IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING CARE FOR HAITIAN ORPHANS

Christ Community Church's Forever Families Ministry is part of the Middle Tennessee Orphan Alliance (MTOA). MTOA feels one of the most important contributions it can make in response to the Haitian crisis is to provide accurate information regarding orphans, adoptions, temporary foster care and giving.  Below is some helpful information and links to other sources. 

HAITIAN ADOPTIONS

 

The key information here is that the majority of kids coming to the states you are hearing about already had an adoption in progress.  The Haitian government could probably no longer prove that, but the US, Dutch and other countries could, so the children were allowed to leave Haiti with humanitarian parole until the final paperwork can be completed.

 

As far as the thousands of children in Haiti now who were not orphans before the earthquake, they could very well be now.  However, it will take weeks, months to prove their status.  In many cases, the best solution is not to just pull them out of Haiti.  Their parents might still be alive and able to find safety somewhere else in Haiti, the D.R., wherever.  There are also many people whose first thoughts about these children are not well-intentioned.  Already the stories are out that the children are proving easy prey for human traffickers. 

 

All that to say inter-country adoption is a legal process which entails government involvement. Each child must be identified as adoptable and have paperwork with their profile. The government of Haiti probably has zero paperwork left and it will take time for this process to work.  The main concerns now are water, food, shelter. 

 

Keep in mind that a LOT of the stuff you hear on blogs and Facebook and other places could be false.  Heard about some kids coming to Indiana who would need temporary foster homes but that proved to be false.  Just be on alert and ask for clarification if you are unsure.

 

 

 

TEMPORARY FOSTER CARE

 

It’s still quite possible that many of the Haitian children WILL be provided passage to other countries including the US, knowing that at least temporarily they can be given the basic necessities of water, food, shelter and loving people to help them through this tragedy.  No governmental procedures are currently in place so how this will happen and who will be involved are big unknowns currently.  The situation is very fluid and can change by the moment.

 

Because there is a chance that a number of these children will need to come to the US for temporary or permanent care, we want to try to be one step ahead.  Organizations such as Lydia Home in Chicago (where Safe Families originated) and 4Kids in South Florida are two of the organizations who have already been asked to help.  As you know, we’ve discussed Safe Families many times in our meetings.  The concept of providing temporary foster care for these children is the perfect solution if they are brought to the US.  Depending on the numbers, they very well could be inundated and not able to provide for all.  In that case, churches and regional alliances like ours could possibly be called into action and we want to be ready. 

 

To be proactive, MTOA is building a database of families who also have been through some of the process in either the area of foster care, adoption home studies or Safe Families training.  We have created a very high-level survey for you to take a look at.  If you have an interest at any level in caring for any of these children, please take a moment and fill out the survey.  The information will only be stored and used if we are indeed told that children will be coming to the middle TN area.  The questions are simply some of your contact info, whether or not you’re already in the approval process for an adoption (this would speed up the process since you would already have some of the background checks completed).  Obviously, the agencies involved would have final say on approvals but this is just to be one step ahead in case we as the body of Christ are called to help.  This is only a first step.  If called upon, the appropriate agencies would be in touch with more information on how to go from here. 

 

You can find the survey here.  Please take a moment and fill it out! 

http://tinyurl.com/MTOAforHaiti

 

GIVING

 

There are lots of great organizations to give to.  Reputable ones.  And of course, some not so reputable.  I’m providing a link to the Christian Alliance for Orphans site.  Since our alliance model is similar to theirs, I wanted to provide their list of organizations if you are led to give or are asked about organizations.

http://www.christian-alliance-for-orphans.org/haiti/index.asp

 

Hope for Orphans has created a blog dedicated to the needs of the Haitians.  You can follow that here: http://hopefororphansblog.com/

 

Above all, keep praying. 

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Bethany Christian Services is working with partners in Haiti to care for children and keep them safe amidst post-quake needs and chaos. Join in prayer by registeringfor Bethany's Prayer Warrior program at www.bethany.org/prayerwarriors. You can donate at www.bethany.org/donate and select gift designation "Haiti - Earthquake Recovery."

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Physicians and Nurses Need for Haiti Trip:

Visiting Orphans, a ministry started by America World Adoption Agency in 2005, is recruiting physicians and nurses to ravel to Haiti Feb. 1-7.  Please email Amanda.lawrence@visitingorphans.org for more information. www.visitingorphans.org.

 

 

Call Debi Armstrong at 394-9654 for more information

⁴⁸Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest."

 

Foster Care Prayer/Vision:  "They number more than half a million.  Some are babies.  Some are nearly adults.  Every city has them.  They aren't obvious by the way they look, or even by the way they talk or act.  You may very well have walked by one today without suspecting it.  They are our nation's foster children.  Children come into the United States foster care system for various reasons, including neglect, abuse, abandonment, and substance abuse by their primary caregivers.  They are most often placed with complete strangers, and nearly every aspect of their lives is decided by adults who don't really know them.  The bottom line is this.  These children are hurting deeply and they need prayer.  And so do the adults in their lives - their birth families, their foster families, and their social workers.  Historically, the church has cared for children such as these out of obedience to God's repeated mandate to care for the marginalized.  However, many Christians today are simply unsure of what they can do to make a difference.  Perhaps the best place to start is on our knees, crying out to a Holy God on behalf of these precious little ones.  If we humble ourselves and go before God, and make ourselves available to Him, we can and will see Him use us to reach foster children in ways we could never imagine.  That is why we pray - to join God in His mission to redeem the lost and heal the broken."  (Source:  FAMILYLIFE'S Hope for Orphans - www.HopeforOrphans.com)

 

For more information on the Adoption/Foster ministry of Christ Community Church, please contact Coordinator Debi Armstrong (debi.armstrong@comcast.net).