Africa

See this beautiful girl?  She is our daughter.

She is delightful, a joy, mischievous, is learning to love Jesus, and finds ways to be a blessing.

She is athletic, tall, loves to learn, explore, and also humble.

She is from DRC.

 It took us a while to get her.  Mostly due to state side paper work.  It was exhausting, expensive and we saw the incompetence while working with cis.  Sometimes I would tell myself, they are just making sure, they are just making sure.  Except for the fact that their 'making sure' cost us more money at every turn.  hmmmm....

Facebook is something that I was not really interested in, in general.  I was one of the last of my friends to get it. I got it because it was a photobucket for my oldest daughter when she lived in VA.  She wanted to 'see' everything all the time.  FB made it easy.  I got one with a pseudo-ish name.  I wasn't ( still not, really) interested in finding friends I haven't seen in 462 years.  After all, if that was important to me, I would still talk to them.

I utilize it more from information than anything.  Yes, I do 'see' friends from afar and it works well for that, too.  But in general, info, baby, info.

One of my favorite movies, probably top 5 is The Constant Gardener.  It is was made from a John La Carre book but got me thinking.  Made me start research, both sides because quite frankly, I did not want to believe the Big Pharma Thing out there.  I'd heard some things for years, and saw things I denied in my heart and researching would have caused me to rethink and I knew one of us was wrong.  I wasn't about to let it be me.

I love to research things; sometimes, though, it takes me a little longer to start because of pride.

The movie also gave me a peek into Africa, though adopting from there was not even close to being on our radar at the time.  Our youngest son went to Africa for 6 weeks, I asked him if that was what it looked like.  He got that far away look in his eyes, remembering, and said, " Exactly."

I just gave you 3 random things, that have virtually nothing to do with each other.

On the surface.

On facebook yesterday, someone who is in our loop who is adopting from DRC posted this article.

Please take time to read it, even if you don't finish my tirade here.

On first reading, I was SO thankful our daughter is home.  I am no longer in that part of that process, I can continue to bond with her, can hug her, tickle her, laugh with her, teach her, read to her... yes, we have our daughter.

Then I read it again, and that is when I read the other stuff.

And seriously, it ticked me off.

I know someone from our DRC loop that, well,  2 of her 3 children died while she was waiting, doing and redoing her paper work to bring them home.  Another had her son die.  Time and again I read the emails asking for prayer because #1. they are devastated and grieving or #2. their child is in serious need of medical/emtional help and needs to get home.

Having gone through the process of foreign adoption 2x in 3 years, from different nations, I know that side of politics.

Having researched from books, internet, actual people, medical articles, political articles, etc... on the devastation of the 'altruistic' movement of 'certain' companies, it ticks me off even more.

I hate to be so cynical.  Really,  sometimes I think it can't be GODly.  But then GOD told us to be 'shwred are serpents, innocent as doves'.




So, see how it all ties in together?



I get it.  There are evil people who are in the buying/selling of children and sometimes these children get in to the adoption circle.  Truly tragic, and I can understand the investigations and process.  I whole heatedly agree with it.  But once it is done, what is the problem??!?

I get the, why adopt?  Why not send money out there to help the families do it themselves?  Again, I agree.  But what happens to the orphans?  What happens to the children whose parents died from malnutrition, diseases, war, were abandoned, have no hope, or very little hope to make it to age 5?  What happens when the adult family members can't feed everyone?  Seriously people, kids are still dying and we never hear of it.

Our daughter's father died in the after-war war.  Her mother was deathly sick when she brought her in to the orphanage. Her mom asked and wrote letters requesting her daughter be given a chance, to be adopted, to give her hope. We have them.  Our daughter was 2 years old and weighed 19 pounds.

After hearing something interesting, challenging or just random in general, My first question is...who benefits what?

At the end of the day, unfortunately, money talks, everything else walks.

Sad but true.

If you think of it, or if GOD brings it to your mind, please pray for those orphans waiting for a chance.  Pray for the parents whose arms are still empty, waiting.  I remember those years.  They are awful.

And if you read the article, you know international adoptions here in the USA have gone down 60% in the past 8 years.  :::sigh:::  If you can't adopt, maybe sponsor?  Maybe pray?  Maybe get out there and live amongst those who need help...  but definitely seek HIS face for your role in this situation.

Remember, Jesus never said our lives were meant to be lived for ourselves.

It is time to get out of the American Church where wealth and prosperity reigns, were our retirement plan is supreme. It is time to go out into the world and live it out.  Even if the world you are called to is across the street, get out there!!  Children and their parents are dying, if not physically, most certainly spiritually.

And here we are, thinking about what to wear to church on Sunday morning.

I am just as guilty, so don't think I am pointing the finger at you.  I am looking in the mirror, and I certainly do not like what I see.

Do you?