Interestingly came across this article today & had to share it. For each of the last 14 years or so, we’ve heard that healthcare is the issue of greatest concern to the American electorate. “Healthcare” is a sector of the economy, or a profession, but is not sufficiently specific to be an issue.

First, let’s dispense with the ridiculous notion that anyone in America does not have access to treatment. We can probably agree that calling 911 for an ambulance as taxi to the inner-city emergency room for a cough is not a very efficient method of accessing health services. “Free” preventative care won’t eliminate such nonsense, it occurs now precisely because it is perceived to be free. Access in America is rarely, if ever, denied.

Failure to diagnose the real issue sure would seem to present a problem with finding a solution…unless your job is to be a government hack that “solves” anything/everything. Personally I think the problem most Americans want to be addressed in this area is that of the seemingly excessive cost. If indeed we citizens are offended by the cost of “healthcare”, what could possibly incline anyone to believe government can make it less costly? When has that ever happened?

I would submit that there is no specific issue to which government intervention, control, mandate, etc. can be seriously argued to bring about improvement. That’s precisely why we don’t hear the specifics, instead we get broad labels of “unfair” or “broken”. Fairness is something that is much more often & effectively achieved by markets than mandates. This is inarguable, the only thing a central power can do fairly is oppress & destroy. Sounds harsh, but what does imposing the lowest common denominator accomplish? Government “levels the field” by bulldozing whatever has risen above the mean. Climbing out of the abyss of average is best done with government out of the way, and it’s never achieved “fairly” because the only fairness is in opportunity, not outcome.

So what are we to make of the “broken” label? This is the point on which I defer to the afforementioned article “Health Care Broken? Who Broke It?”

More generally, we all need to ask why politicians assert that American health care is broken, and what agenda does it serve. We should ask, if health care is broken, who broke it, and how did they break it?

Enjoy, CR

It’s probably fair to say we’ve been inundated with “news” and “information” relating to the current economic situation, and the proposed “bailout/rescue”. My problem with with this deluge is that it has not been very informative as to the causes, possible actions, or the action undertaken as a remedy. To be informed these days, you really have to try to dig and research the issues yourself; it’s not enough to watch, listen and read the traditional sources.

This is not another attempt to address the issue of why or who’s to blame for this morphing of our traditional sources of news and information to what they’ve become. It is what it is, and it’s increasingly obvious. The result is that we must be responsible for informing ourselves in this age. “By the people, for the people” fails when the people’s money can be used to manipulate the people’s will. Thus, my purpose in writing is to inform, not blame. Read the rest of this entry »

If I’ve had the chance to talk with you for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me say that one of the most impactful sermons we’ve heard over the years centers on biblical decision making. Why? Simply because the breaking of fellowship among believers is perhaps one of the most painful experiences to us humanly, and I believe grieving to God. Yet, due to our human nature, conflict abounds within all our relationships as commonly as anything we know. How then to deal with conflicts that are sure to arise & not sacrifice the fellowship we are called to be in? Let’s start with humility, respect and understanding of what’s really important and what isn’t.

The decision grid and most of what follows is from Pastor Chris Robinson of Grace Bible Church in Marshall, VA. He gave this message at least two if not three times between 1996 & 2004, with the effect that the unity we experienced at GBC we took for granted as commonplace in Christian fellowship. As time went on however we came to realize that unity, humility & respect is not as common as we thought & perhaps an intentional, thoughtful reasoning process was missing. Indeed, as a culture I’ve come to believe the process of reasoning & debate is largely lost to the immediacy of emotional appeal & soundbites.

When asked to give the message to our fellowship on 6/29/08 this was the most pressing topic on my heart. You can listen to the message here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, the task of posting news or pictures to our site has been ignored for several months. Not because it serves no purpose (I hope), but rather because of all the unexpected turns life has taken since November 2007.

It’s probably not worth documenting in detail, but we at least owe a brief explanation. It was at the end of November that we were sure the business opportunity I was pursuing in the Rochester, MN market was not a good fit for our family. It took a bit of wind out of our sails to abandon that path, but the Lord is true to His ways and soon revealed a better opportunity that allows us to not only stay in the Winona area, but build a business centered here while still serving a broader area of MN and WI. We are so thankful that this opportunity came along, and are continually amazed at how it is so much of a better fit for what I am called to do. See the newly launched ChrisRengert.com to learn more!

Then, just after getting going in that endeavor we found out we still owned the house we thought was sold last summer. Due to some very unfortunate circumstances the buyer was unable to obtain the planned financing & had to default on the purchase. That turn of events got us to thinking strategically about the new business & where we intend to be in the next several years. Instead of putting the house back on the market or renting it, we felt that it would be financially prudent to move back into it…and stay put for a while! It also serves the business plan with a nice office to which clients are welcomed.

There’s plenty more news to come, but for now we are settling in once again in Gilmore Valley and quite busy with all that entails. We really enjoyed the two years we spent on the farm, are thankful for it and miss several things about it, but are blessed and very happy to be making this our home again.

The how & why

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Timeline | Adoption Links | How You Can Help | Donation Pool | Journal Page

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We’ve posted an Adoption Journal page that gives the whole story of how the Lord lead us through His great adventure. We’ll keep this information here for those interested in the how and why.

Why Ukraine?

Early in 2001, after getting back on the international adoption bandwagon (following an unsolicited domestic opportunity that fell through) we heard of Ukraine cost and child selection advantages from a friend, and after much prayer & information gleaned from the EEAC Ukraine listserve we decided to pursue that. Ukrainian adoption has several advantages over other countries in our opinion…

• Ukrainian law prevents agencies from “baby-selling”
• The adopting couple chooses the child or children themselves…on the same trip the adoption takes place
• It can be accomplished very quickly…less than six months in many cases (eight in ours)
• Affordability – Total cost for adopting two children from Ukraine is about half the cost of one from Bulgaria
• Child availability – we were seeking two children under six yrs old, preferably of mixed/minority race such as Tatar or Roma (Gypsy)

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How You can help

There are many ways anyone can help a family undertaking international adoption…first and foremost is prayer. We certainly felt the prayers of many family members and friends through the whole process. To us Ukraine was attractive because we felt one had to be lead by the Lord in order to “choose” a child or children and have peace about it. Without His leading, we would have been incredibly anxious about medical conditions, were we making the right choice, etc.

This entire process is also a very expensive proposition, and we depended on the Lord to guide and provide. He did, in a very big way! We were blessed with gifts that enabled us to complete our adoption without borrowing – Praise the Lord!

The orphanages in Ukraine have very significant needs, and we very much wanted to help more than just one or two children.

We wanted to do something more for the children there – and created the Orphanage Donation Pool! How it worked: Individuals donated between $1 & $5 for each submission (some were lead to do much more) – half of the total amount collected was used for a needs-based donation to the orphanage we adopted from, and the other half became a charitable donation to His Kids Too in the name of the winner. These children have more needs than we can even imagine, and it breaks our hearts. Well, the Lord blessed and despite a slow start, the pool bore much fruit! We collected almost $400! We spent about $200 on items the orphanage in Orshivtsi had requested (itemized in the journal), and sent $200 to His Kids Too in the name of the winner…drumroll please…Janet Benett of Grace Bible Church! We know kids have & will benefit, and that’s the best thing.

The Process & Timeline

We signed up with Sense Resource Center Inc. to be our facilitator, and what a blessing that was! Their web site has lots of information as to how the process works & what the expected timeline and expenses are.

Here’s how it went…

• • Food – $400 or so for the whole trip
  • Trains, planes (excluding to/from US) – $1010
  • Taxis & automobiles – $didn’t add separately
  • Internet use & one 5 minute phone call – $16
  • Hotels in Ukraine – $600
  • Hotel in Warsaw – $300
  • Personal Orphanage donations, cash for care takers, OTC meds, etc. (~$300)
  • Fees & gifts ~ $550

• Applied for copies of Chris’ birth certificate for INS paperwork ~ 2/20 ($30)
• Sent in application to Sense Resource Center Inc. ~ 4/23 ($35)
• Phone interview w/Sense Resource Center Inc. – 5/4
• Received certified copies of marriage certificate from NV – 5/7 ($14)
• Gave up & asked Chris’ dad to get birth certificates ~ 5/25
• INS I-600A submitted – 6/2/01($455)
• Received authenticated marriage certificate from NV ($20)
• Home study updated/submitted to INS – 7/2/01(free)
• Fingerprints taken for INS – 6/23/01
• Police clearances obtained – 6/25/01(free)
• Passport applications filed – 6/25/01($140)
• Medical clearances obtained – 7/10/01($20 copays)
• First significant hitch…received letter from INS requesting more official records…in work – 7/11/01
• Passports received – 7/19/01
• Praise Him!! INS Approval received even though we could not get the requested info – 8/1/01
• Had final dossier forms notarized – 8/2/01
• Sent dossier to Richmond, VA. for authentication – 8/3/01($130)
• 8/3/01 – Got travel date from SRC Inc.!! We’ll be in Ukraine by 10/16/01!!
• Received authenticated forms back from Commonwealth – 8/7/01
• Bundled and sent dossier for Federal authentication/Ukraine Consulate – 8/9/01($480)
• Dossier assistance/preparation fee paid, SRC Inc. – 8/9/01($1985)
• Ukraine Visa & Travel Arrangements fee, GT&C – 8/22/01($1000)
• Dossier arrives in Kiev Ukraine! – 8/31/01
• Dossier translated and submitted to National Adoption Center – 9/5/01
• Received Ukraine Visas – 9/7/01
• Purchased tickets; Swiss Air – including two children’s return tickets – 9/20/01($2274)
• Dossier approved by NAC! – 9/28/01
• Swiss Air bankrupt and grounded, uh-oh, this could mean our tickets are worthless – 10/2/01
• Swiss taxpayer funds help Swissair take off again – 10/4/01
• Additional child adopted in same court hearing, SRC Inc. – 10/5/01($1000)
• Departed – 10/13/01 – praise the Lord, no problems with the airline!
• Arrived safely and sleepily – 10/15/01 – Ukraine program fee, SRC Inc. ($2000)
• Visited NAC and departed to Chernivtsi region to see twin Gypsy boys – 10/16/01(train tickets $52)
• Met our boys & started paperwork – 10/17/01
• Gotcha Day – Court hearing where we officially became parents of Brandon Dmytro & Benjamin Victor – 10/24/01
• Took custody of the boys & boarded train back to Kiev, after ALL day getting passports – 10/26/01 (train tickets $32)
• Visited Medical Center ($50 each boy) & Embassy ($96) – 10/29/01
• Flew to Warsaw, Poland – 10/30/01 (plane tickets $927)
• Visited Warsaw Embassy & got US entry Visas by 12:30 – 10/31/01($650)
• Got home & were greeted by 30 or more friends from church – 11/1/01
• Personal Travel Expenses all together (~$2500)

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Adoption Links

• Resources
• Sense Resource Center
• His Kids Too!
• Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption
• Eastern European Adoption Coalition
• Independent Ukraine Adoptions
• International Adoptions Health Resource Center
• International Pediatric Health Services
• Adoption Travel (tips)
• Rainbow Kids – International Adoption Information
• KPnews.com – News about Ukraine
• Crimean Tatar Home Page
• Cathy Harris’ Home Page