Yesterday I met up with a friend of mine who is going through the process of getting approved as suitable for adopting a child. Lots of checks, and home visits, and meetings, and interviews - and rightly so. Everything is progressing well for her and it sounds like there is a possibility of a match between adopter and child being approved as early as January. This friend will make a wonderful parent, and will provide a loving stable home for the child.
The child that my friend might be adopting isn't absolutely confirmed yet, but initial conversations have taken place and my friend knows about the profile of the child. Obviously no details to be revealed, but as she told me brush-stroke outlines of his young life so far, which included witnessing abuse, arrests, parents in prison, and watching drug and alcohol use and abuse, it was clear that this child has experienced far more than any child of his age should ever experience.
Its great to know that the authorities have rescued him from it, and that he is on his way to a safe and loving home, but how many other children are out there suffering similar lifestyles and still waiting to be rescued? Unfortunately too many - may they be found very soon.
As I listened to his story I couldn't help but reflect how it is so similar to those of children we meet on the various projects that we take CRED teams to. In those instances, the children we meet are the lucky ones, as the projects we meet them through are providing support to the children to find a way out; maybe through placement with foster carers as in the case of the Rwandan and Ugandan street kids, or through assisting parents with lifestyle changes as in the case of the Ethiopian WAR children, or through access to a safe haven and social worker support as in the case of the Kenyan Spurgeons Academy students.
Whether it is in the UK or around the world, the sad fact is that children are so very vulnerable to finding themselves on the receiving end of abuse, neglect and violence by adults - seen not least by the starving to death of little Hamzah as we have been hearing about in the news, as well as those I've alluded to already in this blog.
We each have a responsibility to look out for the care of children in this world, whether it is directly to those we know, or indirectly - maybe through supporting people we know involved in fostering and adopting, or through supporting those agencies who are running the projects that provide the safe havens and support networks.
If Jesus was here on earth now, I have no doubt that it is these little children who would be very high on his priority list - reason enough for us to do the same?
The child that my friend might be adopting isn't absolutely confirmed yet, but initial conversations have taken place and my friend knows about the profile of the child. Obviously no details to be revealed, but as she told me brush-stroke outlines of his young life so far, which included witnessing abuse, arrests, parents in prison, and watching drug and alcohol use and abuse, it was clear that this child has experienced far more than any child of his age should ever experience.
Its great to know that the authorities have rescued him from it, and that he is on his way to a safe and loving home, but how many other children are out there suffering similar lifestyles and still waiting to be rescued? Unfortunately too many - may they be found very soon.
As I listened to his story I couldn't help but reflect how it is so similar to those of children we meet on the various projects that we take CRED teams to. In those instances, the children we meet are the lucky ones, as the projects we meet them through are providing support to the children to find a way out; maybe through placement with foster carers as in the case of the Rwandan and Ugandan street kids, or through assisting parents with lifestyle changes as in the case of the Ethiopian WAR children, or through access to a safe haven and social worker support as in the case of the Kenyan Spurgeons Academy students.
Whether it is in the UK or around the world, the sad fact is that children are so very vulnerable to finding themselves on the receiving end of abuse, neglect and violence by adults - seen not least by the starving to death of little Hamzah as we have been hearing about in the news, as well as those I've alluded to already in this blog.
We each have a responsibility to look out for the care of children in this world, whether it is directly to those we know, or indirectly - maybe through supporting people we know involved in fostering and adopting, or through supporting those agencies who are running the projects that provide the safe havens and support networks.
If Jesus was here on earth now, I have no doubt that it is these little children who would be very high on his priority list - reason enough for us to do the same?
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