The television images from Haiti are overwhelming and catastrophic and the world is seeing, some for the first time, the heartbreaking circumstances of orphans in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. Yet, stories of hope, faith and love bring light to the dark, tragic backdrop, and it is clear that God is in the midst of the hurting and destitute. It is a blessing to hear from so many Christians across the country who desire to help out in some way. Each day we continue to be humbled by the outpouring and love of the many families who have written and called Show Hope inquiring how they may adopt children from Haiti.
The United States government, in conjunction with the Haitian government, has expedited the cases of approximately 500 adoptions that had been in process prior to the January 12th earthquake. The U.S. government granted Humanitarian Parole for these adoptions and the specific procedures for such cases must meet the eligibility requirements listed on the CIS & State Department websites: www.adoption.state.gov or www.uscis.gov .
Show Hope was invited to be on a conference call yesterday, organized by the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives on behalf of the White House for adoption and orphan care stakeholders. One of the things they pointed out to the listeners that I wanted to convey to our audience was that just because children live in what most of us call an orphanage, that doesn’t mean that every child is an orphan by definition. Many countries, especially third world countries utilize institutional care for families who are poor and can’t meet the basic needs of their children. Considering the scope of this disaster, it is our understanding that no new adoptions will be processed in the immediate future until efforts at family reunification are made.
Although new inter country adoptions are currently closed in Haiti, God may have used the plight of the orphan there to stir your heart toward adoption; perhaps you have been praying about adopting for some time and this has prompted your heart again in this area. Due to the many inquiries about adopting we have received as of late, we wanted to be able to provide families with resources and information to assist in this journey.
We encourage any family who may be considering adoption to continue to seek the Lord in fervent prayer along with diligent research, education and counsel. Show Hope provides a website that gives a general overview of the adoption process: be it from foster care, domestically or internationally. http://www.howtoadopt.org/. Also, for a list of Christian Adoption agencies with more specific information about domestic and international processing, visit the Christian Alliance for Orphans website.
Thank you for your on-going support and prayers for the people and children of Haiti.
