Andrey the orphan has a home!

For those who have been following the progress of Andrey, an orphan from the Ukraine, you might be delighted to know he has been adopted! In the original post, asking for assistance financial and prayer support was requested.

In cooperation with the organization Reece's Rainbow, a grant fund was started and the drive for money to be contributed to Andrey's need was initiated. In a few short weeks after the campaign began, Andrey's fund grew significantly from $1,700.00 or so, upward toward $4,000.00 and on.

Through the use of social media, Facebook, Twitter, email, blogs, and word of mouth, many people began putting the word out about Andrey, and that he was imminently facing transfer to a horrible institution in which he'd surely languish and regress.

Thanks be to God that Andrey was adopted! If you have interest in helping out another orphan through the Reece's Rainbow granting fund, please visit their website. Also, it is the time of year for Buddy Walks. Walks are taking place in local communities all over the country and raising money for children with Down Syndrome. Walks affiliated with Reece's Rainbow can be found here.

I will be posting more information soon about another child to advocate for. Hopefully, another grant fund can be completed and another one of these children can be blessed with a family of their own!

Andrey the Orphan from Ukraine: Still Needs Help!

this is a repost from 3/10/2011. Andrey's fund it now $4915.00 and needs more help! Efforts have been proved fruitful in raising awareness and money for Andrey's cause.

 
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

(Isa 1:17)

Ever since this little boy has been brought to my attention, his situation has burdened my heart greatly. I suppose, due to my line of work, I have a propensity to advocate for the "little guy" or the "underdog." I believe it might be just more than the vocational essence driving me though. I believe it is because the underdog status resonates with me, in my spirit, very deeply. Andrey S., is a child with Down Syndrome. He is currently in an Ukrainian orphanage. At the age of 4 he is currently in line to be transferred to a 'mental institution' where most children (90%) do not make it through the 1st year. The conditions are poor, the social interaction is very little, and the digression of their condition is drastic. The cost to help out this child ranges from $20k to $25k on average.

What I am asking you here today on this blog is to give what you can, even if it is just $5. If just 200 people gave $100, Andrey would be halfway home. The biggest hurdle for this child's adoption is the funds. Once they reach a certain point, Reece's Rainbow, the organization involved in helping advocate for Andrey, will begin notifying potential families and alerting others of the grants available to help him be adopted. If you have a blog, please re-post this, if your assembly is looking for someone to help in benevolence, please plead this boy's case! Re-post this on your FaceBook or Twitter account. Whatever you do, do something! Pray, Fast, Pay, or Adopt him!

I will post the information concerning Andrey S., and the organization currently helping collect funds to create a grant for the child. After the information concerning the child, you will find some points of information that I collected to help alleviate ancillary concerns that may make donating worrisome. If you have any questions, please comment below and I will answer them the best I can.

Boy, Born December 28, 2006

Andrey is a tiny little monkey!   HE REALLY NEEDS A FAMILY.   He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He has also has strabismus, which can be corrected surgically here in the US. Andrey will greatly benefit from early intervention therapy, and will just blossom the way all of our other children have! This little one has an ASD and a PDA, with some impairment of circulation. He will need heart surgery when he gets home.

From a missionary who visited with him in November 2010:  " Andrey seems to have regressed since the last photo that was taken of him. He has very low muscle tone and, while he is able to sit up on his own, his not able to stand, even with help. He was playing with toys and I got lots of smiles and laughter out of him when I tickled him. He definitely has some significant delays but I believe he could truly blossom with the love and therapy a family would provide. Oh how I pray he gets the chance…"

From one of our adoptive families who visited with him in May 2009: " He is such a little cutie! I am not sure if he is sitting on his own because he was propped against this fence outside and I didn't get a chance to snuggle him. But he is good size, a bit small for a 2 year old, but with therapy and stimulation, it would only be a matter of time before he thrives!! "

From his caregivers in April 2010:  Selectively comes into contact with adults. Has commitment to the toys: rattles, musical toys.  Self-sitting. Not walking yet.   Eat with spoon, drinking from a cup with an adult.

• Andrey S. was most likely the child of parents who willfully terminated their rights because of his special needs as a child with Down Syndrome.
• Andrey is NOT part of a 'token' or 'novelty' demographic of children that US citizens target for adoption. Children with Down Syndrome are NOT a fad. They often encumber families with medical costs/care, time constraints, and constant engagement and behavioral monitoring. Along with the medical costs, the sheer challenge of socializing and raising a child with Down Syndrome is daunting. It would indeed take a special family to desire adoption of one of these children.
• The specifics about how Andrey actually entered the orphanage and the strata/demographical data concerning his parents and their situation are not available at this time, and probably would not be available to anyone beside the adoptive family, and the social workers involved in the adoption.
• Andrey is in an orphanage located inside the Ukraine. The Ukraine is not known for child trafficking and illegal payments to families for children.  They in fact are very restrictive regarding foreign adoptions and have closed the doors for outsiders in the past. There is current potential for new legislation that will re-enact the moratorium, but has been tabled in the latest legislature meetings.
• Trafficking of children to the United States by countries who participate in illegal adoption activities were halted by the U.S. State Department in 2008 (Guatemala and Cambodia). The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption has been enacted and created to monitor, regulate, and standardize these situations.
• Ukraine is not party to this convention but still has a US embassy in Kiev, regulates all adoptions to foreigners very tightly, and requires adopting families to be married couples and under the age of 45. This is on top of the requirements the United States imposes on families who adopt children. They also must consider the adopteehttp://adoption.state.gov/country/ukraine.html#statistics
• Contributing to assist Andrey will NOT be contributing to an organized effort to traffic children to the United States, especially Down Syndrome children.

Some more facts about adoptions in Ukraine,

·  2009 adoptions: 610 children

·  Age/Gender: 53% Female, none under 1 year of age, 30% between 1 to 4 years old, in 2008.

·  Estimated Total Cost: $30,000+

·  Profile: 70% of children are age 5 or older; 30% are between 1 and 4 years old (2008).

·  Parent Ages: Prospective adopting parents must be at least 21 years and the maximum age difference between the adopting parents and the prospective adopted child is 45 years.

·  Family Status: Married couples only may adopt from Ukraine.

·  Travel: Usually two trips required. Only one parent required for second trip. First trip is 2 to 3 weeks long. Second trip is 1 week long. If only one trip, 5 to 6 weeks.

·  Timeline: From submission of dossier until appointment date, 5 to 12 months.

Why use Reece's Rainbow to help Andrey get adopted?

• I spoke with the organizations founder, Andrea Roberts a few times already, and intend to maintain contact with her concerning Andrey's plight, and she herself is a mother of a child with Down Syndrome.
• Reece's Rainbow is NOT an adoption agency, they are a granting/advocating agency. The more money that is available for Andrey's adoption, the more likely he WILL be adopted.
• Reece's Rainbow is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency that would receive ZERO dollars in compensation for assisting with Andrey's adoption. However, when a donation is made to a specific child, the Voices of Hope Fund receives 10% of that donation to go toward assisting other children and advocating for them as well. http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorship/voiceofhope
• Andrea has assured me that the bulk of the cost for these adoptions in are consumed in the international travel and legal fees with both US and foreign entities. At least $9000.00 can be assumed to go straight to the Ukrainian government for costs alone.
• As a side note. The adults I attend to on my caseload at work who reside in specialized residential settings can cost up to $3000.00 per month and receive minimal care. They are far from deprived, but are assuredly not "well" taken care of. With the cost of care being so high in an industrialized nation for adults, I could only imagine the costs for children in Ukraine with special needs.
• Since 2006 Reece's Rainbow has helped place 500 children with HIV, Down Syndrome, and other medical special needs situations.

Here is an article concerning a couple who adopted in Ukraine, and received full grant funding for the actual adoption through Reece's Rainbow,

http://www.globegazette.com/news/local/article_444fdc30-1bc1-11e0-9edf-001cc4c03286.html

Believe it or not, I have found it next to impossible to dig up dirt on this organization. Since we have begun advocating for Andrey, his grant fund has grown by 45% %65

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

(Gal 6:10)

Please join me in praying for Andrey. I hope you can support his adoption.You can donate directly through PayPal. 

Getting to the root of sin and its place in our lives

Read an interesting post at Evangelical Crossroads, Weeds: Theology from the garden today via the Koinonia blog. I was originally attracted to the gardening analogy used to demonstrate the point of sins very real presence in our lives, amidst all that we are and do. Because I garden, I understood the point, and it makes perfect sense when you consider the reality of sin on the surface but fail to contend earnestly with the roots below.

Author Chelle Stearns says,

"The imagery of weeds, sin and evil is intertwined throughout the Bible. The Old Testament prophets spoke of how God would uproot and plant. Judgment would be a sorting and a tending by God. Jesus, especially in the gospel of Matthew, talks of the complexity of discerning between the wheat and the weeds, and it would not be until the end of the harvest that whatever was not planted by God would be bound up and thrown in the fire. Jesus promises that at the end of the age, everything and everyone who causes sin and evil will be uprooted (cf. Matthew 13). In other words, Jesus is the good gardener who is patient enough to tend to his garden, not wanting to uproot too soon (2 Peter 3:9). God wants us to flourish, in the midst of all the weeds. Believe it or not, the healthier my garden, the fewer weeds. And so I wait, and I weed."

This is a great analogy to consider when we ponder the forbearance and longsuffering of our Lord Jesus Christ when we come face to face with our own inability to succeed at removing all the weeds in our lives, including the roots.

If you were an orphan, would you want help? Help an orphan today!

Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

(Isa 1:17)

Ever since this little boy has been brought to my attention, his situation has burdened my heart greatly. I suppose, due to my line of work, I have a propensity to advocate for the "little guy" or the "underdog." I believe it might be just more than the vocational essence driving me though. I believe it is because the underdog status resonates with me, in my spirit, very deeply. Andrey S., is a child with Down Syndrome. He is currently in an Ukrainian orphanage. At the age of 4 he is currently in line to be transferred to a 'mental institution' where most children (90%) do not make it through the 1st year. The conditions are poor, the social interaction is very little, and the digression of their condition is drastic. The cost to help out this child ranges from $20k to $25k on average.

What I am asking you here today on this blog is to give what you can, even if it is just $5. If just 200 people gave $100, Andrey would be halfway home. The biggest hurdle for this child's adoption is the funds. Once they reach a certain point, Reece's Rainbow, the organization involved in helping advocate for Andrey, will begin notifying potential families and alerting others of the grants available to help him be adopted. If you have a blog, please re-post this, if your assembly is looking for someone to help in benevolence, please plead this boy's case! Re-post this on your FaceBook or Twitter account. Whatever you do, do something! Pray, Fast, Pay, or Adopt him!

I will post the information concerning Andrey S., and the organization currently helping collect funds to create a grant for the child. After the information concerning the child, you will find some points of information that I collected to help alleviate ancillary concerns that may make donating worrisome. If you have any questions, please comment below and I will answer them the best I can.

Boy, Born December 28, 2006

Andrey is a tiny little monkey!   HE REALLY NEEDS A FAMILY.   He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He has also has strabismus, which can be corrected surgically here in the US. Andrey will greatly benefit from early intervention therapy, and will just blossom the way all of our other children have! This little one has an ASD and a PDA, with some impairment of circulation. He will need heart surgery when he gets home.

From a missionary who visited with him in November 2010:  " Andrey seems to have regressed since the last photo that was taken of him. He has very low muscle tone and, while he is able to sit up on his own, his not able to stand, even with help. He was playing with toys and I got lots of smiles and laughter out of him when I tickled him. He definitely has some significant delays but I believe he could truly blossom with the love and therapy a family would provide. Oh how I pray he gets the chance…"

From one of our adoptive families who visited with him in May 2009: " He is such a little cutie! I am not sure if he is sitting on his own because he was propped against this fence outside and I didn't get a chance to snuggle him. But he is good size, a bit small for a 2 year old, but with therapy and stimulation, it would only be a matter of time before he thrives!! "

From his caregivers in April 2010:  Selectively comes into contact with adults. Has commitment to the toys: rattles, musical toys.  Self-sitting. Not walking yet.   Eat with spoon, drinking from a cup with an adult.

• Andrey S. was most likely the child of parents who willfully terminated their rights because of his special needs as a child with Down Syndrome.
• Andrey is NOT part of a 'token' or 'novelty' demographic of children that US citizens target for adoption. Children with Down Syndrome are NOT a fad. They often encumber families with medical costs/care, time constraints, and constant engagement and behavioral monitoring. Along with the medical costs, the sheer challenge of socializing and raising a child with Down Syndrome is daunting. It would indeed take a special family to desire adoption of one of these children.
• The specifics about how Andrey actually entered the orphanage and the strata/demographical data concerning his parents and their situation are not available at this time, and probably would not be available to anyone beside the adoptive family, and the social workers involved in the adoption.
• Andrey is in an orphanage located inside the Ukraine. The Ukraine is not known for child trafficking and illegal payments to families for children.  They in fact are very restrictive regarding foreign adoptions and have closed the doors for outsiders in the past. There is current potential for new legislation that will re-enact the moratorium, but has been tabled in the latest legislature meetings.
• Trafficking of children to the United States by countries who participate in illegal adoption activities were halted by the U.S. State Department in 2008 (Guatemala and Cambodia). The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption has been enacted and created to monitor, regulate, and standardize these situations.
• Ukraine is not party to this convention but still has a US embassy in Kiev, regulates all adoptions to foreigners very tightly, and requires adopting families to be married couples and under the age of 45. This is on top of the requirements the United States imposes on families who adopt children. They also must consider the adopteehttp://adoption.state.gov/country/ukraine.html#statistics
• Contributing to assist Andrey will NOT be contributing to an organized effort to traffic children to the United States, especially Down Syndrome children.

Some more facts about adoptions in Ukraine,

·  2009 adoptions: 610 children

·  Age/Gender: 53% Female, none under 1 year of age, 30% between 1 to 4 years old, in 2008.

·  Estimated Total Cost: $30,000+

·  Profile: 70% of children are age 5 or older; 30% are between 1 and 4 years old (2008).

·  Parent Ages: Prospective adopting parents must be at least 21 years and the maximum age difference between the adopting parents and the prospective adopted child is 45 years.

·  Family Status: Married couples only may adopt from Ukraine.

·  Travel: Usually two trips required. Only one parent required for second trip. First trip is 2 to 3 weeks long. Second trip is 1 week long. If only one trip, 5 to 6 weeks.

·  Timeline: From submission of dossier until appointment date, 5 to 12 months.

Why use Reece's Rainbow to help Andrey get adopted?

• I spoke with the organizations founder, Andrea Roberts a few times already, and intend to maintain contact with her concerning Andrey's plight, and she herself is a mother of a child with Down Syndrome.
• Reece's Rainbow is NOT an adoption agency, they are a granting/advocating agency. The more money that is available for Andrey's adoption, the more likely he WILL be adopted.
• Reece's Rainbow is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency that would receive ZERO dollars in compensation for assisting with Andrey's adoption. However, when a donation is made to a specific child, the Voices of Hope Fund receives 10% of that donation to go toward assisting other children and advocating for them as well. http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorship/voiceofhope
• Andrea has assured me that the bulk of the cost for these adoptions in are consumed in the international travel and legal fees with both US and foreign entities. At least $9000.00 can be assumed to go straight to the Ukrainian government for costs alone.
• As a side note. The adults I attend to on my caseload at work who reside in specialized residential settings can cost up to $3000.00 per month and receive minimal care. They are far from deprived, but are assuredly not "well" taken care of. With the cost of care being so high in an industrialized nation for adults, I could only imagine the costs for children in Ukraine with special needs.
• Since 2006 Reece's Rainbow has helped place 500 children with HIV, Down Syndrome, and other medical special needs situations.

Here is an article concerning a couple who adopted in Ukraine, and received full grant funding for the actual adoption through Reece's Rainbow,

http://www.globegazette.com/news/local/article_444fdc30-1bc1-11e0-9edf-001cc4c03286.html

Believe it or not, I have found it next to impossible to dig up dirt on this organization. Since we have begun advocating for Andrey, his grant fund has grown by 45%.

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

(Gal 6:10)

Please join me in praying for Andrey. I hope you can support his adoption.You can donate directly through PayPal. 

Coming up Methodist: Fire in the bones

continued from Coming up Methodist: God’s wonderful plan

Imagine the majesty of a sanctuary built and fashioned in the likeness of Noah’s ark, is intricately designed with sculpted wood, and has acoustics that power the message of any orator well into the vestibule with nary a sight of electronic amplification. It would be beautiful no? The vestige, edifice, and pomp that accompanied the services in that sanctuary over the years have surely done it justice, and the architects must have been proud. David Wilkerson and other circuit riders even used to preach to packed audiences of Christian youth that once populated the numbers of evangelicalism and showed a faint promise that Methodism was being blessed by God.

That was one of my first impressions of “Church.” I was impressed by a building.

Now it has become a hallowed orifice. Revival was only a hope of those who dared pray the Lord would fill the pews with soldiers donning the armor of God. Some would even drop to their knee and pray to the Lord a mighty spirit of proclamation would whisk across the weary saints who still dared to stand for the Kingdom of God. Now the attendance on a given Sunday is a mere trickle compared to its capacity, and another staggering 50% of the formerly mortgaged parcel lay in ruin occasionally intriguing members with its ghosts of a brimming past that once promised life to the congregation. Bearing with it all, the news that one could only surmise, is that this steeple house, has seen her day. She now lay there dying, waiting for her last breath. And yet countless resources are poured into keeping it all going. For what I would ask?

The day I departed the First United Methodist Church of Wayne I felt a great sadness in my heart. I wish I could explain to you what it was exactly, but can only begin to mark it with great burden. The overwhelming feeling of hope that had been born in me the day I made it my home, inherited my new family, made new friends, and became invigorated with the zeal of Christ’s Gospel was a distant shadow. Having a desire to preach the Gospel that had given me life was my sole passion. I could hardly think of much outside seeing the Kingdom be proclaimed, and witnesses encourage other witnesses to not look back from the plow (Lk 9:62). My shoulders bore a weight I could no longer carry, and my prayers, as though they were not being answered, actually were.

Sadly, the church, while teeming with the life of humans who had breath in their lungs, was spiritually gasping for air as the same old same old was the accepted, and yet revered, norm. A fish fry was no place for evangelizing the ‘un-churched’ and council meetings were regularly being held to discuss the squawking of those zealously desiring to proclaim Christ and Him crucified. A thick air of sectarianism could be sensed between what seemed like an organized army dashing the dreams of some barbaric tribal upstart with nothing but hope on their side. Eventually, the upstart limped off into the sunset in defeat, but not in surrender. Even though many were attempting to silence those who were pointing out the obvious offense there is the resonation in the faithful to speak with Jeremiah the Prophet,

If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
(Jer 20:9)

How could a place that bore the name ‘church’ be such an enemy of the Gospel of Christ? Would those who faithfully remain, those who genuinely love the Lord, those who would lay down their lives for the Master ever realize that they had been overrun with tares? Can you see the wheat of the field if the tares have outgrown it? Is it plausible that the once potent Methodism of yesteryear had smoldered like a candlewick at its fateful end? One could only imagine, one could only dream, that Christ would revitalize the hearts of those who have chosen ‘church’ over Him. Truly, the first love had become an edifice. Truly, the faint knocking at the door is the Christ calling out to those inside to repent (Rev 3:20) and sup with Him. If the Christ has set the fire in the bones of those who are sent to preach His word, then surely those who seek to quench it cannot possibly be of Christ, can they?

next: Coming up Methodist: Messengers from on high

Coming up Methodist: Gods wonderful plan

“God has a plan for you, to give you a future and a hope,” belted an older bearded man from the window of a black Buick Reatta cruising past as I stood on the concrete stairway of the First United Methodist Church smoking a cigarette waiting to go into the afternoon Narcotics Anonymous meeting. As I finished smoking my cigarette and watched the tail lights of the Buick cruise off into the distance, and I thought, “weird!” I was provoked to think of “Gods plan” and went in for my daily dose of Narcotics Anonymous.

Recently coming off of a seven year hiatus from reality, my life had been halted in its tracks, and through a series of providential events, the party was officially over. I had come to know the Christ through a faithful minister visiting the County Jail and preaching a faithful message of repentance, trust, and forgiveness. I had experienced a glimpse of reconciliation with the Creator, and I wanted to know more. But, I had only been able to get glimpses through the doors that were open, and ultimately through the ones I had walked through.

I had very little exposure to the organized Church at large, and even less exposure to genuine expressions of Christianity in general. The one thing I currently had in common with the First United Methodist Church (FUMC) at the time was that it was host to several twelve-step meetings throughout the week. As a matter of fact, the rumor in the recovering community was that the pastor of this church was very friendly towards those who called themselves addicts and alcoholics, and encouraged them to meet in the FUMC. He was even known to make appearances at the meetings. Quintessentially, he had already shattered many typical paradigms.

By all definitions of the practice, and the tendency of, this man was unique as a “pastor.” Comparing him to the stereotypes most would have of pastors was difficult, and only added to my interest in this particular church. He did not proselytize, pressure, or encourage church attendance. But, he did foster relationships with those who were coming to the NA/AA meetings. Of which, a few had already begun attending services and serving in the assembly in some fashion. At that time, relationships were what I craved, and genuine people were what I was looking for in my life, as at that point, all my past affiliations had suffered a major purging.

As it turns out, that bearded man yelling from the Buick Reatta was that same man who was pastor at the FUMC. As unconventional the approach seemed, it worked to grab my attention. But most importantly, it demonstrated a characteristic of a pastor that I had not known would become so important to me. This man, was a shepherd, with a shepherd’s heart, and he went after stray sheep. Tragically, he was not as appreciated by the majority as he was the minority. But, his deeds can be seen manifest in several people’s lives, of which a lasting impression of the love of Christ has been left. It may be safe to say, that a lost sheep is generally grateful to its retriever, and thus demonstrates gratitude. That gratitude can even be extended to the shepherd’s faults. It is even easier to extend that grace when that shepherd is also known as brother, servant, and friend.

This would be the advent of my journey into Methodism. Brief as it was, laden with trials, and chock full of surprises, disappointment, and malcontent it served as kindling to set a fire that has not dampened since. In large part, there is a core group of people in that old steeple house at 3 Town Square that showed an old sinner like me how to be loved. They also showed me how to love in return. Christ manifest in the life of a believer is a genuine outpouring of His characteristics, and in keeping with His commandments, loving God, and loving one’s neighbor. I didn’t live very close to any of those folks, but they made me their neighbor. As for the shepherd? He was one of a few men who stood in places I shouldn’t go, prodded me in the proper directions, was faithful to the Scripture by pointing me to them when we disagreed and in showing me the Words of the Good Shepherd ultimately, submitting to the Christ.

That man was, and is, a godly example toward me. Most notably, toward others, which proved more reputable. I write this as a bit of biography, but in part as a tribute to him, and by proxy, his wonderful wife. Dave and Ellen, you have both proved worthy of the office bestowed to all true genuine Christians, Saint. The wonderful plan (Jer 29:11), I would soon come to realize as a proof text well out of place Biblically, would prove to be a fulfilled word of knowledge from that rascally pastor, Dave. And today, there is evidence of a true wonderful plan at work in my life, in spite of tragedy or prosperity. There is a much larger story than me.

next: Coming up Methodist: Fire in the bones

Blessings Needed For Christians With Medical Costs

Pray if you have hands, support if you have money (contact me if you wish to do so), and share with others who have ears to hear, so they may pray too.

Terry - Needs financial assistance to cover medical costs for tumors. $6,854.32

Adam and Jann - Just had a baby and need money to help pay for maternity costs. $4,154.54

Eugene - Just had tonsils out and needs financial assistance. $4,187.37

If you wish to help these brothers and sisters out this month, you can mail them a check directly, or donate via paypal. I will send you a donation link if this is the method you would prefer to use. But, you could probably bless them more with a check, letter, and word of encouragement.

1 John 3:17  But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?