(un)adopted

What does it mean to be (un)adopted?

To be unadopted means that I am lonely, even in an orphanage filled with children. To be unadopted means I am left behind as I see dozens of families coming and leaving with their new sons and daughters. To be unadopted means I will eventually be out on my own with no opportunities, no family, no place to call home - a life without hope or a future.

If you read the statistics yesterday, you were probably as shocked as I was to learn that only 1/10 of 1% of orphans are adopted. That means 99.9% of orphans do not experience family. It also means that 99.9% of orphans "age out" of the orphanages and find themselves on the street unprepared to survive in the world. They're without money, family, basic tools for survival, or job skills.

In countries like Ukraine and Russia, orphans are forced to leave the orphanage gates and foster homes at 16. In China, the kids are out on their own at 14. Fourteen years of age....alone and vulnerable. That's a year and a half away for our Caroline LiYun, if we were not adopting her. Of the 99.9% who age out, 85% of the girls end up ensnared in human sex trafficking. And 75% of the boys find themselves caught up into a life of crime, drugs, or sex trafficking. Many of these kids commit suicide. Over 50% of the homeless in the U.S. were foster children at one time.

Ironically, I did not know about the plight of these older orphans when we decided to adopt Caroline. Even before we were matched with Grace, I had a heart for older girls and knew we wanted to adopt one down the road. We never thought it would be this year!

And I always had a strong desire to work in some capacity for orphan care and sex trafficking prevention. I can see now the incredible design of God's plan that He called us to adopt one of these older orphans and then led me into a job advocating for millions more.

Our adoption agency, Lifeline Children's Services, recently began a new ministry called (Un)adopted. And this is where I found the job of my dreams. You see, unless there is a significant change in the way the Church and the world care for orphans, these children will continue to suffer unimaginable and cruel circumstances. The call to rescue distressed orphans cannot be answered through adoption alone. They need a realistic hope and future. We want to make that possible.

So what does (Un)adopted do? What exactly is my job? And how can you get involved? I'll let you know over the next couple of days. Didn't want to overwhelm you with too much info at once. :) Please check back.... and join me in praying for these millions of orphans.

"Religion that God our Father accepts are pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep onself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27