Together for Adoption | Michael Robison

For as long as I can remember I wanted to adopt. Honestly, I?m not sure where the desire initially came from, except its something God rooted deep inside me. My wife and I discovered during our years of dating that we shared the desire. But, for nearly 10 years it was not much more than a discussion of something in the future. Then in 2009, after 7 years of marriage and 2 children of our own, God made it clear, it was time. We began the process of adoption. As a young couple, certainly not independently wealthy, our options were limited and the costs seemed insurmountable! Looking at the process and the cost of adoption was truly overwhelming. We were faced with hundreds of pages of documents and 10?s of thousands of dollars!

However, I can say from experience that God is 100% faithful to provide for us when He has called us to something. The adoption that began in 2009 was an amazing journey. We have since brought home our daughter Kaia from Ethiopia. She is a miracle, and I could not imagine our family without her. And, God provided every detail and dollar we needed.

Since that time my family has begun the process of adopting a little girl from Haiti. Her name is Karis, and God willing we will have her home with us by late August, early September of this year. Karis is part of a bigger story in my life and ministry. I have been serving in Haiti for nearly a decade now. During that time one of the biggest struggles for me is the gut-wrenching process of working with children in need. Being around hundreds, and at times thousands of children with no home, no family, no food, no shelter and no security is one of the toughest things I encounter. During that time I have worked to figure ways of caring for these children. While I would love nothing more than to bring home every single one of the children I have worked with, that is am impossibility. I would love to see them all adopted, but that isn?t a reality either. So, I?ve been on this journey of figuring out how to love on these children, provide for these children and prepare them for the future.

Aside from adoption, orphan care is one of the most powerful ways we can provide for children in need. Adoption is not a reality for every family. But, helping provide for children in need, even in small amounts can be. The problem is that most folks have no idea where to start, how to start and if they can even make an impact. But?You can! Here?s how?

Join us October 21-22 in Phoenix for?Together for Adoption Conference 2011. Over 1,200 people will gather together?at?Redemption Church (Gilbert Campus) to explore the theme?Missional Living, the Gospel and Orphan Care. One of the primary objectives for this year?s conference is to create a forum to consider the good news of the Gospel, explore its implications for how we?think about and?implement orphan care strategies, and discuss how we can move?toward greater collaboration as the people of God for the sake of orphans worldwide. There will be over 60 breakout sessions that will cover topics like orphan advocacy, the adoption process, fundraising for adoption and orphan care, starting adoption and foster care ministries in your church, exploring foster care, how you and your church can make an impact through orphan care and more. It is going to be incredible!

General session speakers include: Darrin Patrick,?Tullian Tchividjian,?Tim Chester (coming to us from England),?Bryan Loritts,?Juan Sanchez, and?Jeff Vanderstelt.

Worship Leaders: Shaun Groves,?Aaron Ivey,?and?Jimmy McNeal

As one of the conferences featured bloggers I will be sharing more about how you can get involved, make an impact and start loving on the children God has called us to love. If you are adopting, leading a ministry looking at orphan care, looking at ways to get involved in serving adoptive families or foster care families?This is the place you need to be in October.

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Source: http://michaelrobison.tv/together-for-adoption/

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