Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Need is Great...

Once in a while I come across another post on a blog that makes me think-- I've got to share this. Jodi, just back from Ukraine with her precious little boy wrote this:

I left Ukraine with sadness. One reason is because I love it there, and will miss my friends there, but the other reason is because of what I saw with the orphans, what I see with Artiom underneath all those layers of clothes...
He is going to be 6 in August. He weighs 23 lbs. He is nothing but skin and bones, he looks like he came out of a concentration camp.

WHY?

We showed up unannounced one day at the orphanage. All the children were in the big wooden playpen. They were all tied to the slots of the playpen so they couldn't move. No wonder they didn't want us to come in the room.

WHY?

Because they are not valued. They mean nothing to anyone. Their lives are meaningless. They could live or die and it wouldn't matter.

WHY?

There are so many orphans and not enough families coming to save them.

Is it because it's overwhelming? Because there are so many? Because we are so busy with our own lives? Because it's too much money? Because someone else will do something about it? Because we're scared of what they will need?

I know. I understand these feelings.
But I also know what I saw.

These are real little children, they have feelings and are scared and hungry and lonely.

They are only a plane ride away.

We have a busy, sometimes crazy life. But we will still have a busy, crazy life whether we have Ari with us or not.
But he wouldn't have a life at all if we hadn't come for him.

Please search your hearts... you don't have to be the 'perfect family' to do this, you just have to want to make a difference, you just have to love them, if for no other reason than because they are children of God, and they deserve that much.

7 comments:

A said...

that is heartbreaking Christine. may i copy this a put it on my blog as well? thank you for posting this.

junglemama said...

Yes, please post this. I asked the original writer and she was fine with sharing it.

Annie said...

I absolutely agree that families should come forward to adopt...and I am so sorry that Ukraine has laws that limit parent age, because I know many older parents, like ourselves, who would love to have "second families"... But I do not necessarily concur that the children are not valued - oh, they are not cherished like our own dear ones, they don't have the love of a mother and father, but the caregivers very often love the children dearly. Unlike our "childcare providers" here, in many orphanages, they are long-term employees who care, in every way, for their charges - whose hearts hurt to lose them, but rejoice when they are adopted.

It is not always easy to judge by our standards. We do things that make the Eastern Europeans think WE are unfit (not putting them in hats and bundling them up, for example; not insisting on regular fresh air, no matter the weather), so I wouldn't necessarily judge how they care for the children unless I am absolutely sure I know the whole story.

mom2four said...

This absolutely breaks my heart :( I would love with all my heart to adopt at least 2 children but finances just aren't there.....but believe me, my prayers are with them continually.

Joni said...

What a touching post. One of the sad, hard facts of this matter is that it does take a certain amount of money to be able to 'get' a child (or two ... ) from there (as you obviously know) and give them the love and care they need and deserve. Unfortunately, in our family at this time that makes it not possible. Isn't it a misfortune? Our family has so much love to give .... well, I guess we accept the blessings we are given in our lives, and if one day the opportunity comes to add more gems into our family, we'll be delighted!

Rachel said...

This is so devastating to read, it really breaks my heart. I would love to rescue a child from that misery. I just read this to my husband and kids.

kym said...

We are checking into adoption, and it may suprise some to realize the amount of help out there to adopt...reesesrainbow.org is a great place to start for information...and praying these little ones home is another...each of us need someone advocating for us. :)
Thanks for sharing this...it paints a vivid picture, and I don't want to judge their decision to tie the children up. It still breaks my heart.