Addy's Hope Adoption Agency



	Adoption Ministry

FACTS ABOUT LIBERIA

Median Age: 18.1 years

Infant Mortality: 156 deaths/1,000
live births

Life Expectancy
Total Population: 39.65 years
Male: 37.99
Female: 41.35

It is the belief of Addy’s Hope that the Body of Christ is the answer to the
world’s orphan crisis. There are many children in the world who are
orphaned. This does not necessarily mean that they have no mother or
father. The definition of orphan is a person or thing bereft of protection or
position. That really broadens those that we need to consider in need of
assistance!

Probably one of the most quoted scriptures in regard to adoption is James
1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this:
to visit the orphan and widows in their distress.” This is a wonderful
example of the emphases God places on the care for the orphans and
widows of the world. Look a little above this scripture, and I believe you will
find the true heart of God. James 1:22: “But prove yourselves doers of the
word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” God expects us to
act on our faith. He expects us to act when we see need, not just walk away
and pretend we didn’t see it.

There are many ways to be part of our adoption ministry here at Addy’s
Hope. The most obvious one is to become an adoptive parent of one of the
amazing children God has entrusted to us. However, we understand that
not everyone has the call of adoption on their lives. If you have a heart for
orphans, or even for adoption, but do not feel God is calling you to bring
children into your home there are other ways to help.

We have two grant programs. The first one is our Waiting Angels Grant.
This program allows you to donate money to the adoption fees of the
children we have waiting for families. We are dedicated to finding families
for children, and not children for families. This means that many times we
accept children into our home that many other adoption programs would
not. Often we have sibling groups of three or more that need a family. We
have a policy that will not allow siblings to be separated. It is our firm belief
that if God brings us the children together, He will bring us a family for all of
the children. We will not separate older siblings from younger children to
make it easier to place the younger children. We trust God to lay these
children on the heart of the family that He has ordained for them.

The reality is that most of the time the families willing to answer that call are
not the overly wealthy families. The cost of adopting three children is
overwhelming. They can afford to raise them, but the $22,000+ adoption
fees on top of travel and all the other costs of adoption is more than they
can tackle. Or it may just seem an insurmountable wall. This is where you
can help! You can give a donation to the Waiting Angel Grant and specify
which child or sibling group you feel called to support. Every amount is
helpful! Only ten people donating $100 would reduce an adoption fee by
$1,000! That $1,000 could mean the difference in these children coming
home now or in several months!

The second grant program is the Answering the Call Grant. This grant is
awarded to families in need of financial assistance who have already
committed to children to help offset the costs of adoption. We don’t require
that families show proof of financial ability to pay all fees before they commit
to a child or children. We only ask that they make the initial payment. We
believe God calls people to walk by faith in adoption, and we will walk right
along with you. The Answering the Call Grant allows us to remove the
financial burden on families in need of assistance to make the final
payments. We never want money to stand in the way of adoption, but at
the same time, we cannot feed the children or pay our workers without the
adoption fees. Your donations to the Answering the Call Grant will allow
us to make final payments for families and bring their children home!

If you are one of those who are answering the call to adoption, welcome
to the roller coaster of adoption! The only certain thing we can tell you
about adoption is that it is uncertain! The journey of adoption will turn your
life upside down in every way imaginable. God will use it to teach you,
transform you, tear you down, build you back up and then start all over
again! The adoption journey doesn’t stop once your child is home. You will
forever have a child that came to you in an “unconventional” way. This will
bring hard questions that sometimes have hard answers. But no matter
what pitfalls or hardships your adoption journey brings, it is all worth it!

We operate our adoption ministry on Biblical ethics. Therefore, we do not
pay bribes or act in any unlawful way to complete an adoption. We do not
subscribe to the philosophy that the end justifies the means. This can
mean that at times our adoptions may move a bit slower than other
programs, but we make no excuses for doing things God’s way.

We have also found that at times, Addy’s Hope comes under more attacks
(both in the spiritual and physical realm) because of this stance. We
believe families should prayerfully consider all aspects of their adoption.
Domestic or international? Which country? Which agency? We would ask
that you only become an Addy’s Hope family if God has led you to us for
that purpose. If He has, then He will equip you and refine you as you go
through your adoption. You will understand the way we operate and the
ethics and integrity by which we run our adoption ministry. If you do not
subscribe to the same ethics, or believe that in cultures where bribes are
common, we should pay them to complete an adoption, our programs are
probably not for you. Please prayerfully consider this before submitting an
application as an adoptive family with Addy’s Hope. If you would like to
know the basis for our stance on this issue, you can look at the following
scriptures: Psalm 11:7; Proverbs 2:7-8; 10:9, 12:22, 17:23, 21:14, 29:4;
and Luke 3:14.

We believe that every adoptive family needs the support and
communication of the adoption agency in order to survive the roller coaster
of adoption. The Petrees founded Addy’s Hope on the basis of honest and
transparent communication with adoptive parents. Their moto is “the good,
the bad and the ugly – you will know it when we know it.” We at Addy’s
Hope understand the importance of honest communication during the entire
adoption process. We are dedicated to supporting our families as they
walk through this life changing journey. We offer support in obtaining all
documents, compiling dossiers and profiles, and filing any legal paper work
necessary to complete the adoption process from start to finish. We truly
believe that not only are we to minister to the “least of these” in the work we
are called to do, but the relationship we have with each adoptive parents
allows us to be a ministry to each of them as well. We consider it an honor
to walk with adoptive families through the adoption process to bring their
children home!

Still haven’t found what you could do in adoption? Are you a prayer
warrior? If you are, we need you to be an Addy’s Warrior! Each of our
waiting angels needs prayer warriors going to the throne on their behalf.
We need you to be praying that the family God has ordained for these
children will take the step of faith in obedience and trust to commit to these
children. We need you to pray for finances to be available for families to
pay fees and for Addy’s Hope to take care of them in the interim, for hearts
to be in unison in families and for these children to not be discouraged as
they wait for the news that they too have an adoptive family coming to get
them! If you are interested in becoming one of Addy’s Warriors, e-mail
HollyAnn at hollyann@addyshope.com. She will send you a flyer on the
child(ren) for which you want to pray. It will have the information from the
website on the children as well as a picture.