Eyes Wide Open
Athens Adoption Ministry connects with HOPE worldwide
By Keith Goodwin
Nov/Dec 2009

In August 2004, several adoptive parents and others from the Athens Church of Christ met in a popular Eastside coffee shop to organize a local ministry to inspire, inform and support the cause of orphans around the world. They purposed to do this “one child at a time.” With little more than big hearts and a “can do” attitude, this small group prayed to God for wisdom, guidance and success.

Over the next five years, the Athens Adoption Ministry advocated on behalf of orphans, promoted adoption, held workshops for adoptive parents, provided emotional support for adoptive families and their children and raised over $62,000. Since the ministry is run by volunteers, during this 5-year period, of each dollar spent, .973 went directly toward the support of orphans! Nineteen families from six states received a collective total of over $47,000 in financial assistance; the children welcomed into these families came from India, China, Ethiopia, Columbia and the United States. An additional sum in excess of $11,000 was given to orphanages in Mumbai, Trichy and Chennai, India as well as a women and children’s AIDS home, also in Chennai.

As time progressed, the desire to make more of a difference took root within the ministry, and it sought a benevolent partnership of sorts with HOPE worldwide, the highly respected and internationally recognized 501(c)(3) faith-based charity with headquarters in Wayne, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. The Athens Adoption Ministry hoped to take its own energy and focus and combine that with HOPE worldwide’s excellent reputation, thereby being better able to connect all manner of resources with orphans; with orphan care facilities, programs and agencies; and with adoptive families (domestically and internationally). In August 2009, the ministry sought and was granted Chapter status by HOPE worldwide.

HOPE worldwide has a global community of employees, trained volunteers and partner organizations that bring hope and change lives by providing humanitarian aid to the poor, weak and suffering on all six inhabited continents. It is registered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S. AID) and has been granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Founded in 1991 by members of the International Churches of Christ, its mission is as simple as its name: to bring hope to a hurting world. To learn more about HOPE worldwide, visit its Web site at www.hopeww.org. For local information, contact Keith Goodwin by email at athensadoptionprogram@charter.net or you may call him at 706-621-1519.

The new, official name for this tiny ministry is HOPE worldwide Athens Chapter. Locally and somewhat informally, it will be known as the Athens Adoption Resource Program. HOPE worldwide’s slogan is “Bringing hope. Changing lives.” From Athens, this will continue to happen “one child at a time.”

Keith Goodwin is an assistant principal at Oglethorpe County Middle School in Lexington. He and his wife, Lisa, have been married for 30 years and have three sons (23, 21 and 15) and one daughter (12). Their youngest children are from New Delhi and Mumbai, India. Both Keith and Lisa hold volunteer leadership positions within the Athens Adoption Resource Program.