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so extremely desperate!

Thank you for helping to raise $23,000.00 for Teri Lynn’s adoption.  God is so good!  

Every now and then I see something that literally makes me feel sick in my stomach.  They’re the pictures and the stories which bring me to my knees–begging God to intervene.

There are many things in this life which break my heart.  Poverty, hurt, broken marriages, wayward children, neglected and abused animals, struggling families, illness…I could go on and on.  I ache every time I see any of those things.

But something happens deep within me each and every time I see a picture of  sheer injustice–an orphan without hope!  A situation so desperate and so very heartbreaking.

I know that many of you have been reading my blog for a long time, and for that I am so thankful.  Some of you have even followed along from the time I was in Ukraine last year adopting Hailee and Harper.  You held up my arms in those weeks which were terribly lonely and difficult–especially when there was a chance that the judge would not allow me to adopt the girls.

While in that country and since coming home, I have tried as best I could to put into words the conditions that children live in there.  I shared my heart here and here.  It’s a fine balance, really.  I want to spell it out and tell the world all about the reality of the conditions that millions of children live in.  But at the same time there’s a very fine line in being cautious not to ruffle any feathers that could possibly cause problems for future families adopting from those nations. 

Last week I saw a picture that just about ripped my heart out.  Staring back at me was a little treasure.  An angel, really. 

Allow me to introduce you to Teri Lynn.

Isn’t she just a little doll?

Teri Lynn has Down syndrome and lives in a country in Eastern Europe.  She has waited for years and years for someone to choose her.  Unfortunately for Teri Lynn, she turned five last December.  A death sentence!  Literally.  Do you know why?  In these countries young children are kept in a baby house for the first five years of their lives.  These are places filled to be brim with little ones.  And while conditions are positively awful in many of them, they really are paradise compared to what comes next.

Soon after these sweet children with special needs turn five, they become eligible to be transferred.  To a mental asylum!  An institution.  A place where 95% of children with Down syndrome DIE!  They cannot survive the heinous conditions.  They lie in cribs day in and day out.  They are starved of human contact and adequate food.  All dignity is stripped away as they lie in their own urine and feces until someone eventually finds enough time to come and change them.  These children have no worth and no value whatsoever!  To those who “care” for them, they are merely objects–not worthy of human love and care.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words.  I really could go on and on telling you story after story.  I could use every word in the book to try and tell the world about the reality of life for these sweet, beautiful, and amazing children who get transferred to mental institutions.

But this time, no words are necessary.

This, friends, is Teri Lynn.  Just a few weeks after being transferred!  This is an updated picture of the same little girl above living in a mental asylum.

Can you even imagine?  I weep for her!  How is this even possible?

How can a beautiful little girl deteriorate so quickly, in just a few weeks?  How can her head be shaved and her face look like she is the victim of some kind of abuse?  How?  It looks like she is definitely being drugged with something too.  Oh, God in heaven!

It’s the reality of institutionalism.  A place where only the fittest and strongest can survive.

Dear blog friends, today I come to you begging for your help. Yes, I’m begging! Like every other orphan on the planet, Teri Lynn deserves to be chosen!  She deserves a chance at life. She deserves to blossom and grow and become all who God has created her to be.  But I’m afraid that time is running out.  She is deteriorating fast, and I have no idea how long she can hold on. She’s holding on by a thread.

My heart aches for her.

PLEASE, will you help me spread the word?  Would you mind spreading Teri Lynn’s story all over the place in the hope that someone will look at her sweet little face and know that she is their daughter?  We need to find a family for her, like, yesterday.  A family who will step forward in faith and head into the unknown.  Will it be easy?  Perhaps not.  Is God able?  Yes!  Able to do exceedingly, abundantly MORE than we could ever ask or imagine.

Teri Lynn has a grant fund which has been set up for her through Reece’s Rainbow.  A large grant would make her adoption so much easier.  If you feel led by the Lord, would you consider making a contribution to her fund?  All donations are tax deductible.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  Thank you for standing with me and trusting that this little life WILL be saved.  Thank you for praying that the right family will step forward very soon–and that they will get to her before it is too late. 

Who will rescue this treasure of darkness? 

“I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”      Isaiah 45:3

For anyone wanting information about adopting Teri Lynn, please contact  [email protected]

UPDATED:  Teri Lynn has been given a matching grant by an amazing reader.  You can read all the details here.

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