We know, it’s a tough question to consider, especially with
a lack of interest and at times an almost resistance throughout our country, including the American
church in general related to the issue of orphan care. We will get into this in a moment…
But first, happy Fall to everyone! It is so much fun living in the North again
and being able to see (and feel) real changes in seasons. Our Fall last year was interrupted by
Hurricane Sandy, and we had not yet moved into our new home. Here are some quick updates from our last
blog: Our kids are doing very well in school, especially Micah in
Kindergarten. Joey continues to love his
job at Cairn University, though it has been a very busy fall semester, and both
Joey and Sarah continue to enjoy their teaching ministry at NorthStar
Academy. NorthStar’s enrollment is doing
very well so far for the 13-14 school year, so thank you for your prayers for
this. Joey has been approved to start
his doctorate in March. We continue to
be involved in our local church. Both
Joey and Sarah are involved with AWANA.
In August we started a new small group and we currently have four
families involved, and Joey helps with the leadership of this group. Also, we have recently been asked to serve on
our church’s small group leadership team.
We continue to appreciate your prayers for our family. Another prayer request back in the summer was
related to our finances, and though things are still a bit tight, God continues
to faithfully provide for our needs. We continue
to remain at 78% of our estimated funding for adoption, and you will see the
latest updates on this process at the end of this posting.
Now back to the question at hand… “How Are You Caring for
Orphans?”
As a family we continue to be challenged by this question,
because caring for orphans means much more than just adoption, though this is
the clear path that God has led us to pursue in this stage of our lives. Each day that Joey walks down the hallway to
his office at Cairn, he passes by a colleague’s door that has a simple, yet
powerful quote, and the implications are huge when it comes orphan care. “Helping the poor is not
liberal. It is Biblical.” We continue to wonder as we now enter month number
twenty-two of our adoption journey, just who is it that God has in store to be
added to our family. However, as we
wait, ways to care for the orphan are abundant around us, and God continues to
give us opportunities to advocate for orphan care, not just at the Good
Shepherd’s Fold in Uganda, but in other divine appointments that he continues to
bring our way.
You may have recently heard about a news story about a
Florida teenager named Davion. He
recently went to a church in the Tampa area in search of a forever family, and
here’s a part of his story from the Tampa Bay Times (see link below) “’I know
they're out there,’ he told his caseworker. Though he is shy, he said he wanted
to talk at a church. ‘Maybe if someone hears my story . . .’” Davion’s story has obtained national
attention, and even Leigh Anne Tuohy, the mom portrayed in The Blind Side a few years ago has weighed in on Davion’s story
(see link below). Over the past few
weeks, over 10,000 requests to adopt Davion have been made. One family is out there to be that forever
family the Davian so desperately needs.
But, what about the other 9,999 families? Another article was recently published (see
below), and here is some of the plea to these other 9,999:
“When I read that you flooded phones and almost
crashed a website with your heart for Davion, it encouraged me that families still
exist who might fight for these…Even when the issues are too big for our minds,
or seem like too much to handle, that doesn’t invalidate all those Scriptures
in the Bible…Within church culture, the concept of ‘the family of God’ is
stated as a reality, but without adoption – the very thing on which
Christianity is founded in the sense of Jesus giving His life to allow others
to be adopted into the family of God – without that, the family of God becomes
more like a Christian club…So to you, the 9,999 who don’t end up adopting him,
please don’t quit…There are thousands of Davions out there. They need you.”
Regardless of the state of the American public, and American
church related to orphan care, consider how you could get involved in helping
solve the crises of orphans all over the world.
As we were early in the process of considering to the choice to pursue
adoption, a friend recommended a book to us called Orphanology: Awakening to Gospel-Centered Adoption and Orphan Care,
and since then not only have we read it multiple times, but we have been able
to even share sections of it in Bible studies and with other friends. This week this same friend recommended
another book called Orphan Justice: How
to Care for Orphans Beyond Adoption.
A quick update on our process: continue to pray for the
staff at Good Shepherd’s Fold as they continue investigations of children and
their eligibility for adoption, and if eligible, if they are the right fit to
join our family. We continue to be at
78% of our estimated funding needed for one child, and we continue to trust in
God’s timing and provisions for this.
Thanks for your support of our family in the adoption
process. Our next blog posting (and yes,
it will be sooner than three months from now) :) will focus on the many things that the Good Shepherd’s Fold is doing in
Uganda. Recently, we were able to meet
with the Director of GSF, and God is doing some amazing things there. Finally, don’t forget about Orphan Sunday (http://orphansunday.org/) this week –
November 3rd! There are some great
videos posted on their site http://vimeo.com/channels/593323/72235614
and http://vimeo.com/channels/593323/74664039).
Blessings to you all, and enjoy the Fall!
Joey, Sarah, Zoe, Micah, & Caleb
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