Margarita and Katerina

Katerina

Margarita

The Lord has two more angels today. Technically it was probably a week or two ago, but we just found out today. Two of our Reece's Rainbow children have gone home, no, not to the US and the family that had hoped to adopt them, but to their eternal home, with their Heavenly Father. They no longer suffer hunger and cold. They now have forgotten what loneliness and sorrow are, they are safe and loved in the Father's arms.

The lady that was in the process of adopting these little girls was no longer able, when the government changed the regulations. You see, she is a single lady and the laws changed so that only married couples could adopt. Could these little ones have lived if she were to continue with their adoptions? Only God knows. They both caught the flu in the institution they were in and died. I'm not sure if you can believe it or not, many people can't (I can), but their "Mom" prayed that if the girls couldn't get adopted before they were transferred to the adult mental institution (at age 4, which they both were) that they would go home to be with the Lord so that they would not suffer for years and years like some do. You see, only some suffer for years, most die within the first year after they are transferred. There are many countries that do not have the ability to care for children with special needs, they can barely take care of "typical" children. So when a child ages out of the baby orphanage (usually at age 4) they are transferred to the adult mental institutions. You can only imagine in your worst nightmare what life is like for them there.

That is why Reece's Rainbow came about. It was the heartfelt desire of one woman to make a difference in the lives of children with Down Syndrome, who otherwise would have no opportunity to be in a forever family that would love them. It has grown in only a couple of years and has so far found homes for over 140 special needs children (the majority with DS, but there are other children with various other special needs as well). We saw Anah on RR and had Jonathan on the family sponsorship page there, so we are a Reece's Rainbow family.

I challenge anyone who may read my blog, to go visit the site and look at the children. I can't believe anyone could go there and not come away feeling like they could/should do something. I know not everyone is able to adopt or has the desire, but there is a HUGE need for sponsoring families that are in the process of adopting or sponsoring a specific child. Adoption is VERY expensive, more than most people realize and international even more so. So the grants/sponsorships that these children get, often makes all the difference in whether they will be adopted or not. The money in the grants goes towards the child's adoption fees. It is paid to the adoption agencies for the various fees that the family incurs during the adoption process.

And if you think these grants don't matter, think again. Bob and I probably would not have chosen to go on with Anah's adoption if she did not have a large grant. Not that we didn't want to, BUT we were still in the middle of Jonathan's adoption and didn't even have all the money we needed for HIS, so certainly wouldn't have started another one at that time. However, since Anah had the grant money, and it could only be used for her adoption, we felt that we could start her adoption without taking anything away from Jonathan, or delaying his adoption any longer than it already was. We would not have felt that it was God's will if it was going to hurt Jonathan's adoption in any way. I also know of several families that could not have started, or proceeded with adoptions had there not been grant money available. So please, IF you are able and feel lead, donate to one of these beautiful children! You may literally be saving their life. And if you cannot give at this time, that's ok too, but I BEG you, please pray for all of these children. Pray that they will find their forever families soon so that we do not have to add any more children to our "Angels" page, we can add them to the "Homecoming" page instead.