Bethany News Blog

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Johnny Carr, Bethany Christian Services' National Director of Church Partnerships was featured this morning on Pensacola, Florida's ABC news affiliate.
In celebration of National Adoption Month, the Carr family shared their story of adoption. Two of their four children were adopted from China and both are deaf.
Watch their story here.

Do you have an adoption story that you would like to share? Send your story to us and you could be featured on our website, or in LifeLines magazine. Visit www.bethany.org/stories for more information.

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Churches dedicated to caring for the orphan, raised awareness on Sunday for the worlds 143 million orphans. Bethany, along with organizations such as Family Life, Focus on the Family, and Show Hope were part of the effort to spread the word.

The Bethany events were held in several states, and were just a few of the over 400 events across the country connected to Orphan Sunday.

According to the article in The Christian Post, these organizations and the campaign's supporters are praying that Sunday's events created awareness about the plight of the orphan and a call to action to get people involved. Bethany's national director of church partnerships, Johnny Carr was quoted in the article saying, "God has called us to care for orphans and we know that one specific way we can care for orphans is through adoption."

To read the entire article, visit www.christianpost.com
 

Posted by Sarah J. Ronan At 09:54:07 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Mac Powell, lead singer of Christian band Third Day, and his family recently completed an adoption through Bethany Christian Services.

He will share his adoption story on November 20, as a featured guest at the fund-raising banquet for Bethany of Atlanta.
To learn more about this event and how you can attend, visit www.bethany.org/atlantabanquet

The Powell family's story was shared with the publication Cobb Life. Click here to read the story.

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Sandra McLaughlin, MSW, Executive Director of Bethany Christian Services of Western Pennsylvania, is now working with the Bethany Christian Services International team to facilitate all incoming birthparent search requests from Korean adoptees.

Sandra was adopted from Korea in 1961 when she was 5 months old and has been working in all aspects of adoption around the globe for more than 25 years. Throughout her career, Sandra has been involved in post adoption counseling and search and reunion facilitation. She developed the Holt Heritage Camps in 1982, co-directed the Korea Motherland Tours, and was commended by Ambassador Lee Tae-Sik, Republic of South Korea for her work in adoption.
       
If you are a Korean adoptee who is at least 18 years old and interested in a birthparent search, please e-mail the following information to koreanadopteesearch@bethany.org

Adoptee's full name
Date of Birth
Placement Date (if known)
Korean name (if known)
Korean ID number (if known)
Current contact information - address, phone numbers, email
Parents' full names and address where they lived when they adopted
Parents' current address

All adoptees will receive a personal follow-up phone call from Sandra McLaughlin to review their request.

Please feel free to direct all questions regarding a search request to koreanadopteesearch@bethany.org.  

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Thanks to Mac Powell of Third Day, adoption was in the spotlight at their concert at the Knoxville Coliseum on October 15, during their Revelation tour.

During the concert, lead singer, Mac Powell shared with the audience his personal adoption experience. His family recently finalized their adoption through Bethany, which is the main reason Bethany had a booth at the concert.

As fans Bethany waited in line for autographs from the band, Bethany staff and volunteers were able to hand out information to those interested in adoption. These volunteers and Bethany staff members also enjoyed an “All Access Pass” during the concert (see photo below). Volunteers consisted of adoptive parents, as well as one birthmother, who proudly wore a “birthmother” shirt that she had made.

Bethany is grateful to Third Day for allowing us to be a part of their tour and share the joy of adoption with their fans. Special thanks go to Mac Powell for his generosity in sharing his adoption experience with Bethany.

Posted by Sarah J. Ronan At 10:49:46 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Bethany Christian Services of Atlanta is excited to be serving as a partner organization in Raise Me Up, a campaign dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring action on behalf of Georgia’s children in foster care.

The campaign emphasizes the importance of quickly connecting children in foster care with safe, loving, and permanent families and other lifelong connections.

The intention is to connect people with organizations in the Metro Atlanta community who have volunteer opportunities that benefit foster children. The campaign is a partnership between Georgia’s Department of Human Services, Bethany, a dozen more Atlanta-area nonprofits, and the Casey Family Programs national foundation.

Over a two-month period, Raise Me Up will blanket the Atlanta media market with powerful ads highlighting the challenges that face children in foster care.

Bethany Christian Services of Atlanta was involved in planning meetings for several months leading up to the kickoff of the campaign, held October 14, at the Georgia State Capitol.

State child welfare agency staff, as well as several key Bethany of Atlanta staff, and many others were in attendance to listen to Governor Sonny Purdue and First Lady Mary Purdue speak of their excitement about the campaign and their commitment to Georgia’s foster children.

Georgia was selected as one of a handful of sites for the Raise Me Up campaign, which is part of a national effort to bring attention to the nearly half million children in America’s foster care system.

Bethany Christian Services is one of the entry points for persons who want to volunteer their services or become involved in other ways with this campaign. You can learn more by going to www.bethany.org/atlanta where you can also find a link to the campaign website at www.raisemeup.org

Click here to read an article about Raise Me Up.

Posted by Sarah J. Ronan At 07:57:24 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Catalyst Conference 2009 was held in Atlanta, GA on October 7 – 9 with nearly 13,000 Christian leaders attending. In this conference, it was exciting to see the Church rising up to listen to God’s call for Christians to care for orphans.

Coach Tony Dungy (first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl) was interviewed and was asked about his adoption experience. He shared his story where he explained that he really wasn't for it since he had 3 kids already but his wife wanted to do it. In a meeting with a social worker, he asked the question, "IF we proceed with this, how long would it take to get a child in our home?”  The social worker responded explaining that if they were willing to accept an African American child, it would be as soon as they were approved. That statement pierced his heart and they now have 4 adopted children.


Later at the conference, the crowd was asked to consider "what's next" (that was a theme running through the conference). Would individuals in this crowd of nearly 13,000 Christian leaders consider adopting a child? Mac Powell (lead singer of Third Day) was then introduced as the surprise guest. Mac shared his family’s adoption story. He and his wife Aimee adopted through Bethany Christian Services of Georgia. Halfway through his interview, Aimee brought their baby up on stage. The place was in tears. Mac then sang with the Di Raja children’s choir, an orphan choir from Uganda. It was an unbelievable moment.

Catalyst released their new website, 143million.org during the conference. It has been so great to partner with this organization and to see how God has moved on their leader’s hearts for orphan care and adoption. Catalyst and Bethany Christian Services also partnered to produce a 3 minute video for churches to use to ask their members if they would consider adoption. It can be viewed in the Bethany Christian Services section on the home page of www.143million.org

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Click the link below to read a great article featuring two Bethany families, the Hoods and  the Nichols, as well as others following God's call to adopt.

Faith Moves Families to Adopt article

Are you a Bethany family was moved by faith to adopt? Share your story with us and you could be featured on our blog as a Bethany Family of the Month, or have a feature article in our LifeLines magazine. Click here to share your story.

Posted by Sarah J. Ronan At 11:33:44 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Last week, Bethany Christian Services hosted several delegates from the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA). CCAA officials met Bethany staff and 10 families who have adopted children with special needs from China. The second day Bethany and CCAA discussed how to prepare families and children for adoption, with guidelines of the Hague Treaty. Bethany was honored to host the CCAA delegation.  
Click here to watch a news story about the meeting.

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Bethany Christian Services is proud to be partnering with the Catalyst Conference this year to focus on Orphan Care and Adoption. The conference will be held on October 7-9 in Atlanta, Georgia. Ken Coleman of Catalyst Conferences said the following:  

"We have decided to make a concerted effort to challenge church leaders to make adoption a top priority and a comprehensive part of the ministry of their local church. Caring for the orphan is a Biblical mandate. This is a leadership issue for the local church and much work needs to be done.

“Catalyst is excited and humbled that our friends at Bethany Christian Services are partnering with us to help sound the call about the need and assist local churches in this most worthy of deeds."

In preparation for the conference, Ken interviewed Johnny Carr, Bethany's National Director of Church Partnerships, on their podcast that reaches more than 40,000 subscribers. This Special Edition Podcast is available on iTunes after Episode 80.

For more information on the Catalyst Conference visit www.catalystspace.com.

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