University of Alabama – Apr 11, 2012
Thoughts about orphans/RBP from U of A
Like many young people, I had not spent much time thinking about orphaned children, until recently. I went on a spring break trip to Costa Rica this year and spent time working at an orphanage there. Once I began to understand how many children there are in the world without a family, I started to open my eyes to ways I could be involved back at home. I've started to see that I actually know many families that have adopted, and I've started to see that there are ways to actively care for orphans right here in Tuscaloosa. God loves the orphaned, and he has transformed me into someone who loves them, too.
One night at Cru (a campus ministry I am involved in), they announced that the Red Bus was coming to Alabama! The Red Bus Project raises money for families that want to adopt children and could afford to have the child, but these families can't afford the adoption process. The adoption process is more difficult and expensive than I ever imagined! I am blessed to have a family that loves me, and I can't imagine life without them. Knowing that millions of children are just waiting, hoping, and praying to be adopted has broken my heart. Now knowing that many families want to adopt but can't afford to, I see that the Red Bus Project is doing something wonderful and very needed. I look forward to adopting one day, but that will be later in my life. So, what can we students do now? If we open our eyes and start looking, there are things like the Red Bus Project available for us to be a part of. I hope all students can see that although we are young, we have the ability to be a part of what God is doing starting right now. God is ready to use us as soon as we are ready to be used by him.
Madaline Hargrove
Junior at U of A
Parked in the busiest part of campus, the Red Bus Project draws in students of all kinds. They roam the tents and explore the thrift store bus, thumbing through patterned blouses and striped button-downs. Excitement is written on their faces with each affordable purchase. The joyful staff engages with the students and shares their passion for orphaned children. With each purchase a child is given hope for a family.
I was so jazzed when I found out that the Red Bus Project was coming to Alabama! It is an incredible organization that helps to financially aid families in the adoption process. In the United States, there are over half a million orphaned children. The adoption process can be up to $30,000. The Red Bus Project not only helps to raise money through their thrift store, but also to raise awareness and get students involved. God has blessed me with an incredibly loving family; therefore, it is perfectly sensical that God would lay on my heart the burden of helping wonderful families to adopt children who deserve them. Although these children are orphaned here on earth, they are not fatherless. Our Father in Heaven is a better daddy to us than any man could be! But until we meet Him face to face, these children deserve to have a physical father and mother to love and cherish them. The Red Bus Project is an awesome, Spirit-led organization that can help give hope to these precious lives.
Mary Catherine Mosteller
Junior at U of A
