Every child deserves to be chosen and dearly loved, especially those with special physical, mental, and emotional needs.
Yet many special needs children today are ignored, abandoned, and even aborted before they enter the world.
However, one ministry is a champion for special needs children around the world, advocating for their rights and needs.
“Children with special physical, mental, or emotional needs are often the most likely to become orphans, and least likely to be adopted,” writes Chosen and Dearly Loved, a ministry based in Bellevue, Washington.
“We believe every child deserves the life-saving and life-enhancing care of a loving permanent family.”
In an age where many doctors encourage parents to abort special-needs children before they arrive, Chosen and Dearly Loved is trying to reaffirm the God-given value of every life and the right of every child to live in a loving home.
The organization is a champion for special needs adoption through four main avenues: adoption grants, family support, advocacy, and global care. Though the ministry is based in Washington, it has a worldwide reach.
Special needs adoption grants help to connect “loving, permanent adoptive parents” with orphaned special needs children. Chosen and Dearly Loved recognizes that many families want to offer homes to special needs orphans but are often deterred by the cost of adoption.
The ministry offers adoption grants through partnerships with other organizations, such as Lifesong for Orphans, “that remove legal, procedural, and financial barriers to adoption.”
Through these aids, many children with diverse needs have been placed with traditional two-parent Christian families. Even international adoptions, which would normally be subject to a lengthy bureaucratic process, have been expedited by Chosen and Dearly Loved involvement.
Once families have adopted a special needs child, they may feel overwhelmed by the process of caring for their new child.
Sam and Maria Quine, who have adopted several special needs orphans from all over the world, are one such family. One of their sons, Jax, lost an eye to cancer and faced another battle with the disease.
The Quines needed help and support – and they found it with Chosen and Dearly Loved.
The ministry offers long-term family support for all those who choose to welcome special needs children into their homes.
“[We work] to be a catalyst for local communities to support families bringing home their adopted child,” says the organization. “Our training, regional events, and mobile app help more adoptive and foster families find community and the critical resources they need to thrive.”
Families like the Quines benefit from direct support and a hands-on community. For those “who put their all on the line for the fatherless,” it’s crucial to know that others are praying for them and are ready to step in with meals, childcare, training, and encouragement.
In addition to supporting adoptive families in the United States, Chosen and Dearly Loved advocates for special needs adoption around the world.
“Our goal is to help compel more families considering adoption to move forward, and to consider orphans with special needs,” says the ministry. It offers speaking tours, mobile apps, print and apparel advertising, multimedia productions, and more to advocate for special needs orphans around the globe.
One of the organization’s best-known resources is Walter’s Flying Bus, a beautifully illustrated book about Walter, a special needs orphan in Uganda. The book is based on the writings and drawings of a real Ugandan orphan.
Global care for special needs orphans is the final piece of Chosen and Dearly Loved’s ministry. The organization not only advocates for orphans around the world, but also contributes to their care.
“[We seek] to give orphans with special needs the best quality of life possible in their home country,” says the ministry, which emphasizes the need to support the birth families of these children in developing countries.
“Although a special needs adoption is a courageous act of love, we know that providing birth families of children with special needs training and education to prevent child abandonment is a precious gift to these children.”
Even as it locates and supports adoptive families, Chosen and Dearly Loved seeks to keep special needs children with their birth families whenever possible, knowing that often a little financial and social support is all that’s needed.
The work of this ministry is close to God’s heart, for He loves the orphans of the world and longs to see them comforted (James 1:27). To learn how you can help support Chosen and Dearly Loved, or if you’re considering special needs adoption, click here.
