America World Adoption News

Overcoming Financial Hurdles in Adoption

It's no secret that international adoption isn't cheap: there are agency fees, social service fees, orphanage fees, background checks, mountains of paperwork to get notorized, travel costs, etc., etc.  The bottom-line of adoption costs can certainly look daunting at first glance; however, I truly believe that finances are merely hurdles to be overcome in the adoption process, and not immovable boundaries.

America World is passionate about not letting money hinder families from pursuing something that they feel a calling toward.  Included in the Link section on our website is a list of grants and resources, titled Financing Adoption, that can assist any adopting family to cover thousands of dollars worth of costs during their journey to bring their precious child home.  While this list is certainly not all-inclusive, we hope that it provides a good starting point with trustworthy organizations that believe in the mission of caring for orphans in the form of adoption.

America World also reestablished our Eternal Familiy Program (EFP) in the beginning of 2011.  Through this fund, we invite family, friends and communities to care for specific adopting families, by supporting their adoptions through monetary gifts.  It is our hope that America World families take advantage of this oppportunity, not only to relieve some of the financial burden, but also to provide a way of inviting others to actively and practically participate in caring for orphans through their giving.

For more information on America World's EFP, feel free to contact me with any specific questions that you may have.

I pray that each and every family wrestling with the overall cost of adoption will consider these grants and programs as viable means by which they can overcome these hurdles.  

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. - 2 Corinthians 9:8

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development

Eternal Investments

In June of 2011, I asked each of you to prayerfully consider giving toward a need that staff became aware of at the orphanage in the Gansu region of China that America World has been blessed to support. 

Specifically, I asked for your consideration in donating money toward 35 chairs designed for supporting older children with cerebral palsy.  We were overwhelmed by your overabundance of generosity and heart to care for the orphans of this orphanage.  Although we only needed $8,400 for these chairs specifically, we were able to raise nearly $25,000!

The orphanage’s new facility was officially opened in November of 2011, and with your overabundace of generosity, we were able to provide the children there with not only these special chairs, but also more equipment and items to benefit the children currently residing there, including additional medical equipment, beds, walkers, clothing cabinets, and a new playground.

We recently had one of our in-country staff members visit this particular orphanage, where she was able to take some pictures of the equipment that your giving has helped to supply.

I hope that you are blessed by these pictures - not because of the physical items themselves, but because of the impact that each one of them will have on the lives of orphaned children.  Thank you for the way that you have participated in the Lord's calling to honor and love Him by providing for and loving children yearning to be called a son or daughter.

Thank you for the way that you are actively transitioning from being an adoptive family to an orphan advocate and making an eternal investment into the lives of the fatherless!

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions on how you, your family or church can get involved with caring for the Lord's children.  We are desirous to continue to build His kingdom by partnering and supporting your ideas and efforts.

 

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development (jason.west@awaa.org)

Purposeful & Simple

The Bible references orphans and adoption over 52 times because of its importance to the Father. Nearly half of these verses describe God's heart for this specific group of children. The other half pertain to Christians' call to protect, give justice to and provide for "the least of these."

There are a plethora of ways that each Christian can be involved in caring for the Lord’s children.  Whether that’s walking through the adoption process or hosting a visiting child for a period of time or taking a child into your home through the Foster Care system or serving at an orphanage on short term missions trips, each area is both valuable and necessary in order to fulfill God’s command to look after orphans.

Over the past year, America World staff members have worked hard on strategically rethinking the way that we proactively care to orphans around the globe.  As an agency, we want to be continually testing and reexamining the way that we pursue orphan care so that we are being as wise as possible with all of the resources that God has graciously entrusted us with.  As a result, we have come up with a new structure for our orphan care ventures that is both purposeful and simple.

We invite you to get involved in one of our efforts to care for the Lord’s children.  We have restructured these orphan care initiatives - moving away from the idea of a limited, short-term campaign and instead transforming our work into two main, continuous and growing funds - the Isaiah 1:17 Fund and the Orphan’s Ticket Home Fund.  Each is uniquely designed to provide support and practical care to orphaned children and the families seeking to bring them home.

As in the past, all donated monies go directly toward taking up the cause of orphans around the globe - nothing goes toward America World’s overhead costs.  Our desire is to build God's kingdom; not our own.  We simply want to provide a channel for more and more individuals, families and communities to be able to find simple and effective ways to be obedient to the Father’s admonition to care for the millions of vulnerable children worldwide - one orphan at a time.

To participate, you can give a gift online or direct your questions to me via email or phone (703-891-3280).  Thank you for your faithful partnership in defending the cause of the fatherless and considering how to be involved in further ways!

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development

Beginning the New Year

By now, most of you have received the 2012 calendar we mailed to your family. I hope that you will consider making a year-end donation to our agency. Your financial support will help more children find permanent Christian families this coming year. Donations can be made conveniently online: https://www.awaa.org/forms/donations.aspx
Thank you for your support and Happy New Year from all the America World Staff!

Important Upcoming Holiday!

September 30th is only a mere 3 weeks away and marks an extremely important holiday: America World’s Founder and CEO, Brian Luwis’, birthday! 
I can already surmise the next question forming on the tip of your tongue right now: “What immaculate gift can I get Brian to show how much I appreciate him?!”

This year, Brian is turning 47 years young.  Instead of celebrating his birthday with gifts and cake, consider donating $47 toward one of his greatest passions – America World Adoption.

Since 1994, Brian has poured countless hours and spent an immeasurable amount of energy into helping form the organization that America World is today.  Under his vision and leadership, America World has thrived as an agency that seeks to honor God first and places the highest importance on serving families and orphans by uniting the two through adoption. 
What’s perhaps, one of the most unique qualities about Brian’s work as AWA’s leader is his desire to donate the entirety of his time to our agency – since day one, Brian has never collected a paycheck from America World, in order to help keep administrative fees (and the whole adoption process) as affordable as possible for every family. 
As an adoptive father himself, Brian understands how daunting the adoption process and cost can at first seem.  At this agency, he has sought to make the process as easy to understand and simple to walk through as possible so as to remind families that adoption is not an impossible journey.
Truly, Brian has done so much to serve and assist the world’s orphans and adoptive families!

It would bless Brian so much if you made a donation to help orphans and families seeking to build their families through adoption in honor of his birthday.
Gifts* can be given online or mailed into America World’s corporate office in Virginia:

America World Adoption
Attn: Development Department
6723 Whittier Ave.
McLean, VA 22101

Thank you for anything that you can do to help support our agency as we partner together to help the oppressed and defend the cause of orphans! (Isaiah 1:17)

Please join me in thanking and honoring our friend, Brian, as his special day draws near!

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development

*America World Adoption Association (AWAA) is a not-for-profit corporation as described in the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c) (3) and is exempt from taxation.  Contributions to AWAA are deductible under IRC Section 170.

Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel

Tuesday morning, during America World's time to reflect on God's Word and pray together, a staff member shared a portion of a sermon by John Piper entitled, "Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel."  In it, Piper draws eight parallels between physical adoption (humans adopting humans) and God's adoption of man.

You can stream or download the message (about 45 minutes long) or simply read the condensed version of this message by clicking the link above or going to the Desiring God blog site: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/adoption-the-heart-of-the-gospel

Whether you are contemplating if adoption is the right choice for your family, or are waiting to hold your child(ren) in your arms for the first time, or have been united with your child(ren) for years, or are supporting another couple's adoption process or simply have a heart to serve orphaned children, I pray and trust that this message will be an encouragement to you.  As Piper states, "God is graciously involved in our adoptions.  He has done it himself.  He knows what it costs.  And he stands ready to support us all the way to the end."

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. - Galatians 4:5-7 (ESV)

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development

Can't Say "Thank You" Enough!

Thank you to everyone who invested your prayers and finances toward the special chairs, designed to support older children with cerebral palsy, needed for the Chinese orphanage in the Gansu region.  In a matter of only several hours of emailing families and posting this need on our blog, we received more than the $8,400 needed to purchase the chairs! 

I am completely blown away by families' generosity!  Thank you to everyone who has given and has a heart to provide for the needs of the chidlren in this orphanage.  If you gave and haven't yet received a small "thank you" letter from me, please be on the lookout for one.  It is my sincere desire to thank each one of you face-to-face one day for serving the world's orphans through your gifts and generosity.

In just a matter of weeks, you have helped us to raise nearly $25,000!  Of this, $8,400 will go toward the special chairs that seat older children with cerebral palsy.  And the remaining (about $16,000) will be used in the same orphanage and put toward physical therapy equipment and potentially training for the nannies. America World staff members are currently working with this orphanage's director and the CCCWA to determine where the greatest need is for these funds to be used within the new building is - we will let you know as soon as we have confirmed where there are still needs.

To all who have so generously given - thank you for sharing your love and care with the children housed in this orphanage.  Thank you for supporting our Orphan's Ticket Home efforts to care for the fatherless.  Thank you for impacting the lives and well-being of these precious children.  I can't say "thank you" enough for partnering with us!

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development

Special Project in Gansu China

 
In my years at America World, I have witnessed the Lord open up many different doorways.  I have seen families who originally thought that adoption was too expensive for them to manage, find the aid they needed and return home with beautiful new additions to their family.  I have witnessed the God of the universe work in the hearts of men and women in foreign governments, to allow for international adoptions to occur in their country.

In the past year, one truly amazing new door that the Lord has opened for America World is the ability to directly support the work of an orphanage in the Gansu region of China.  This orphanage’s staff and 80 children are currently planning on moving to a new, larger facility this coming October.  This new orphanage building will allow for a rehabilitation room, specifically designed for caring for the special needs of children. 

This room will be filled with a variety of equipment, such as physiotherapy machines (for children with weak, undeveloped or missing limbs).  In total, the cost of all this equipment will be $30,000 USD.

One of the greatest needs that this orphanage has is special chairs specifically designed to seat older children with cerebral palsy.  Each one of these chairs costs 1,545 RMB (equivalent to $240 USD).  The orphanage is in need of 35 of these chairs, so the total cost that we are seeking to raise is $8,400.

 

Here’s how you can help America World serve this orphanage and the children that are housed there:

• Pray – Edward McKendree Bounds, a pastor and author during the Civil War once stated, “Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.”  Not only do we need the Lord’s direction as an agency, but we also need His sustaining grace for the things that He has called us to do.
• Give – Current adoptive families, churches, and family and/ or friends are all invited to donate towards this initiative.  The initial $8,400 will be used for the purchase of these cerebral palsy chairs.  Any additional monetary gifts will go toward other equipment that America World will be purchasing for this orphanage’s rehabilitation room.
• Go – We’d love for you to be able to invest your time and gifts alongside us at this orphanage and to be able to interact with the children.  If you would like to find out more about this great opportunity.  Please don’t hesitate to contact our China department.

Whether you get involved by praying over the children and America World, or providing funds and donations, or participating on an upcoming mission team to this orphanage, America World is blessed to be partners with you.  Thank you in advance for considering these ways to show God’s love to His precious children.

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development

   

We've Done It!

Last month, I presented a specific need in Ethiopia - the need for two vehicles for our in-country staff to use for getting to appointments for international adoption and for developing our Ethiopian domestic adoption program, as well as to make travel to the two transitional homes easier and more expedient.  Today, I'm overjoyed to report that in just a little over a month, America World families have helped us to raise $16,070!

Each vehicle cost $14,753.35.  (16.62 ETB is equivalent to 1 USD.)  With the money that was so generously given, we will be able to fully cover the costs of one of these Abay Executives!  Thank you to all who gave a portion of your income to support the work of America World and ultimately serve the fatherless children in Ethiopia.  It is such a distinct privilege to care for the Lord's children alongside such amazing families!

As soon as our in-country staff is able to purchase the Abay Executive, we will be sure to post pictures so that you can see this donated money in action.

Thank you to all of you who continually support and serve orphans through America World and our Orphan's Ticket Home campaign!

Because of Him,

Jason West, Director of Development

Help Celebrate America World Adoption’s 17th Anniversary!

On Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 America World will celebrate our 17th anniversary of serving orphans around the world by uniting them with families.  From our humble beginnings in 1994, the Lord has continued to shower His blessings on our agency.  We don’t celebrate the work that we have done, but the good work that He has done in families across the globe through adoption!

Over the past 17 years, innumerable friends, families and other organizations have supported the mission and work of America World.  Our success over nearly two decades as an agency is due, in no small part, to the generosity and service of others.

To help celebrate the beginning of our 18th year of uniting children with loving homes, consider donating a simple gift of just $17.  If every America World family were to give this amount, we would raise more than $60,000 to continue to provide the best possible services to adopting families, as well as care for orphaned and vulnerable children through our Orphan’s Ticket Home campaign.  Your $17 will go a long way to helping to provide a child with a family!
Gifts can be given online or checks can be made out to “America World Adoption” and sent to:

     America World Adoption
     6723 Whittier Ave.
     McLean, VA 22101

Thank you for being a part of our ministry.  It has been nothing short of a distinct privilege to work alongside numerous families in order to help bring their children home!  It is through your heart for orphan care and adoption, as well as support of our mission that America World is the agency that we are today!

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development