Russia (MNN) — Buckner Adoption
and Maternity Services is back in business in Russia. The ministry got its official accreditation
certificate this week. The accreditation expiration caused Buckner
to suspend Russia adoptions.
Buckner's director of Buckner
Adoption Debbie Wynne explains, "Accreditation is what they want agencies to have, so we chose to
discontinue our work until they officially granted us the permission to work
again. Working through governmental institutions like that is a very slow
process."
In May 2006, Buckner Adoption's
annual accreditation expired. Laws required Buckner to file paperwork as an
official Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Russia before re-accreditation
would be renewed, Wynne explained. From that point, the Ministry of Education
had to review paperwork and receive signatures from multiple government
agencies in regions across the country.
The maze of requirements toward
accreditation can create obstacles that require painstaking attention to
detail. Wynne says, "We are so thrilled to receive
this good news. Russia is our oldest
international adoption program, so it's a privilege to be able to continue
serving these children and to find them loving homes."
Now that the process is complete,
it's done. The up-side is that "Russia
passed a law which provides accredited adoption agencies with a non-expiring
certificate," Wynne notes. "We used to have to reapply for accreditation each
year."
However, with the non-expiring
certificate comes much stricter regulations and close monitoring to assure
adoption agencies are working with integrity. It also means starting over in
some parts of the program. Part of the
new development includes providing the government with support, education and
training to facilitate their own domestic adoption and birth parent counseling
programs.
Even so, the staff have never
lost sight of their desires to touch these children with the love of Christ. They're not alone.
20 families have waited for more
than two years with Buckner to adopt children in Russia. Wynne says their determination is the living
Gospel to the children. "I think of John 14. In that He says, 'I will not leave you as
orphans; I will come to you.' It is our responsibility and duty to serve these
children. We feel it's our calling to do that, and it's been wonderful to see
churches and other Christians just come forward that have a calling."
With more than 700,000 estimated
orphans in Russia, there is still a huge need for adoptive families–especially
families open to adopting older children and sibling groups from Russia. Click here
if you can help.
