Help Maxim Find a Forever Family!

Define "Good" Friday

2010-04-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

We all know that the good part of Good Friday is also the sad part. What puts the good in Good Friday, is that Sunday is coming!

Please pray for Maxim that his Easter Sunday is coming. Pray that his time of redemption from pain, loneliness and sorrow is near. Not that I think we could ever call any time spent in an orphanage - not getting the attention and care that you need - good, but I do know that God is in the business of writing good stories and if this part of Maxim's life plays a part in leading him to his forever family, to putting him in a seat of honor among brothers and sisters, to making him a light of the love of Christ in his community, home and among his friends, to creating a miraculous story that will increase the faith and hope of many, then perhaps we could look back together - not as a means to justify the suffering - but to say that his suffering had a place. To say that God took something awful and made it good - that God replaced death with life.

Amen.

Thank you

2010-03-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

Generosity - unplanned, unexpected, spur of the moment - never ceases to amaze. Thank you to all who gave. I belong to a yahoo group for Reece's Rainbow and my heart did a little dance when I saw someone write, "Will someone please consider taking Maxim home? He has OVER $5000 in his account now." Wow!!!

My husband and I are praying over who we will bring home and appreciate any prayers on that, too, but please, please keep praying for sweet Maxim. The end of this fundraiser is not the end of our fundraising for Maxim. Anytime you like, you can go to Reece's Rainbow (www.reecesrainbow.com), find Maxim and augment his funds. There is a family out there for Maxim. I just know it.

It is not too late for Maxim. The family who will adopt him will likely have a rocky first few month or year, but so many children like Maxim, who have been outcast and neglected blossom and grow like a field of wildflowers once they are home and receiving proper nutrition, a normal amount of a attention and LOVE. God does not know the definition of impossible or obstacle. I believe there are huge blessings in store for whoever would step out in faith to save Maxim.

Chip in $21 for Maxim before 3/22

2010-03-06T18:17:00.001-08:00

As part of the Reece's Rainbow event titled 21.3.2010, and in honor of World Down Syndrome Day, I encourage you to donate $21 before March 22nd to encourage someone to bring Maxim home as a son! Paying through Chip-In is secure and easy and the donations go straight to Reece's Rainbow (tax deductible). Please pass this along to your friends and family. Read below for more info!

Maxim - Donate $21 to help free a 5 year old from life in a mental institution

2010-03-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

Maxim (7)

Boy, Born September 15, 2004

Maxim is a precious little boy who has already been sent away to the institution. He needs a family immediately!! He is 5 1/2 years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He struggles with strabismus in both eyes and a significant tongue thrust, but surgery/glasses and OT will help with that! Please give Maxim the chance to grow up in a loving family, so he can realize his full potential!!

We have already had a family adopt from this institution, so Maxim still has an opportunity to be saved and to live the life he so richly deserves!

I have $5000 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption! Please chip-in to increase my chance of being adopted!

Why Maxim?

2010-03-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

Why did I choose to be a warrior for Maxim from orphanage 7???

First of all, he's SUPER cute - don't you think???

He's 5-1/2 years old, just like my oldest son, and I truly can't stand that he's already been moved to a mental institution. That is the bad, bad news, friends.

The GREAT news is that he can still be adopted out!!!!

Whatever is donated to help save Maxim goes straight into his grant fund. The bigger the grant fund, the more likely someone is to go and get him!

DONATING to his grant fund is giving funds straight to his future family - who is out there somewhere! Where are you, Maxim's family?

SHARING this blog will make more people aware of his urgent need and also may help him find his family.

Every PRAYER for Maxim also moves him one step closer to finding his forever family.

We are not adopting him, but pray daily for the family who is called to him. He already has $5000 in his grant fund, but still, day in and day out, there he sits in desperate need of glasses and a bit of therapy (simple things) waiting for a family to commit!!! Pray with me now.....and don't forget to contribute and pass along!

All funds for this event must be received by March 22nd. What can we do together for Maxim's life by then? I am hopeful and know that his forever family is out there.

Awarness is everything!

2010-03-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

Only recently did Marc and I learn of the great need of orphans with disabilities (and those without) in the regions of Eastern Europe. There really is no place in society there for children or adults with chromosomal abnormalities or disabilities. So what happens to these precious children? Though a very small number of parents decide to raise these children on their own, the vast majority of parents feel that they lack the resources and are referred by their medical communities to place these precious little ones in residential care (orphanages). The parents are told that their children won't ever be able to do anything and won't be able to contribute to society. Though some orphanages have very nice directors who are progressive in providing care, in the majority of cases, these children are left in their cribs with very little attention and no opportunity.

The baby houses can only keep the children until the age of 4 at which point these sweet children are not sent on to a normal "older" orphanage like the other children, but are sent to a mental institution. Several of the undernourished children don't make it through the first year. Of those that do survive, the treatment is usually not anywhere close to good and those who have been bedridden, will remain bedridden for life. Yep. You read that right.

Reece's Rainbow is a wonderful organization run by Andrea, an awesome mama of a boy with Down Syndrome (his name is Reece :) . This ministry promotes and facilitates the adoption of children with Down Syndrome from areas in Eastern Europe and all over the world, and also the adoption of "other angels" - children who are facing institution because of things like a cleft lip, cleft palate, Fetal Alcohol Sydrome, general mental delays, Cerebral Palsy (all ranges), arthrogryposis (look it up!), other trisomies, and physical deformities - just to name a few.

You CAN directly impact the life of a child by looking on Reece's Rainbow and choosing to pray for one of these little ones, donate to their grant fund, spread the word about them, start a blog (like this one!) or adopt! There is something new that Reece's Rainbow has started, too, called Connecting the Rainbow! Connecting the Rainbow encourages families in E.European countries to keep and raise their children with disabilities and provides support groups for them. You can support Connecting the Rainbow, too!

Orphans are at the very heart of God. There is much work to do, yes. So let's get busy!

Side note: I do have to mention that "normal" children in E.European countries who aren't adopted by the age of 4, are sent to an older orphanage. When they are 16, they are released to care for themselves. There are ministries working with children on this end of things to get them skills so that they may be able to land a job in the real world. Google it, saddle up and find a place to help in our world!