My Heart Hurts

http://www.forhisgloryoutreach.org/

I absolutely can not get this organization out of my mind.  I am acquaintances with a family out of Aurora, Nebraska who adopted two boys from this orphanage and sent me an e-mail weeks ago asking for financial donations and prayer.  I am an anxious person by nature, and this type of stuff is so incredibly hard for me.  My heart just hurts and I feel totally helpless! Surfing around their website brought to me another harsh reality: For every child who has made it to their "forever home" in America or Canada or wherever, there is another child to quickly fill their place at the orphanage.  For every child we see smiling on the news at a happy reunion with their adoptive families, there are several more children still in Haiti.  Some were orphans before the quake, some were not.  Ug.

My goal here is not to be a "Debby Downer," but to call you to pray pray pray for these children regardless of any pending adoption.  And in the case that they do have families in the US or elsewhere who are STILL trying to get their children home, please stop and say a prayer for them, too.  I learned some interesting things here: I found the story about Ronel particularly interesting from several perspectives, as well as her comments regarding UNICEF.(Ronel's adoptive parents have a blog here.)

I am studying the book of Esther right now and we have been chronicling what it would be like to lose both father and mother.  Devastating!

So the national day of prayer advertised below has passed, but I hope you will join with me in praying for these children and the staff.  Check their website regularly for updates.

An Open Letter from Kim Harmon, President - For His Glory Outreach

A call for national prayer and fasting on January 28^th for the orphans of Haiti

(Kingsland, Texas)  We are deeply grateful to God for all of the Haitian children who have been united with their adoptive parents.  We sincerely thank all of the governors, senators, congressmen and government departments who have joined in the effort to secure the safety and well being of these defenseless Haitian orphans.  Unfortunately, there now seems to be a mountain standing between the orphans who remain in Haiti and the safe and loving homes of their adoptive families.  That mountain is the Haitian Government's new, and still undefined, exit process for children with foreign adoptive parents.  With limited resources available to Haitian orphanages, this process has stopped the departure of orphans with humanitarian parole status and directly affects our ability to care for those children orphaned since the earthquake.

I call on all adoptive families, relatives, friends, churches, Christian ministries and all those who care for Haiti's orphans to set aside Thursday, January 28^th, as a day of fasting and prayer.  We are asking God to intervene, not only for the children in our Port-au-Prince orphanage, Maison des Enfants de Dieu, but also for all the surviving orphanages in Haiti.  In addition, we want to include those children who now have no one and no place to go because of the limitations of Haitian orphanages.  We would like you to specifically pray:

• For the immediate safety and security of the orphanages, the staff and children.  In recent days, we have received verified reports of Haitian criminal gangs targeting orphanages as locations with potential stocks of food and water.


• That God will provide the water, formula, food, shelter and supplies needed by the surviving orphanages of Haiti to care for the swelling number new orphans.  Our orphanage alone accepted 40 new orphans on Tuesday, January 26^th, but many more have no place to go.  The needs of these newly orphaned Haitians are immediate.


• That God will comfort and strengthen orphanage staffs in Haiti.  Most have lost their homes and many have lost loved ones.  Yet they have continued to selflessly serve the orphans in their care.


• That the ongoing discussions between the U.S. and Haitian governments will quickly produce a workable process to allow orphans to be united with their foreign adoptive parents where they will be safe and loved.  And that the cries of the orphans will be heard in the hearts of the negotiators.  Each child who departs Haiti opens up much needed space for those children who now have nothing and no one.

On the journey.

Stef