Kay Warren speaks on caring for orphans.....

Don't call yourself a believer if you're not caring for orphans, said Kay Warren.  "If we are doing little to nothing, how dare we, how dare we claim to be followers of Jesus Christ," she said Friday. "Followers of Jesus Christ care about widows and orphans and they understand that it is a litmus test.  "It is not an option."

The weighty words were delivered to thousands of church and ministry leaders on the final day of Catalyst West, a three-day conference designed to challenge leaders to be change agents in the culture.  Stripping the leaders gathered in Orange County, Calif., of their excuses, Warren said caring for orphans is not just for infertile couples or middle-aged folks who have a little discretionary money and time.

"It has nothing to do with personality, it has nothing to do with spiritual gifts, it has nothing to do with economic status, it has nothing to do with your season in life," she stressed. "It has to do with accepting the responsibility that God will one day hold us accountable."  And it's not just a matter of personal responsibility either, she indicated.  There is a theological reason all Christians are to do something to help vulnerable children.

Warren highlighted: "What our Heavenly Father does for us spiritually, He expects us to do physically."  What God did was not only save sinners but also bring them into His family.

"You and I were all spiritual orphans," she said. "We're not just cleared of the guilt of our sin. We belong in God's family. He has taken us and made us part of Himself.  "Now He shares with me everything that He has. Everything that belonged to Jesus belongs to us."

While Christians have a spiritual home, there are 143 million children around the world who don't even have a physical home.  Yet many believers likely are unable to name the names of five orphans, Warren noted. "This is sinful," she asserted. "This is shameful. This is reprehensible."

Warren drilled into the thousands of Christians gathered that caring for orphans is not just one of many things they should be doing.  "When you understand the theology of it, you will not be able to push it away; you will not be able to put it on the backburner," she said. "You need to understand that adoption represents the heart of what Jesus Christ has done for ... us."

The orphan advocate clarified that the Bible isn't necessarily calling every person to adopt a child. She and her husband, renowned pastor Rick Warren, have not adopted, she noted.  But, she added, the Bible does say Christians have a personal responsibility to do something, whether it's contributing to the fund of a family trying to adopt, providing house cleaning for a family that adopted, or getting involved with church sponsorship of children.

At the same time, it's not enough to simply send some money or place children in orphanages.  "God is a relational God," she said. "And orphanage is an institutional solution."  "What's the best?" she posed. "For children to be in homes with their own families."

Warren challenged every Christian family to ask themselves: "God, do you want our family to adopt?"  In the United States, if one family out of every four churches adopted a child, there would be no orphans in the country, she highlighted.  "You guys, that's doable."

So Excited to Announce our Bulgarian Adoption Program!

I am so thrilled to announce the start of our Bulgarian adoption program!  I just returned from Bulgaria and I am so excited about the possibilities that I see for families!  I found Bulgaria to be a beautiful country and the Bulgarian people were so friendly and tried to use English when they could. I found our staff there to be very professional, friendly, experienced, connected and knowledgeable!

Michele Jackson, the executive director of MLJ Adoptions, Inc. and I were able to visit 3 orphanages during our visit.  The orphanages were well staffed and the children well cared for!  We saw some incredibly beautiful kids - all anxious for families!  There was a baby as young as 10 days old at one orphanage and we met a fun group of 3-6yo children! 

The changes in the family code will have a great impact in the future of adoption from Bulgaria.  In September, they are expecting things to really take off!  An influx of new referrals will make Bulgaria a great option for many families!  They are open to single men and women as well as married couples.  There is a restriction is that a parent has to be 15 years older than the child they are adopting but otherwise it is a fairly flexible program.

I can not wait to be a part of this wonderful program and witness the plan that God has for these beautiful children!  Soon we will be leaving for Haiti - and explore the possibilities there!  God is giving me children all over the world now!  How awesome it is to be a part of His plan for the orphans of the world! 

Response to Lady in TN returning adopted Russian boy to Russia

I wish I had more time to put in to this - but I want to quickly address the issue that has hit the headlines about the woman in Tennessee who had adopted a Russian boy, and then sent him back to Russia alone on an airplane with just a note. 

It first angers me - that this woman did not understand that adoption should be viewed as permanent, just like giving birth to a child.  However, as an adoptive mother I do understand the frustration that one can experience in the adjustment of an adopted child.  There have been times I have questioned what I have done by adopting my 4 children - it isn't easy and requires alot of sacrifice.  Some days are good and some aren't, but you have to learn to get through it and if you can't do it by yourself then it is the responsibility of the parent to seek professional help and other resources.

Next, it saddens me that Ms. Hansen was unaware of the resources she had available....  If only she had known that she could have contacted an adoption agency (she should have been able to contact the agency she used to adopt the boy) and let them know of the urgent situation and sought help, an international incident could have been avoided.  A professional adoption agency, like MLJ Adoptions, Inc. which is state licensed and Hague Approved, would have tried to arrange respite care for the boy to give the mother a needed break, discussed the help that was available, and tried to offer workable solutions.  If there were no resolutions that were agreeable, a disruption of adoption could have been done, and a family could have been found to adopt the boy - a win-win situation.  I feel sorry for Ms. Hansen who probably entered the adoption process with stars in her eyes and a "happily ever after" in mind.

Lastly, my heart aches for a little boy that once again has been abandoned, and found not worthy.  Too young to understand that it is not his fault, he will once again try to figure out his place in this life and how to handle the rejection.  My prayer for him is that someone will find him worthy of investing their time and love.  Unfortunately the past can not be undone and there are hundreds of thousands of orphans in Russia and families that are waiting that will likely pay the price.  In the heat of the moment, Ms. Hansen's judgement may have sentenced all of them to a life without the love of a family. 

My advice to pre-adoptive families is to seek education.  As a Hague approved agency, MLJ Adoptions requires for our clients to have at least 10 hours of adoption education.  Seemingly an inconvenience to many, but if you are investing the kind of money that an adoption requires - common sense would dictate that a family should at least be made aware of what they are getting in to and want to be prepared.  Also, follow up with a newly adoptive family is important, helping them to get off on the right start, making sure they are finding ways to relieve stress and cope and connecting them to others that are going through or have gone through the same situation all give families a better chance of a successful adoption.  Families need to do their homework before hand to ensure success on the other side of the adoption journey and agencies need to be there to support them.