I wasn't going to post anything today until I ran across this article from today's Toledo Blade a few minutes ago: Quake in Haiti hastens long awaited adoptions.It's about Seth and Amber Newlove who find a silver lining (see yesterday's entry on disaster silver liningism) in the destruction of a country and its people. The earthquake, see, is an awesome example of how God works in mysterious ways. Why, without the earthquake, she and Mr. Newlove would still be waiting to bring Snyder home to Arlington, Ohio from H.I.S. Home for Children, a Lima, Ohio-based orphanage and non-denominational ministry in Port au Prince. According to Wiki, Arlington has a population of about 1350; 99.48% of which is white. We're with ya, Snyder!
It's just a good example of how God can bring something good from such a horrible situation," Mrs. Newlove said.
Then we have the Wassinks from Lima, Joe and Michele, waiting for delivery of Alin who they've been trying to adopt since 2008. Mrs. Wassink's brother, Hal Nungester and his wife Chris, just happen to run H.I.S. and his mother is secretary of the board. Other board members are "Christian leaders" from west central Ohio and northeast New York.
The H.I.S. webpage tells us that the orphanage has around 125 kids between the ages of birth to 13 and three fulltime staff. (right--pre-quake mealtime) Many are "orphans" while others have been abandoned there by "a single parent who is unable to provide for them due to extreme poverty." We have no idea if abandonees up for grabs--or if anyone at H.I.S. thought to help those mothers.School is held in the on-sight classroom for children 5 and older. Our Christian teacher conducts the classes in both English and Creole with older students learning French. The 3 and 4 year olds began attending pre-school classes off-site at Quisqueya Chapel in September, 2005 with a volunteer Christian teacher. On Sunday mornings Sunday School classes are taught at HIS Home for our children, and children from another community orphanage as an outreach ministry to share the the gospel of Jesus with the children of the community. Following Sunday School, the children attend worship services at Quisqueya Chapel.
We are pretty sure those "Christian" teachers aren't Catholic.
The Blade reported that 56 children from H.I.S. had been released to travel to the US and the Nungesters were working on getting another 22 released. Since the quake, the whole entourage--listed as 114 kids by the Blade-- has been living in the US Embassy. Because the orphanage has substantial structural damage, Hal Nungester is looking for a rental mansion for them.
H.I.S. posted an update on their orphan movement status at 12:33 PM today:
Last night 67 children arrived in Orlando and are traveling today to Miami to be united with their families Hal remains in in Haiti with 59 other children, 12 of whom are waiting for visas. The remaining 47 will remain with him in Haiti.
There is no explanation in the discrepancy between the 114 in the Embassy and the 126 listed in the update.
Continued from the Blade:
Like the Newloves, Mrs. Wassink said she and her husband, who is associate pastor at Grace Community Church in Lima, feel the Haitian adoptions' hastening was a bright light that came from the devastation.
"One of the first things my husband brought to my attention was Isaiah 61:3: 'The Lord will bring beauty out of the ashes,'" Mrs. Wassink said. "We will never see all the purposes He has in this, but the ones we do see, we can celebrate and know He is doing wondrous deeds."It all makes sense now. Those adoptions in Haiti were just too damned slow, so God knocked the country off its foundations so a few hundred "orphans" could slip into middle christian America where they belong. Or conversely, maybe Pat Robertson was right. God is punishing Haiti by sending its children to the US for evangelical indoctrination.
Ultimately, as I wrote yesterday, it's all about adoption. It's all about us.
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