
I am asking God whether He will allow me the privilege of adopting Artjoms and Šandars. With your kind indulgence, I simply would like to talk with you about the realities of orphans, walk through the Word of God to explore His heart for the fatherless and His answer to it, and ask you to consider joining me on this adventure. (At the suggestion of several people, I am inserting a link to our GoFundMe adoption campaign here. www.gofundme.com/2hhq64vg It is also at the end of this letter, but as hard as it is for me to believe, some have suggested that not everyone will read all 28 pages.)
I. How Did This Adventure Begin?
My involvement with orphans began many years ago. It actually started in 2000 when at-risk teenage boys (who were not orphans) started show up on my doorstep. I didn't ask for them to show up . . . they just did. The first one (a 15 year old) was in my home for a few weeks. The second one (an 18 year old) was with me for a year, and he brought a friend (a 17 year old). Those two led to the fourth kid, which in turn led to the fifth, and so on.
God was definitely calling me to care for at-risk youth, so I decided it would be a good idea to become licensed by the State as a foster parent, and have the oversight and imprimatur of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. I commenced the licensure process and my training in 2004, and received my foster care license as a therapeutic foster parent in early 2005.
From 2000 to 2013, I fostered 24 teenage boys. All of the children placed with me from 2005 and afterwards were orphans. In 2013, I decided not to renew my foster care license. You may not believe this, but foster children are rather time-intensive. I adopted two of the boys, Danny at age 16 (who is now 23) and James at age 17 (who is 21). Despite my election not to renew my license in 2013, various people and organizations (the Juvenile Probation Office, the Bonneville Youth Development Council, and others) are still sending kids my way.
In November of 2015, I saw a YouTube video mentioned on Facebook, the title of which was, "My Miracle - How adoption saved me." It is the story of a boy from Russia who was orphaned at the age of 8, at which time he was placed in an orphanage. When he was 14, he was selected on the last possible day in the last possible hours to come to the U.S. via an orphan hosting program.
Some of the things he said in the video were absolutely chilling:
Dreams and hopes of a better future do not exist
there. Hoping for anything good only leads to
disappointment . . . We are all alone.
The great news is that one year after he came to the U.S., he was adopted by the couple who hosted him! He writes in the video:
Hugs, kisses, help, and support are . . . normal.
I really encourage you to watch the video on YouTube. Here is the link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUguiCiLZvg.
Despite my experience in the worlds of foster care and adoption, I had never heard of "orphan hosting". That prompted me to do some research. I was amazed at what I found!
There are a handful of organizations here in the U.S. that bring children from (usually) developing nations such as Ukraine, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Peru and others. They bring orphans from these countries to the U.S. to: (1) give them a break from their orphanage or foster home; (2) allow them the opportunity to experience life with a family; and (3) set up the possibility for adoption with their host family or a family that gets to know them.
Hosting organizations bring children to the U.S. for Christmas, from mid-December to mid-January, and for the summer from anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks. By the time I learned about orphan hosting in November, all of the Christmas deadlines had passed. In February, the hosting organizations started posting the profiles of the children. So I applied.
As the saying goes . . . one thing led to another . . . and on June 20, Šandars and Artjoms arrived in the U.S. . . . and that's when the adventure began!
II. May I Introduce You to the Boys?
A. Artjoms
Artjoms is extremely bright, speaks English very well, and is almost always smiling. He is usually soft-spoken (unless he is yelling at Šandars), has a very gentle nature, yet is super playful and definitely "all boy".
He is amazingly helpful and often takes the initiative without being asked to lend a hand with chores (like cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, etc.). One night, he and Šandars wanted to stay up late to watch movies. I told him that they could do so as long as he cleaned up the TV/living room. When I awoke the next morning, he had cleaned the entire main level of the house - TV/living room, kitchen, dining room, halls, and even vacuumed the carpet!
I will tell you that he is the pickiest eater of a teenager I have ever met, which is a complete mystery to me. Nevertheless, he is almost always willing to try new things. This is not only true about foods, but also life.
When we were in Yellowstone National Park during the last weekend the boys were here, he told me that he wants to be a Christian. I asked him why. He replied, "Because I believe in God." The next day, he asked if I could help him get a Bible and a cross necklace. We picked them up the last day the boys were in the U.S..
Artjoms has been previously hosted 8 times in the U.S.. At the risk of stating the obvious, none of the families that hosted him moved forward with adoption. Unlike Šandars, he never called me "Dad". I believe this is because he has been disappointed so many times before and has simply lost hope that he will ever be adopted. The fact that he has not been adopted absolutely astounds me . . . but maybe that was because God was waiting for us to get together?! I had the benefit of talking with Artjoms' most recent previous host father and he told me that Artjoms very much wants to be adopted. I asked him on a scale of 1 to 100 (with 1 being "no interest"), how interested he was in getting adopted. He said - "99".
B. Šandars
Šandars is all boy. I describe him as the Energizer Bunny on steroids. He is not hyper-active. He has the capacity to be very quiet and still when it is appropriate to do so, like church, restaurants, or the car. He is simply extraordinarily energetic ( OK, that is a massive understatement).
Like Artjoms, Šandars is very bright, cheerful, and super sweet. You can see that in his pictures. He is also a big ham. He likes to sing, and would often do his best to sing along with some of the Christian bands that he heard in the house or the car.
He also has a heart to serve. While my sister Dena was here, she prepared some wonderful dinners for us. The first night she did so, Šandars helped her make several items. When I fed the dogs, he would often jump in to take over.
The most amazing thing about Šandars occurred whenever any other children or teenagers were around me. He would walk up to me, give me a big hug, and then proclaim - "My dad!"
But there is another aspect of Šandars that is hard for us, as North Americans, to appreciate - he is Roma or Romani. That probably does not mean anything to you because the Roma really don't exist in North America. The problem is that racism against the Roma is extremely severe in all of Europe. With your kind indulgence, I would like to "set the stage" so that you understand the incredible discrimination and poverty Šandars will experience if he grows up in Europe.
From the time they entered Europe from India a thousand years ago, the Roma were targets of discrimination. Roma were living in Spain, France, England, and large parts of what is today Russia and Eastern Europe by the late 1400s. Countries passed laws to suppress their culture and keep them out of the mainstream. They suffered persecution in those countries ranging from laws against their language and dress to expulsion.
The subsequent centuries of their life in Eurasia is pretty much one ugly tale after another. Almost from the start, they were kept as slaves in Romania, even by monasteries. They were subject to a special tax in the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the first half of the 15th century, they were welcomed in nearly every corner of the European continent as they migrated west. However, before the century came to a close they were targeted by governments across Europe, largely due to political turmoil. In 1548, for instance, the German Diet in Augsburg declared that the killing of Gypsies by average citizens would go unpunished. They were expelled from Czech lands, England, Spain, Venice, Warsaw, the Duchy of Lithuania, and Rome. They were constantly the target of decrees regulating their work, religion, marriage, housing, and taxes. It wasn't until the mid-1800s, when it was estimated there were 200,000 enslaved Romani in the Romanian provinces, that the process of emancipation began.
The Nazis judged Roma to be "racially inferior," according to the Holocaust museum. "Their fate in some ways paralleled that of the Jews," the museum states. The Nazis subjected Roma to internment, forced labor, and murder. Estimates of Romani deaths in the Holocaust range from 25% to 30% of the entire Roma population in Europe. They were still the target of sterilization programs throughout the 20th century in Scandinavian countries.
For centuries, the Roma have suffered from the stereotypes of being untrustworthy and unable to integrate into larger society. At all levels of society, it is perfectly acceptable to regard the Roma as a subclass of humans and to treat them accordingly. Roma are stripped of their individuality as human beings and are characterized primarily by negative traits that are imposed upon them. The basis for this discrimination is pure racism.
Today, one in three Roma in Europe are unemployed and 90% live below the poverty line, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Human Rights. Roma almost always reside in ghettos at the outskirts of cities where the living conditions are poor. In periods of shortages, these districts are the first to be cut off from water and power. Advocates say the Roma are denied a fair chance to secure housing, employment and education. And the EU human rights agency said governments must act to stop the "exclusion" of the Roma from mainstream society.
Amnesty International says European governments continue to actively discriminate against the Roma. The organization says the French government, ignoring court rulings, continues to evict people from Roma settlements with inadequate provision for other housing. Amnesty International is spotlighting segregation of Romani children in schools in Slovakia. School segregation also has been an issue in Greece. The European Court for Human Rights ruled that Greek authorities discriminated against Roma children in the town of Aspropyrgos, where non-Roma parents in 2005 blockaded an elementary school to demonstrate against the admission of Roma children. The Roma children were placed in a separate building.
In Romania, a far-right group last January called for the sterilization of Roma women. Bulgaria last year saw anti-Roma demonstrations in the capital, Sofia. In 2012, a mob in the Czech Republic chanted "gas the gypsies" after a 15-year-old claimed he had been beaten up by Roma people.
Racism is present throughout state institutions like the police and the courts. For decades, Roma children were put into schools for mentally disabled children. Both Bulgaria and Romania had to fulfill various criteria regarding minority rights to join the European Union – but when it comes to the Roma, most of these rights and protections only exist on paper.
The lifelong prospects for a Roma are horribly bleak in Europe.
The lifelong prospects for a Roma orphan who is not rescued from fatherlessness are unimaginable.
Do you want to do something beautiful for God?
There is a person who needs you.
This is your chance.
Mother Teresa
III. Just a Few Statistics
Somewhere in the world a child is orphaned every 15 to 18 seconds.
Every day 5,760 more children become orphans.
Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out of an orphanage or foster care with no family to belong to and no place to call home.
Each day 38,493 orphans age out of care.
Each year 14,505,000 children grow up as orphans and age out of the system by age sixteen. They enter into the world with no permanent family to support or love them.
Studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit suicide before they reach age eighteen.
These studies also show that 60% of the girls who age out become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become hardened criminals.
Another study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 10% committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years. In the United States, within 18 months of turning 18 and aging out of the foster care system, 27% of the girls are incarcerated and 44% of all the boys are incarcerated. (Casey Foundation report, Aging Out - A Time for Reform.)
It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide (State of the World's Children 2012, a recent UNICEF [United Nations Children Fund] report.) The UNICEF orphan numbers do not include abandonment (millions of children) as well as children who are sold and/or trafficked. The current population of the United States is just a little over 300 million (roughly 5% of the world's population) . . . to give you an idea of the enormity of the numbers.
According to data released in 2003 as many as eight million boys and girls around the world live in institutional care. Some studies have found that violence in residential institutions is six times higher than violence in foster care, and that children in group care are almost four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than children in family-based care.
An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year (The State of the World's Children 2005)
The likelihood that a child will be adopted starts to plummet after age 5. About 7% of the children who are adopted internationally are between the ages of 6 and 10 - Šandars' age group. Only 2% of children who are adopted internationally are between the ages of 11 and 17 - Artjoms' age group.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Remaining as an orphan has devastating consequences.
The statistics are daunting . . . if not depressing.
When we look at the circumstances of many other places around the world and see just how dire the circumstances are with unimaginable poverty, terrorism, and wars, and then to compound that for a child who has no parents, nobody to love and care for them, it is total defeat for them to have absolutely nobody.
Or is it?
What is God's answer to this massive and devastating issue?
It turns out – the answer is us. You and I are the answer.
And so, I want to invite you into something extraordinary.
I want to invite you into something that is
intimately and tenderly close to the heart of God.
I want to invite you into the
rescue of two orphans.
IV. Adoption
A. How Often Are Children Adopted?
Although we speak of them as though they are common place, adoptions are very rare. About 30 percent of Americans have considered adopting, but less than one in 1,000 have done so. In 2008 (the last year for which I could get any statistics), 135,813 children were adopted in the US in all types of adoption, including foster care adoptions, inter-country adoptions, and private baby adoptions. Although the total number of adoptions has risen, the adoption rate per 100,000 adults in the United States has decreased. The adoption rate per 100,000 adults in 2000 was 61.5 . . . and again, that is per 100,000 American adults. The adoption rate in 2008 was 58.3 per 100,000 adults – a 5-percent decrease.
Adoption from foster care accounted for 41% (55,303) of all adoptions in 2008. International adoptions accounted for 13% (17,416) of all adoptions in the U.S. in 2008. Other adoptions (private adoption from adoption agencies or adoption attorneys, tribal, step parent) accounted for the rest—about 46% (63,094) in 2008.
B. God Loves Orphans
Down through the ages, from before the days of Job to the present time, a faint cry has echoed across the vast face of the earth and ascended to heaven. A solemn lonesome cry for help. Only understood through the revelation of Scripture. A cry spanning continents, people groups, cultures, and languages.
It is the cry of the orphan.
A sound so easily replaced by the demands of our busy lives. One quick to be ignored for the sake of things we deem more important. Yet there is one ever faithful friend who has never turned away from this crying.
He desires to make known that He is the defender of the defenseless. The provider of those who have not. The father to those who have never known their own. The lover of the unlovely. A hope for the hopeless. The comforter of those who have none. And the rescuer of those are helpless.
These things He does not just for the sake of the orphan, but for the manifestation of his own supreme glory.
He is none other than Jehovah Shammas (Jehovah is there), our heavenly father.
Yahweh.
God.
Scripture is replete with His declaration of love for the orphan.
"He executes justice for the fatherless . . ."
Deuteronomy 10:18
"Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from
the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow."
Deuteronomy 27:19
"Father of the fatherless and protector of
widows is God in his holy habitation."
Psalm 68:5
"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold
the cause of the poor and the oppressed."
Psalm 82:3
"The Lord watches over the sojourners; he
upholds the widow and the fatherless."
Psalm 146:9
"Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the
oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow."
Isaiah 1:17
Since God repeatedly draws our attention to this inescapable aspect of his character, why would we not extend our love to the orphan in like fashion?
This causes us to ask whether the church, and we as Christians, are doing all we are called to do to care for orphans? What exactly does it mean to care for orphans? Does it all mean adoption? Or does it extend beyond adoption? What issues impact our view of orphans and the extent to which we ought to provide help? To whom does the responsibility of orphan care belong?
James 1:27 gives the church a solemn reminder.
"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." (NIV)
". . . to care for orphans and widows in their
difficulties . . ." (Common English Bible)
"You must help needy orphans and widows . . ."
(Contemporary English Version)
God calls the church . . . and He calls you and me . . . to care for widows and orphans. He not only calls us to do that, but defined true religion in that way.
Because we are so tempted to forget that.
One of the reasons the church misses the glory and the beauty of adoption in the earthly realm, is that we don't really hear much about it from the spiritual realm. We spend a lot of time and energy talking about justification, how it happens, what comes before, what comes after it, how faith relates to it, and how the work of Christ relates to it.
But we miss the end game.
Jesus did not come to earth simply so we can be forgiven. In fact, we are so focused on that, I think that most of us believe that what happens when we die is that we stand this long line, and at the end of this line there is God in his black robe and white wig and a big judge's desk and when you finally get called up there, he sort looks over the top of his glasses and he says, "How do you plead?" Because we have our theology right, we plead the blood of Christ. He looks at some papers and takes a stamp and hammers his gavel and says, "Not guilty. Next!"
And we just sort of, embarrassedly walk around the judge's desk and head through the pearly gates. In the biblical picture, there are some similarities. In the biblical picture, God is wearing a robe. In the biblical picture, we do come to him. But while we are still pretty far off, according to Jesus, God takes his robe, and girds it around his waist so that he can more freely run to go and greet us. He doesn't say forgiven, but he throws his arms around our neck and says, "My son my son!" We are justified so that we can be adopted.
The promise and the glory of the gospel is that we are able to be called the children of God. When you get that, you want to reflect that in adoption in the earthly realm.
C. Adoption is God's Idea
The concept of adoption came straight from the heart of God and is a Scriptural metaphor that emphasizes the depth and permanence of our relationship with Him, the rights we have as His children, and His redemption of us.
For he chose us in him before the creation of
the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons
through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his
pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious
grace, which he has freely given us in the One he
loves. (Ephesians 1:4)
Russell D. Moore, a theologian and an adoptive father, in his book, Adopted For Life, says that some rude questions about adoption taught him about the Gospel of Christ. When the Jewish Christians demanded to know if the if the newly confessed followers of Christ, Gentile believers, were really brothers (circumcised), when the tribal fracturing of the church was most threatened, Paul laid out a key insight into the church's union with Christ – the Spirit of adoption.
Moore writes, "For Paul, adoption isn't simply one more literary image to convey "Jesus in my heart." It has everything to do with our identity and our inheritance in Christ, with who we are and where we're headed" (Moore, 2009, p. 24). He goes on to say that he and his wife went to Russia and back, twice, to complete the paperwork and attain legal custody of their sons and they found a truth of adoption more ancient, more veiled, but just as real: our own adoption. He says,
None of us likes to think we were adopted. We assume we're natural-born children, with a right to all of this grace, to all of this glory" but those who are in Christ have found a home through the adopting power of God, we have received sonship. We are here by the Sprit of adoption. We are here by grace and our adoption shows us just how welcome we are. (Moore, 2009, p.30,31)
D. Adoption IS Spiritual Warfare
Adoption is spiritual warfare. And that's what we are called to do from the beginning in Genesis chapter 3 to the final consummation of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of our lives are lived in the context of the battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
It's not just impersonal economic and sociological factors at work in the lives of orphans. "The course of this world" is driven along by "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). Jesus showed his disciple John what the story behind the story is. It's the picture of a woman giving birth to "a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron" (Revelation 12:5). Crouching before this woman's birth canal is a dragon, the Serpent of old, who seeks to "devour" the baby (Revelation 12:4). That dragon then "became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring" (Revelation 12:17) and has done so ever since.
The demonic powers hate babies because they hate Jesus. When they destroy "the least of these" (Matthew 25:40, 45), the most vulnerable among us, they're destroying a picture of Jesus himself, of the child delivered by the woman who crushes their head (Genesis 3:15). They know the human race is saved—and they're vanquished—by a woman giving birth (Galatians 4:4; 1 Timothy 2:15). They are grinding apart Jesus's brothers and sisters (Matthew 25:40). They are also destroying the very picture of newness of life and of dependent trust that characterizes life in the kingdom of Christ (Matthew 18:4). Children also mean blessing – a perfect target for those who seek only to kill and destroy (John 10:10).
But Satan always uses human passions to bring about his purposes. When new life stands in the way of power – whether that power is a Pharaoh's military stability or a community leader's reputation in light of his teenage daughter's pregnancy – the blood of children often flows. Herod loved his power, so he raged against babies. In the middle of all of this stood Joseph, an unlikely demon wrestler.
The rescue and protection of children isn't charity. It isn't part of a political program fitting somewhere between tax cuts and gun rights or between carbon emission caps and a national service corps.
The rescue and protection of children IS spiritual warfare!
E. Adoption IS the Gospel
The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans. And this act is not part of his ordinary providence in the world. It is at the heart of the gospel. Galatians 4:4-5 is as central a gospel statement as there is: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." God did not have to use the concept of adoption to explain how he saved us, or even how we become part of his family. He could have stayed with the language of new birth so that all his children were described as children by nature only (John 1:12-13, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."). But he chose to speak of us as adopted as well as being children by new birth. This is the most essential foundation of the practice of adoption.
1. Adoption Was Blessed and Is Blessed with
God's Pouring out a Spirit of Sonship.
Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of
his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
(Galatians 4:6)
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)
God does not leave us in the condition of aliens when he adopts us. He does not leave us with no feelings of acceptance and love. Rather, he pours his Spirit into our hearts to give us the experience of being embraced in the family. What is remarkable about these two texts is the term Abba. It is an Aramaic word. Why then does Paul use it, transliterated, in these two letters written in Greek?
The answer is that it was the way Jesus spoke to his Father, in spite of the fact that virtually no one in Jewish culture referred to God with this endearing word Abba. It stunned the disciples. They held onto it as a precious remnant of the very voice of Jesus in the language he spoke. In Mark 14:36, Jesus is in Gethsemane and prays, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Therefore, in adopting us, God give us the very Spirit of his Son and grants us to feel the affections of belonging to the very family of God.
In the mercy of God, in our families God works to awaken affections in adopted children for their parents that are far more than legal outcomes. They are deeply personal and spiritual bonds. Adopted children do not infer that they are our children by checking out the adoption papers. A spirit pervades our relationship that bears witness to this reality. Like the other children in the family, they all cry, "Daddy."
Praise God that he give us both legal standing as his children and the very Spirit of his Son so that we find ourselves saying from a heart of deep conviction, "Abba, Father."
2. Adoption Brought Us, and Brings Our
Children, the Rights of Being Heirs of the
Father.
Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:6-7)
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:16-17)
Notice that Galatians 4:7 says we are heirs "through God" and Romans 8:17 says we are heirs "of God." In Galatians, the context is the promise of Abraham—through God, that is, by his sending his Son to redeem us, we are heirs with Abraham (even though many of us are Gentiles!) of his inheritance, namely the world (Romans 4:13). But in Romans 8:17, the context is that we, with Christ, are heirs of all that God has, namely, everything. "All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (1 Corinthians 3:21).
3. Adoption Was (for God) and Often Is Now
(For Us) from Very Bad Situations.
We . . . were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:3)
God did not find us like an abandoned foundling bundled on the front step and irresistibly cute. He found us ugly and evil and rebellious. We were not attractive. We would not be easy children to deal with. And, what's worse, God himself was angry with us. He hates sin and rebellion. We were then doubly "children of wrath."
These are the ones God pursued in adoption. Therefore, all of God's adoptions crossed a greater moral and cultural divide than any of our adoptions could. The distance between what we are, and what God is, is infinitely greater than any distance between us and a child we might adopt. God crossed the greatest cultural barrier to redeem and adopt us.
Consider too, that according to Romans 9:4, the people that God chose in the Old Testament, the Israelites, were adopted out of a terrible situation. "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises." But how was this adoption effected? Hosea 11:1, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." They were slaves in Egypt. But not only that, they were often also rebellious against God. "Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea" (Psalm 106:7).
Therefore, God went and took a son from Egypt who was both enslaved and rebellious. The pattern is set: adoptions do not just come from nice, healthy, safe, auspicious situations.
The Gospel is not a picture of adoption.
Adoption is a picture of the Gospel.
John Piper
V. God Call Us to Action!
A. What! You Mean Me??!!
In explaining what true love looks like, John tells us:
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ
laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down
our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has
material possessions and sees a brother or sister in
need but has no pity on them, how can the love of
God be in that person? Dear children, let us not
love with words or speech but with actions and in
truth.
1 John 3:16-18
John does not want Christians to walk away from his letter thinking of love in only generic, abstract ways. Love is not just some feeling, emotion, or impulse -- true love must be translated into action! As Jesus indicates in Matthew 7:16-20, people are known by their fruit.
John's very specific application involves the relationship between Christians of unequal class or wealth. One such brother has the "world's goods," and with those goods comes responsibility. As Paul shows in 1 Timothy 6:17-19 – we are not to trust in the uncertain riches of the world, but be full of good works, using our physical wealth to store up treasures in Heaven. One easy way to do that would be to assist his fellow Christian in need. After all, this is one of the standards of the judgment as portrayed in Matthew 25:31-46!
Yet, for whatever reason, some Christians with the "world's goods" have closed off their compassion for their fellow man. John's word choice here is deliberate, for the primary motivation we have to help others in need ought to be compassion. In the parable of the good Samaritan, the Samaritan is moved by compassion on the man, and that is why he provides the necessary assistance. We ought to follow the "Golden Rule" since we would want to be helped if we were the poor brother, we ought to provide that assistance!
The answer to John's rhetorical question is evident: if a brother has the world's goods, but closes off compassion to his brother in need, the love of God does not abide in him, no matter his protestations. It is not enough to just say or believe that we love one another -- we must communicate that love in deed and truth!
The message is quite important. It is akin to James 1:22-25, the exhortation to be doers of the word and not hearers only. A lot of people are willing to profess Jesus Christ and to say that they believe in His truth, but few are the ones who are willing to really act upon it.
It is easier to profess to love God and to love one another than it is to demonstrate that love through deed and sincerity. As John has just indicated, God has already demonstrated His love for us by accomplishing the means of our salvation through the blood of Christ (1 John 3:16). If God was willing to make such a great demonstration of His love for us, we ought to be willing to help one another in need and to demonstrate the love we say we have for one another. Let us do so, and fulfill God's purpose for our lives!
"Talk is cheap" as they say, and at least as it pertains to the topic of love. Sacrificial love is not abstract or theoretical but practical and costly. There are three key implications this will have for the disciple: (1) it means I joyfully embrace my obligation to sacrificially care for my brother; (2) it means I lay down my life for him in practical ways; and (3) it means God's love abides in me.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he
has faith but does not have works? Can that faith
save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed
and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to
them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without
giving them the things needed for the body, what
good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not
have works, is dead.
James 2:14-17
The two rhetorical questions about faith without deeds are: (1) "What good is it?" [answer: none]; and (2) "Can it save?" [answer: no]. The first question implies a general lack of any usefulness for a faith without actions. The second question specifies a particular use that is lacking – salvation itself. The combined impact is to declare a thorough uselessness of faith without deeds and, to make it absolutely clear, also to declare its particular uselessness in regard to salvation, which would be the primary point of having faith in the first place.
James's specification of a brother or sister (not just "someone") reflects an envisioning of real action toward real people. We know many of his readers were living in economic hardship. His illustration does not imply that all Christians were living in poverty, but that in their midst they would be encountering cases of hardship as severe as a lack of sufficient clothing and even food.
The hypothetical response to the need is good wishes without any actions, for the needy ones are merely "dismissed with friendly words". The response to the needy ones begins literally with the pious "Go in peace. May you be warmed and filled" as an expectation that God would provide for the needy one. This would certainly suit James's context, objecting to "faith" that has pious words but no actions. The uselessness of this response is so obvious and offensive that James needs only to repeat his first rhetorical question – What good is it?
The Bottom Line – If one's faith does not result in action to benefit those who God loves, that "faith" is dead.
B. As First World Christians Are We Merely
Popping Open Jam Jars?
I love this sermon by Gary Haugen, a Christian, Harvard-educated lawyer (you wouldn't think "Christian" and "lawyer" could go together), and President of the International Justice Mission.
Finally I would like to just close by considering a
question all of us think of, I imagine, which is, "Why
in a world of so much suffering and need have we
been given so much?"
You know, I grew up wanting to be a really good
football player, and sad to say, it turned out I just
really wasn't much of a football player, but
fortunately my two older brothers would sit me
down and explain to me why. And they said, "Gary,
you gotta understand. You're small, but you're
slow."
And so, this was helpful to me in an odd way and
so one of the things I would do, of course, is I would
go to the weight room to work out, right, to try to
get bigger, I would go to the weight room and I
would work out and work out. Nothing would
happen but I would go anyway, and I'd be workin'
out and workin' out and there in the weight room I
would always look over and there in their special
section of the gym were the bodybuilders.
Right, have you seen these guys? I mean, they're
huge! Huge chests and arms and legs and neck.
And, I used to just look at all that muscle mass, and
all that strength and all that power, and I used to
just ask, "But what's it all for?"
"It's for posing!" And the only time all that strength
and power is ever really brought to bear in the
world is when there's a crisis in the kitchen, and the
jam jar's stuck and they, they pop open the jam jar!
See, my prayer for us, my prayer for us is that in a
world of so much suffering and hurt and need, that
God will not leave us opening jam jars. But that he
will he will rescue us from all things petty, all things
small, and that he will rescue us from all things of
fear, and move us out with courage into the world
that is yearning to know the goodness of God,
through us.
May God yet find us useful for what matters to Him, in the world.
VI. The Costs of International Adoption
A. Typical Costs of Adoption
Most people know that adoptions cost money . . . but they usually do not know how much they really cost. The numbers below are from 2009-2010. As you might suspect, the costs have not gone down.
Domestic Adoption
Newborn ......................................................... $33,793
Newborn (Attorney) .................................. $31,465
U.S. Foster Adoption ..................................... $2,744
International Adoption
China ................................................................. $28,623
Ethiopia ............................................................ $28,254
Russia ................................................................ $49,749
South Korea ................................................... $37,586
B. The Itemization
The cost of adopting the boys is almost $50,000. As you will see in the itemization below, I have included the fees for hosting both boys over Christmas and New Year's since I probably will not be able to bring the boys home permanently until the spring or summer of 2017.
There is a massive amount of paperwork that must be compiled, translated, and authenticated. Once this happens, the "dossier" is sent to the Ministry of Welfare for review and approval. If approved, the Ministry extends an invitation to the prospective parent(s) to come to the country.
Three visits are required to adopt a child. The first visit is around one month in length. The prospective parent(s) must rent an apartment, into which the children are placed. Social workers observe and report to the orphan court whether and how well the children are interactive with and bonding to the prospective parents. If things go well, the orphan court will grant permission to bring the children back to the U.S.. The purpose of the second trip is to finalize the adoption in the regional court. This trip takes one week. The third trip involves meeting with the U.S. Embassy to submit the boys' Application for Citizenship and get their U.S. passports.
Here is what the costs look like from Children of All Nations, an international adoption agency based in Austin, Texas.
Adoption Fees
First Agency Fee ...........................................................$3,995.00
Second Agency Fee ......................................................$1,995.00
Dossier Service Expense Retainer ...........................$900.00
Third Agency Fee (for first child) ...........................$2,995.00
Third Agency Fee (for second child) ........................$995.00
First In-Country Adoption Fee (for first child) $1,620.00
First In-Country Adoption Fee (for second child) .....................................................................................................$525.00
Initial In-Country Expense Retainer ........................$300.00
Foreign Adoption Program Fee ..............................$6,995.00
Foreign Adoption Program Fee (for second child) .................................................................................................$2,495.00
Second In-Country Adoption Fee (for first child) .................................................................................................$2,145.00
Second In-Country Adoption Fee (for second child) .....................................................................................................$525.00
Third In-Country Adoption Fee .............................$2,145.00
Post Adoption Report Expense Retainer ...............$500.00
Post Adoption Commitment Deposit ......................$500.00
Home Study from Hague Accredited Agency
(Varies from $1,500 to $4,000) .............................$2,500.00
U.S. Customs and Immigration Service
Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child ........................................................................................$800.00
Adoption Fees Total ..........................................31,930.00
But wait! There's more.
Airfare
First Round Trip (for Kevin @ $1,500.00) .........$1,500.00
One Way ticket (for Artjoms and Sandars from
Eastern Europe to Idaho at $1,000.00 each) ..$2,000.00
Second Round Trip (for Sandars, Artjoms,
and Kevin @ $1,500) ...................................................$4,500.00
Third Round Trip (for Sandars, Artjoms,
and Kevin @ $1,500) ...................................................$4,500.00
Transportation Total .......................................$12,500.00
Lodging in country
First Trip (one month) .................................................$1,500.00
Second Trip (one week) ..................................................$750.00
Third Trip (one week) ......................................................$750.00
Lodging Total .......................................................$3,000.00
Adoption Sub-Total $47,430.00
Hosting for December 2016 - January 2017 ..$9,000.00
Grand Total ........................................................$56,430.00
Because GoFundMe.com and its partner take 9.25% of everything that is raised (over $5,200) for their fees, I have increased the fund raising target to $59.430.00.
If anybody understands God's passion for his
children, it's someone who has rescued an
orphan from despair. For that is what God has
done for us. God has adopted you. God sought
you, found you, signed the papers and took you
home.
Max Lucado
VII. Conclusion
Where would you and I be if God were not willing to adopt us?
If He has adopted us, will we follow His example and help make the rescue and adoption of an orphan possible?
In describing a particularly wicked people and a list of their attributes, God tells us:
"They do not promote the case of the fatherless . . ."
Jeremiah 5:28
Jesus tells us,
From everyone who has been given much, much
will be required; and from the one who has been
entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:48
Those are not my expectations, they are the Lord's.
God has a burning passion for the fatherless.
Do we?
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least
of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for
me . . . whatever you did not do for one of the least
of these, you did not do for me.
Jesus - Matthew 25:40 and 45
What you do unto the least of these is ultimately
how you are treating your God.
Eric Ludy
The special ones in God's Kingdom are the weak
ones. The ones who can't fight for themselves.
The ones who can't speak for themselves. The ones
who don't have someone to feed them. The ones
who don't have someone to protect them. Jesus
says, those are the prized ones and you treat them
as though they are royalty here on earth.
Jesus said that the way you treat them is ultimately
the way you are treating me.
What you do unto the least of these is ultimately
how you are treating your God.
Christianity is taking what has been purchased by
the cross, the behavior of heaven, the nature of
Jesus Christ and transplanting it into the hearts of
men and women down here on earth. So that they
behave not like this world, but like heaven! And so
when this world sees them, they are different.
There is something odd about them. They are from
another realm.
What does it look like?
It's noble. It's brave. It's courageous. It's selfless.
It is willing spend itself for the weak.
Eric Ludy
May I ask you to do four things?
1. Pray for Artjoms, Šandars, the adoption process, the orphan court judge, the regional court judge, the social worker, and me;
2. This is not about giving money so I can have two more sons. I am inviting you into a rescue mission. Please prayerfully consider a contribution for the rescue and adoption of Artjoms and Šandars. The question all of us should consider is, "Lord, how do you want me to live out James 1:27?" Of course, I very well understand that God may call you to support orphans in other ways.
3. Please advocate for the rescue of Artjoms and Šandars with everyone you know. This is perhaps even more important than number 2 (above). Would you please talk with your family and friends? I am absolutely serious. You know hundreds of people I do not. Remember, this is not about helping Kevin Grimes adopt some kids. This is about living out the Gospel and rescuing two of God's children who have no one. This is something about which Christians should be passionate. This request is not merely for my family and friends. This is an issue for the church. Would you be willing to strategically and passionately advocate for Artjoms' and Šandars' adoption in your church, and among your friends and family?
4. Lastly, I would ask you to watch an eight minute video from Eric Ludy entitled, Depraved Indifference. The web address is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHJ6-YhSYQ
If you have any questions about anything in this short letter, please do not hesitate to ask me.
The universe is at war, and some babies and children are on the line. The old Serpent is coiled right now, his tongue flicking, watching for infants and children he can consume. One night two thousand years ago, all that stood in his way was one reluctant day laborer who decided to be a father.
I thank God for you. Whether I live to see my sons grown or not, I will have done well to take them in. Life is very short, whether a few hours like some precious children, or 42 years like my father, or 90 years like my grandmother. What matters is not that we do all we might have done or all we dreamed of doing, but that, while we live, we live by faith in future grace and walk in the path of love. The times are in God's hands, not ours.
Kevin Grimes
Remember, you call yourself my body.
Your hands . . . those are my hands. Your feet . . .
those are my feet. That heart . . . that is my heart. I
work through my body. I am a father to the
fatherless through my body! I rescue the weak
and the vulnerable through you!
For the cause that is being laid before us now.
Heroes are made because they are moved. Not in
their head but in their heart.
Do we care at the level that God cares? Do we carry
a burden? When we go home tonight, we will grieve
over the fact that those children are God's children.
And He is longing for an advocate to stand up and
say, "I am willing God to fight for what is yours! I am
willing! Burden me!"
Eric Ludy
P.S. -- There may be a third child on the adoption horizon - Rolands (below). I will definitely be hosting him for December - January. His younger sister is being adopted by a family in Boise!
P.P.S. -- Here are couple of slide shows I put together of the boys from earlier this summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df6CzRM7tbg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlVHWEyVNYI
Organizer
Kevin Grimes
Organizer
Idaho Falls, ID
GREAT WALL CHINA ADOPTION INC
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
