Summer of Hope
"I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." John 14:18
Swimming, boating, horseback riding, gymnastics, soccer...these are but a few of the activities that make up a summer camp experience for children. What is unique about Summer of Hope is that the camp participants are orphans - children without families who reside in orphanages across the world. They travel to the U.S. and spend four weeks experiencing life with a family. Host families recruited from the community provide housing and care for the children during their stay.
For the children, it's a vacation away from the often grim, institutional setting of the orphanage. But it's much more than that. It's a chance for these children to be given a future and a hope for a better life. Every day thousands of children reach the age when they are no longer adoptable. Their greatest fear is being forced to leave an institution with no one to belong to and no place to call home. These children have been passed by year after year because people generally want to adopt babies and are often afraid of the unknowns and challenges they will face if they adopt an older child.
The Summer of Hope program can take some of the fear and risk out of adopting an older child by giving prospective families an opportunity to see and evaluate first-hand what the challenges and rewards would be. Through Summer of Hope, many of the children find permanent families as a result of their sojourn to the U.S. In fact, the Summer of Hope program boasts an 78% success rate. Overeight summers, a total of 145 children from Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia and the Philippines have participated in our program. Of those children,113 have been or are in the process of being adopted.
SUMMER OF HOPE 2011
This was our NINTH summer for doing the "Summer of Hope" program! Nine school aged orphans arrived this July from the Philippines and Ethiopia to the community of Bozeman, Montana and the surrounding area. Host families and volunteers were recruited this spring for the Summer of Hope 2011. You can view the list of our contributors appearing in a thank you ad published July 3, 2011 in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The Hope Walk was held June 11th and successfully raised the funds necessary for this year's goal of $31,500! Information about hosting and volunteer opportunities can be found at our web site devoted exclusively to the Summer of Hope program www.summerofhope.org . A calendar of "Summer Of Hope" events is available on this site.
CAN YOU GIVE YOUR TIME TO A CHILD THIS SUMMER? Click here to see our beautiful Summer Of Hope post card that tells how you can make a difference in the life of an older orphan.
On August 7, 2011 The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported on the Summer Of Hope 2011 Program.
SUMMER OF HOPE 2010
The Summer of Hope program was conducted in Bozeman, Montana and Boise, Idaho last year. Twenty-seven children, ages 4 to 14 participated with 12 children hosted in Bozeman and 15 children hosted in Boise. Fifteen of the children were from the Philippines and 12 were from Colombia. This was our first year to bring children from Colombia under the auspices of The Sacred Portion Children's Outreach - a result of working for several years to gain approval from the Colombia government. Seventeen families went through the preparation process to either host or serve as back-up families. Each community held a Hope Walk/Run to raise the funds to cover the airfare of the children and their escorts, passports, visas, medical insurance and other expenses associated with carrying out the summer program. The children from Colombia arrived on June 29 and the children from the Philippines arrived on July 11. The children had a great time during their four week stay. They were exposed to many new ideas and experiences and had lots of fun participating in all of the activities that were provided for them. Many of the children have families moving forward with adoption. We are advocating for families for the remaining children. The Summer of Hope program continues to be a successful strategy for finding adoptive families for children who are considered hard to place because they are older or part of a sibling group. We are grateful to the families who opened their hearts and homes to host and to give these children a wonderful vacation in another country and culture. We are also in awe of the families who, in faith, are stepping out to make these children a permanent part of their family. They are aware of the challenges that lie ahead, but are responding to God's call to care for the orphan. Summer of Hope 2010 -Follow this link to a Thank You video produced by one of the Filipino escorts, Desiderio "Dess" Camitan III, RSW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilkuzXR4RFs
Read Art King's article about Advocating Adoption for teens for couples in their 50's
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