So why fundraise? - Part 3

If you’ve been reading this series, then you have seen some of the costs and financing options available for adoptions, as well as issues that adoptive parents face financially.  This leads us to the final (and best) part of this series, to the question that many adoptive parents face:

Should we fundraise or not? 

I dare say that most adoptive parents, like us, do not particularly enjoy asking or being dependent on others for financial assistance.  It is a very humbling experience to ask others for help.  Personally, I’m very independent and I don’t like to ask for help…I would rather have my tooth pulled, which is probably one reason God called us to adopt right now. :)  Perhaps He wants us to swallow our pride; to see that we aren’t self-sufficient; to see what it feels like to need something from someone else, to depend on others (thus helping us better understand these children in need).  

Aside from God using this for our sanctification, there are many, many great reasons to fundraise.  And for these reasons below, I will happily swallow my pride!

·         Through fundraising, adoptive parents are able to share their story, to share how God is working in their lives, and, most importantly, to share what God has already done through his Son Jesus Christ and adopting us orphans into His own family. 

·         Through fundraising, people can see God accomplish His plan in ways we never imagined and ways we couldn’t do on our own. 

·         Through fundraising, He teaches us to be dependent on Him for strength and courage, to show us how the way He wants to accomplish His plan, and to lean on Him every step of the way. 

·         Through fundraising, other people are given an opportunity to care for orphans as God has commanded and to help bring these children into the covenant family. 

·         Through fundraising, God blesses many people (the giver, the adoptive family, and the child) as they come together as a community to love their neighbor. 

·         Through fundraising, a child doesn’t have to sit in an orphanage, and possibly face death of disease or malnutrition, while his/her new family saves the money to pay for his/her adoption, thanks to God’s provision and the generosity of others.   (My wonderful husband reminded me the other day that if this concerns me, then it concerns God too, and He’s the one in control!)

Like most other adoptive families, we certainly don’t expect to raise every cent and not pay anything ourselves, or to raise it without any work on our part (fundraising is definitely work!).  However, we do need to raise the majority of the $25,000, whether through grants or fundraisers like restaurant.com gift certificates, yard sales, t-shirts, handmade jewelry, fundraising dinners, etc.   However, we still would never want anyone to feel obligated to help us, especially if they do not agree. 

With that in mind, we will be forever grateful for those whom God sends to help and for any assistance (monetarily and otherwise) in bringing our child home, and we pray that God will bless those efforts.

After reading this series, we do hope that our readers will have a better understanding of the costs and financing for an adoption, and will see that fundraising is one of God’s provision to accomplish His plans.

When God calls someone to adopt, He may call you to wait or He may not.  He may call you at a time when you have savings built up or right after your savings have been depleted.  He may not call you to adopt at all, but instead call you to help others adopt.  Without a doubt, though, God has called and commanded ALL believers to care for orphans, to care for the least of these, to care for those in need, and to love their neighbor, but how we obey that command can look differently in your life than in mine.  “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18 ESV)  Proverbs 31:20 also demonstrates this, saying "She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy."

So, as you consider how He wants you to obey His command, consider this:  ultimately, EVERY dollar that goes towards an adoption will do just that, because the giver of that dollar helps to bring a child in need into a family to be loved and cared for!  That is a dollar well spent!!!

If you would like to help bring a child in need into a family to be loved and cared for, please go to How You Can Help or to one of our fundraisers or you can click on the "Donate" button (at the top of the page). Thank you so much for caring for the those in need!