Emotional, physical and spiritual development – an holistic focus for Bethany’s ministry.

Guatemala (MNN) — Adoption is a key focus of Bethany Christian Services’ work in Guatemala, but they realize that the time before adoption is crucial.

With an adoption program in that Central American country for almost ten years, BCS felt the need to help with social work and foster care training.

That’s why they sent a team of professionals to Guatemala to provide training to foster parents. 50 foster mothers came to the training, and it was a great success. The training focused on physical development and medical needs but also talked about attachment and emotional development.

Bethany’s Bruce Mossburg explains: “Without that care and emotional bonding, kids do not do so well when they go to the adoptive parents. It’s a difficult transition if they haven’t learned to attach to a caregiver.”

It’s important, Mossburg says, because, “When the foster care isn’t good in the children’s first months of life, they have trouble connecting with adoptive parents, and it’s important that they have that emotional development so that they can integrate the values of the adoptive parents, and that includes spiritual development and integration.”

Holistic child development is what Mossburg says their work is about. “We see this as a ministry from Bethany’s point of view, in providing some emotional, physical and spiritual kind of basis for children to be able to grow in those areas and develop in those areas.”

There is a great need for boys to be adopted, says Mossburg, “We desperately need families for boys. A lot of adoptive families want to adopt girls. And that’s a need. There are a lot of children in Guatemala that don’t have homes, and a lot of boys particularly suffer from not having adoptive parents that will love and care for them and raise them in an emotional and spiritual way that we feel is important.”

If you are interested in adoption, contact Bethany by using their information listed below.