Rick and Heather Hanna have five children—three biological children and two children through adoption. Rick is a pastor and Heather is a homemaker / homeschooling mom. They love the gospel and care deeply about adoption. They live in Columbus, OH. Here is their transethnic adoption story: 1. What initially motivated you to adopt? Heather has encouraged others […]

This morning the Joint Council on International Children's Services issued the following announcement about newly proposed adoption legislation in the Guatemalan congress. Although this legislation hasn't passed, this is a good step in the right direction, and it's encouraging to adoption agencies and adoptive families. More importantly, it's good news for Guatemalan children in need […]

The Joint Council on International Children's Services has posted copies of the letters sent by the U.S. Congress to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger and to UNICEF. If you participated in lobbying your congressmen to sign the letters, thank you. The announcement (and link) from JCICS are below. Dear Colleagues, Joint Council has posted copies online […]

Last night at the Adoption and Orphan Weekend held at Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC, Dan Cruver preached a sermon entitled "God's Story of Adoption." You can hear the sermon at this link.

I'm pleased to announce that Dorothy Bode, the mother of a large multi-ethnic family, is now a guest writer for our adoption blog. She and her husband are members of Bethlehem Baptist Church of Minneapolis, a church that is passionate about adoption in general and transracial adoption in particular. One of the things I asked […]

This morning, Thomas DiFilipo, President of JCICS, sent out this update of the Guatemala 5000 initiative. (I've previously blogged about this initiative here and here.) Joint Council Update Program: International Relations Initiative Date: October 31, 2007 Regarding: U.S. Congressional Letters – 203 Signatures Dear Friends and Colleagues, Through our collective efforts, the Guatemala 5000 Initiative […]

Most people who have heard of Mark Altrogge are familiar with him because of the numerous cross-centered worship songs he has written, many of which have been recorded and published by Sovereign Grace Ministries, including "Only in the Cross" and "At the Cross." Perhaps his most well-known songs are "I Stand in Awe" and "Forever […]

"Orphans, adoption and Fuling China: a fresh look at James 1:27" has been revised. In it I argue that James' reference to "visiting orphans in their affliction" can ultimately be understood as a call to adoption. This is not to say that no other kind of visiting orphans is legitimate or real. Orphans have very […]

About 2 months ago, on August 27, a heavy storm hit the Phnom Penh region in Cambodia, causing structural damage at the Children's Relief Center - in particular, the school house roof, the parking hut, and the stable for the chicken, geese, oxen, and cows. Fortunately, no one was injured in the storm. Carolina Hope […]

On November 2-3, Colonial Baptist Church (Cary, NC) is sponsoring an Adoption and Orphan Weekend. My opening night sermon is entitled "God's Story of Adoption." It will show the place of adoption within God's story of redemption and its implications for orphan ministry and the earthly practice of adoption. Please consider attending. Schedule of Events […]