Orphan hosting is inviting an orphan child to live in your home and experience your family for 4-8 weeks over the summer or winter holidays. Host families have the opportunity to share their values, beliefs and culture as well as learn something new from their host child. The orphans available for hosting are chosen by an interview team, who travel overseas to meet each child in person.
In 2012, our family hosted a 15 year
old girl from Ukraine.
What a fun and exciting Christmas that was for our
family!
This year, we are back in the saddle, but going a different
route, hosting a 7 year old boy from China. His name is Jia and he’s
known nothing but life in an orphanage. Abandoned as an infant (most
likely due to deformities in his fingers and toes), Jia has never known the
love of a family.
Hosting is expensive, inconvenient,
and at times, uncomfortable (they don’t speak English, you know!) So why
are we doing it? Well, we learned that without hosting, orphans over the
age of 6, or with special needs, or who are part of a sibling set, have an
almost 0% chance of being adopted. However, with hosting, these same orphans
are SEEN, TOUCHED and KNOWN. They are advocated for and prayed for and
LOVED by their host family. Hosting provides HOPE to orphans who would
likely never have another opportunity at finding a forever family. But…you absolutely do not have to be interested in adoption to participate in
hosting a child; in fact, adoption is not on our radar at this time. Most
orphans have never experienced a functional, family environment and will likely
repeat the same cycle unless they are exposed to a new model. It’s impossible to
hope for a different outcome if you have nothing new to model. Living in a
family for even 4 - 8 weeks can truly be life changing.
You’ll be surprised at how much YOU
change, too. Hosting was and will be a great opportunity for our own
biological children to see and love a child whose life is so very different
from their own. We honestly can’t think of a better Christmas gift to
give them this year. It is so rewarding to take our eyes off of ourselves
for a few weeks, to truly see someone who is struggling, hurting, lonely and
hopeless.
Would you consider hosting an orphan
in your home, possibly this summer? Check out these websites for more
information:
By Tracy Scoggins, group member
