Like cold water to a very weary soul.

Have you ever had a day (or a month...or seven months) where you are tired and weary and feeling like you've lost a bit of perspective on why you do what you do? I certainly have had a lot of days like this since I got sick and my body has been fighting to keep up with my heart. Today I received news that gave me goosebumps and helped awaken my soul to the truth that the world is so much bigger than me.

If you have been reading for a while, you may remember when I posted about the opportunity that we had to spend time loving the children of Panama. While we were there we learned about an issue from Matt & Misty Hedspeth that we couldn't ignore- the adoption system (or lack thereof) in Panama. While we were learning about the government controlled orphanages, restrictions on child placement, the only 9 foster families in the whole country and the stigma surrounding taking a child from a different family, class or culture into your home, most citizens of Panama are left unaware that there are problems behind the walls of the brightly painted buildings that housed thousands of abandoned, forgotten or orphaned children.

Matt & Misty (a family rights lawyer) left their home in North Carolina a few years ago when they realized the desperation of the adoption situation in Panama. They founded Hearts Cry Children's Ministry to create efficiencies for orphans and wrote a proposal to the government to implement change in the system so that it would be compliant with international adoption standards. While we were in Panama the proposal was accepted, Heart's Cry Ministry was given office space in the president's office and just recently they have been able to place a few children in homes for adoption!

We created a publication for Heart's Cry Ministry to use with the proposal to bring the stories of the children to the hearts of the citizens of Panama. The book needed to be approved by the government before printing (since the children are under the guardianship of the government) and a year later- the book is approved for printing!!! (did you get goosebumps?)

If you would like to contribute to the printing and distribution of this book, please contact Heart's Cry Ministry.

 

"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land" Proverbs 25:25