Christians and Adoption

Alright, here I go again.  

In my adoption resource room I have before me every single day the faces of children that we are all praying and fighting for, fighting to find families who will trust the Lord and take the leap of faith to save 1, 2,3,4...of these children.  

The orphanages in these Eastern Europe countries and all over the world are not what us here in the United States could ever imagine.  These special needs children are starved, sedated, left alone in cribs for days that turn into years until they can no longer hold on or they are transferred to adult institutions where they rapidly "deteriorate" to die alone.  

I continue to write about and post about these children, not to tug on your heart strings, but to open eyes to what is going on.  I know that I had no idea.  Ignorance is bliss.  It is painful knowing what's going on and wondering, praying every day about what MORE can I do?! How many can we bring home? Who can I "get" to bring "this one" home?! 

Visit Reecesrainbow.org to see hundreds of children with special needs of all ages that need to see the love of the Lord through you! We don't know why we are led to certain children that you will know the Lord is telling you to pray for, give money for or to bring home, but isn't that like our own adoption by our Father?

Here are a few children that were posted about in my resource room recently that need you...

Jayce, beautiful 14 year old boy with Down syndrome.  Where does he get the energy to smile as he is clearly starving to death?

 

And...

"This beautiful boy, Carter, with cerebral palsy, turns 5 next month.

That's 5 years of no one celebrating his birthday. 5 years of laying in a crib. 5 years without love.

Can we make this birthday the last one he spends alone?"

Above is an old picture but Click here to see a recent video of Carter.

And...

Sean, precious 3 year old boy with Down syndrome.

There are babies up through teenagers (until they are transferred), that need us! 

Just since we have begun our adoption process, we have received news of four children in Eastern Europe that have been added to Reece's Rainbow's "In Loving Memory" page.   They couldn't hold on any longer waiting for their family.  We know that they are healed and in the arms of our perfect loving father now and we rejoice in this but can't help but weep over the fact that these children never knew the love of family on this earth.  We have been commanded to care for these children who died alone in pain and starvation and we as Christians are failing them.  

Adoption is not charity.  It is gospel. It is missional. It is spiritual warfare. 

 As gospel it "tells us about our identity, our inheritance, and our mission as sons of God...Adoption tells us our purpose in this age as the people of Christ.  Missional adoption spurs us to join Christ in advocating for the helpless and the abandoned... Adoption is about an entire culture within our churches, a culture that sees adoption as part of our Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself." (Russell Moore, Adopted for Life) And as a picture of the gospel and a missional fulfillment of the great commission it is extreme spiritual warfare.  The Prince of this earth, the demonic powers, hate adoption, hate babies, hate "the least of these", the most vulnerable among us and want nothing more than to destroy this picture of Jesus.    

I know that many Christians cannot adopt for whatever reason but we ALL need to be serving them!  We have all been called to serve "the least of these" (Matthew 25:40).

I have posted this quote before but it is one that stays with me: 

"Kids in crisis can't afford to wait until it's most convenient for you to care for them. They don't have that luxury. They need you to stop rationalizing what you know God is calling you to do - and just do it. Your "no" is a lot more difficult on them than your "yes" will ever be on you. Perhaps these kids needs your family as much as your family needs these kids. One is given comfort and security for likely the first time in their life while the other is freed from comfort and security, and as a result, actually finds life. Jesus Himself said, "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." (Matthew 16:25) In perhaps one of the most counterintuitive and countercultural statements He ever made, we find what life is all about - losing ourselves for the sake of someone else's gain. Hard? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. What you stand to lose pales in comparison to what everyone, including yourself, stands to gain. There's never really a perfect time to foster or adopt; just a lot of opportunities to say yes to losing yourself despite the many reasons you have to say no.” –Jason Johnson B

I had the intention of writing a quick message with a couple of pics of children- oops.  

If you're still reading, then thanks for hangin' in there!