A. LET’S NOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT CATASTROPHE
Mrs. Debbie Marston met with the committee to share the work she is involved with Bethany Christian Services.
She reported on the plight of orphans globally. The committee presents the following report from Debby Marston:
According to UNICEF, an estimated 163 million children are orphans. Of that number, some 14 million under
age 15 have been orphaned by AIDS alone, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Children are being armed for war and
are forced into child prostitution. A common response of citizens of western and industrialized nations has been to step up
intercounty adoptions and donate funding to establish residential care for orphaned children. However, building institutions
to house orphans does not operate in children’s best interests. The implications of raising children in institutions are
troubling. Adoption professionals spend much of their training hours preparing prospective adoptive parents to deal with
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routine necessary to provide care for large numbers of children are very different from the affectionate nurture families
afford. Attachment issues abound, brought about by the inevitable neglect children suffer when there are too many children
and too few caregivers.
According to The Orphan Foundation, fewer than half of the orphan population in Eastern Europe will survive to
their 20th birthdays. Fifty percent of those that do live to age 20 will become involved in organized crime, prostitution and
drugs. In the United States, many young adults continue to live in their parents’ homes until age 24, while approximately
25,000 foster children age out of the system each year, with no permanent family to turn to in times of need. The orphan
crisis is worldwide, impacting children in every country on the globe.
The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was signed by participating nations on September
2, 1990. Previously, the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1924 indicated, “the child, by reason of his
physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well
as after birth.” The CRC obligates us to assume the rights and duties of parents in order to protect and care for orphaned
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Throughout Scripture, we are admonished to take care of the weak and helpless members of our society. In
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to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each
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Finally, in James 1:27 we read, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” There is a clear call from God
to care for the less fortunate, the most vulnerable of whom must be children.
Several Christian organizations are collaborating in order to mobilize churches in proactively reaching out to
orphans. Focus on the Family, Hope for Orphans and Show Hope are partnering in an effort to recruit Christian families
as adoptive parents for children without permanent families. Bethany Christian Services, the largest licensed child-placing
agency in the United States is embarking on a campaign to develop a network of orphan advocates in churches throughout
the U.S. Bethany also partners with the Christian Alliance for Children in Zambia. Through donations, CACZ provides
infant formula, prescription drugs and social work support to children and families in need.
According to Bethany, “[CACZ’s] Milk and Medicine program is a community-based, family-centered intervention
designed to save children under the age of 2 who are at risk of abandonment, institutionalization, or death.” With the HIV/
AIDS pandemic infecting 14% of Zambia’s population of 11.9 million, 800,000 children have lost one or both parents. The
Milk and Medicine program helps care for these orphans and allows them to stay in the care of extended family members
rather than in an institution.
It is possible to look at the statistics – the vast numbers of vulnerable children around the world – and wonder what
can possibly be done to save them. Christian agencies such as Compassion International and Bethany Christian Services
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Intercountry and domestic adoption provides couples and individuals the chance to make a difference in a child’s life. There
are literally millions of children waiting to become part of permanent families. Additionally, governments and social service
agencies are beginning to recognize that children have the right to grow up in their country and culture of origin, in intact
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with a single father after a mother’s death, or with grandparents or aunts or uncles. There are many opportunities for one
person to make a difference. Perhaps it is possible to save the world – one child at a time.
Eleven years ago, a newborn baby girl was abandoned on the streets of a city in China. She was found and taken
to a nearby police station. Her parents could not be located, so she was taken to the local orphanage. She was found to be
healthy. Although other girls in her orphanage were placed for adoption with Western families over the next two or three
years, for some reason she was passed over, until she was considered to be too old to be adoptable. Bethany Christian
Services, partnering with The China Centre for Adoption Affairs, held a Hope Camp for the children of the orphanage in
which this little girl, now 11, resided. Each child was interviewed, with the help of an interpreter, and allowed to perform at
a talent show. Each child was videotaped. The videotapes and medical information were made available to approved and
waiting families. One family, formerly only interested in an infant or toddler, spoke with their social worker about what they
could do to speed up their adoption process, as they had already been waiting over two years for a placement. The social
worker shared information about this healthy 11 year old girl, and the family agreed to pray about and for her. They became
convicted that she was their daughter and request matching with her. She arrived in the U.S. in early 2010 and is now living
happily with her forever family. The fact that she had been taking English classes in her school in China has helped her
transition tremendously.
A 3 year old boy, born with severe special medical needs, was adopted six years ago. He is profoundly deaf, has
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He communicates with sign language. Despite his limitations, this child is described by his parents as one who “lights up a
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Another boy, now almost six years old, was born with multiple special needs, including serious heart problems. His
prospective adoptive family learned of him from the family that adopted his best friend. Now these little friends will be able
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“Ted” was 13 years old when he attended one of Bethany and CCAA’s Hope Camps. He was described as handsome,
intelligent, healthy, athletic, and good natured. China will not allow children to be adopted once they reach age 14, so there
was much urgency felt among the adoption social workers who were advocating for a family for Ted. Sadly, no family was
found before time ran out, and Ted was removed from the list of waiting children.
Not all adoption stories have happy endings. Just as Jesus prophesied that the poor would always be with us, it
seems that orphans will always wait, needing parents who never come to take them home. For this reason, Christians must
answer God’s call to take care of the fatherless – those orphaned due to circumstances over which they have no control.
We are called to make a difference by caring for orphans, whether through adoption, sponsorship programs, or support of
organizations that help keep families intact in their own country and culture. We, who are called, must respond in faith, that
even a small effort by one individual can make a difference in the life of a child.
“Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he
could see a boy going back and forth between the surf’s edge and the beach. Back and forth this boy went. As the man
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tide.
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and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, “It made a difference to that one.”
B. VIOLENCE
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to narrow down in discussion. The committee believes there is a theological approach that is simple and is something we
all can do.
The theological premise of an approach to violence is the belief in life. For the next several years we will offer
simple steps toward living nonviolently. The following was approved by the committee. We are Resurrection people living
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RECOMMENDATION 2: That this be approved as a way for Cumberland Presbyterians to begin to work
against violence.
REPORT OF THE UNIFIED COMMITTEE ON
THEOLOGY AND SOCIAL CONCERNS
(Appendix D)
I. REFERRAL
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II. PERSONS OF COUNSEL
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A. APPRECIATION TO REVEREND LANNY JOHNSON
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B. ADOPTION
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C. VIOLENCE
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