A central conviction underlying the work of the Christian Alliance for Orphans is that Christians can’t answer God’s call to care for the fatherless via formal organizations alone.  Rather, meeting the deepest needs of an orphaned boy or girl requires the personal, wholehearted involvement of caring believers:  as foster parents and mentors, adoptive families and engaged supporters of orphan care ministry.  Just as important, this personal involvement isn’t the role of an isolated family here and there acting alone, but ideally will happen as part of communities in local churches that walk this journey together, supporting, encouraging and enabling each other.

An article last week by our good friend Dan Cruver on www.edstetzer.com does an excellent job explaining why this vision isn’t the sole territory of the large, well-resourced church.  Rather, he explains that often it is the small church that embraces orphan ministry in the fullest manner possible:  not seeing it merely as “one more good cause” but as a core aspect of the church’s character, representing not only a ministry of mercy, but also a vital force for discipleship and proclamation of the Good News.

Read the whole article here.  And, if you haven’t already, make sure to register for Together for Adoption’s upcoming conference in Austin.

I spent the last two days in Louisville along with my trusted Alliance co-laborer, Elizabeth Wiebe, laying groundwork for Summit VII (May 11-13, 2011).  We came away full up with enthusiasm and certain there could not be a better location for next year’s Summit.

Louisville is a beautiful city and will be in top shape in mid-Spring a week after the Kentucky Derby (thankfully minus the crowds.)  Meanwhile, the facilities at Southeast Christian Church are nothing short of amazing.  The area is also easily accessible by road from countless southern and mid-western cities, and via air as well.

Yet there’s one factor far more compelling than any of the others.  Henry Blackaby urges, “Look for where God is working and join Him there.”  In orphan care, the Louisville region certainly fits that description.  Churches across the city and surrounding areas are at the forefront of the stirring that’s happening all across the country as Christians rise to God’s call to “defend the fatherless.”  The community is alive with energy for this work, from huge congregations like Southeast Christian Church and Highview Baptist, to an expansive network of small churches across southern Indiana, to the region-wide Orphan Care Alliance, to all that Russell Moore is doing out of SBTS.

Best of all, these churches and many others are taking a personal ownership of Summit VII.  It will not only be an event of national reach and global impact.  It will also be a conference truly rooted in the local church.  We’re excited to pair this local team with the volunteers that step forward from around the country to make Summit all it can be.

Elizabeth and I are now headed back to our respective offices on our respective coasts (DC and CA), but we leave refreshed by the time with such remarkable friends, new and old.  Just as much, we’re more excited than ever by the glimpses of all that God is doing in the area already, and by all that will happen when we (and you!) get to join Him there next May!

Paul Pennington at Family Life’s Hope for Orphans shared this great news with us about stories and interviews recorded at Summit VI in Minneapolis:

Monday, August 30^th through Friday, September 3^rd, Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman will be guests on FamilyLife Today.  As many of you know, the Chapmans adopted three girls from China and several years ago began a ministry, now called Show Hope.  As many of you also know, the Chapmans lost their precious daughter, Maria Sue, in a tragic accident in May 2008.

In addition to the Chapman shows next week, FamilyLife Today will also be featuring several orphan ministry leaders in a two-part series in mid-September.  Hope for Orphans has had the privilege of helping hundreds of churches start orphans ministries over the past seven years.  These two broadcasts will feature some of our special friends who have been pioneers in this movement, including, on September 16^th, Rocky Gill, Founder of Hope for 100 at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, TX, Elizabeth Styffe, Director of both the HIV and Orphan Care Initiatives at Saddleback Church (where Rick Warren is the Senior Pastor) in Lake Forest, CA, and Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans and former Director of President George W. Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative.  On September 17^th, guests include three local church orphans ministry leaders:  Beau Fournet of Watermark Church in Dallas, TX, Jodi Lewis of Kentwood Community Church in Kentwood, MI, and Jill Toth of Biltmore Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.  Please make sure you tune in on both dates and hear what God is doing through churches all across the nation to bring His love to the fatherless.

The Cry of the Orphan partners (Focus on the Family, Show Hope, and Hope for Orphans) are excited about our special, one-hour, pre-recorded program called Answer the Cry which was produced to support this year’s Orphan Sunday, scheduled for November 7^th, 2010.  Come back to Hope for Orphans in September for the soon-to-be announced details on how you can use this program for your church or Bible Study via DVD or live streaming.  The program features Francis and Lisa Chan, Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman, Mark Shultz, and interviews with Hope for Orphans’ own Paul and Robin Pennington, as well as Kelly and John Rosati of Focus on the Family.

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of being interviewed by a friend, Ken Coleman, the voice of the highly popular Catalyst podcast series.  Catalyst is a potent influencer of young pastors and other leaders, so it’s been exciting to see how Ken and other Catalyst leaders are using their platform to challenge Christian leaders to consider adoption and other ways of caring for orphans.  Ken asked great questions as an interviewer—perhaps in part because he’s an adoptive father himself.  Hear the Alliance segment of the podcast here.

Last month marked the half-year anniversary since Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake. Aside from the small uptick in coverage at the milestone, the eyes of the world have largely turned elsewhere: oil leaks, soccer matches, November elections. Of course, this was all but inevitable. The 24-hour news cycle is fueled by “new,” and tales of ongoing struggle, grinding poverty, and a less-than-hoped-for rebuilding are anything but new.

There’s certainly good reason for frustration at the reality every news programmer knows all too well: news consumers rarely remain interested in other people’s tragedy for more than a few months, at most. Such is human nature, as much a testimony to evil in our world as Haiti’s earthquake itself. The truth is, if we tried to sustain concern for every tragedy we’ve ever seen on TV, we’d melt like cheese on a stovetop. So, as the media’s conveyor belt of heartbreaking stories rolls on, we are left making uneasy peace with an emotional journey that looks like an EKG: long stretches of numbed apathy spiked by occasional moments of empathetic sorrow. Is this really the best way to live?

Read the full article on Cardus online.

One of the slipperiest elements of orphan advocacy is the statistics often quoted to describe the number of orphans worldwide.

These often-varying estimates are sometimes misstated and frequently misapplied. For example, the various global estimates (143 M, 145 M, 163 M, etc) are often quoted in ways that imply that all of these children have no living parents.  It’s hard not to make that mistake, since most people typically think of an “orphan” as a child that has lost both parents.  But since global orphan estimates include children who’ve lost either one or both parents, roughly 90 percent of children classified as “orphans” have one living parent.  This does not mean that these children are not highly vulnerable, but it does mean that the best response to their needs is often not adoption or some form of orphan home, but helping the family remain intact or reunite.

In recent years, the most frequently quoted numbers have been UNICEF estimates.  However, the data used to produce UNICEF’s most recent estimate (145 million) is three years old.  Previous UNICEF estimates also include the frequently quoted 143 million figure.

The most recent and, according to many experts, most accurate numbers we have at this point are those delivered in a U.S. government report from late 2009.   These numbers are expected to be updated late this year.  This report projects:

• Total global orphan estimates for 2008 are 163 million (Children having lost one or both parents).
• Of these, an estimated 55.3 million have lost a mother and 126 million have lost a father.
• An estimated 18.3 million children have lost both parents.

In addition to the fact that such statistics are often misquoted or misunderstood, the simple truth is that statistics rarely motivate to action.  If anything, they create a paralyzing sense of “what can one person do?”  (See this prior blog posts on the shortcomings of orphan statistics).  So, while it certainly is important to have a good grasp of the numbers and what they actually mean, it is vital that advocates emphasize the most important statistic of all:  it only takes one caring individual to transform the life of an orphan.

Finally, Christians also need to understand that the biblical concept of “orphans” or “the fatherless” found throughout Scripture is a category that includes much more than just the boy or girl who has lost both parents.  Rather, it describes the child that faces the world without provider or protector.  Some children who fit this description have one living parent.  In some cases, such children may even have two living parents who’ve abandoned or abused them, or simply have no capacity to care for them.  No statistical analysis will ever perfectly capture the global number of children who fit in this category, but that need be of little concern.  Ultimately, God’s call is to defend the defenseless child—whatever the particulars of her situation may be.

Yesterday’s NY Times article on U.S. adoptions from Haiti was a mixed bag.  (My letter to the editor of the NY Times is below).  The article did raise many of the complex and difficult issues that come with inter-country adoption, including a number that adoption advocates of every stripe must take very seriously.

Ultimately, however, the reporting missed the bigger story.   First, it missed the fact that the expedited adoption process following Haiti’s earthquake was very narrowly focused; it was no “adoption bonanza” as the article irresponsibly claimed, but rather a narrowly targeted process that helped only children that were in the adoption process before the earthquake.

Second, it missed the fact that with very few exceptions, Haiti’s orphans face the direst of circumstances.  Even those with an orphanage roof over their heads (including children with living relatives that are unable or unwilling to take them in) often know hunger, disease and abuse intimately.   Several prior blog posts note the consequences when adoptions are stymied (including here and here).  And it is certainly worth noting that while inter-country adoption often comes with difficult moral dilemmas, other attempts to care for orphans are frequently rife with far worse problems.  Shortcomings in both inter-country adoption and in-country care should be addressed and solved, not used as an excuse to stymie either effort in favor of the other.

Most significantly, the article missed the biggest story of all:  hundreds of children no longer live on the streets or in orphanages as a result of the expedited adoption process following Haiti’s quake.  Instead, the author selected from vast hours of interviews a handful of anecdotes and carefully-chosen quotes to emphasize potential pitfalls of inter-country adoption.  In a well-meant attempt to explore important (and sometimes overlooked) issues, the article ultimately failed to tell the full story.

A letter to the editor of the NY Times is below:

__________________________________________

Editor,

Your article, After Haiti Quake, the Chaos of U.S. Adoptions, smartly highlights the complexities of inter-country adoption.  Sadly, its emphasis, anecdotes and innuendoes were decisively those of the critic, underscoring potential flaws while missing the far more important reality.

Here’s the central fact:  tens of thousands of children will grow up in institutions and on Haiti’s streets if not adopted.  While orphanages are sometimes the only way to provide mass care temporarily, they are simply no substitute for a loving family.

Many Haitian orphans have relatives willing to care for them but for financial need, and every effort should be made to support such solutions.  Meanwhile, orphans without local options should not be kept from loving families abroad by the fact that adoption—like every solution to complex human needs—carries challenges.  It is time to reject the false choice between in-country care and inter-country adoption.  Compassion demands a commitment to both.

Jedd Medefind, President

Christian Alliance for Orphan

New adoption statistics from Alliance member Bethany Christian Service brought cheers from orphan advocates this week.  As reported by Bethany and covered in the Christian Post, January to June 2010 was Bethany’s “highest-ever increase in adoption placements for a half-year period.”

Bethany Christian Services reported that the combined international and domestic adoption placement increased 26 percent over the six-month period of January to June compared to the same time period in 2009.

Intercountry adoption inquiries were ahead by over 5,000 requests the first half of this year compared to 2009, totaling an unprecedented 10,567. Meanwhile, there were 8,037 domestic infant adoption inquiries, which is also higher than in 2009.

Alongside it’s excellent work in facilitating adoptions, Bethany is also providing remarkable leadership on other fronts as well—serving children that will never be adopted, and championing the “cause of the fatherless” in ways that benefit other organizations and expand Christian engagement in all forms of orphan ministry.  Internationally, this includes in-country care for orphans in more than 12 countries.  Domestically, Bethany is also helping expand the cutting-edge “Safe Families” foster care alternative beyond Illinois, where it has proven remarkably successful, to other parts of the country.   Bethany has also worked with the SBC to establish an innovative new fund providing scholarships to help SBC pastors adopt.

It’s thrilling to see organizations like Bethany acting out a vision that’s larger than their own organization alone.  Again and again, I’ve seen Bethany’s leaders work behind the scenes—in ways that will likely never be noticed or praised—simply to help advance the cause of the orphan and God’s kingdom.   Having friends and co-laborers like that makes work with the Christian Alliance for Orphans a privilege like none other.

Today marks the six month anniversary of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake.   Aside from the small uptick of coverage surrounding the 6-month milestone, the eyes of the world havelargely  turned elsewhere:  to oil leaks, soccer matches and November elections.   Of course, this was all but inevitable.  The 24-hour news cycle is fueled by “new,” and a tale of ongoing struggle, grinding poverty, and a less-than-hoped-for rebuilding is anything but new.

There’s certainly a place for frustration at the reality that guides news programmers:  most consumers of news can sustain concern for tragedy for no more than a few months at most.  But, of course, that is the world we live in, as much a testimony to the Fall as the earthquake itself.  Equally significant, if we tried to sustain concern for every tragedy we’ve ever seen, we’d likely break down in paralyzed sorrow.

So what do we do with that?   Here are just a few thoughts:

1)       Do what we can. Prayer requires no news cameras, and it is a commitment any believer can make to a tragedy—for months, years and even more.

2)      Support the ongoing work. Many Christian Alliance for Orphans member organizations served in Haiti long before the earthquake and are now as hard at work as ever.  Buck the give-when-an-issue-is-fresh trend and support their ongoing work.

3)      Be reminded. As news outlets mark the six month anniversary with stories on Haiti, take a moment to renew concern with a window into what is happening now: from The Independent’s story of Wideleine Fils Amie, to CNN’s report on an adopted Haitian orphan to ABC News coverage from this weekend.

4)      Focus on your calling. Feeling obligated to address every need we’ve seen can paralyze us, finally dissolving into a blend of apathy and low-grade guilt.    I’m pretty sure that’s not how God would have us respond.  Rather, in each moment He invites us to focus on a single task He’s set before us:  the broken individual we encounter on the Jericho road.  Yes, we often can give prayers and financial support to a broad range of needs.  But ultimately, to truly love our neighbor requires focus on particular needs in particular places.   If that’s Haiti for you, pour yourself into it with abandon, joining with others who share your calling.  But if you sense it’s elsewhere, let Haiti remind you that there is a higher calling for our abilities than just feathering our own nests.  Our gifts, our strengths, our money, our time, our creativity, our passion are needed for Kingdom work.