Thank you all for your support and prayers! We have really been blessed with the individuals that are getting involved in orphan ministry. We are excited for the partnership that churches and individuals have been making with Hadassah’s Hope and the lives that will be changed through these partnerships, both abroad and here at home. This year, we have received 29 applications for financial assistance. Hadassah’s Hope has been able to help 5 families adopting 11 children between them in 2007 alone. God is truly working in lives and we are excited that we can be a part of God’s awesome plan for orphans. We continue to pray for corporate and individual monthly sponsors for Hadassah’s Hope, so that we can help more families adopt in the future.

Thank you for being a part of this ministry that that is so close to our Lord’s heart,

Craig and Mary Jutila
Founders of Hadassah's Hope

Updates:

We will be taking a few teams to Kazakhstan in the summer of 2008. Come join a team or bring a group of your church members. E-mail elizabeth@hadassahshope.org to receive more information and updates on the trip information.

We would like to introduce Stephanie. She is volunteering at Hadassah’s Hope and will be heading up all fundraisers. If you have questions about getting involved or attending our Annual Benefit Dinner, contact her at stephanie@hadassahshope.org.

Family Highlight:

It is quite an adventure to have been able to walk with a family through their adoption and come out on the other side. The Reed Family has been on a long journey towards their adoption of Gabriella, an orphan from Kazakhstan. It all began with Nancy Reed and her daughter Abbey taking a trip with Saddleback Church and a brand new organization called Hadassah’s Hope in 2005. After a week of playing and falling in love with the children, Nancy and Abbey came back ready to add to their family. Once Nancy’s husband Mike came to pick them up, he knew that their lives were going to change. A week later they began the adoption process and after a year and 7 months of paperwork and waiting, they are enjoying their adorable daughter Gabriella. To read their entire story and others, go to www.hadassahshope.org/adopting.

How can I get involved?

There are many ways that you can get involved with Hadassah’s Hope and the goal of taking care of orphans throughout the world.

Adopt!
If you are considering adoption or know others that are adopting, you can go to www.hadassahshope.org to get adoption agency names, or apply for a grant through Hadassah’s Hope.

Go!
You can go on a trip with Hadassah’s Hope in the summer of 2008. Send an e-mail to elizabeth@hadassahshope.org to get more information on the trip and receive e-mail updates.

Give!
Use Hadassah’s Hope as your charitable giving for 2007, by going online to www.hadassahshope.org/involved and submit a payment online through a credit card for your tax-deductible giving. You can also attend our Annual Benefit Dinner on November 2, 2007. The night includes dinner, silent auction and live entertainment! Check online for upcoming ticket sales.

Wondering what to do with that old car, boat or RV? You can donate your automobile to Hadassah’s Hope through Cars 4 Causes! Simply click on the link above and mention our name for the charity you would like to donate to. It’s that simple! Cars 4 Causes will take any automobile running or not, and fix it to sell. Once the car is sold, 50% of the profit will go directly to Hadassah’s Hope! (All donations are tax-deductible.)

Orphan Care & Adoption!

Last summer while on a trip to Kazakhstan, I was working with an orphanage outside of Almaty. We partnered with a team to bring supplies, and provide a Vacation Bible School to 40 kids for 5 days. On one of the first days, we took the kids outside and played on the playground that we had installed the year before. I met this little girl named Aida. She and her two sisters Deana and Aydana, had been in the orphanage for a couple years. I did not recognize that they were the same girls that I had seen in pictures from the 2005 team’s photo albums, as their hair had grown and they had become quite the little girls. After spending days with Aida, and watching her sing songs, make crafts and run around the playground, I had built this bond that made me constantly look around to make sure she was always taken care of. Although I have never been a mother myself, I imagine this is the same feeling that mom’s have when their child does their first dance recital or homerun.

I was talking to one of the orphanage care givers, and asked about Aida and her sisters. The worker told me the girls’ story of how their father was in jail for killing their mother and that their grandmother was unable to take care of them and that is how they came to the orphanage. The story did not strike me as odd, as I had heard many like this for each of the orphans there. What she told me last was what hit me the hardest. “These girls are not adoptable, as their father still has custody when he gets out of jail”. When he would get out and whether he was a suitable parent, apparently had nothing to do with these girls’ future. These precious little girls with amazing loving spirits, would probably spend their entire lives in the orphan care system and not because there were not parents willing to adopt them, as every person on our team wanted to.

The interesting aspect about the ministry at Hadassah’s Hope is that it reaches not only the children who are being adopted, but also those kids that may never be adopted. Orphan ministry is not solely about adoption, but taking care of kids without homes. This ministry will never end as long as there are kids like Aida, Deana and Aydana. For those three little girls, the only time they truly felt loved and special were the weeks each year that our teams were able to visit and bring crayons, coloring sheets, Bible stories and individuals who cared solely about their well being. Orphan ministry, as I have discovered, isn’t simply finding the families to adopt the children that are waiting. While that is a big part, it is also taking care of the children that will never have the opportunity to know a loving family.

If you are interested in joining one of our service teams for 2008, e-mail me at elizabeth@hadassahshope.org.

Director of Operations

Hadassah’s Hope has been working to support adoptions and orphanages around the globe. To be a part of this exciting ministry, check out our get involved page at www.hadassahshope.org/involved.

Empowering Kids and Bulrushes have committed to sales of the certain items below to go toward orphan care and adoption at Hadassah’s Hope. Simply click on the item below to purchase and have your proceeds go to help orphans around the globe.