Forever Family

Please go to No Greater Joy Mom and read the story there of a little boy. His name is Vanya. Vanya's story will break your heart. This little boy does not have much time left to find his forever family, yet he has a dream - he knows his family is out there. I don't have a huge amount of readers on my blog, but many of you do. Please share his story, through your blogs and your facebooks. I can hardly stand to read all the stories of heartache that are out there. These precious children, longing, begging for someone to come for them.

Vanya is soon to be transferred to a mental institution in Eastern Europe. There are no words to adequately describe these places. Especially since he doesn't have any mental issues, therefore, he will be fully aware of where he has been sent. Please pray that Vanya will be spared this fate and that his family will come forward and start the process to adopt him.

Vanya is HIV positive as you will see in the blog post. He is doing well on his medications. I have done quite a bit of research lately on HIV as it pertains to adopting children who have this virus. What I have found has been entirely encouraging. The stigma associated with it is starting to fade away in the face of knowledge. As so often happens, people are starting to realize that it was fear we were afraid of with regard to HIV. Somehow we were led to believe (at least I was) that this virus just jumped around from person to person - like a bad cold. This is not the case at all. In fact, there have never been any cases of household transmission of this virus. Ever. It is perfectly safe to adopt an HIV positive child and bring him/her into your family. No amount of kissing, coughing, sharing sippy cups, or changing diapers will transmit this disease to you or your other children. Obviously, there are medical issues to be dealt with, but it is very doable.

In my research I came across a great ministry called Positively Adopted. It answers a lot of the basic medical questions and addresses the concerns of adopting a child who is HIV+. It is a great starting point for research. There is no reason that these children are being overlooked in the adoption process. We have the medical knowledge in America to effectively get this virus under control before it progresses into AIDS. These children are expected to live long and full lives, with a life expectancy just a few short years under the "average." None of us knows what tomorrow brings and these babies need families to love them. They did not ask for this and they will suffer and likely die from it in the conditions in which they live. It does not have to be that way.

Please pray for Vanya. He is the one we are advocating for today. He is the representation of the literally millions that are out there waiting. Waiting for someone to love them - to point them to Jesus. Let's get him connected with his family and then we will find another one to pray home. One at a time. Sometimes it seems like bailing out the ocean with a teacup, but it is really all we can do. One at a time. However, if we all picked our "one" it would certainly make a big, big impact.

Pray. Please.

John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."