many of us might not know this, but may is national foster care awareness month. the statistics are staggering, the number of kids in the US and abroad that are without families. as we focus in on justice this month, we cannot ignore the plight of these kids who need our voices, our help, our love, our support. angela and marrty are new to the refuge community and are passionate about orphan care & social justice. we asked angela to share from her heart a little of their journey to take a step of faith and adopt two HIV positive children from ethiopia. you can read more at their blog.

listen in..

as part of our justice series this month we are focusing in on various issues & raising awareness of certain groups who are marginalized, under-represented, oppressed.  you are passionate about orphan care.  where did that stirring come from?

Well, it didn’t come from me. I can’t take the credit. It really was the Spirit of God at work in my heart. The book in the Bible that I go back to most often is the book of James. Over the last 15 years I have read and reread it. One fall day in 07, I decided to read it again. (You see, I struggle with saying things I shouldn’t and the book of James gives some good encouragement in that area! That is why it is my go-to book!)  This time, I didn’t make it to that passage in Chapter 3. I couldn’t get passed vs. 27 of Chapter 1!!

“Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God is to take care of widows and orphans in their distress, and not to be corrupted by the world”.

God spoke directly to my heart as I read that verse. I knew that it was Him who stopped me from reading. I can’t explain it, but I knew that He wanted me to do something about the current orphan crisis.  At that time I thought my husband wouldn’t be open to more than the 2 children we already had, and I hadn’t really seriously considered adoption before…. I told the Lord that I would do anything He asked of me…but pleaded for Him to please tell Marrty so I didn’t have to! What I didn’t know then was that God was already at work in Marrty’s heart as well. A few weeks later Marrty came to me (without me saying anything about my secret prayers) and asked me to listen to some podcasts…on adoption!! Less than a year later we were in Ethiopia, holding our 2 youngest children.

as you’ve been researching, listening, learning more about this issue, what are some things that stand out that most people don’t know about the plight of orphans domestically and abroad?

I think what continues to burden my heart is that there are so many children, both here in the U.S. and abroad that need parents. They are just little kids, who want a mommy and daddy to read to them and tuck them in at night. I recently attended the Summit Orphan Care conference in Dallas, TX. During the conference someone spoke who had grown up in foster care… They spoke about how they didn’t care if their mom was black or white or purple…old or young or in between… they just wanted a mom to love them. Any size or shape would do. It breaks my heart that even here in the U.S. where we have every resource readily available to us, still there are kids in desperate need.

Overseas, the kids are the same. They just want to belong to someone.  I think one thing that struck me is that it is the LUCKY ones who make it into orphanages…for every one child in an orphanage there are numerous more out there who are fending for themselves…alone, and without hope. They are in need of good nutrition, clean water, medication…and love.

There are children out there….young children…who have lost parents due to poverty, or the HIV crisis and are now the heads of their houshold. They are trying to survive,  and often have to resort to selling their bodies for a loaf of bread to feed themselves and their younger siblings. They are getting HIV in the process of trying to survive. Who will speak for them? Who will give them voice? Who will stand with them, and love them?

How did you decide to adopt 2 kids who are HIV+?

After Marrty and I decided to adopt from Ethiopia, I began to read a lot of adoption blogs. One day I came across a blog of a mom with 10 kids. Her youngest was from Ethiopia and she was in process to go back for number 11, also from Ethiopia. These kids were really really adorable and I fell for their sweet smiles and spunk.  One day she wrote about the fact that her youngest daughter had HIV. I was shocked. “What?!?” I thought. “How could this be?!  I mean…she is chubby, and healthy, and full of life!! Shouldn’t she be sick looking? And…I didn’t even know it was legal to adopt a kid with HIV…. Isn’t she worried about her other 9 kids getting it?!” I had a million questions and I immediately wrote her and began asking her questions about HIV and the possibility of adopting a child with HIV.

She graciously wrote me back, and answered my questions, and even put me in touch with a few other moms who had adopted kids with HIV. The more I learned, the less scary it seemed. In fact, the more I learned, the more I felt I had no reason NOT to adopt a kid with HIV. Afterall, there were people lining up and waiting for healthy infants and toddlers while these kids with HIV were standing in line for parents. It didn’t make sense to me. Why would someone not want to step up for these kiddos. HIV, I learned, is a chronic but manageable disease in the U.S. The treatment is even better than the treatments available for diabetes or rheumatioid arthritis. I knew God was speaking again.  When Marrty got home that afternoon I asked him “Would you consider adopting a kid with HIV?” to which he grunted a short “No.”   :)    “Okay” I said and left it at that.  The very next day he walked in the door and said “I’m not saying ‘no’…”  and we went forward from there.

What have some of the responses been, both negative and positive?

We have found that most people don’t really know a lot about HIV, but they are willing to be educated. We haven’t really had any negative responses yet, for which I am very very thankful. Most people are thrilled to hear how treatable the disease is now and how far medication has come in the last 10 years.

what scared you the most about taking this step?

Everyone will tell you that the stigma is worse than the disease, and I feared that. It turns out that for us, it hasn’t really been an issue. It was scary to step out in faith and tell our families and friends, but everyone has been a huge support.

what are you learning about God’s heart as you dig more deeply into issues of justice on orphan’s behalf?

He is the Father to the fatherless…

social justice is when those who have a voice, power, leadership  use it on behalf of those who don’t.  what does  “giving voice to the voiceless” mean when it comes to orphans?  what are some small ways that people here, in broomfield, CO, can take a stand or work on behalf of justice for orphans?

answers to this question & more will be in Part 2, up next monday june 1st!