Waiting Children

Every so often when I tell someone about our adoption process, they say something to the effect of "I would love to adopt, but..." fill in the blank. Money is an issue, fear of international travel has been mentioned, many people think they could never get their spouse to agree to it. I can only say that all of those excuses entered my mind at one time or another. It has been my experience, that if you are called to adopt (and you will know - you will feel the desire deep in your heart and it does not go away), through a lot of prayer and a lot of perseverance, it is possible to start the journey.

I want to take this opportunity to share a little information that I just read. I LOVE Kristi's posts at http://www.weloveourlucy.blogspot.com/. She has huge heart for orphans and continues to do amazing work to educate others about the need for orphan care and adoption. If you haven't done so, please take some time to visit her blog. It is amazing! Anyway...last night she posted some information that really touched me...She wrote about many waiting kids that are looking for a forever home. 147 million children wait. About 6 million wait in Ethiopia. If you have any interest in adoption, perhaps a waiting child is something you could consider. Kristi also wrote about African American infants waiting for families right here in the USA. Here is part of what she wrote:

"**I also want to let you know that I contacted two agencies domestically recently to find out MORE about their need for African American Infant adoptions!! Basically this is what I found out: The need is REAL in the U.S. It was said that there are 7,000 waiting parents for every ONE Caucasian baby born and ZERO for every African American baby born!! This just breaks my heart!! This is who I called:
http://www.adoptionassociates.net/ out of Michigan is in desperate need for people to sign up for AA infants!! They have 13 signed pregnant mothers and 3 signed adoptive parents!! I did talk price with them and they are only slightly cheaper than going to Ethiopia, but obviously the travel will be less expensive (and easier)! These are USUALLY semi-open adoptions!! They were GREAT to talk with and very HELPFUL!!
AND: http://www.covenantcareadoptions.com/ They are out of Georgia and were GREAT to talk with as well!! They are also in GREAT need for people to sign for AA infants!! They are also usually semi-open adoptions. Their prices were actually GREAT!! Their entire adoption cost was only slightly over $4,000!! That is a GREAT price in the land of adoption!! They seem to place new- borns VERY QUICKLY and are ready to sign potential, qualifying parents!!"

Our agency (Arise for Children) just launched a new website and very soon they will be featuring waiting children as well. I hope to spread the word about children that are available and wait for a family. Our agency has many little boys waiting for families (especially preschool age). Almost all agencies that we looked at had waiting children. If you are interested in a waiting child, you may also be eligible for special grants to help with adoption costs. Please keep these little ones in your thoughts and prayers.

***More to come about adoption fundraising. I am getting very excited because my big "gold party" is coming up and I can't wait to gather my wonderful friends together to celebrate and fundraise!

***The iPod "giveaway" is still up and running! It's not too late to get your "entries." The odds are still looking good, so grab some "entries" soon...