Q&A

“Dude, Catherine! You’ve always talked about this, but I never thought you were for real! You’re crazy!”
So maybe we are a small bit crazy. But we have such a passion for what we’re doing that we can’t not go forward with this. Plus I’m stupidly strong-willed, and once I’ve set my mind to do something, it will be done.

“So, why are you adopting anyway?”
I have a longer post planned to cover this in detail, but here’s the gist of it:
1. All throughout Scripture, we are clearly instructed to take care of orphans. Matt and I are passionate about orphans and about Africa, so it was a no-brainer.
2. We believe that adoption is a beautiful, tangible picture of the Gospel. We were all born outside of the family of God, but through our faith in Christ and God’s infinite mercy and grace, we are called sons and daughters of God.

“There are a lot of orphans and foster kids in America. Why don’t you adopt one of them?”
Exactly. There are a lot of orphans and foster kids in America. How ‘bout you adopt one of them.

“I know y’all are crazy about Africa, but why Rwanda?”
We had a friend over one night who was talking about Rwandan adoptions. As soon as she opened her mouth to talk about adopting from Rwanda, I felt a strong pull towards that country. I clearly recall learning about the Rwandan genocide when I was in high school and being astonished at the mind-blowing numbers of lives lost. Many who were orphaned as a result of the genocide in 1994 are now having babies and are often unprepared or unable to care for them.

There are also some purely logistical reasons behind this. Quite a few countries will only allow couples who are over the age of 30 to adopt. Most countries require several trips to the country (and thus lots more money and time). Surprisingly, Rwanda is one of the cheapest countries from which to adopt.

Finally, there are about one million orphans in Rwanda, out of a population of only ten million. One in ten individuals is orphaned! Try to wrap your mind around that.

“So, Catherine. You’re white. Are you going to adopt a black baby?”
Why, yes. Most African babies are in fact black.

Now, I am not trying to be a brat. I know that there are plenty of people who take issue with white people adopting black children. They say we mess up their identity and neglect their culture.

My humble response to that is that I am giving a child a home and a family that will love him like crazy. We will learn about and celebrate Rwandan culture just as we learn about and celebrate America.

“I’ve heard rumors that international adoptions are mad expensive. And y’all have two part-time jobs. How in the world are you going to pay for this?”
Aha, glad you asked. We are trusting that God will bring in all of the funds we need to bring our son home. This is a huge leap of faith, but oddly enough, I am completely at peace with not knowing exactly how we will pay for this. We definitely plan to fundraise- we plan to send out support letters, asking friends and family if they would consider partnering with us financially to help bring one orphan home. We are also toying around with ideas such as designing and selling tshirts and throwing a huge yard sale.

From the very get-go, I made a conscious decision that money should not be the factor that prevented me from adopting. I serve a huge God who spoke the universe into being. Do you think $20-25,000 is too much for him to figure out? I think not.

And yes, that’s $25,000. I told you adoption was expensive.

“I know how much you love bows and dresses and all things fancy, Catherine. Why did you decide on adopting a boy rather than a girl?”
Umm and you don’t think I love balls, dirt, and bugs? I ADORE little boys! Really, it comes down to two things. One, Matt and I have both always just dreamed about adopting a little boy. Don’t know why, but we have. Second, I recently heard someone mention that there is a serious dearth of strong, Godly men in the church, and that completely resonated with me. I will do everything in my power as a parent to raise up such a man.

“What will his name be?”
Good question. This is an oft talked about subject in our home. I have my opinions, and Matt has his own. I’m just waiting patiently for him to buy into mine. 🙂

“Well, that’s really cool, Catherine. I have always thought about adopting too.”
Do it!! Seriously! One of my prayers is that through our journey of adoption, others would be inspired and called to do the same.