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Mission & Faith Statement
America World's Statement of Mission, Vision, Values, Faith, and
Principles on Adoption, and Responsibilities
Mission:
To build Christian families according to God's design of adoption.
Key Verse: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
Vision:
America World desires for every adoptable orphan to be placed in a Christian home.
Values:
America World Adoption is committed to building strong relationships with staff and families while providing excellent social services that are guided by the following values:
- Integrity & Wise Stewardship
- Respect & Empathy
- Creativity
- Commitment to the best interest of Orphans and Families
- Dependency on God
Faith:
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The Bible is the inspired, only infallible, written word of God.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Mark 13:31
(NIV)
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There is one true God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 (NIV)
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Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death, and was
resurrected.
You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord
God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary
asked the angel, "Since I am a virgin?" Luke 1:31-34 (NIV)
Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was
not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. Acts 2:31 (NIV)
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All are sinful and need justification by grace through faith and rebirth by the
Holy Spirit for salvation.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into
this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of
God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that
suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our
hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)
Principles on Adoption:
We believe it is our responsibility to support families throughout the adoption
process, especially the assessment phase, and to provide them with the
resources which will enable them to become successful parents of an adopted
child.
God is sovereign over all situations in life—including the lives of orphans. We
believe that adopting a child is not a "mission," but rather a way in which God
chooses to bless a family through one of His "good works" that He has
pre-ordained for us to walk in.
We celebrate that adoption and birth are equally valid means of bringing
children into families. God, through Christ, first adopted us into His family
and demonstrated the mechanism of children being placed into families. We
understand that Jesus was a birth child to His mother and an adoptive child to
His father.
Because God values all of his children equally, no child should be defined by
the way he/she enters a family. We do not assume that issues arising in the
lives of adopted children are all attributable to being adopted. Just as
children living with their birthparents often have emotional, physical or
psychological problems, so too, do children by adoption. We do recognize,
however, that many issues faced by children by adoption are a corollary from
the time these children spent living in institutions or broken homes. All
children are unique and have specific needs. We believe that the problems faced
by children, whether children by birth or adoption, should not define these
children, but should be recognized as part of their personality, designed with
a specific purpose for who they are and a part of their particular and unique
place in a family.
It would not be remotely possible to outline, in detail, the many joys,
principles and challenges involved in parenting a child (adopted or birth). We
do, however, desire to briefly touch on some important biblical principles for
caring for children that we espouse at America World.
Love and Relationship
We believe that all parents ought to love their child(ren) through what they
say and do, thus building and maintaining a strong relationship with him/her.
It is important that parents show their child(ren) unconditional love and tell
them how much they’re loved. We believe parents ought to treat every child
equally—though with an understanding that every child is unique and has his/her
own purpose, interests, desires, temperament and needs. We believe the greatest
act of love a parent can show a child is to properly teach and train them to
have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Adoption is Natural
Adoption actually is just as natural as procreating, but it requires one thing
that the enemy has hidden from the typical American couple. You actually have
to see orphans before your heart goes out to them and your fathering or
mothering desire kicks in. Perhaps that is why in James we find the command to
visit widows and orphans in their distress. It takes nine months to have a
biological child. Could you imagine what visiting orphans for nine months would
do to your heart? In the same way that caring for your expectant wife and
listening to the sounds of the baby in the womb turn your heart to your new
baby, visiting orphans has the natural effect of turning your heart to them as
well.
Training and Discipline
We recognize that there are many widely differing views on this topic, even
among Christians, as to the best way to train and discipline children. At
America World, we espouse what we believe to be a balanced, biblical-based
approach to the subject.
We support biblical principles on parenting and discipline and believe they are
effective tools for parenting children, when applied in a consistent and loving
manner. Parents have the responsibility to discipline their children. The age
of the child and the severity of the misconduct should determine the
punishment. Punishments can range from a time out or loss of a privilege, to
reasonable corporal punishment.
Reasonable corporal punishment should only be administered in a consistent,
sensible and loving manner with the sole purpose being to benefit the child. We
also believe reasonable corporal punishment is beneficial to a child when
applied appropriately. We define reasonable corporal punishment as the
purposeful infliction of discomfort to a child as a means of modifying negative
behavior. Reasonable corporal punishment should always be coupled with
communication explaining the punishment as well as unconditional love for the
child despite the need for discipline. Although we believe in and defend the
parent’s right to use reasonable corporal discipline, if any situation arises
in which America World is aware of any form of child abuse or neglect, the
proper child protection services shall be contacted.
Relationship with Jesus Christ
Just as we promote the practice of talking with a child about his/her origin
and adoption from his/her earliest days, we strongly recommend parents to talk
with their children about Jesus and the Gospel in the same way. Both the loving
relationship built and the understanding of "right and wrong" inherent in
proper discipline will form a solid foundation for his/her relationship with
Jesus Christ. We believe it is important for parents to encourage their
children to attend church, study the Bible and participate in individual and
corporate worship.
America World’s Responsibilities
As part of our initial guidance, we
assess each family’s situation, including current family makeup, living
environment, parenting philosophies and other aspects of the family’s framework
to provide as much help in the areas of need as possible. Because of the
tremendous impact of the parenting philosophy on the ultimate welfare of the
child, we make a concerted effort to assess their philosophies within a
biblical context and encourage parents to seek appropriate resources, including
Christian and/or pastoral counsel, books, seminars, etc. to improve parenting
skills.
We believe children should only be placed into families that abide by
biblically mandated relationships (heterosexual marriage, or single
nonhomosexual parenthood). Above all, holiness unto the Lord should be strived
for in all relationships.
We believe God has given us, as an agency, the responsibility to do our best to
place orphans into safe and loving Christian homes where they will be given the
opportunity to know Jesus as their Savior and to be raised in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord.
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Mission &
Faith Statement PDF
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