I didn’t get a chance to see the forum on Saturday but thought this was an interesting nugget –
| Obama and McCain Supports PEPFAR idea for Orphans |
| Written by Dan Wooding | |
| Monday, 18 August 2008
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LAKE FOREST, CA (ANS) — Rick Warren told both Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain at his Civic Form at Saddleback on Saturday night (August 16) that he believed that the time had come for a US Government supported Emergency Plan to deal with the 148 million orphans that now exist in the world.  He said that the world urgently needs a plan and funding like the $15 billion that President Bush has made available to fight HIV/AIDS, to help orphans throughout the world. “We need a PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) for orphans in world,” Rick Warren said. “These orphans need to grow up in homes.” He first asked Barack Obama if he would support such a plan. “I think it’s a great idea,” he replied. “I think it’s something that we should sit down and figure out working between nongovernmental organizations, international institutions, the US government, try to figure out what can we do. I think that part of our plan, though, has to be how do we prevent more orphans in the first place and that means that we’re helping to build the public health infrastructure around the world, that we are you know building on the great work that you and, by the way, this president has done when it comes to AIDS funding around the world. “I think you know I’m often a critic of President Bush but I think the PEPFAR program has saved lives and has done very good work and he deserves enormous credit for that.” When it came to his turn, Senator McCain said that he would also be willing to consider such a plan. “We also need to make adoption a lot easier in this country,” Senator McCain said. “That’s why so many people now go to other countries to adopt children.” Senator McCain then explained how he and his wife Cindy had an adopted daughter. He told how his wife, Mrs. Cindy McCain had gone to Dhaka, in Bangladesh, 17 years ago to visit with Mother Theresa. He said that Mother Theresa’s nuns gave her two little baby girls that were not going to live, if they stayed in that environment.” Cindy came home. I met her at the airport and she showed me this 5 week old baby and said, meet your new daughter. Today she is 17 and our life is blessed,” Senator McCain said. |
The ABBA Fund Blog 
I really hope leaders in this country would embrace a plan to help orphans of the world–in the U.S. and abroad!
(I don’t know if I agree with McCain that people adopt from other countries because it’s easier, maybe it was “easy” when his wife did it, if she was able to just come home with a baby! But anyway, that’s not the point…)
I sent this link to your wife today….has to do with McCain/transracial adoption….
http://abandoned-orphaned.typepad.com/paulmyhill/2008/08/mccains-adopted.html
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After having just completed an international adoption, I don’t think I can agree it’s easy. 🙂 But it is good to see these issues being brought up.
The need is so clear, if we’d just have eyes to see it as a nation. It’s encouraging to see so many families with a vision in this generation. Think what it can be now for the next generation as Lord willing, we raise up our children to care about what the Father cares about.
Adoption IS NOT the solution for 148 million orphaned children.
Yeah its a great solution for the individual child who finds a home, but there are only 110 million households in America. We’d have to get EVERY household to adopt a child and then there’d still be 38 million children left.
Is it the best for the country losing it’s future leaders to the US? No.
It’s pretty conceited for us to think that if we can just bring a child to the US they will be just fine.
We need to create a solution that empowers families IN these developing countries to be a solution for their orphan crisis.
Matt,
Thanks for your comment and sharing your passion! I agree (and I think the other commenters would agree as well)! We cannot think that adoption by American’s alone is the only solution to the millions of orphans in the world. You laid out the math in a helpful way. Thinking that way is not only conceited but ethnocentric.
That said, there is a place for international adoption by Americans. Not because we think that “if we can just bring a child to the US they will be just fine,” but because there are too many children that have no hope of a family or future without someone with the love and resources adopting them. Beneath this is God’s commands and clear calling to the church to care for the fatherless!
What you propose in the end is one solution that we must be aiming for and working towards – not only empowering American families to care for orphans but empowering Christian families in developing nations to care for their own through adoption. Every child deserves a family!
I checked out your website and love what Casa Viva is doing!
Jason,
I completely agree with you.
Adoption is a great solution for those children who receive that high level of care…
We have created a “spectrum of care” for children:
1-biological family
2-extended family
3-adoption
4-family based care
5-group homes
6- institutions/orphanages.
We try to push children up this ladder as much as possible.
Oddly enough if you actually go to orphanages and look at the children living in them 60% of kids in orphanages in Latin America have biological families! The children we receive into our program all have some level of biological families as well.
We work with the families to identify extended family or to help mom get out of the abusive home she is living in and whenever it’s safe return the child to their families. Likewise we believe that orphanages and institutions should start trying to reunite children with their families where they will receive the most love, care, attention, and connection.