Pastor Jon Courson of Applegate Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville, Oregon took the reins of leadership when he recently announced, for the first time, that a family in the congregation needed, and deserved financial assistance to raise money for adoption expenses. Rather than relegating this important ministry announcement to posters and bulletin inserts, Pastor Jon personally endorsed adoption ministry from the pulpit during Sunday morning services, and again at the Wednesday evening service. The announcement invited members of the congregation to donate cash, or good quality household items that the family could sell. He also recorded the same announcement which was then broadcast to the public on Applegate's Christian radio station, KAPL in Medford, Oregon. In the two weeks since his endorsement, people have already donated over $3,000 in cash plus several truckloads of quality furniture, household goods, clothing and art, which we are now in the process of selling for the family in our Thrift Store.

Donations resulting from Pastor Jon's announcements are conservatively estimated to be worth over $12,000, and they are still coming in. We have already sold over $5,000 worth, and just four of the donated items sold for over $4,000.

Not only does God love to bless pure and undefiled religion (caring for widows and orphans. James 1:27), so do people outside the church! Nearly half of the donations have come from the general public as a result of Pastor Jon's radio announcement. A significant percentage came from someone who does not attend Applegate Church, and does not even know the adopting family.

But it goes even beyond that! Matthew 5:16 tells us to let our light shine before men in such a way that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. People like the lady who gave the large donation of furniture and art, frequently glorify God by telling us they are delighted to help fund adoption because it is such a wonderful ministry. We had an opportunity to pray with this lady, and she wept tears of joy as God blessed her with His presence. Adoption ministry not only blesses orphan children, there is no doubt in my heart that this donor was blessed by God, and by a church body that is practicing pure and undefiled religion!

Pray with us that this success will be an inspiration for other church leaders to follow Pastor Jon's example of enthusiastically endorsing adoption ministry in their respective churches.

In this Blog

Rather than relegating this important ministry announcement to posters and bulletin inserts, Pastor Jon personally endorsed adoption ministry from the pulpit, during Sunday services, again on Wednesday evening, and also on the Radio!

Nearly half of the donations came from outside the church!

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March 10, 2008

When friends from our home church returned from Africa after adopting two teenage girls, they reported having seen several men hanging around the orphanage gates. A social worker at the orphanage told them the men are predators who wait for the young girls to be released from the orphanage when they age out, which could be anywhere from age 15 to 18 depending on space in the orphanage. This is the beginning of the pipeline for approximately half of the supply of children for human trafficking and the sex slave trade.

The director of a well known American adoption agency, told me that he has personally witnessed the predators at the gates of European orphanages, already armed with the names of the girls and the dates they are scheduled to be released.

A pastor who adopted from Russia reported observing two fancy black limousines arriving at the orphanage while he was there. The finely dressed men had come to pick up a strikingly beautiful teenage girl from the orphanage. He couldn't help but wonder why they would kiss the orphanage director as they left. Was it their thanks for this incredibly valuable prize they had just been given? Millions of girls like her have been lured into sexual slavery with lucrative job offers from finely dressed men just like these.

So many people have given so sacrifically of their time, their love and their finances to care for these children for as long as 18 years. Its a shame that so many of them will go from the institution directly, shortly or even eventually into the waiting arms of predators and slave traders. But that's exactly what happens to most orphans and foster children today if they are not adopted.
www.howtoadopt.org/TheGreatNeed/  Paragraph 5

If we're not offering orphan children a permanent solution that gives them a sense of value, self-worth, and belonging, and the skills to cope with life, they have few or no options, and will be easy victims for predators.

Adoption by a loving Christian family is the Best Solution.

Adoption gives orphan children a sense of self-worth and belonging, and is the best way to keep them out of the reach of predators. It's far better to prevent human trafficking, than to rescue children from the resulting slavery, after their minds and their lives have already been destroyed.

We need to display strength and take action to ensure that more orphan children are adopted. Empowering the Christian families in churches around the world who already want to adopt, would go a long way toward accomplishing that objective.

This year, nearly a million women and children will be sold into sex slavery. If you are as outraged about this as God is, you really CAN do something about it. If you're not called to adopt, you can help make adoption affordable for someone you know, who already wants to adopt.

Predators lurk at the gates of many orphanages, already armed with the names of the girls and the dates they are scheduled to be released.

Every year nearly a million children and women are sold into sexual slavery. Nearly 30% are between the ages of 9 and 15, and some as young as 5 or 6.

In the U.S., one out of every three teens will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving "home" (if they have no one to belong to and no place to call home). Within 3 months, 90% will have turned to sex.