Verners

According to a U.S. State Department report released recently, 6,493 children were adopted from China in 2006.  This represents a decline of 18% from the previous year’s total of 7,906.

That’s a pretty small number considering how many children are guessed to be in Chinese Orphanages.  According to the Herald Tribune a February 2005 report in the Weekend Standard, a Chinese business newspaper, found a ratio of 117 boys per 100 girls under the age of 5 in the 2000 census.  This gender gap could result in as many as 60 million “missing” girls from the population by the end of the decade.

Consider this statement written in the same article referenced above, “…And what happened to these girls? According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation…there are about 7 million abortions in China per year, 70 percent of which are estimated to be of females. That adds up to around 5 million per year, or 50 million by the end of the decade; so where are the other 10 million girls? If even 10 percent end up in orphanages — well, you do the math.”

This is a hard reality as we wait to meet our daughter Faith.  Please pray for more “paper ready” children in the coming months as rumors of even more slows downs and wait times of almost 3 years loom.

Grace and peace,

The Verners

A family baptism, originally uploaded by verners.

Crissy and the boys were baptized in our church this Sunday! Levi performed his profession of faith on piano by playing and singing Amazing Grace. Crissy gave a short testimony and Luke accepted the dripping water with tentative smiles. It was a blessing to be among so many friends and our families as God poured out His grace on our family. It was a very special day for us all.