RESPONSE to THE "CLARIFICATION" MADE BY PAT ROBERSON

I knowI have probably said enough about Pat Robertson's statements on National TV about orphans and adoption. But after reading his "clarification", I still have a few words to say.  I am very forgiving of his views and am definitely saddened by them and I usually just rave and rant about injustices for those in need to my husband and intimate friends but I feel compelled to shout out to the world and whoever will listen that The REAL TRUTH according to JESUS himself is so not what PAT ROBERTSON thinks. I FEEL  I need to clarify a few things myself, so since I have a blog,(aka, Soap box) I think I will. :-) Please know that in no way am I coming off as self righteous or better than you thing.  I want to give a voice to the adoption community about how we see things. There is no anger here and it is more of a REALLY?????? kind of thing. I write from my heart, even though I will probably step on a few toes I suppose.
First, I will post Pat Robertson's "clarification" as reference for this post.

PAT ROBERTSON: "Today, on live television, I misstated my heartfelt dedication and commitment to helping orphans. For decades, I have supported adoption, and have helped tens of thousands of children worldwide.

I wanted to say, but it didn't come out the way I intended, that adoption is not for everyone.

The mother of three adopted children, who wrote in about her boyfriend's issue with her children, did a wonderful, unselfish act to adopt and I respect her immensely. Yet, adoption might not be a fit for her boyfriend. If that is the case, she needs to find someone who better shares her passion for adoption.

Adoptive parents are taking on enormous responsibility, both emotionally and financially. Quite frankly, they need as much disclosure as possible about the child's background and health to assure the best fit and be prepared. 

In answering the letter writer, this is what I meant to say. If any doubt remains, I ask you to please look at what I've done over the years to help orphans."

First, I understand that He truly probably does have a heart to help those in need and I am not dishing that.  It is all good!  But Jesus called us to do more than good. Good works are vain unless you have the TRUE Love of GOD as fueling your actions.  

For the first time in my life, a few years ago, I understood what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthian 13. I had a LOVE encounter with Jesus.  Yes, I grew up as a christian accepting Christ at the age of 6, a Missionary Kid since age 10 and loved Jesus with as much as I could understand humanly.  My heart always longed for more of an intimate relationship. I always questioned. I always searched. I tried to do what the Bible said.  But I longed for something deeper. I longed to know the LOVE of GOD in a different way.  You know what brought me to that understanding?  ADOPTION. 

Parenting my adopted kids, brought me to the end of myself and my asking God for a supernatural love to love them. I literally did come to the end of myself  ready to give up and cried out to God to show me what  loving like in 1 Corinthians really was.  He is still answering that prayer. :-) I am daily drawn to depend on him for my Love giving. 

Second, I have to DISAGREE with his statement that "that adoption is not for everyone."  I BELIEVE IT IS.  Jesus said "GO INTO THE WORLD" , He says, "I HAVE COME TO SET THE CAPTIVE FREE AND HEAL THE BROKEN HEARTED"   It is not about a "CALLING"  It is about LIVING.  Most adoptive parents didn't get "CALLED".  I believe they "VOLUNTEERED"

They are the ones who "Raised their hands and shouted, "HERE I AM SEND ME!!!!"  I'LL DO IT!!  See, it is all a matter of choice! Do we choose  to live a Christianity that spectates and gives an cash offering and that keeps us in our comfort zone or do we jump off of the bleachers and choose to live a Christianity that at times is ugly and hard and gets us dirty?

Adoption has so many facets, and I don't think that  it doesn't actually just mean that you have to  bring every child into your home.  

There are those of us at Ground zero, who do the actual adoption thing. We are the families that have open our front doors and said to God , Here is a home for You to set the LONELY into.  (PSALMS 68:6)  That is the nitty gritty, daily tasks of Loving in the trenches.  Sometimes it is easy but most times it calls for a supernatural strength and LOVE  that we learn to  drink from.  

Then there are those who are the immediate support group.  This should be the immediate CHURCH but unfortunately, that is not always the case.  They applaud us adoptive parents but most of the time it is from a safe distance.  For over 10 years, we pretty much were on our own in our daily struggles with our kids  who were spiritually and emotionally hurting. In our personal life, Awesomely, God taught us many things about himself through this. We thank God for the internet as it allowed us adoptive parents  to find each other for support. 

Then there are those who give financially to help with an adoption or volunteer their time with a family either by helping to fundraise, giving of their time either by meals, adoption showers, taking their other kids out to the playground while the parents bond with new child, or fixing meals or being an emotional support.   Unfortunately, this happens way too little outside of adoptive families helping other adoptive families.

There are those that Foster Parent. These people are my heroes.  They LOVE and plant seeds into childrens' hearts and then have to let them go when asked to.   In my opinion, the church should be full of Foster Parents. A generation in the USA is being lost due to the Church's lack of participation in this area! I think that the statistic is that if ONLY 7% of Christians adopt or Foster, there would no longer be any orphans or lonely kids. 

Then you have those dedicate their lives and who move to countries and open up homes for orphans and work on the field to love and care for those that governments  or circumstances will not allow to be adopted.  You have the ones who decided to open adoption agencies to tirelessly advocate for the orphan. 

There is the great need of sponsorship of kids that cannot be adopted because of the countries laws.  Many of my friends run organizations that have lack of sponsors for their kids.  For example, my parents run a children's home in Nigeria, called Safe Harbor Children's Home.  They have 10 kids there that now live in a safe environment. They need sponsors for those kids.  But it is like nobody sees or hears. Why? I ask. 

Of course there are several other facets of adoption.  The POINT is, is that the individuals in the CHURCH are not VOLUNTEERING enough to help the least of these.  We all are called!  There should be such a network in the church towards adoption that it should make the world  stand up and take notice!

My daughter used to get bothered by why she got adopted and her friends did not.  I couldn't give her answer. All I could do was console her. I used to ask God the same question. Why God?  Where are the others? Why just  her and not them? Don't they all have destinies that need to be fulfilled?  Then one day I had a revelation and an answer to my question.  "They ALL ARE supposed to BE adopted.  It is just that you and others have given me WILLING HEARTS to hear and  to do my will. You and others have chosen the greater things."

So, my belief is that ADOPTION IS FOR EVERYONE.  It is just a matter of , Are you willing? 

The mother of three adopted children, who wrote in about her boyfriend's issue with her children, did a wonderful, unselfish act to adopt and I respect her immensely. Yet, adoption might not be a fit for her boyfriend. If that is the case, she needs to find someone who better shares her passion for adoption.

I have already talked about my views on the men who do not stand up and be Christ's example of a Father to the Fatherless. (See my previous blog post.)

As to this, Adoptive parents are taking on enormous responsibility, both emotionally and financially. Quite frankly, they need as much disclosure as possible about the child's background and health to assure the best fit and be prepared. 

This is TRUE for sure. We do take on enormous responsibility, emotionally and financially.  SHOULD THAT STOP US???? Seriously??  I agree prospective parents need training and resources.  There are just some things though that you can never be prepared enough for .  Adoptions almost always end up costing you more than you think  financially,mentally and physically.  But I have found that when you are living from the Kingdom perspective, there is always more than enough available to us.  Are there RISKS??? OH YES!!! Should that stop us???? OH, NO!!!  

We have encountered things in our lives through adoption that we never thought we would or could have never been prepared for. But what we have learned is that when we cried out to Jesus, The LIVING WATER,  He strengthened, filled us and directed us. The whole time drawing us to Himself  and into a deeper relationship with Him. 

 Did I get a perfect fit every time? By human standards?  Probably not. Sometimes it does not appear that way, even to me.  But in measuring by Heavenly Kingdom standards? Of course I did. They're Jesus' favorite. 

Jesus asked us to partner with him to heal the sick and mend the broken hearted. He also said, "GREATER THINGS will you do in my name than I have done( Paraphrased ) I believe those words. That is why I Volunteered.