Hope Walk

There is going to be a program here this summer for older Filipino orphans called Summer of Hope. (See below for explanation of this program) I have volunteered to walk in their Hope Walk fundraiser on June 2nd in order to help raise money for the program and for all of the fees that the families will face if they step forward to adopt these children. My heart is heavy for the world's orphans right now, and the idea of these kids being turned out of the orphanage at the age of 14 breaks my heart. I think walking will be fun (6K = 3 miles).....the hard part for me is asking for pledges.

Soooo, I was thinking since it is so outside of my comfort zone to ask people for pledges in person, I thought I'd post it here and if any of you feel moved to sponsor me as I walk, please email me and let me know. If I could get a hundred people to donate just $10, I could raise $1,000 toward this program. So let me know if this is something you feel led to do.

A friend of mine is going to be hosting one of the girls this summer, and I thought she did a great job of explaining the program, so I've copied and pasted her explanation here:

Summer of Hope will bring older orphans, mostly ages 7-14 from the Philippines for four weeks in July, giving them an escape from the institutional setting of the orphanages where they live - into the comfort of carefully chosen host families' Christian homes. While here, the children will take part in
family life while they attend day camps and other group activities. All the while, volunteers will be working behind the scenes to introduce these kids to Christian families who may be interested in adopting.

We decided to host a girl named Michelle who is 12 years old. She is from the Philippines and the goal is to find her a forever family before she becomes too old (age 14 I believe) to be in the orphanage. At that point the children over 14 are typically turned out onto the street to fend for themselves, often turning to prostitution or sex slavery.

The Summer of Hope was organized about 5 years ago in Bozeman, MT by adoptive parents. Craig and Jan
Druckenmiller who had a heart for older orphans who would probably never be united with a "forever" family without a special program like the Summer of Hope. 67 kids have come to the U.S. through Summer of Hope, and 57 have been adopted by Christian families! That's a wonderful success rate! Kids
have come from various countries including the Philippines, Colombia, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Check out SummerofHope.org

These children, due to parental death or extreme poverty, currently live in orphanages in the Philippines and are legally freed for adoption in the United States. However, at 7 – 14
years old, or as part of a sibling group, they are unlikely to be selected by an adoptive family. But Summer Hope is bringing them here to change that.

Thank you for considering this. I know that many of you who read this blog are just like us, trying to raise funds for your own adoptions, so I understand if this is not possible. If you are able, I'll try to make you proud as I walk the three miles. : )