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Through my years working with adoptive families both within a formal role and now at a distance with Adoption-Share, one thing stands out to me: love.  Okay, after you are through gagging, hear me out.  When I say love, I don’t mean it in a cliché way.  Obviously adoption is an act of love, yet this action, “to love” is something that often people outside or removed from the adoption process struggle to understand.  How is it that a person can come to utterly embrace, nurture, and protect a child that biologically did not originate from them?   This question or thought is sometimes vocalized by those around the person who plans on adoption.  The underlying fear that is almost always left unstated is, “how do I love this child too?” “will I bond with this child?” “what will the attachment process look like to me as a grandparent, sibling, aunt, etc?” Erik Erikson, a psychologist who’s 8 stages of development have been and continues to be studied and applied to analyzing human behavior, conjectured that each person reaches a stage in which he or she reaches the 7th stage of generativety vs. stagnation.  The theory follows that an individual arrives at generativity or the desire to guide the next generation (often through parenting) through the positive

completion of each of the previous stages.  Despite his detailed theory, and his disclaimer that generativity is not achieved solely by the desire to have or want more children, Erikson’s development model gives us no real origin of love…. the kind of love that can bridge the distance of two wombs, one empty and the other full; the kind of love that can fully and completely nurture a child not one’s own has to come from

something greater. It is not enough to want to be a parent.  It is not enough to feel deeply for a parentless child.  These desires and emotions do not cultivate love by itself.  Those who surround a family on their adoption journey do not develop love simply by being the new grandparent, aunt, sibling, ect.  The kind of love I am talking about is the kind

that mirrors a part of who we are at the core.  And the only way we could ever be capable of such love is to have been loved like this before ourselves.  This month of love (in salute to Valentine’s Day) it is my hope that you not only set out to love but further that you discover the origins through which you possess this great ability to love deeply.  “We love because He first loved us” 

A word from our founderBy Anthea Ramirez, Chief Sharer

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In December of 2006, 18-year-old Katie Davis from Brentwood, Tennessee, traveled to Uganda for the first time. She was immediately captivated with the people and the culture. The following summer, Katie returned to Uganda to teach Kindergarten at an orphanage. As she walked to the children’s home each day, she was shocked to see the sheer number of school-aged children sitting idly on the side of the road or working in the fields. She learned there were very few government-run public schools in Uganda, and none in the area where she was working. Most schools in Uganda are privately operated and therefore require school fees for attendance, making impoverished children unable to afford an education. God laid it on Katie's heart to start a child sponsorship program, allowing orphaned and vulnerable children who

are unable to afford schooling to go to school, have their school supplies provided, eat three meals each day, spiritual discipleship, and medical care. Originally planning to have 40 children in the program, Katie had signed up 150 by January 2008. Today the program sponsors over 650 children. Shortly thereafter, Katie established a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called Amazima Ministries International. The organization, based out of Franklin, TN, seeks to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Uganda who need it most. In the Luganda, Amazima means "truth." Amazima desires to reveal the truth of God's unconditional love through Jesus Christ to the Ugandan people. (Story continues on page 4)

An “Ordinary” Saint: Young Teen Responds to a Need and Becomes Mother to 13 Ugandan Girls

This month join us on Facebook on February 27th at 9pm EST to chat with Tracy Riley, a licensed clinical social worker, founder, and Executive Director of Adoption Authority, a licensed adoption agency in the states of Florida and Georgia.  Tracy will be available to answer your questions about what to expect after you have been matched.  Find out some of the emotions you and the expectant parent may face and how you can best support yourself and be a support to the expectant parent. Chat is scheduled for Wednesday February 27th, 2013 at 9pm EST.

February Facebook Chat

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Continued on page 6

Katie also reached out to the Karimojong people of the Masese community. The poorest of the poor, and losing their children to malnutrition and starvation at an astounding rate, she noticed their desperate need for nutritious food. Amazima partnered with a school in Masese and to hold a program at the school to feed children in the community, nourishing over 1,200 children Monday through Friday. This allows the children to attend school and therefore not go to the street to beg. Also provided is medical care, Bible study, and general health training. As friendships developed in Masese, Katie’s heart felt a strong pull to help the women in the village provide for their families. She initiated a self-sustaining vocational program to empower these women by making unique Ugandan magazine bead jewelry. They are also taught money management skills and meet together for Bible study weekly. The necklaces made by the beading circle are purchased and sold in the United States, with all proceeds returning back to the feeding program in their own community.

An “Ordinary” Saint (Story continued from page 3)

LIKE IT 2 WIN IT GIVEAWAY!Kisses from Katie!  Get the book for free by getting the most new likes on our Facebook Page!  Simply have your friends and family type the phrase below on our Facebook Page during the week of

2/13/2013-2/20/2013 at midnight for a chance to win big!  We will be picking a few winners, so we want our Facebook feed to be slammed with this phrase. Make sure your family and friends types your name somewhere or tags you on their post so we can make sure you get credit!

Giveaway phrase: “Adoption is Love”Instructions:1.  First, you must get your friends to become a fan of Adoption-Share and like us on Facebook. 2.  Second, it is VERY IMPORTANT that your friends add a comment as to who has referred them to the Adoption-Share Facebook Page. Please make sure that they say who has referred them, because without that we will not know for sure.3.  Get your friends ready today because we start Sunday (2/13/2013) and end (2/20/13).

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AAPLOG CONFERENCELast September we had this conversation with Anderson Cooper on CNN.  This month Adoption-Share Founder Thea

Ramirez will be in Washington DC to teach OBGYNs how to insert adoption into the option conversation!  This is an exciting time in women’s health care when doctors are more open to presenting the adoption option! Stay tuned for more information!

Recap of Facebook Chat Re: Adoption Tax CreditThis past month, tax attorney Gil Nellis responded to questions asked live on our Facebook page.  Questions included: what documents should adoptive parents who are claiming the adoption tax credit, tax difference in benefits in taking an adoption loan from a bank or taking a loan from a family member, how to file in cases of a failed or disrupted adoption, and do much more.  A big thank you to Gil for taking an hour of his time to answer adoptive parent’s questions about the changes to the adoption tax credit and what they can expect when filing their taxes this year.  For more information, click here to access the full feed.  For help on your taxes this year click here.

Check out the Adoption-Share video!

For testimonies of how Adoption-Share is helping

pregnancy centers, adoptive families, agencies and birthparents,

click HERE!

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Amazima has training programs for young Ugandan men in basic construction and carpentry skills. In 2010 and 2011, they employed several of these young men to build a community playground and a chapel at Amazima’s land. Through this training program, these men gained respect, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment along with new skills for future employment. Most recently, Amazima has utilized the Farming God’s Way (FGW) training resource to educate local farmers in more efficient and productive methods to farm the land based on rich Biblical principles. The majority of farmers in Uganda are subsistence farmers - working tirelessly to provide only what will feed their family. Often, they are unable to do even that and are rarely left with any produce to sell for income. The techniques taught through FGW seminars produce higher yields while highlighting the three pillars of the FGW methodology: Biblical, Management, and Technology. The organization has seen great progress in this area and have already begun a second demonstration/training plot. Discipleship is the undercurrent to all of Amazima’s program services. They are passionate about nourishing the spiritual needs of the people, not just the physical. Every one of their programs is Gospel-centered and offers opportunity for prayer, study of the Word, corporate worship, and spiritual mentoring. On a personal level, Katie responded to a need in January of 2008 to help three orphaned girls that God placed before her. It was at that time she first became a mother. Now in the process of adopting her 13 daughters, Katie offers, "People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people." More of Katie’s journey can be found in her New York Times bestselling book, Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption and her blog. For more information about Amazima and their love for the Ugandan people, visit: www.amazima.org.

Story by Brenda DavenportUsed with permission.

An “Ordinary” Saint (Story continued from page 4)

"People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people." Katie Davis

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