Worth the Wait!

The following is a wonderful testimonial from Buckner International (http://www.helporphans.org/)

At this moment, there are many waiting on something. That object may be a breakthrough in marriage, finances, a job, healing and the list goes on.

Three years ago, we said "yes" to God's calling to adopt one of His special children in Guatemala--Juan Pablo.

We had been on a couple of Buckner mission trips to the country to minister to orphans and we returned to the U.S. with our hearts burdened to do something more. Admittedly, we were a scared young couple who had suffered pregnancy loss several times.

Initially, our hearts were set on the adoption of a perfect little baby through an agency. But when we brought our desires before the Lord, He reminded us of an older child with scars on his face and a possible terminal illness. In addition to the difficulty of dealing with physical needs, the adoption process would cost a great deal of money and require time along with sacrifice.

By submitting to God's will at that moment, we didn't receive a timeline as to when we might bring our future son home or even an advanced payment to cover the cost of the journey. We had no idea how difficult it would be to spend a few days with our son, and have to leave him for several months while carrying on a distant relationship.

The journey with God over the following three years rocked our world. We experienced miracles and God moving mountains right in front of our eyes. We began to see things through His eyes and just how beautiful Juan Pablo and the other special needs children were in his home.

We found ourselves completely dependent on the Lord as we waited on Him to move and advance us toward the object of His calling. We became weary and discouraged through the process, but our God was faithful to renew our strength and encourage us. Hebrews 10:36 says "For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise..." We learned that only by yolking with Jesus through the journey and enduring the wait would we be able to receive the rich blessing of His promise. We have been home for five months now with Juan Pablo, and every day the words "Mama" or "Papa" and "I lub you" in English melt our hearts. We thank God for leading us to this treasure that was well worth the wait.

Our prayer is that you also will be encouraged to find joy in your time of waiting by allowing God to penetrate your heart to grow in faith, patience, and love. Consider today as one day closer to claiming the blessing of His promise in your life.

John and Emily Wiggins are the proud adoptive parents of Juan Pablo, a former Buckner Guatemalan orphan. They recently welcomed their new baby, Samuel, into the family.

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Prayer for the Week:
- God, please give us the patience and faith that we need to submit to your plan.
- God, please help Buckner find more loving homes for children like Juan Pablo who need a mom and dad.

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Buckner International, based in Dallas, Texas, is a diverse global ministry to children. Our mission is to be a multi-service agency dedicated to the restoration and healing of individuals and the family. In carrying out these services, Buckner adheres to Christian principles delivered with professional competence. Established in 1879, Buckner has answered children's needs throughout our history. Today, their services include a global humanitarian aid program, volunteer missions opportunities, community enrichment and prevention programs, an international network of residential, foster care and transitional housing services, domestic and international adoption, and support programs for children living in orphanages in other countries.

Guatemala Adoptions Update

There has been a lot of activity and buzz on intercountry adoption in Guatemala over the past month. Virtually all of it was related to the announcement by the Guatemalan government of a pilot program for intercountry adoption. Much was written, blogged, tweeted and Facebooked about what is yet an ill-defined program with no transparent process and just as important, no timeline for implementation.

The Guatemalan government's announcement invited other governments to submit a letter of interest in participating in the pilot program. The U.S. Department of State, along with other Western governments, submitted a letter by the deadline in December. Many families, with hopes of providing a permanent home for a Guatemalan orphan, flooded Joint Council and other advocates seeking information and hoping for a positive reply.

For these families and more importantly, for those children living in Guatemalan orphanages, there is little hope.

Guatemala, having implemented the Hague Convention two years ago and having received considerable financial and technical assistance, remains out of compliance with the Hague Convention. As a result, the U.S. government, while hoping to participate in the pilot program, cannot approve any new Guatemalan adoptions nor issue a visa. If the pilot program was to begin tomorrow, no children would be adopted by a U.S. family.

For those children whose intercountry adoption was started over two years ago, before the 2008 Guatemalan Adoption Law took effect, most have found a permanent family. But many have not. They have been referred to a family, they have adoptive parents waiting and committed, but after two years of investigations, reviews and more investigations and reviews, they remain living outside of permanent parental care. They remain in foster care or in an institution. And they remain without a transparent process to finalize their adoption and to live in a family.

It is our understanding that despite universal claims of adoption corruption, the Guatemalan government, with one of the highest impunity rates and highest corruption rankings in the world, has yet to convict a single person of child trafficking. In 2007, UNICEF claimed that up to 80% of intercountry adoptions were corrupt. If true, that computes to over 3,200 claims of abuse, yet in 24 months not one adult is serving time in jail.

The disparities between the hundreds of children waiting over 26 months to finalize their adoption, the lack of child trafficking convictions, the non-compliance with the Hague Convention, the lack of progress in national adoption and family preservation and an announced intercountry adoption pilot program, calls into question how the best interest of children and families is being served.

The Guatemalan government's solution has not been to convict the guilty or to preserve families, but to subject innocent children to the proven detrimental affects of life outside a permanent family. With only seven government run orphanages, the vast majority of children live in private orphanages - many with depleting resources. The termination, rather than true reform, of intercountry adoption may have ended corruption and made for good PR, but it was not a solution in 2007 and it remains a travesty for thousands of children in 2010.

Despite the challenges, the lack of transparency and the suffering of children and families, many individuals, families, churches, organizations and governments remain committed to the children and families of Guatemala. Their efforts, along with Joint Council, continue to serve children and families in an ethical and legal fashion. We hope that the next Guatemala Update includes the fruits of those efforts...children living in families.

Source: Joint Council www.jointcouncil.org