Crazy Guest Blogger #7 – My Heart For Justice
Abolition Through Adoption: A Journey to End Injustice
A note from Michelle:
Spanish was my minor in University, and I wanted to practice it by going to a Spanish-speaking country. After almost two years of marriage, my husband and I wanted to simplify our lives and experience new culture. So we quit our jobs, got rid of our apartment in Canada, gave away most of our belongings, put the rest in a backpack, and took of to Central America. It has been an amazing journey. We have house sat for a stranger in the Costa Rican mountains, volunteered at an eco-resort kitchen in the rainforest, learned to milk a goat, hiked a volcano in Guatemala and roasted marshmellows in a river of lava (turns out the volcano, Pacaya, erupted a week after we hiked it, causing deaths, evacuations of towns, and the shut down of the main airport!), explored caves by candle-light, and planted fields of agave in Mexico. During this time of ‘sabbath’ and adventure God has clarified my vision for anti-trafficking work, and we feel strongly that God has had His hand on the last 4 months. He is so good!
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never been obsessed with the idea of motherhood. While my friends sit around and talk about how much they want a baby, a find my mind drifting to political debates, social justice issues, and travelling. I’ve often felt guilty about this – as if I’m breaking the rules of what it means to be a woman. Where do I fit?
Recently however, my passion to fight sex trafficking is changing my attitude toward being a mom. Today there are 163 million orphans around the world, and traffickers are known to target these kids once they turn 16 and leave the orphanage. Often a trafficker will pose as a boyfriend who showers the girl with presents and affection, only to sell her into forced prostitution.
Adoption is a topic that my husband and I keep running into lately. Even just this week I was watching a film about a Russian teenager who is abandoned by her mother and left to her own devices, finding herself lured into the dark world of modern-day slavery. As she was crying out for help, I found myself thinking, “oh honey, I wish I could just adopt you!”
This wish to adopt children is now a dream of ours, and one we are very serious about. As Christians, helping orphans and widows in their distress should be our motto. As I write in my blog, we can become abolitionists through adoption. And here is the neat thing: my heart for justice is creating in me a love for children. Maybe there is hope for me after all!
[Guest Blogger, Michelle Brock]
Wow! I was just thinking yesterday how "weird" I was for not feeling the maternal pull myself. Most of my peers are on their 3rd child, asking us when we will have kids. We just smile and say, "Not now!" We've actually made that a physical reality, as we've both felt that if God put it on our hearts to have a family, it would be through adoption. We aren't there yet either, but rest assured, you are not the only one who's felt this way! AND, you never know where God will bring us! Praying that God will strengthen your maternal bonds as you pursue adoption and make one of God's children yours!