The evening that I visited the Twietmeyers happened to be a big day for another reason as well.   A major national policy change championed by Project HOPEFUL (along with EACH and other of our allies) officially crossed the finish line.  I asked Carolyn for help in explaining the change, and this is what she shared:

International adoption of children with HIV/AIDS just got a lot easier!  For 22 years, people with HIV have been prevented from obtaining a US visa, except under very limited circumstances and with additional paperwork and fees. For families adopting a child with HIV, this meant that after the long waits and processes to be approved to adopt the child both in the US and by their country of origin, the child still could not receive a US visa until the family had compiled more paperwork, paid more fees, and waited even longer to come home. Waiting children risked exposure to more health threats while waiting out this process. In 2007, Project HOPEFUL and Equality for Adopted Children successfully advocated to reduce the time to complete this process, but for some children even the shortened time frame threatened their lives. In 2008, the Congress passed and President Bush signed a bill that, in addition to providing HIV assistance to people all over the world, removed HIV as a legislatively mandated health condition prohibiting people from receiving a US visa (except under limited circumstances with special paperwork). Recently President Obama announced that as of January 4, 2010, people with HIV/AIDS will no longer be excluded from receiving a US visa. As a result, children with HIV/AIDS can be adopted and immigrate to the US without having to complete a special waiver of inadmissibility.  Families adopting children with HIV/AIDS will no longer have to obtain additional burdensome paperwork, pay additional fees, and their children will not have to wait longer than healthy adopted children to come home to their loving adoptive families. Orphaned children with HIV can live long, happy, healthy lives with access to good medical care and loving families. This may be the perfect time to adopt an child with HIV/AIDS.  If you need any help, information or support in considering adoption of an HIV+ child, visit the Project HOPEFUL website.

I had the privilege of joining dinner at the home of Kyle and Carolyn Twietmeyer a few weeks ago.   I’ve visited some remarkable residences over the years, from the Tsars’ winter palace in St. Petersburg to the White House.  But I’d have to say the Twietmeyers’ is certainly among the most beautiful I’ve ever entered.  I can’t recall much of what it looked like-—just a yellow structure on the edge of a small town in Illinois.  But the vibrancy of love and faith and purpose that buzzed inside was contagious.

Kyle is a union painter.  Carolyn teaches their 10 kids, and also leads the remarkable work of Project HOPEFUL from a little room they’ve turned into an office.  This small home-based ministry is touching lives across the country, helping families cut through the challenges that come with adopting HIV+ children.  Both the ministry and the Twietmeyer family itself struck me as a poignant picture to me of what tremendous things God can do when ordinary people offer themselves to Him without reservation.

Carolyn admitted that some of the people around them can’t quite understand why they chose the path they have, from adopting children with HIV to pouring so much into a ministry that will likely touch only a tiny portion of the global pandemic.  But, she said, “Little do they know, that this is the best life…and it’s not about how much we have, but Whom we serve.  We wouldn’t change our lives for anything or change a thing about choosing to adopt any one of our children or doing anything else the we know that the Lord has asked of us.”

The Alliance just did its first “Twitterview” (a live interview via Twitter) today with Dr. Russell Moore, highlighting this weekend’s Orphan Sunday. Here’s the transcript.

Jedd Medefind: We’re excited about the Christian Alliance for Orphans’ first twitterview with Dr. Russell Moore for ORPHAN SUNDAY 2009. So let’s start with your plans–what are your doing on Orphan Sunday?

Russell Moore: I’m going to call my folks @highviewbaptist to pray for orphans and I’m going to speak to an orphan care ministry at southeast Christian church here in Louisville

Jedd Medefind: What do you see as the heart of Orphan Sunday?

Russell Moore: The true heart is asking people to remember the least of these, and to take time with churches all over the world asking God to use us to rescue orphans, to see homes created and restored.

Jedd Medefind: Dr. Moore, you’re at the front of calling Christians to “defend the fatherless.” How’d God stir you to this role?

Russell Moore: Well, it took two little Russian ex-orphans, my sons Benjamin and Timothy. Seeing that orphanage in Russia, and seeing the unadopted kids stirred my conscience, a conscience that hadn’t been touched before that. I then saw how I’d been an orphan too. So every time I hear “Daddy” in my home, I’m reminded of Father God’s love for us, and of how radical the gospel really is.

Jedd Medefind: You’ve written, “Orphan Sunday reminds us all that orphan care isn’t a special emphasis at all.” What do you mean?

Russell Moore: Caring for orphans isn’t “special.” It’s what every believer is called to do as we follow Christ (Js. 1:27). Every Sunday then, for Christians, is Orphan Sunday. And every Monday “Orphan Monday,” etc. Orphan Sunday is a reminder that the rest of the year is about this joyous work!

Jedd Medefind: If you were sharing words at one of the Orphan Sunday events in Alaska…or Florida…or Oregon, what would you emphasize?

Russell Moore: That you don’t need a massive orphan care program in order to serve. Just pray about how God is calling you to do it. Orphan care isn’t just for big churches with lots of resources. Every church can do this. The first part is being attentive to the orphans around you, spiritual and familial, and loving them.

Jedd Medefind: Are you seeing any trends among seminary students regarding the Church’s role and orphans?

Russell Moore: Oh yes. There’s a full steam ahead adoption culture @sbts and elsewhere. Younger pastors get this, and it’s a joy to see. The more adoptions and orphan missions endeavors happen the less “strange” this seems to the rest of the Body.

Jedd Medefind: I’m looking forward to joining you for February’s Adopted for Life conference. What’s your goal for the event?

Russell Moore: We want to encourage churches as to how they can do orphan care, as well as potential adopting parents & to serve as a resource for those wondering if adoption or foster care or orphan ministry is for them. It’ll be a great time to connect with people from all over who are thinking about orphan issues and to get good practical counsel.

Jedd Medefind: Your book Adopted for Life tops the reading lists for many folks. Any other new recs from you on adoption or orphan care?

Russell Moore: I like Focus on the Family’s Thriving as an Adoptive Family. It’s really good.

Jedd Medefind: So, last question–personal one: Any advice for a fellow adoptive dad?

Russell Moore: Say “I love you” repeatedly, and don’t forget to discipline. And always think of the adoption as past-tense. Also don’t think you have to answer intrusive questions from onlookers in a way that’ll make your son or daughter feel strange or distant from the rest of the family. They’ve been “brought near” and are “no longer strangers” (Eph. 2).

Jedd Medefind: Thanks for the great Twitterview, Dr. Moore. And for your strong voice for the fatherless!

Russell Moore: Thank you Jedd! I am so thankful for your leadership. You are a strong voice for the fatherless!

Jedd Medefind: And for all you out there standing for orphans, tweet your Orphan Sunday 2009 plans and activities all weekend (#OS09)

(Follow @orphanalliance and @drmoore on Twitter!)

Dr. Moore is the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also serves as a preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church, where he ministers weekly at the congregation’s Fegenbush location. Moore is the author of The Kingdom of Christ and Adopted for Life.

My return drive from Peoria to Chicago included a stop at the headquarters of Lifesong for Orphans, nested in the small town of Gridley, IL amidst a vast expanse of now-soggy cornfields. The founder of Lifesong, Gary Ringer, created Lifesong as a ministry outgrowth of his successful food processing business. The relationship between the two enterprises enables Lifesong to spend all the funds it raises entirely on direct services, and offers a remarkable vision of a businessman integrating his daily work with things of eternal value.

Lifesong brings together both adoption and overseas orphan care ministry—two ways of serving orphans that sometimes appear disconnected. Along with the ABBA Fund, Caroline’s Promise and Show Hope, Lifesong helps families with the costs of adoptions through both direct grants and loans, and also by helping set up and administer church-based adoption funds at no cost to the church. In addition, Lifesong helps support in-country care for orphans, in Zambia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Ukraine, India, and Liberia.

There’s sometimes a perceived (and even real) tension between advocates of adoption and advocates of in-country orphan care. But the truth is, the two are more interwoven than most people realize. Of course, not all organizations can blend the two. But what I see again and again is that adoption often becomes the catalyst for ongoing engagement with the cause of the orphans beyond one’s own adopted child. “You realize you can only bring home and care for a few through adoption,” expressed Andy Lehman, VP of Lifesong, who has two adopted and two biological children. “So you want to figure out how you can start serving the countless others.”

I was particularly struck by the story Andy shared of his brother and sister-in-law, who embody this point. Steve and Danae Lehman adopted a little girl from Ethiopia in 2007 named Eva. She’d been found abandoned by an old farmer named Gobena and his wife. The elderly couple took Eva in and cared for her “because she is the soul of God,” and finally took her to an orphanage, knowing they could not meet all her needs. Eventually, Eva was matched for adoption with the Lehmans. When they traveled to Ethiopia to pick up their new daughter, the Lehmans were deeply moved by the needs of so many other orphans. They were also impacted by the love of the humble farmer and his wife, who’d saved Eva’s life. So, when they returned, they launched Gobena Coffee, which today serves as an engine for fundraising for orphan care in Ethiopia. Stories like this are repeated again and again: adoption carries powerful gravity towards ongoing, whole-life engagement in the lives of other children as well, whether across the world or across town.

While in Peoria for speaking engagements last week, I had the privilege of sharing a cup of coffee and rich conversation with Daniel Bennett, pastor of Bethany Community Church. Daniel’s eyes light up when he speaks of seeking God’s glory; and it’s clear he means it, not merely as an abstract sermon topic, but as the natural bi-product of God’s people embodying His character through tangible love to orphans in their distress. “…That they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

I valued many of the things Daniel shared, but particularly jotted notes when he described the transformative impact he sees in his church as individuals engage adoption and orphan ministry. He expressed how waking to and acting upon God’s call to care for orphans really serves as a powerful agent of discipleship. “As our church grows excited about orphan ministry, I see people understanding the character of God more,” he explained. “I feel that we are coming to grasp the love of God more deeply.” He went on, “I also see it growing our understanding of biblical love—that it involves real sacrifice; it gives like God does to those who have no way to pay you back.” Finally, he noted, the impact spills out beyond the Church. “People outside our church that you never would have expected are intrigued, asking questions, because they’re seeing the adoptions and care for the foster kids. It really gives the church a more powerful testimony to the community.”

Hillsong United’s music-and-message film, We’re All in This Together, launches in U.S. theaters tomorrow.  It promises to be a potent rallying cry to the Church to make faith visible in Christ-like service to orphans, widows and others at the margin.  As their website explains:

Hillsong United began in suburban Sydney, Australia, as a bunch of teenagers playing music in a local church youth band. Over a decade later they find themselves traveling the world playing to crowds numbering in the tens of thousands representing different nations, different cultures, and different challenges.

As United crisscross the globe they are confronted and ultimately overwhelmed by the stories of remarkable individuals facing injustice and the uncomfortable paradox of being united in worship yet divided in circumstance. If their entire focus is directed only to what happens on stage, then maybe they have missed the point altogether.

Filmed over a period of 2 years, The I Heart Revolution: We’re all in this Together follows the worship band, Hillsong United, as they travel across 6 continents 42 nations and 93 cities in a cross-cultural journey of music, animation, interviews and live action documentary as they realise every story of hope, love, loss and sacrifice ultimately points to the one story.

You can see the film’s trailer here:

While traveling for the Alliance Board meeting, several other experiences added to my ever-growing sense that God is stirring hearts across the country to reflect His heart for orphans.  I had the privilege of joining a gathering of the Middle Tennessee Alliance for Orphans.  The group brings together a dozen or so churches in the region, each seeking to grow Gospel-centered orphan ministries, with emphases ranging from caring for orphans overseas to working with the state of Tennessee to engage Christians in foster care.  The enthusiasm in the room was tangible as grassroots leaders shared their current initiatives and a huge diversity of plans for Orphan Sunday:  from sermons and prayer gatherings, to recruiting of foster parents, to “Burritos for Beds” to raise funds awareness and funds for quality beds for overseas orphans, to the launch of a new church-based ministry.

Two days prior, I’d had the privilege of spending 24 hours with Michael and Amy Monroe.  Between Michael’s work as a corporate lawyer and four energetic kids at home, the Monroes have every excuse to spend free moments hunkered down to relax or feathering their own nest.   Instead, they’ve made their primary “leisure” activity leading together the Tapestry Adoption and Orphan Ministry at Irving Bible Church.  They also help guide the Dallas-Fort Worth Alliance, which is a potent picture of what a regional Alliance can be—sharing not only information, resources and joint events, but also seeking to complement the work and services each other provides.

Finally, I enjoyed breakfast with an entrepreneur who seems to have squeezed 100 years of achievement into half that in both the business and political realms.  Although he could likely sell his thriving business and live comfortably for the rest of his life, he shared his sense that God may be inviting him to devote his time and talent to serving Christ in the cause of the orphan.  “Just retiring and playing golf would be a purposeless tragedy,” he expressed.  “But there’s not much more compelling than harnessing everything I’ve learned to serve God in orphan work.”