No Words

This photo shows an orphan in Russia. On the left is his public database photo from several years ago when he was a baby. On the right is his updated photo. 

There are no words. He is banging his head against his crib to self stimulate because he is in his crib all day long. The only time he gets any human interaction is when his diaper is changed once per day. His skin is becoming wrinkled from malnutrition. His eyes haunt me. There are several children in his same region who had families in the U.S. officially matched to them, now awaiting transfer to this institution.  Some have been to this institution and that is how I know these things about it. Not all institutions are horrendous like this one. But some are. Too many are. Tonight I don't need to go into the reasons why, or talk about poverty or unequal allocation of government monies. Tonight all I want to shout to the world is to look at Kyle's face and pray for him, pray for all of them. 

There are more like him, in Russia, so many more, now with little to no hope left. How can I make such a sweeping statement? Based on the fact that Gabe was only the third child with Down syndrome ever to be adopted in Moscow, a city of over 10 million people. We were told this by the Department of Education. The other two were Jeana's beautiful girl and another friend of mine who adopted only a few months before us. And if Moscow is the most modern and wealthiest of Russia's cities, it isn't hard to guess how the orphans in the poorer, rural regions are faring. 

Kyle had a family here who saw his baby photo on the database and fell in love. They were close to beginning their home study to make him a member of their family when the ban took effect. 

Please pray for these children.