A Journey of Adoption and Orphan Care

Blog post by Katrina F., Team Iraq 2012

The “Journey” that has led me to where I find myself at this moment is a long story… a 4 year long story.  After my husband and I got married, 4 1/2 years ago, we started trying to start a family.  We have been through A LOT.  Infertility is an ugly thing… and it robs you of so much, but through it all, we have grown closer to one another, closer to God, and our faith has never been stronger.  We know that God has a plan for our lives and although some days I wish He would appear to me and at least clue me in on what it is, I know that there is a perfect plan in place and in time it will all be revealed.

My heart started growing for the less fortunate, especially orphans, as we could not have children ourselves and I really started to see how many children are truly out there that need so much and have so little.  My husband and I were in church one Sunday when the pastor brought in families who were moving to other countries to be missionaries… and one family in particular was going to Burkina Faso, Africa.  They showed a video of the children there in the orphanage that they were going to help out with -  they were literally living in cages (wire fences) on dirt. It was heartbreaking.  Immediately following the service, my husband and I seriously started talking about adoption and decided we were sure.  We wanted to adopt.  We had been praying about it… and now was the time.

Human Trafficking – What am I doing?

I have a six year old daughter.  She is the most beautiful, smart, fun, wonderful little person I know.  The very idea of someone hurting her provokes in me some painful and angry thoughts that make me tremble as I try to type.  Modern day slavery and the sexual exploitation of children became real to me when I read the stories and thought that could be my little girl.  The thought of girls not much older than my daughter being sold as slaves and being forced to serve as prostitutes moved me to tears…

Then I started to find the staggering statistics about the fact that human trafficking is a 32 billion dollar industry that ranks behind only illegal drugs and arms as one of the most profitable criminal enterprise in the world. And that 27 million people are enslaved worldwide. And that a child is trafficked every 30 seconds.  600,000 to 800,00 people are trafficked across international borders each year.  Of the 600,000-800,000 people trafficked, 70 percent are female and 50 percent are children; the majority of these victims are forced into commercial sex trade   This is massive injustice on a global scale.  And it’s not just over there – it is estimated that 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year.

These numbers take my breath away if I slow down enough to think about the fact that every one of those numbers is a person just like me and my wife and my children. What can I do about a problem this big?  What can Christians do about this?  Honestly I have no idea.  Problems this big have so many layers that solving them will require solving many other problems as well – problems like the fact that so many people live in extreme poverty, and that in many places women and children are not valued as people but as property, and that many times the legal system cannot or will not protect the poor from exploitation by the rich.  But I do know this – I know that I cannot stand by and do nothing.  I know that I cannot spend all my time and energy and devote my talent and treasure to making my life as enjoyable as it can be.  I know that I am compelled to do SOMETHING.

So what am I doing? I am spending my time learning about organizations that are dedicated to helping children and families in need.  I would ask you to spend a few minutes at www.love146.com – read those stories, look at those pictures, watch those videos and see if compassion moves you to do something to help. I am giving my money to organizations like International Justice Mission.  Would you visit their site at www.ijm.org and read about the work that they do all over the world bringing freedom and justice to victims of slavery and exploitation and consider how you can help?  Can you read about the work being done by groups like World Vision www.worldvision.com and see if you are compelled to sponsor a child or give a family a gift or participate in their microfinance lending programs?  For me, taking the time to learn about World Orphans www.worldorphans.com has resulted in my opportunity to go to Ethiopia this December to serve Orphans.

The most important thing I am doing is this – I am praying daily that I can know God better, that I can know his heart and what he desires for me to do with all that he has blessed me with.  I am praying that he will show me how I can break out of my selfish mindset and begin to think in terms offering my whole life as a sacrifice to him, instead of giving God what is left over out of a sense of guilt or obligation.  I know that I can do very little in my own strength – I am the proverbial kid throwing the starfish back into the ocean on a beach filled with more starfish than I can count, but I also know that I serve a God who loves every person he has created and has repeatedly shown that he can do great and mighty things through weak and broken servants.

As I close this blog I would like to quote from the opening chapter of Daniel Walker’s book God in a Brothel:

I began to wonder what would happen if men everywhere embraced the God-given destiny to defend and protect the vulnerable woman and children in their communities.  What would happen if in addition to unleashing their strength, skills and passion on the sports field, in their office or behind their computer screens they discovered their true masculinity by answering this call to arms and to action.

I wondered what would happen if the church worldwide took the offensive against oppression and slavery so that such acts of rescue and restoration occurred every day. What would happen within our faith communities if we became proactive in the face of injustice? Indeed how would our own families, our own discipleship be forever changed if we were all actively involved in some way in rescuing the oppressed and defending the orphan and advocating for the widow.

 

What could we do if whole communities of Christians decided to give their whole lives to Christ as an offering instead of giving him what is left after we get what we want and “need”?

From raising money to going….

Blog post by Bethany A., Team Ethiopia 2011

 

Bethany A. will be serving on the Ethiopia Journey 117 Team leaving in December 2011.

Coping with Tragedy in Haiti: Losing a Child

Lauren, a recent nursing graduate from Texas, shares about a traumatic loss during a  Journey 117 trip to Haiti in May 2011. To read more of Lauren’s blog, check out http://chosenbyyou.blogspot.com/

Are they just a number?

It has been almost a week since I have been back from Haiti and it has been an emotional roller coaster. Each day I wake up and with each memory I hold onto, I still try to process it all. Here, I want to begin by re-telling some of the life-changing stories that happened while in Haiti.

At the beginning of the week, my team and I experienced a traumatic passing of an infant that cut down deep within me but changed my life forever. Bear with me as I try to vividly re-tell the story. On Monday, we had the opportunity to visit a home for dying and abandoned babies. When I first heard of this home, I was so excited and I couldn’t wait to go and hold, feed, and bathe babies, but I did not fully understand the heart-wrenching sights that I was about to see. When we arrived and I stepped foot into this home, my heart immediately dropped and I fought tears like never before. Wiping my face with the sleeve of my arm, I made my way down the stairs and before me were rows and rows of cribs filled with sick and dying infants. I cannot express to you in words how many there were; row after row and room after room. As I looked, these infants didn’t even seem to have an identity; their bed was labeled with a number. As I tried to process this scene, my mind began to think, “Are theses infants just a number here?? Is this real??” Inside, my heart was screaming as I looked at each infant. Even though they couldn’t’ understand, I told them, you matter. You are not just a number to Christ. He cares for you. He knew you even before you were formed in your mother’s womb. He loves you so much. This pain will end soon. Hold on little one. I was angry and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I walked through the row of cribs and touched each tiny little hand that reached out for me, starving for love, and begging me to pick them up. I immediately scooped up a sweet baby girl and as soon as she was in my arms, she stopped crying and her head laid on my chest. Again, I fought tears. I looked at her face to find that she had a severe eye infection. It was oozing and she looked as if she was in a lot of pain. She felt warm to touch and I’m sure was suffering from an infection that her little body couldn’t fight. In my mind, I began to think back to my hospital at home and the place where I would work. If I were to hold an infant like this in the states I would be gowned, gloved, and with a facemask on for protection from any type of disease, but with this little girl in my arms, I didn’t care. I stroked her head as she laid on my chest. I went to the side room and prayed over her as two of my other teammates gathered around with their sweet infants. Tears fell. My heart was broken and I couldn’t understand. Time passed and I held this little girl, trying to get every spoonful of food I could down here; her belly was huge (protein deficiency) but her arms and legs were so skinny; she was greatly malnourished. It was time for their nap around noon and as I placed her back in her crib, she cried and cried. I picked her back up and she stopped, as peaceful as she could be as long as she was in the warmth of my arms. I had to put her down, telling myself that I could get her again after her nap. We left the room and let the children sleep while we visited another orphanage for a few hours.

Team Haiti Update: Coping with Loss

I wanted to take a moment to write a quick update to all of you. The past couple of days have been rather emotional offering some extreme highs to extreme lows. Yesterday we were at home for sick and dying children. The scene was terrible: cribs of babies everywhere, most of them crying to get your attention because they just wanted to be held. Several of the babies had visible illnesses or deformities that were just heart-wrenching. We grabbed as many babies as we could handle out of the cribs and just spent hours loving on these kids and helping to feed during meal times. Some of the babies were 18 months or 2 years old but you would never guess it; they appeared to be just weeks old because the diseases had taken its toll on their bodies.

At the end of the day there a baby got really sick and one of the girls who happens to be a recent nursing graduate noticed that the baby was not breathing well and that the mother was next to her crying. Confused as to what was going on, she tried to figure out the situation to see if the workers responded to this scene. After a while she stepped in and took a look at the baby. She was clearly sick and not getting enough oxygen. Another girl and I were called in to help. Stepping into this surreal situation, we tried to do what we could. We had little to no medicine to work with and inefficient supplies. The baby stopped responding to any stimuli, so we started doing CPR after we lost a pulse and the baby stopped breathing.

The Power of God

Blog post by Atonya S., Team Moldova 2011 

My husband, Mike, and I currently sponsor a child who is an orphan and we have been given a desire by God to help orphans.  Recently we felt called to go on a mission trip, so we started  looking  for a trip when we came across World Orphans on the internet.  After doing some research we decided to start praying about the Moldova trip.  We had peace about going, so we applied and got accepted.  I am excited about this trip because we get to share God’s word and love via a summer camp.

Journey to…Where Lord? Uganda?

Blog post by Emily H., Team Uganda 2011

It was Monday night and I was singing worship with 20+ other people who are in our Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class.  Even now I don’t remember all of the words to the song we were singing, I just remember it was specifically about worshiping the Lord.  As I lifted my hands and closed my eyes (something us Southern Baptist don’t do!) to sing one word to our Father, “Hallelujah”, I saw hundreds of faces smiling back at me.  The joyful faces of hundreds of little black children looking at me. I knew they were worshiping right along with me.  The vision was brief, but it was an incredible confirmation from God.  I was going to Uganda.

No Place to Call Home

Blog Post by Amber M., Haiti Team 2011

Thousands of orphaned kids are running around the streets with no protection, no family, no place to rest their heads, no place to call HOME. The beginning of December God started laying Haiti on my heart but I didn’t know why. I just started praying for the people of Haiti and researching what I could about the country. I was shocked to realize that things were still horrible from the earthquake but what shocked me

A Dollar a Day Challenge

Lacey Howe, recent Journey 117 team member, felt challenged to learn what it truly means to live in poverty. Check out this video she made along with friend Amanda Walton to watch their Journey.