EPA Cause of the Year Opportunity

EPA'S 2010 CAUSE OF THE YEAR (OPPORTUNITY)

Adoption expert talks about American evangelicals adopting traumatized orphans from Haiti (and elsewhere overseas)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Colorado Springs, CO) -- In recent days, the horrific scenes of the devastation Haiti have captured the focus of news organizations all around the world. Our minds struggle to grasp the reality of catastrophic numbers of dead and injured. And now, another reality surfaces to the top, a reality that pierces the heart. A country already overwhelmed to care for over 380,000 orphans now faces the insurmountable task of caring for even more children orphaned by the earthquake.

The cry of the heart of these orphans comes from deep trauma and suffering.

Not just from the earthquake, but — as EPA's 2010 Cause of the Year so clearly addresses -- from abandonment, poverty, exploitation, trafficking, slavery, sexual abuse, and worse.

Thankfully, the American Church has been challenged by the cry of Haiti's orphans. Evangelical Christians are responding to this unprecedented need in phenomenal numbers.

Yet, how can parents prepare to receive these traumatized orphans into their families and hearts?

If they're not careful, they can enter into adopting with high expectations for their child and for themselves, only to be broadsided by shattered assumptions.

Providentially, there's a brand-new tool to help adoptive parents, Wounded Children, Healing Homes: How Traumatized Children Impact Adoptive and Foster Families (NavPress, January 29, 2010). Evangelical award-winning author Jayne E. Schooler, and coauthors Betsy Keefer Smalley and Dr. Timothy J. Callahan, each with more than twenty years experience in the adoption field.

In their new book, Schooler and her coauthors address the reality of expectations and offer validation and solutions for the challenges of parenting deeply traumatized and emotionally disturbed children.

Who are trauma competent parents? They are parents who know that the life events their child survived changed him at the core of who he is. They are parents who recognize that children who live through layers of trauma see the world differently then children without such life altering challenges.

They may feel differently, they may behave differently; they may experience the closeness of family far differently than other children.

Trauma competent parents also know that their child's story will have an impact on them as they repeatedly listen to, hear, and feel the child's story.

In the word, trauma competent parents are parents who have hope.

What can adoptive parents do to equip themselves for their adoptive journey and infuse their hearts with hope?


* Reality-based training that leads to experiential understanding prior to the arrival of their child.


* Post-adoption support, resources, and training, designed to help parents with unfolding needs.


* Connections with experienced adoptive parents who can act as mentors and coaches.


* Connections with safe people who understand the unique challenges of parenting wounded, traumatized children.


To request (1) a review copy of the book Wounded Children, Healing Homes,

(2) an article, or (3) an interview with international adoption educator and author Jayne Schooler -- please contact



Kris Wallen

Director of Author and Public Relations

kris.wallen@navpress.com

719-531-3588


Since its founding in 1975, NavPress has become known as a trusted ministry leader in discipleship and leadership development. The Navigators, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an interdenominational, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people navigate spiritually.



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