Every year at this time, I have urged readers to make a special Christmas gift to a charity, and this year the one I have chosen is, "OUR FAMILY IN AFRICA." About a year ago, our son and his wife blessed us with an adopted African granddaughter from the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Chuck and Debbie applied to an orphanage there and Debbie returned with Anaya, now a smiling, energetic and growing sweet girl who will already be two years old in February.
Carol and I decided this year to forego giving adult Christmas gifts and are making ongoing contributions to "OUR FAMILY IN AFRICA," a group that is starting a new orphanage in Kinshasa, the DRC capital. With five million orphans in the DRC, and with 10,000 of them roaming the streets of Kinshasa, orphanages in DRC are badly needed.
The DRC has been at war nearly 15 years, resulting in a high infant mortality rate due to disease, abuse and rape. Existing orphanages there are overwhelmed. While we can't help them all, we have decided we can help some. Furthermore, adoptions from DRC have been nearly closed due to government problems there.
OFA is a group of American adoptive parents working through the United Methodist Church to refurbish an abandoned orphanage in Kinshasa. Debbie and Chuck are supporting OFA, and on their behalf, we are seeking the support of others for this newest Kinshasa orphanage.
The OFA website is: http://www.ourfamilyadoptions.org/. It will give accurate information, as well as buttons to other pages of information, including donations. Please note on your check or PayPal information that your gift is for the "Kinshasa Orphanage Project."
Carol and I are giving an initial gift plus a monthly gift through our credit card. We invite you to do the same, if not to OFA, then to another worthy orphanage charity. There are many, and all are in great need of our gifts.
John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." Jesus came into the world that also had a high infant mortality rate. But through the loving care of his birth mother Mary and his adoptive father Joseph, He grew to be our Lord and Savior. When adoption becomes difficult, good orphanages are great blessings to the world and the Church.
May our Lord Jesus move you to share of your gifts this Christmas with orphaned children in need.
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