Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 30, 2010
This is now the third breakout (out of four) that I have been in with Michael Monroe of Tapestry. It is the second one that he has done with his wife Amy. I LOVE these guys! They are so passionate not only about helping families around them, but helping other ministries. They have so many materials out there to help you do what they do.
This session is the session that I have been most looking forward to as it really relates to where I am right now, knowing that there is a huge need around us (and for us) in the Maryland area. This session is about post-placement support. What is post-placement support? Well, your adoption agency typically helps you through the adoption process and right up until the adoption is finalized. What then? They try to tell you about things that you might encounter, but there is no way to REALLY prepare you.
Adoption comes with problems that are unique to adoption and there is a huge gap out there helping people with these problems. The church does not do a good job, partially because they just don’t know that there is a need and partially because they are not equipped. We have heard so many times that people wish that there was help, they wish there was someone to help them through the post-adoption process (which is life-long).
I can’t wait to watch the video series called Empowered to Connect that they have created with Dr. Karyn Purvis! Check out the videos they created here.
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 29, 2010
I am sitting here among many many people with a passion for caring about orphans worldwide. It is pretty awesome walking around with those that I have heard on recordings and read about on the internet. I know that I am going to forget to do something while I am here. I’ve already met a few different people, the first two from Oklahoma, how strange is that?
I love what people are doing here, but I must say that I think that people are missing something. Everyone seems to have James 1:27 posted in their booths. My issue is that everyone is using ellipses. People are either ignoring widows, the “remaining unstained by the world” part or both. People are missing a profound truth by doing this. There is an important aspect of what James is trying to tell us: caring for orphans AND widows is how you remain unstained by the world!
Looking forward to my first breakout with Michael Monroe of Tapestry – “Organization Matters: Church Ministry v. 501c3.
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 17, 2010
Okay, I am going to be a bit more serious in this post for a change. There has been a significant amount of news and discussion around this family who took their adopted child and sent him on a plane with a one-way ticket back to Russia. People are so quick to judge this family and their action. Did they do the right thing? Absolutely not! I cannot condone what they did. However, who was providing them with the needed support?
We in the US are horrible at this thing called community. It is indeed true that it takes a community to raise a child. It is especially true when the child has been adopted and even MORE so if the child was not an infant when adopted. However, in the US, we are a “strong”, “independent” people that cannot show weakness or request help from others. This is just pure hogwash. We are no different than anyone else; we need other people. There are not enough people supporting adoptive parents. I know first hand that raising an adopted child that was not an infant when adopted is hard. It has been much harder than raising my biological children.
The Church needs to step in and support these families. If we as a Church do not step in and support these families with whatever it is that they need, meals, counseling, an ear, anything, then we are as much to blame for these kind of events as the family. We need to stop complaining and step up and make a change. We cannot simply hope that somebody else is going to take action. YOU must take the action and help. And if you need help helping, Melissa, myself, and several others are here to help you!
Via con Dios!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 7, 2010
Okay, so I’ve done PJ and Mia on the past two days. Now it is time for me to express Ty’s personality through pictures taken on Easter. Please remember, the point of this gallery is to express his personality. I needed a much bigger gallery this time than the two before. Please be sure to click each thumbnail as the pictures are intended to be seen in their full size!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on March 31, 2010
I cannot, by any means, do justice to the topic of orphan care in the church in this post. I just want to ask people a couple simple questions:
1) Is it the church’s responsibility to take care of orphans?
2) If yes, who in the church? If no, who should be caring for the 143,000,000 orphans?
3) Is the group that should be taking care of orphans doing a good job with it?
I had the pleasure of checking out the following post: http://danyacoviello.blogspot.com/2010/03/10-ways-to-orphan-orphan-care-in-church.html
Also, check out our website: www.graftedfamilies.com. We have a lot of work to put into it, but it is there.
