Thursday, October 4, 2012

The Facts About Hosting

OK, so those of you who know me well, know me to be the definition of practicality. I usually analyze the life out of a decision and I need to know all the facts before I'm comfortable settling on something. So, how on earth did we so quickly (for me) come to the decision to be a host family this winter?

Here are the facts about the orphans in this program (and in many cases the facts for orphans in general):

* Many of these kids have never been a part of a loving and functional family. They typically have low self-esteem and lack critical thinking and good decision making skills.

* At their ages (6 - 16 years old) they have little hope of being adopted and most believe they are unwanted.

* They live in a society that places a huge stigma on being an orphan which makes it difficult to find jobs and they are forced to fend for themselves upon leaving the orphanage (which usually happens at age 16 or 17).

* Without intervention  60% of girls will be lured into prostitution , 70% of boys will be on the streets or in jail, and 15% will commit suicide within the first two years on their own.

I've looked at statistics like this in the past and thought "what can I do, I'm only one person". But then I got to witness the transformation of a 14 year old boy, Dzintars, who blossomed and emerged as a totally renewed child after only 5 weeks of being loved by the Maljian family. While not all chidren in this program are available for adoption, he was able to be found by his forever family and will no longer be in danger of being another statistic.

One person, one family, five weeks, can make a huge difference! It is my dearest hope that God will help us initiate a similar transformation in Nastya as she stays with us this winter. "Anastasya, You are Beautiful, You are Loved, We believe in You!"

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