Is There Really a Need for Adoption in China?

I marvel at the questions I receive from so many of you about our adoption, the country of China, the process itself, our motives, and countless other curiosities. I rejoice in your questions because it shows that God is stirring in each of your hearts. I am thankful that you are impacted by this ministry. Christ, so perfectly, places burdens on our hearts as He calls us to fulfill His will and become more like Him. "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2Cor.3:18) I am humbled that hearts are changing through this process. I give all thanks to Christ!

I'd like to share some information about China and the need for adoption itself. I'm not going to disclose specific information or my opinions about Chinese government, policies and procedures, and information that could jeopardize our adoption in any way. The facts are available elsewhere if you want to research further. I'm providing information to answer questions that have been asked of us and to further awareness of the need for adoption. That being said...

- Approximately 200 million people in China live below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day.

- Only 4-5% of the Chinese population is Christian.

- In order to address overpopulation, the One-Child Policy was introduced to promote one-child families and forbids couples from having more than one child in urban areas. Wealthy families can pay the government for subsequent children. Families who can't afford the tax are often forced to abort their pregnancies or abandon their babies.

- Up to a million orphans are abandoned each year in China.

- Giving a child up for adoption is illegal in China. Because of this, more than 95% of the orphans are abandoned with no trace of the birth parents.

- China has over 1,000 state-run orphanages.

- Sixty percent of the children in Chinese orphanages are children with special needs.

- Each year, millions of mothers in China are forced to undergo abortions under the One-Child Policy.

- An average of 8 million women undergo abortions every year in China.

- Approximately 500 women commit suicide in China each day.

Is there really a need for adoption in China? Based on the statistics above, I'll let you decide. There is talk that China may soon abandon it's One-Child Policy law. We are praying for this to be fulfilled, although the effects have already proven disastrous. I firmly believe that each of us are called to fight against injustice. Our fight will look different for each person. Some of us will be on the front lines as missionaries around the world, bringing the gospel to the hopeless. Some of us are adoptive parents, rescuing children from a life of slavery and into a freedom that Christ offers. Some of us support the front lines with our finances. Some of us are prayer warriors. Whatever your charge is, I encourage you to seek justice for the weak and oppressed. Join me in this fight against the enemy! It's so easy to become complacent in our comfortable lives. Let's encourage each other not to become indifferent to the pain of this world. Let's be proactive in our fight against evil and in our love for His Kingdom.

This passage is encouraging me today and I pray that it resonates with your soul as well. "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2Cor. 4:16-18) Let us not focus on worldly accomplishments and riches that perish. Rather, look to the one who provides eternal life, the one who promises an eternity of riches that far outweigh gold or silver.



"Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow." (Isaiah 1:17)