As promised, here are the final thoughts on the Washington Times article. This is our third entry, so if you haven’t read the last two, please go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 to get the background. Here are some closing thoughts on the whole matter.
The plan behind limiting international adoptions, in one sense, is to combat human trafficking, child exploitation and corrupt situations. The unfortunate part of this is that it will take years to truly see the impact, if any, of this. In this time many futures will be lost. There will be many casualties along the way and many children will live and die with no family to call their own. Ten or twenty years down the road, we may look back and say, “we tried the approach of shutting down international adoption and here we are today, human trafficking is still happening, the world is still corrupt and children are still being abandoned by birth parents that can’t care for them for various reasons.” Is this experiment ok? Are we ok with this global experiment that will put millions of lives on the line? Think of your own children, each one with such beauty and promise, such destiny. Would you be ok putting them on the line for this experiment? Of course not! The Father sees these children through the same lens. How much time will this experiment take and how many lives will be lost?
One final quote from the article that stood out was:
“Those placed later will do far better than they would in the absence of placement ---international adoption has been shown to overcome even very significant deficits caused by early deprivation, with the age of placement overwhelmingly predictive of the chance for a normal life."
The research and evidence exists to demonstrate the positive effects of adoption. There are so many individual lives that have been given a life and a story through adoption. We must think about individuals. Research the stories, look into the facts and take time to engage with these issues. A child can be rescued and they can go on to lead a normal and beautiful life. Our hope and prayer is that you would engage in these issues. Don’t stand silently.
Bill Hybels wrote a book called “Holy Discontent” and it addressed the fact that we have something inside of us that make us burn with anger or frustration towards injustice. His point in the book was that instead of running from and taking these things off of our minds so they don’t cause us tension, that we run towards them and tackle them. He suggests that our “holy discontent” is there for a reason and will drive us to action, to seek God and make a difference.
One of my favourite preachers says “we are put here to transform cultures.” The Church, the great sleeping giant will awaken and transform the culture. The Church is the largest entity on the planet; the largest gathering of volunteer power that exists. Could a Church of awakened passionate “culture transformers” impact the world? You better believe it could! Let’s lead the way and let’s stir others. Of course, this ministry is raising money to provide grants to help families adopt, but it’s so much more than that aspect. Our volunteer network provides practical help for adoptive families. We have resources to walk families through adoption. You don’t need to invest your time and resources here, but would you do it somewhere? There is so much good stuff happening out there, but “the labourers are few.” (Luke 10:2)
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