Nightlight Christian Adoptions has put together a video with photos from our last mission trip to Uganda. It tells a great story about the people of Uganda and is very compelling. Please feel free to use this video in your church and community events to raise support for Tender Hearts Babies Home.

Transracial adoption is an issue to be addressed in any adoption. Adopting an embryo transracially can force a couple to consider a new and very different comfort zone.

Most families do not consider a transracial adoption of embryos because they will be experiencing a pregnancy and giving birth to a child. This experience is as close to having biological children as any adoption can be. The initial reaction of most is that the children we give birth to should look like us or at least be the same race or combination thereof as the parents. Embryo adoption is unusual enough, and to ask families to consider a transracial adoption may cause a pause. A very long pause. A family’s capacity could be stretched; yet, for some, transracial adoption could be the very right decision.

First, embryo adoption as with all adoptions is not to create children for couples. As with all adoption, it is a means to allow children to grow in a loving family. Second, some embryos, as with some orphans, wait longer for a family because of their race/ethnicity. Unlike other children, they are faceless and nameless. Their cute little faces do not have the chance to say, “Yes, I look different from you, but I sure am adorable.” These embryos, like all orphans, need a family to love them.

Even for families who more than eagerly would adopt across racial lines, the idea of delivering a baby outside of their race would cause too much concern of what the experience would be like and the reaction of others. (more…)

As you know for the past few months, Nightlight has been in the planning stages of preparing a team to go to Uganda this coming October. Unfortunately, a few of our team members have had unexpected conflict and are now unable to travel. Because of these events we are extending one more opportunity for you to join if you feel led to do so. If God is calling you to Kampala and you have not yet responded please do. We are praying that hearts and minds will be opened and that God will accomplish His work through us over the next months and years to come.

The dates of our trip are October 22-31st. The cost is approximately $2500. If you are interested in going on this trip please email Lisa ASAP. Plans are progressing very quickly as the time for our departure grows near!

As your adopted children head to school — whether for the first time or not — you may wonder how to talk to your children’s teachers about adoption and adoption-related challenges your children face. Heartofthematterseminars.com has prepared a wonderful document to help you think through how to help both your children and their teachers. Download it here: Talking with Teachers (pdf).

This week, Carolina Hope for Orphans, a South Carolina a ministry for “helping orphans who may not be available for adoption or are not currently in the process of adoption,” is sponsoring two events in South Carolina that feature Lena Brovko and Oksana Sydorchuk of Circle of Friends. Lena and Oksana will talk about how Christian camps and overseas hosting programs have made a difference in the life of Ukrainian orphans.

Date: Wednesday August 25, 2010
Time: 7PM to 8:30PM
Location: Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church

[[The August 26 event was canceled.]]

Date: Thursday August 26, 2010
Time: 7PM to 8:30PM
Location: Columbia Crossroads Church

[[The August 26 event was canceled.]]

More details and registration information at Carolina Hope for Orphans’ posting about this event.

The following post is by Kathryn Deiters from Nightlight’s CA office, which served in an advisory role to Calvary Community Church, which organized this Uganda tour.

Ten beautiful children from Uganda just left America after 2 weeks of summer fun with families in Southern California. Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village brought the children over for a very special time with their host families — going to the beach, water park, attending Vacation Bible School, going to church with their host families, and enjoying that special feeling of living with a family that loves them.

On Sunday, July 25th, they put on a performance at Calvary, dancing and singing, dressed in their colorful African costumes. (See YouTube videos below.) Some of the children gave their testimonies, sharing how God has brought them through very difficult losses in their short little lives. But despite the losses they’ve experienced, they know the love of their heavenly Father. He is the one who has seen them through their struggles and gives them a joy they we in bountiful America too often lack.

Last week I sent out an urgent message that the rent at the Tender Hearts Baby’s Home was due at the end of the month. We must pay 6 months of rent each time and the total due was $4,200. As of Friday of last week, we had raised $4,065! I was overwhelmed by your response and by God’s faithfulness when I totaled the numbers on Friday. I think often, in crisis, we doubt that God is big enough. It is with each demonstration of His faithfulness that our faith grows. Through your generosity and willingness to be guided by the Lord, He has continued to show us his faithfulness and also that it is His will for us to be working in Uganda. Thank you to everyone who gave. Please share this story of God’s provision with everyone. He deserves all the glory.

In addition, we now have 18 team members signed up to go to Uganda in October for our first Nightlight mission trip. I have been so touched by the testimony of those who have joined our team. Thank you to everyone who continues to support the baby’s home in finances and in prayer. Please keep our mission team in your prayers as we raise funds, prepare to travel, and while we are in country. We will provide more updates as we go along.

God Bless,
Lisa Prather, LMSW
Assistant Director

On August 24, at 6 pm, Nightlight Christian Adoptions is holding a free informational workshop on international, domestic, and embryo adoptions at the main branch of the Lexington Library:

5440 Augusta Road
Lexington, SC 29072

Please register here.

Dear Nightlight Friends and Family,

It is hard to believe that it has already been 6 months since we opened the baby’s home in Uganda. God has been faithful to see us through to receive our license, and we now have 3 babies being cared for in the home. Our next 6 months of rent will be do at the end of this month. We are required to pay 6 months of rent at a time and the rent is $700 per month. That means, we need to raise $4,200 in the next 2 weeks. Please spread the word, pray with us, and donate if you can. Every little bit helps. We are walking in faith and we know that God is our provider. Thank you for your support!

Click Here to Donate On Line

If you prefer to send a check, please make your check payable to Nightlight Christian Adoptions and mail it to our SC office at the address below.

1527 Wade Hampton Blvd
Greenville, SC 29609

[A few days ago, a deadly suicide attack in Uganda made international headlines.]

Good News! We have been able to make contact with everyone that we work with in Uganda; our attorney, Veronica at The Comforter Center, and Kenneth at Tender Hearts Baby’s Home. Everyone is safe! Praise the Lord. In addition, Kenneth tells us that we now have 3 babies being cared for at the baby’s home.

Israel is now about 5 months old and has been with us for several months. Christopher is 2 years old and was being cared for by his grandmother. His grandmother is nearing the end of her life and his mother has disappeared. Her whereabouts are unknown. Justine was abandoned at a nearby church and the church administrator brought her to the baby’s home. Kenneth and his team are in the process of working out the children’s paperwork and getting health checks on everyone. We are so thankful that these babies now have a safe place to be cared for by the Tender Heart staff. (more…)

This November 7, churches across America will be heralding God’s love for the fatherless and calling Christians to “defend the cause of the fatherless.” Go to OrphanSunday.org to find resources for church, Sunday school, small groups, and kids’ classes. Start preparing now so that your church can participate.

Celebrate Adoption, an independent Christian adoption awareness event, is being held this year on Sunday, August 29. There are two events that day:

11 am: Seminar (free)
Word of Life Ministires
1027 West Georgia Road
Simpsonville, SC 29680

5:00 pm: Seminar & Barbecue Dinner (free)
Events at Sapphire Creek
401 North Main Street
Simpsonville, SC 29680

If you have ever thought you might like to adopt but don’t know where or how to start or how to raise the money you need for adoption, this event is especially for you.

The speaker will be Gerald Clark, co-founder of Home for Good Foundation. Home for Good has helped hundreds of Christian families move towards launching adoption ministries in churches all across America. They are also helping families in the Philippines to adopt, and are helping to set the stage to accomplish domestic adoptions in Uganda. When you come to hear Gerald Clark:

• Learn more about the adoption process.
• Adoption merchandise and books available.
• Talk with experienced adoptive parents.
• For families interested in domestic and international adoptions, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, a local Christian Agency will be available to answer questions.
• Learn more about Home for Good Foundation.

RSVP to malenpapa20@hotmail.com by August 22.

A common complaint of international adoption critics is that most of the world’s orphans are older children, whereas most families pursuing international adoption desire — and ultimately adopt — an infant or young toddler. Therefore, the reasoning goes, . . .

1. International adoption fails to address the real orphan crisis, because the most needy children are left behind.
2. International adoption is basically a selfish enterprise of wish-fulfillment for rich Westerners who want babies.

So is it true?

Well, the original observation is accurate: most international adoptions — but my no means all — are of infants or very young toddlers. But this is by no means an argument against international adoption. Consider the following:

1. Infants who are adopted through international adoption would, apart from being adopted, grow into older children with less hope of adoption (internationally or domestically). (more…)

We are happy to announce that Tender Hearts Baby’s Home has been licensed, and our team will be traveling there to help continue the setup and provide care for children. Our trip will be from approximately October 22 to October 31.

To help raise funds for the trip, we will be hosting a garage sale here at the South Carolina office on July 24 from 7am-12pm!

You can help us in a couple in a couple of ways:

1. Donate your clean, lightly used items to our fundraiser and we’ll do the rest! Just bring your items to the office located at 1527 Wade Hampton Blvd. Greenville, SC and drop them off under the back, covered porch area. (Please do not bring adult clothing. We are accepting baby clothing donations of course.)
2. Come and shop our sale! All money raised will go toward sending our team to Uganda and the Baby’s Home!

Thank you in advance for your support!

Nightlight Christian Adoptions has been a pioneer in the field of embryo donation and adoption through its Snowflakes Embryo Adoption program. Through this program, couples who have undergone IVF and have remaining embryos can chose embryo donation, whereby the frozen embryos are made available for adoption by other couples. Clearly, this program relies on the existence of frozen embryos “left over” from IVF procedures. So does that mean that Nightlight is actually in favor of creating excess embryos in IVF? This question is a addressed in our information booklet (PDF), and the answer is reproduced here:

Does Nightlight encourage the creation and freezing of embryos?

No, we are trying to provide a loving option to the families of the 500,000 (estimated) embryos frozen in clinics throughout the United States. As people (and clinics) have become more aware of all their available options in regards to the disposition of their embryos following in-vitro fertilization and become more attentive to the possibility of having remaining embryos, we have noticed an increased effort to limit the number of embryos that are created and to have plans in place for the disposition of their embryos following IVF. We would really prefer to work ourselves out of a job!

This October 1-2, the annual Together for Adoption Conference will be held at the Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, TX. The theme is “The Gospel, the Church, and the Global Orphan Crisis.”

Nightlight Christian Adoptions is one of the exhibitors at the conference, and Laura Beauvais-Godwin, director of our SC office, is one of the breakout-session presenters.

You should register now!

We are so thankful for the news we received the morning of July 1 from Kenneth at Heart of a Child Uganda.  The commissioner at the Ministry of Gender in Uganda has written our approval letter to operate our baby home as a fully licensed baby’s home in Uganda.  We are currently awaiting the minister’s signature on that letter, but we have been given the verbal go ahead to begin accepting more babies into our home.  Praise the Lord!

Up to this point, we have been operating on a very meager budget: rent, utilities, one nanny, and one baby.  We want to thank all of you who have sent financial donations to our Uganda program.  We hope to update you with photos of our progress very soon.

Now is the time that we will need to move ahead fully with funding for the baby’s home.  If you would like to make a donation to our Uganda baby’s home, you can do that from our website. It is estimated that we will need approximately $4,000-$5,000 to operate the baby’s home monthly.  As of today’s e-mail, we only have one committed monthly supporter.  Please prayerfully consider what God would have you do to care for orphans.

We are also putting together materials for anyone who would like to present this ministry opportunity to their church. (For more information regarding these materials, please contact us.)

We appreciate your prayers also as we move forward with our adoption program and our mission trip in October.  Our board has chosen this year’s adoptive families, and they are in the process of gathering paperwork and completing home studies so they will be ready to accept the child that God has chosen for their families.  (These first families are adopting through our Uganda program without paying any program fees to Nightlight.)

Our mission trip is planned for October, and we are currently accepting applications.  If you would like further information about this trip, please contact our mission team leader Chelsea Gosnell at chelseag@nightlight.org.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support.

(You can donate here.)

In Christ,
Lisa Prather, LMSW

We had a great time at our Adoption Reunion Picnic in Greenville, SC, back on June 19. Here are a few photos from the event.

The following is a guest post by Kerry, who along with her husband Scott adopted their daughter Grace from Ethiopia. Kerry and Scott are friends of Nightlight Christian Adoptions and were gracious to allow us to re-distribute this post, which first appeared on their family blog. This post is important for two reasons: it addresses attachment issues that can arise for children who are adopted very young; and it gives the perspective of a mother who’s experiencing these things right now.

Our daughter Grace is giving hugs. You have to ask for them, and she doesn’t always oblige, but when in the right mood she’ll wrap her little arms around you and squeeze just slightly. I’m sure this is a big deal to any parent but in the adoption world, it’s a huge sign of progressing attachment and we are celebrating.

I don’t claim to know a ton about attachment and bonding, but we have read a fair amount on the subject and tried to prepare ourselves for anything. If you are waiting for your adoption to be completed right now, spend some time reading about attachment. Even babies must learn to attach. They have to learn to see their parents as a special and significant relationship, not just a caregiver.

Again, I’m no expert on this at all; I just thought I’d share our story and how we are still seeing growth in this area 10 months after coming home. Our experience has been measured in subtleties that I wouldn’t even have know about had we not read adoption books. We’ve not had a difficult time with Grace. We’re extremely thankful for that. Nonetheless, it’s an area we still put much work and prayer and try to act deliberately. (more…)

Over 120 runners and walkers turned out for Nightlight’s second annual 5K  Competitive Run on  Saturday, May 15th in  Greenville, SC. Click here for a recap of the race results. We are grateful to all the participants, volunteers, and sponsors who helped make this adoption awareness event a success!