Why should homeschooling parents be concerned about orphans overseas? In the first chapter of James, it says: pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to care for orphans and widows in their trouble. On today’s Home School Heartbeat Mike Smith continues our series on homeschooling internationally adopted children with guest Tony Brewer.
Mike Smith:
Last time, we heard from a homeschooling mom of internationally adopted children. My guest today is Tony Brewer, founder of A Helping Hand Adoption Agency and the outreach ministry Orphan Voice. Tony, thank you for joining us today on the program.
Tony Brewer:
Thank you for having me. It’s a joy to be with you.
Mike:
Tony, as a father of five adopted children with three you adopted from China, what do you see as one of the most important issues for homeschooling parents to keep in mind concerning orphans abroad?
Tony:
One thing would be to realize that the children have experienced a couple of traumatic events. That there may be some emotional issues that love and prayer will need to deal with. That they've been abandoned a couple of times, they’ve been abandoned by their birth mother and then they’ve probably found their way into an orphanage and they’ve been uprooted from that setting as well. And so the little one, even if it’s only six or eight months old, has had tough times and that needs to be just recognized. I think also, homeschoolers have a unique opportunity to build positive adoption language into the children’s lives. They were chosen, how God has adopted me, I’ve adopted you. And also, homeschoolers probably have a bit more freedom to build into their curriculum unique things about the child’s birth country, language, culture to help them appreciate their birth country.
Mike:
Thank you so much for that. Until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
