Bethany reports adoption placements are up

A recent article in the Sacramento Bee reports that Bethany Christian Services had a record 10,567 adoption inquiries in the past 6 months.

The article attributes the increased inquiries to the Haiti earthquake, theological movements and also popular conferences, such as Catalyst, Together for Adoption, the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit and Adopting for Life.

Thankful for Bethany and Bill Blacquire's leadership as Bethany helps families adopt orphans from around the world and here in the United States.

Read more here

Why Every Christian Should Care for Orphans

A great post by Tom Davis this morning about Christianity Today's lead article by Dr. Russell Moore. Also mentioned is an article by Jedd Medefind and a list of top 5 books on orphan ministry. I'll echo Tom and say what a privilege it is to work along side men like Jedd Medefind and Russell Moore. Several great conferences coming up - September 10-11, 2010 in Nashville with Show Hope and Dr. Karyn Purvis, October 1-2 - Together For Adoption in Austin, TX and the Mid Atlantic Orphan Summit in Hershey, PA in November. Some great speakers lined up for these conferences including Dr. Karyn Purvis, Jedd, Tom and Dr. Moore!

Love for orphans Transforms

Christian Alliance for Orphans President Jedd Medefind recently wrote an article for Catalyst. He does a wonderful job explaining the transforming power of caring for orphans. Below is a segment that summarizes the article and shares the passion that drives many of us. Read the full article on catalystspace.com

Caring for orphans invites a journey of discipleship. “I see these kids changed,” explained a woman who helps Christians get involved with foster care, “But I think the parents are changed even more.” It’s true. Every family I know that’s opened themselves to parentless children has not gone unaltered. And though the road can be hard, even painful, virtually always it leads closer to Jesus. Expressed one adoptive mom recently, “People have said, ‘Oh, aren’t they lucky, you rescued them from whatever.’ And I think, Are you kidding? I’m the lucky one. I get to be their mom. And I get to be daily rescued from my selfishness, and my impatience, and things that are just as disease-ridden in my soul.”

Ultimately, here’s the result I see again and again: love for orphans transforms. It transforms children as they experience love and nurture they’ve come to live without. It transforms individual Christians, as we encounter Jesus deeply and personally in a destitute child. It transforms the broader community of believers as well, pulling us corporately beyond a religion of self-development to a costly-but-muscular faith. Finally, love for orphans transforms a watching world, as it sees—perhaps for the first time—the Gospel embodied.

HT: Nathan Millican

Ethiopia and the orphan crisis

Orphans' Matchbox (the blog for the Christian Alliance for Orphans) mentioned a Washington Post article written by Johnny Carr from Bethany. There is a great need all over the world to engage the local church in caring for orphans. The model of connecting US churches with the indigenous church in Ethiopia is a great way to help. It's hard to imagine 800,000 AIDS orphans in the world. But this is 800,000 in only one country...

Photo of a little boy in Mekele, Tigray Region, Ethiopia when I was there in 2006.



HT: Christian Alliance for Orphans

Created to Connect study guide is now available!

Karyn Purvis and Michael and Amy Monroe have been working long hours to finally release Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. This free online resource is designed to help adoptive and foster parents better understand how to build strong and lasting connections with their children, and is ideal for use in small groups as well as individually or as a couple.


Learn more about Dr. Purvis and her amazing work at www.empoweredtoconnect.org - Dr. Purvis will be presenting in the Nashville, TN area September 10-11, 2010 and also speaking at Together For Adoption in Austin, TX, September 30 - October 2, 2010.