Thursday, October 18, 2012

Misconceptions

When presented with orphan hosting, one of the first questions people ask is:

“Isn’t it cruel to bring an orphan here for a few weeks, give them a taste of paradise and then send them back?”

I bet some of you have asked that question as well. A fellow regional coordinator and veteran host mom has written a blog post that speaks to this question so beautifully.

Her post titled "Misconceptions" is currently being featured on the New Horizons for Children Blog. It's worth a read regardless of whether you've asked yourself that question or not!

If you've ever wondered if you could truly love "one of these kids", one who is not your own, one who will only be with you for a few short weeks...then you should check out another blog post by the same coordinator titled What's Love Got to Do With It?

My favorite quote from that post is this:

The truth is, loving STRANGERS will stretch you and shove you way out of your comfort zone-and we don't usually like that. But the thing is, once you start showing love intentional to someone... they're not really a stranger anymore, are they?
It's human nature to shy away from things that make us uncomfortable.
One of the ways we deal with that discomfort it to overlook or ignore the object of our affliction.
We overlook the orphan crisis in Eastern Europe (and other parts of the world) because it makes us uncomfortable.
We overlook it because it's easier to NOT know.
We don't WANT to see it or know about it.
Because what does that say about us if we KNOW--- and yet do nothing?
Don't overlook these children because it makes you uncomfortable.

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