Our Exciting News!!!

Some of you (my family and AGCI FB mommas) have already learned of our latest adventure, but for those of you who haven't..............I'll let you in on the details of our new journey.

Our crazy family has answered God's call to invite this little boy.....

.....into our home for Christmas!! We are hosting Vitaly, a Ukrainian orphan, from December 18 - January 15 through the New Horizons for Children hosting program. Our goal while Vitaly is in America is to show him the love of God and advocate for him to find an adoptive family. If you know of anyone interested in adoption, pass along Vitaly's info! In the middle of January, he will head back to Ukraine and the orphanage where he now lives. If no family steps forward to adopt him, he will most likely live at the orphanage until he ages out of the system at 15 or 16 years old. Vitaly will turn 11 years old at the end of November. We need your help in advocating for him!

Vitaly is HIV+. THIS IS NOT A BIG DEAL!!!! Most Americans' education on HIV has not been updated since the 1980's, but TONS of progress has been made. As long as a person who is positive is taking their anti-retroviral meds, the virus is controllable and will eventually become undetectable in the bloodstream. The person should live a normal life with a normal life-span. In fact, dealing with the virus on a day-to-day basis greatly resembles dealing with Diabetes. HIV will NOT spread in a normal family setting. It is only spread 3 ways: through unprotected sex, shared infected needles, and pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding. The virus is not present in saliva or tears. There is so much good, educational information on the Project Hopeful website,  if you would like to know more. 

Vitaly is in a special needs orphanage because of his HIV status. Most people will overlook him for adoption because of the stigma associated with the virus. It has been said that the biggest challenge associated with HIV is the stigma. More people are getting educated, though, and I know many people who have recently adopted kiddos with HIV. We need to spread the truth and advocate for Vitaly!  He has been described as being a smart little boy who wants to learn how to ride a bike and loves to play Legos. He is also excited to learn some English words.

Please pray for our family and for Vitaly as we look forward to hosting him this winter. We appreciate your prayers and support!

Stay tuned, as my next post will be our side of the story - how we learned about Vitaly and answered God's call to host him.