another to way to support adoptive families

You're probably familiar with Etsy , or maybe not -- the site has labeled it purpose thus: "Your place to buy & sell all things handmade".

Well, there are many super-creative, talented adoptive mommies (myself not being one) who sell their goods on this site to help raise funds for adoptions and orphan care.

You can find their items by using search words like adoption, Ethiopia, Africa, China, orphan...

Check it out -- you might be surprised by the creativity, quality and hard-work poured into various crafts -- something for you...something for them.

Happy shopping!!

HopeChestPartners.org LIVE today!

From Tom Davis...

This Christmas, we've set the goal of raising $500,000 to help 5,000 orphans in 2010. To do this, we've launched a new Web site: HopeChest Partners

A HopeChest Partner is someone who gives $25/month or more toward establishing new orphan ministry through HopeChest.

Your gifts will help feed orphans trapped in extreme poverty and support programs to reduce sex trafficking among orphan girls in Russia.

Become a HopeChest Partner today!

These are CRITICAL gifts that form the foundation of our programs. Without that foundation, we could never have grown to reach 10,000 orphans, and sit poised to reach another 5,000 next year. It is those gifts, your gifts, that make the difference.

Go to HopeChest Partners today for more information and to sign up.

Jesus Has AIDS

Jesus Has AIDS <- a MUST READ by Dr. Russ Moore!!

Posted using ShareThis

Do They Know???

It's Christmastime,
there's no need to be afraid
At Christmastime,
we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty
we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world
at Christmastime

But say a prayer,
pray for the other ones
At Christmastime it's hard,
but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window,
and it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them
instead of you

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life

Where nothing ever grows
No rain or rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Here's to you raise a glass for everyone
Here's to them underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Feed the world
Feed the world
Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again

--Band Aid

REFERRAL-versay

11.25.09

will mark the one-year anniversary of Micah's referral. The first day we saw his face. This will be a very special day...for the rest of our lives. This year we'll commemorate our one-year referral-versay by joining Compassion International's Child Survivor Program for Ethiopia:

Tragically, nearly 26,000 children under age 5 die every day, mostly from preventable diseases.

Child Survival Program
Care before and after birth

Since infant mortality is extremely high in some parts of the world, the first priority in promoting effective child development is to ensure that children survive the early years when they are most vulnerable to disease and malnutrition. That means educating the mother or primary caregiver, before and after her child is born, about providing critical care during the earliest years. They are provided education in these areas:

Growth Monitoring — steady growth is a good sign of adequate nutrition
Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) — restores fluids lost to diarrhea
Breast-feeding — promotes infant growth, facilitates bonding with the mother, and reduces incidence of illness
Immunization — an effective way to reduce or eliminate many diseases that cause childhood death and disability
Female Literacy — the mother's level of education is directly tied to child survival
Food — food or supplements fight off malnourishment
Family Planning — greater spacing between births allows the mother's body to be better prepared for the rigors of pregnancy and to provide greater attention to each child's needs
What's more, recent research in child development is clear: The first five years are a crucial period in the development of a child and this development directly affects the quality of adult life. Brain development is almost wholly completed by age 2 and malnutrition rates peak at around 24 months of age. This implies the need for early interventions concerning:

Health/nutrition
Fine/gross motor development
Cognitive stimulation
Socialization programs
Exposure to Christian teaching and the gospel
This research suggests that it is crucial for Compassion to affect the lives of younger children during this crucial two-year window of development. Our Child Survival Program works — and pays big dividends as a child grows older.

one gift : two blessings

Be intentional with your Christmas shopping.
Minister through fair-trade -- AND -- Educate about social injustices.
(thanks, Traci)

www.kingdom-ventures.com
various items
providing income for former prostitutes

www.handandcloth.org
blankets made from sari's
providing income for former prostitutes

www.saribari.com
blankets made from sari's sewn by former prostitutes in kolkata, india
providing income for former prostitutes

www.tradeasone.com/shop/
various items
fighting poverty

www.worldcraftsvillage.com
various items

www.blessingbasket.org
baskets from bangladesh, ghana, uganda
fighting poverty

www.tinyrockstar.com
shirts for babies, kids, adults
fighting for orphans living in extreme poverty

http://store.madebysurvivors.com
various items
products made by survivors of slavery and persons at risk of being trafficked into slavery

www.saintscoffee.com
coffee
feeding orphans

www.freesetbags.com
handbags
made by former prostitutes in india

www.punjammies.com
pajamas
made by former slaves in india

www.rahabministriesthailand.org
jewelry and cards
made by former prostitutes in thailand

www.cardsfromafrica.com
handmade cards
supports orphaned children in rwanda

www.banyanpaper.com
cards, journals, handbags
supports women and children around the world

Other fair trade websites - may or may not support a religious ministry BUT does support commerce that works for the people not against:

www.originalgood.com
various items

www.tenthousandvillages.com
various items

www.globalexchangestore.org
various items

www.choiceorganicteas.com
teas

www.serrv.org
various items

www.gearthatgives.com

what is MINGI??

In rural Ethiopia, parents are forced to kill some of their children due to tribal superstitions...

Drawn from Water rescues and provides homes for these children.
Please, click the link above to read more and find out how you can help.

Drawn from Water from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

Where will you be???

Sunday : November 8 : 2009

Orphan Sunday is the designated Sunday of the year for churches around the world to join voices and forces, raising awareness regarding the need and number of orphans world-wide.

I hope you've found an event to attend in your city, if not click here to find one.

If you're in the Birmingham area, please stop by Hunter Street Baptist Church during the month of November -- you'll be able to see pictures and read stories of adoptive families in our church.


Hunter Street is also hosting this live event, via webcast, on Orphan Sunday at 4pm : featuring Steven Curtis Chapman! Anyone is welcome to join us for this free event!!

think God can't use you?

If so, let me side-track for just a moment and say that, that is a completely arrogant thought! God. Not able to use you. That would make you bigger than God...

But, here's what I really want to share. Encouragement. Not my dogmatism.

Have you heard about Katie?
If not, you NEED to meet her!!

Click here to read her blog.

Click here to find about how God is using her!

When your finished reading, click here, that God might use YOU to help her!

Adopting For Life : conference

When : Feb 26-27
Where : Southern Seminary, Louisville, KY

What : "You may be wondering whether this will be a conference about the doctrine of adoption or “real” adoption. Well, one of the things that we’ll be discussing is the fact that you can’t talk about the one without talking about the other. Also, it is not as though we master one aspect and then move to the other—from the vertical to the horizontal or the other way around. That’s not the picture God has embedded in his creation work.

The Bible tells us that human families are reflective of an eternal fatherhood (Eph. 3:14-15). We know, then, what human fatherhood ought to look like on the basis of how Father God behaves toward us. But the reverse is also true. We see something of the way our God is fatherly toward us through our relationships with human father. And so Jesus tells us that in our human father’s provision and discipline we get a glimpse of God’s active love for us (Matt. 7:9-11; cf. Heb. 12:5-7). The same is at work in adoption.

So we’ve invited a number of great speakers to “Adopting for Life” who will seek to equip us to create a culture of adoption in our families and churches. We’ll be answering questions such as, “What does adoption have to do with the Great Commission?”, “How can I pay for adoption?”, and “How can we start an adoption ministry in my church?”—along with so many others.

I would love to see you here in Louisville for the “Adopting for Life” conference, as we think together about how God might be leading us to be on mission with Christ for the sake of the orphans of the world."

--Dr. Russell Moore

What Else : And if you haven't read it yet, you need to pick-up a copy of Dr. Russ Moore's book Adopted For Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches.

called to ADOPT???

Called to adopt a child with HIV/AIDS??

More, and more families are answering this call!

It is possible! HIV is an extremely manageable disease! Even if this is not the call for your family, please, support those who are embracing these children -- the first way you can do that is to educate yourself about the treatment & transmission of HIV...it's not what you think!!

Let's protect these children & debunk the myths of HIV!!!

Interested in how families are doing this??
Check-out Project Hopeful, a non-prof org whose mission is to "educate, encourage and enable families adopting children with HIV and to advocate for children with HIV/AIDS and their families throughout the world."

Together for Adoption, conference is online

Go : here : to listen to T4A 2009 audio. You can listen to the main sessions from the conference. There were six speakers (about 45 min each), and I HIGHLY recommend them all!!!

Go : here : to read Zach Nielsen’s General Session Summaries -- the summaries will, no doubt, lite your fire to listen to the full audio versions!!

Did you know??

Every 15 SECONDS, another child becomes an AIDS orphan in Africa


Every DAY 5,760 more children become orphans


Every YEAR 2,102,400 more children become orphans (in Africa alone)


143,000,000 Orphans in the world today spend an average of 10 years in an orphanage or foster home


Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…


Every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system


Every DAY 38,493 children AGE OUT


Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home

The spine-chilling statistics on African orphans estimate that the numbers of orphans in various African countries are:

Nigeria … 8.6 million
Ethiopia … 4.8 million
Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) … 4.2 million
Swaziland … 2.5 million
South Africa … 2.5 million
Tanzania … 2.4 million
Kenya … 2.3 million
Uganda … 2.3 million
Sudan … 1.7 million
Mozambique … 1.5 million
Ivory Coast … 1.4 million
Zimbabwe … 1.4 million
Angola … 1.2 million
Zambia … 1.2 million
Ghana … 1 million
Cameroon … 1 million
Malawi … 950,000
Madagascar … 900,000
Rwanda … 820,000
Niger … 800,000
Burkina Faso … 710,000
Mali … 710,000
Somalia … 630,000
Chad … 600,000
Burundi … 600,000
Senegal … 560,000
Benin … 370,000
Guinea … 370,000
Central African Republic … 340,000
Sierra Leone … 340,000
Eritrea … 280,000
Congo … 270,000
Liberia … 250,000
Mauritania …170,000
Lesotho … 150,000
Botswana … 150,000
Namibia … 140,000
Guinea-Bissau … 100,000
Gabon … 65,000
The Gambia … 64,000
Djibouti … 48,000
Comoros … 33,000
Equatorial Guinea … 29,000

Read more: here

Woman left for DEAD

A Woman Left for Dead on the Side of the Road - A tear-jerker
http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/2009/09/a-woman-left-for-dead-on-the-side-of-the-road-a-tearjerker.html

Freed to Visit Orphans (Ethiopia)

Keep the Federal Tax Credit Alive!!!

The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213

Write your US Rep!

Write your US Senator!

Orphan Sunday

November 8, 2009

Join an event, or plan an event in your area:
www.orphansunday.org

Click on Hold an Event to see the many ways YOU can be apart of Orphan Sunday!!

Social Justice and the Poor

Here's the blog of author, Kevin DeYoung.

He's starting a series of posts on Social Justice and the Poor.

Check-out his books as well.

Celebrating a Birthday? Give creatively!

Last week our son from Ethiopia celebrated his 1st-birthday! It was a special day! Da-Da took off work and we went to the zoo, opened presents from family/friends, and of course smeared some cake!

So, what did we give Micah for his 1st birthday (other than spending the day with him...time being a most precious gift to give)?
A very inexpensive toy from Target. Yep, that's it...not because we couldn't purchase anything else, but because we chose not to purchase anything else!

Instead, we are sending a wal-mart gift card to a very dear family who is traveling to Ethiopia this week to pick-up their two children! This family has had quite a long journey on the road of adoption, but they have remained joyful and faithful! This adoption has required great sacrifice for their family and I could think of no better way to celebrate/honor Micah's 1st-birthday than to fill this family's fridge and pantry as they transition from a family of three to a family of five!!

I don't share this to toot my own horn, but to hopefully encourage a deeper consideration: what are you teaching your children/friends/family through what and how you celebrate??

Ask the US Government to Build Families, Not Barriers

The CDC has recently developed a protocol regarding TB screening for orphans and immigrants...while this so-called screening sounds like a good idea, the protocal for the screening is unecessary for children being adopted by American families.

I hope you'll read more about the CDC's protocol, and sign the Build Families, Not Barriers petition written by the Joint Counsel!!

Will you join me??

I don't know about you, but I want to make a difference. And, bringing Micah home wasn't enough...remember the story in the Bible about the Widow's Mite? In a way, I feel as if bringing Micah home was giving to God "out of my abundance". We can all see on the news every night, giving out of our abundance has been a pitiful attempt to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a broken & hurting world.

I'm ready to give out of "my poverty".

This blog is dedicated to the children who are waiting for all of God's people to give out of our poverty...if we continue to give only out of our abundance, they simply have no hope...they wait in vain...

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Matthew 12:41-44