New Adoption Blog
We've started a new blog at http://adoptingfromhaiti.blogspot.com/
We can talk about it here or we can talk about it on that blog. Either way, it's an important topic so let's talk about it somewhere.
Brent
Labels: Adoption
posted by Brent C Sleasman at 8:52 PM
5 Comments:
Brent- I'd like to hear some of your heart about how this issue become so important to you. It's still not something that we hear that much about, even though it has been getting more recognition in the evangelical world.
Thanks!
Dan,
Thanks for the question.
To be entirely honest, when we first started the adoption process we were mainly thinking of adding a child to our family. But, as often happens when we serve a God of unexpected destinations, our journey has taken us in directions we never anticipated.
It started when my wife and I both agreed that our family wasn't complete (we have a five year old daughter). But, for a variety of reasons we came to the conclusion that adoption would be the best option for our family. So, when we began the process in January 2010, we contacted a local agency that focuses on domestic adoptions. We went through all the necessary steps including the home study. And then...we waited. Since we were working with a semi-open adoption we were waiting for someone to choose us as the parents for their child. At the time we thought we were waiting for someone to choose us, but what was really going on was that God was preparing us for something much greater.
Now, we'll jump ahead to June 19, 2011; by this point we had been waiting for over a year. On that Sunday our church had a special worship service dedicated to various ministries in Haiti. One of the items that was promoted was a program called Starfish Kids which allowed us to sponsor a child for a year (in a similar way as Compassion International). When we got home that day I was looking up more information about the organization that runs Starfish Kids when I came across a website indicating that Haitian adoptions were reopened (they had been closed since January 2010 due to the earthquake - notice the timing, we do not serve a God of circumstance). I was looking through the photos of some of the available children and told my wife that "we should go get him" when I saw a random picture. She immediately stopped and asked "Are you serious?" The rest, as they saying goes, is history.
We started talkling and realized that while we both were fully commited to adoption, we weren't on the same page as far as our expectations of a child - I was thinking infant and she was thinking toddler. As we talked through what was going on we came to the realization that we were being led to adopt from Haiti.
So, we updated our paperwork and starting pursuing a Haitian adoption for one child. On a Friday in mid-August the agency we're working with contacted us to confirm that we were only interested in adopting one child. The following Tuesday she called back and started with "This never happens, but..." and the proceeded to tell us about a sibling pair that was brought to the orphanage and how our profile would be a perfect match. We told her we would pray about it and consider if that was best for our family. Jumping ahead again, we are now in the process of waiting to finalize the adoption of two children - a three year old boy and his nine month old sister.
Things have been moving so fast that we started to writing things down so we could remember. I'll follow this post with a few themes that have emerged from that journal.
Here are a few of the themes that have emerged from thinking through the last five months:
When God gives you a story to tell, you tell it
This is one of the reasons that we've started the other blog and why I've posted this on the CGGC blog. This isn't our story - this is God's story that he's graciously invited us into.
Adoption is a key biblical metaphor
We've been reading various blogs, books and articles about adoption within the Christian community. One of the points that you made in your question is that adoption is growing in recognition within the evangelilcal world. I find it fascinating that we've been reading the same Bible for almost 2000 years and only recently have "discovered" the significance that adoption plays in our faith.
For my wife and I, this isn't just about our adoption. We feel a genuine call to help others consider the role that adoption should play in their own lives as well. We are working with our local church to establish an orphan care ministry. I've made contact with the CGGC office in Findlay about ways to raise the profile of this ministry area on the denominational level. And, professionally, I'm exploring ways that my own research and writing can further the cause of orphans and raise awareness about adoption.
There is much more that could be said, but I think this summarizes are heart right now. I'll be happy to reply to more questions about our experiences.
My wife just read the last post and pointed out a MAJOR error - it should say "our heart right now..." not "are heart right now."
She is enjoying the fact that I made that error a little too much...
Y'alls,
This is so early church. From what we can tell, one of the means by which early Christian spread so rapidly is that followers of Jesus would go through cities looking for babies who had been thrown away (mostly girls), a common practice in the ancient world.
Go for it! This is in the finest tradition of Jesus following.
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