An Above Rubies reader, Susan McMahon sends a request:
"Hello to my Above Rubies family! Have you ever dreamed about going on a mission trip? Do you think it’s impossible since you are a mom and a homemaker and cannot leave your children? Well let me tell you about the mission trip that comes to YOU!!! Be Love!
Orphan Outreach Missions (BLOOM) is a Christian organization which brings school-aged orphans from Ukraine and Poland to live with families for approximately 7 weeks over the summer. During this time, the children experience the love of Christ through Christian families who exemplify His unconditional love to them. In addition, through family time together, children quickly develop a basic understanding and use of the English language which helps develop a higher self-esteem and a feeling of accomplishment in many ways! The children also witness healthy relationships between parents and their children, perhaps for the first time in their lives! These basic skills provide tremendous social, educational, and emotional improvements that help the child as they return to their homeland. Happily, for some it doesn't end there: Many of our host families decide to adopt these children after hosting!
Why else is hosting these children so important? As the children age out of their orphanages (usually at age 16), what happens is truly heartbreaking. Most of the girls will turn to prostitution as a means of supporting themselves, and most of the boys will become hardened criminals. Perhaps saddest of all, however, is that 10-15% of these children will end up committing suicide before they turn 18 years old. (See statistics here: http://worldorphans.org/…/upl…/2015/05/Orphan-Statistics.pdf)
Orphan hosting changes all of this. Orphan hosting saves lives!!!
If you would like to host a child from Ukraine, the deadline to decide is May 10th. And matching for our children from Poland ends May 15th. Please take a look at our website for all the details about orphan hosting: https://www.bloomworldwide.org/hosting2.html . In order to look at the photo listing of available children, you’ll need to fill out a very brief registration form.
Please prayerfully consider coming along on this mission trip! All of our children have very generous scholarships which have been given towards their hosting fees. (And all hosting fees are fully tax-deductible.)
We believe that God has a plan for each of these precious children of His. Perhaps it is YOUR family who He is asking to bring a child to America! If you cannot host, will you please take a look at the photos of the children anyway and spend a few minutes praying for families for them? Let’s not let any of them be left behind this summer!
May each of your families be blessed as you advocate for “the least of these children of His” in the spirit of James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (NIV). Thank you for whatever you can do to help!
International Orphan Hosting Programs - BLOOM
Orphan Hosting: A short term family mission trip - but, the mission, the orphan, comes to you! Share love of family, Christ & more 4-6 weeks in your home!
bloomworldwide.org