A New Pic

We recieved a new pic of Felicity from another family and just recieved another from Gladney yesterday - our girl is just edible! I can't seem to post the one from Gladney for some reason but I will work on that. We are excited about tomorrow and await any word. We will let you know how things go. I have been reading this book and it has been very encouraging. It's called Adoption as a ministry, Adoption as a blessing, by Michelle Gardner. She and her husband have adopted three childred with various special needs from China, Russia, India and six children from Ethiopia. They have an adoption ministry called Kingdom Kids. I thought I would post a snip-it of a section on Questions some people have posed.

Some Questions and Answers Regarding Adoption

"As families and churches consider ways of ministering to children who need permanent, loving families, there are several questions that seem to come up again and again. We have examined what scripture says on these issued and encourage families to be open to how the Lord might direct them.

1. Is it right to spend so much time and money on one child?

Adoption requires great resources of time and money. Sometimes people wonder if it would be a better use of funds to donate to groups that leave children in their birth counries and minister to their physical needs there.
Excellent programs, administered by groups such as World Vision and Compassion International, allow people to support a particular child on a monthly basis and ensure the chils will recieve an education and other necessities. We have sponsered many children this way over the years.

Most of the children in these programs, however, are not orphans. They live with their families, who, for various reasons, usually poverty, can't provide the child with the necessities of life. These worthwhile programs allow families to correspond with their sponsered child, but provide little opportunity to build values and spiritual truths into the child's heart. Of necessity communication is rather superficial.

If a family desires to meet a child's physical needs, this is an excellent way to do so. But if a family wants to build their convictions into a child's life over a period of years and hopes to eventually see the child accept Christ as her Savior, adoption is the most profound option possible. I encourage families to sponser children, but also to consider adoption. It doesn't need to be an either - or situation. The Lord's resources are unlimited, and we can minister to children in many different ways.

The Gospels clearly show that Christ chose to spend a great deal of His time with individuals. He ministered to crowds of people, but over the three years of His ministry He invested the majority of His time in twelve men, and eventually more time in a more intimate group of three - Peter, James and John. Both the crowds and the individuals were important, but Jesus constantly interacted with His small group as He dealt with the large group.

Similarly, we can help relieve the misfortunes of large groups of people by contributing to various ministries that work in war-torn countries and areas where natural disasters have occurred. We can also pour ourselves into the lives of individuals by adopting one or two children and giving them a desire to reach out to others. Many people have told us that our adoptions have inspired them to adopt, so we feel like our small efforts have been multiplied. "