their lives depend on it

Update:

I'm adding two links to this post. It has been brought to my attention that many letters are being sent to members of our own government--urging them to ACT!  The first is for letters which can be written to local congressmen, and the second link is to contact senators.  Please urge your friends and family to flood them with appeals to do whatever they can to get involved.  It all helps.  This sweet mama posted a form letter that can be used. Thanks, friends.

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I know that many of you who read my blog are familiar with the current happenings in Ukraine.  For those of you who are not, I'll fill you in.  I don't even know if I am able to find the words to stress the urgency of this, but here goes.

On November 3, 2010,  the Ukrainian parliament voted to move forward with voting on legislation that will put a moratorium on ALL international adoptions.  The bill has already passed once. Now it must be voted on one more time before it becomes LAW.  I have heard the second vote will take place sometime this month.

Goodness gracious!

Do you know what that means?

An absolute catastrophe.  If the bill remains as it is currently written...no more children will be allowed to be adopted from that country.  Just. Like. That.

I know many people read this kind of thing and just click over to the next blog, article, or what ever's next on the agenda.  I used to be like that.  I used to think there was not much I could do about a desperate situation like this.

Click.  Click.  Click.

Perhaps if we had never adopted our two girls from that country, I would still be one of those people.  Perhaps if I never saw the things I saw with my own two eyes I could just let something like this go and never give it a second thought.  Perhaps I could move right along.

But once your life is changed--once you have seen more than your human heart can bear, well, you know that you will go to the ends of the earth to do something.  Anything.  You know that sitting back and doing nothing is no longer an option.

And so I'm coming to you, my dear bloggy friends, pleading for you to stand with me (and countless others) in prayer at this crucial hour--begging God to intercede on behalf of His precious children waiting for forever families in that country. 

Huge decisions are about to be made in Ukraine.  Decisions which will affect umpteen children and many, many families currently in the middle of an adoption.  Even families in the process of adopting may NOT be allowed to move forward with their adoptions.  Court dates will be denied and families will be sent packing back to the USA.

Oh Father.

This kind of thing is not new in the world of international adoptions.  Sadly, we've seen it many times before. Many countries have closed their doors to adoptions.  Vietnam, Guatemala, Romania, Nepal, Cambodia, Liberia, to name a few.  We used to be able to adopt children from all those nations--but sadly no longer can.  My heart breaks when I read the stories that many of you have shared with me about YOUR children still being in those countries and your absolute heartache at not being able to bring them home. Oh God in heaven.

So here we are with yet another country on the brink of doing the exact same thing.  Am I surprised?  Not at all, actually.  When I was in our daughter's country last May there was talk that this may happen.  This is a battle, friends.  This is a WAR!  A battle that rages for the lives of hundreds and hundreds of innocent children who's ONLY hope is an international adoption.  Children who have special needs have no worth or value in their own countries.  None.  Their chances of being adopted in the country of their birth are extremely slim.  Fact.

Right now there are hundreds of families in the process of adopting from Ukraine.  So many sweet children are waiting for mommy and daddy to come.  Some of those kids are hanging on by a thread--their adoption is a matter of life and death. Literally. I have seen it, lived it, breathed it, and had my heart broken by it. 

I believe that the most important thing we can do as the Body of Christ is to pray without ceasing.  I believe my God is able to fight this battle on behalf of every orphan who waits.  He's the ONE who holds the hearts of Kings in His hands.

Pray that the hearts of those making this radical decision will be softened. 

Pray that each and every family in the process of rescuing a child from this country WILL be able to go and get their child. 

Pray that more and more children who have special needs or who are older WILL be able to get out of there--before it is too late. 

Pray that one more country does NOT close it's doors to amazing families who can go and rescue children from their overcrowded, poorly run, heinous orphanages.

Pray that if they sign this as a law, that they make an exemption for all children who have special needs--and they can still be adopted.

Pray that this warfare will come to an end and that the enemy will NOT have the victory in this.  Pray that his evil plans will be thwarted, in the name of Jesus!

Pray, pray, pray. God hears every cry of our hearts. I know that to be truth. Please help to spread the word and get the people of God to rise up and pray for this urgent and desperate need.  Please help us to do whatever it takes to stop this ridiculous ban from moving forward.  My heart cannot fathom what the consequences of a successful outcome will mean for thousands of children.

Their precious lives depend on it!  It's as simple as that.