November
is Adoption Awareness Month, a time set aside to promote the many orphans
around the world who need forever families. On any given day in West Virginia,
there are 1,000 children who are ready to be adopted out of the foster care
system. Ready to be adopted means their mothers and fathers have had their
parental rights either relinquished or terminated. These children are waiting
for a forever family.
Then
there are women and men who are facing a crisis pregnancy. For whatever reason,
these individuals are not ready to care for a child. They can be teenagers,
young people, married, divorced, or single. They can be of any race, religion,
culture, ethnicity or economic situation. They can be supported by family,
friends, or completely alone. These babies need to find a family who is ready
to parent them, and help them grow into adulthood. Individuals that place their
babies for adoption are not uncaring, unloving or cruel. They are normal people
who realize that caring for a child is a great responsibility, a responsibility
that they may not be ready to take on. They love their child so much that they
not only choose life for them, they also choose a bright future, one they are
unable to provide. Some choose to have a completely closed adoption, while
others choose a completely open adoption, but most choose what is called a
semi-open adoption. These birth parents get the privilege of seeing their
children grow up through pictures and letters. This is a blessing that has not
always been available.
There
is an estimated 153 million children around the world who have either lost one
or both of their parents (UNICEF). In many countries, children are forced to
leave the orphanage at a certain age due to overcrowding and a lack of
resources. Many children end up in the slave trade, child labor or other
horrific lifestyles. 100,000 to 300,000 American kids are victims of sex
trafficking annually.
James
1:27 says Religion that God our Father
accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in
their distress… NIV. Throughout the Old Testament, “orphans” and “the
fatherless” are mentioned forty-one times. Deuteronomy 27:19 Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless
or the widow. NIV
Adoption
is not an option for every family, but there are children who need those
families who have never given adoption a thought to pray about what they can
do. Bethany Christian Services (BCS) has been helping children find families
for almost seventy years. BCS works with domestic adoption, children who are
placed for adoption by their parents within the United States, international
adoption from 12+ countries, and foster care adoption, where children find
forever families. BCS also works with independent adoption, and embryo
adoption.
If
you would like to find out how you can help an orphan find a forever family,
please call our office at 304-620-2695. BCS has monthly information meetings;
please call to register and/or to request an information packet. Bethany Christian Services manifests the love and
compassion of Jesus Christ by protecting and enhancing the lives of children
and families through quality social services. Visit our website for more
information.
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