Ghana Adoption and Christianity
I am a Christian. I work for a secular agency. This is a personal blog and therefore I blog from my personal perspective as a Christian. However, I want to make it very clear to anybody who may be reading my blog and interested in adopting from Ghana and/or through Adoption Advocates International that you do not have to be a Christian to adopt from Ghana. You may have to be a Christian to adopt from some orphanages, but there are many orphanages that have no religious requirements.
I want you to know that if you aren't a Christian, you don't have to worry that I will be unhappy about working with you or that you will be otherwise unwelcome in AAI's program. Not at all! I have worked with many non-Christians and I think they would confirm that they felt welcome and cared-for in this program. Like-wise, I think they would feel that when visiting Ghana they didn't feel discriminated against for not being Christian. After all, the cornerstone for all Christians is to be "Christ-like" and Christ was nothing if not kind and loving to non-Christians!
If you aren't Christian and you're adopting from Ghana I do think you should be prepared for the question, "Are you a Christian?" Ghanaians tend to be very evangelistic Christians. It's not at all a private issue there. You might want to think about how you'll answer that question when you travel. The main concern from your child's caregiver *may* be (I can't know for sure) that you allow your child to continue in the Christian faith once they are in America. [This is assuming your child has been in the Christian faith while living in Ghana.]
So! If you've happened upon this blog and you're an AAI family (or considering it), welcome! My Christian faith is displayed very prominently here, even when I am discussing aspects of my work with the Ghana program. If you don't happen to be Christian, please know that I keep my faith separate from my work when it comes to the official communications I have with families. You need not worry that I will push my faith into your adoption experience.
Blessings!
Anita
Anita
2 comments:
We can vouch for Anita on this one! We are atheists (or maybe you'd call us humanists or atheist Quakers) and an AAI Ghana family. We have always felt that our religion was not at all a priority (or concern) for Anita or AAI. I agree with Anita on this one... we are happy to let our adopted child practice whatever religion they choose. That was one reason we were happy to find a Quaker meeting in our area... you can be an atheist Quaker, Christian Quaker, Buddhist Quaker, any kinda Quaker you want.
I disagree with the poster named Erin. Quakerism is a Christian faith and the very term "atheist Quaker" is an oxymoron. George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, would be rolling in his grave if he heard people identifying themselves as "atheist Quakers." I don't even know why someone would choose to call himself a Quaker if he or she subscribes to a non-Christian belief system.
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