The Future of AGCI

Nov 22 blog

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Nate Dawson, Executive Vice President at All God’s Children International, to discuss the future of AGCI. Read the below blog to learn the exciting ways AGCI is advocating for children and families around the world!

AGCI is answering God’s call to provide the love and care every child deserves. While our efforts have changed through the years, our vision remains the same: to empower local leaders to intervene for the millions of children currently living in institutions and create more pathways to faith, family, and independence.

As the years go by, we continue to lean into our mission and vision in new ways. While we have served thousands of children and families around the world, we are believing God for even more.

AGCI Through the Years

When AGCI was founded in 1991, our focus was primarily on helping families complete intercountry adoptions. In the last 30+ years, we have united more than 4,500 children with their forever families.

Globally, the atmosphere of international adoption continues to shift. International adoption safeguards implemented by the Hague Convention in the United States in 2008 have caused a decrease in intercountry adoptions to the US, and the focus of domestic adoptions around the world has grown. While these changes represent positive shifts toward the protection of children and families, the fact is that millions of children continue to live in institutions around the world.

AGCI’s commitment to providing pathways to permanent family through intercountry adoption is stronger than ever, but we know we must think bigger. That’s why AGCI is focusing on intervening at every stage of the cycle that leaves children stuck in institutions with no pathway to faith, family, or independence.

AGCI’s Model of Care

To intervene in that cycle, our team has worked hard to find new, innovative avenues to answer God’s call to provide the love and care that every child deserves. In 2017, our Child Advocacy Model was born.

AGCI intervenes for children via our five Ps: Prevent, Provide, Place, Prepare, and Policy. From sponsorship to caregiver training, our Child Advocacy Model is a holistic model that brings hope and healing to children and families.

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Our five Ps drive our work. Through our Child Advocacy Model, we:

Prevent children from entering institutional care by strengthening families and healing relationships.

Provide elevated care for children living in institutions and foster care so that they can reach their God-given potential.

Place children with their forever families through reunification and adoption.

Prepare youth aging out of the system so they can create paths to independence.

Transform Policy to change the system and break the cycle of trauma.

We have had the privilege of seeing our Child Advocacy Model transform thousands of lives!

Nate Dawson, Executive Vice President at AGCI, said, “We’re seeing caregivers, policy makers, and everyone involved just recognizing what the impacts of our model are on a child and family.”

One great example of how our Child Advocacy Model is changing the course of care across the world is in the country of Ecuador. In early 2022, AGCI was just in the infancy stages of opening our adoption program in the country, aligning with the Place portion of our Child Advocacy Model. Since beginning our in-country partnership, not only have we worked to match families in our adoption program, we have also organized a family strengthening event that hosted hundreds of caregivers (Provide), and have even had a hand in policy with some of Ecuador’s top officials (Policy).

While Ecuador is a great example of how AGCI is thinking bigger in new countries, our Child Advocacy Model has been fully implemented in Colombia and Ethiopia for years. In these two countries, AGCI has empowered thousands of leaders who are breaking the cycle and creating more paths to faith, family, and independence through all of the 5 Ps. The results are staggering!

In Colombia alone, AGCI has…

  • Prevented children from entering institutions by supporting families whose children have been victims of abuse through counseling services for the entire family, identifying children through public school systems with undiagnosed learning and behavioral needs, and providing therapies necessary for children to heal.
  • Provided elevated care by working with institutions and training caregivers so that children can heal from trauma and break the cycle.
  • Placed children with their forever families through adoption and ensured all families in our adoption programs have received the trauma-informed training they need to be prepared to meet the needs of their children.
  • Prepared youth aging out of the system by giving them an opportunity to study, live, and learn how to be an adult while pursuing a college degree or vocational training program.
  • Transformed Policy by empowering local leaders to address systemic issues that cause children to languish in institutions.

It’s AGCI’s dream that systems across the world would be transformed in the same way we’ve seen transformation in Ecuador, Colombia, and Ethiopia. We believe that God isn’t finished with His work through AGCI!

Moving forward, many of AGCI’s international advocacy efforts will be reflected in South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States. 

Along with our international programming, AGCI’s intercountry adoption programs continue to expand.

“We’re doubling down on our efforts to find pathways to faith, family, and independence,” said Dawson. “For intercountry adoption, where other organizations are decreasing their programs or choosing not to stay involved in intercountry adoption, AGCI is doubling our efforts and traveling around the world. We’re meeting kids who have been living in institutions for a decade, who are legally freed for adoption, and we’ve found them families in 30 days. We’re building our capacity to change lives.”

Dawson believes that even more international adoption programs will be opening through AGCI in the near future. He said he is inspired by what AGCI has been capable of just in the last couple of years, and is believing God for more.

“I love the size of our vision and the way that God is going out in front of us and finding us the right leaders to walk alongside,” said Dawson. “We’re transforming systems and intervening in a cycle with lasting change.”

In the coming years, Dawson said the size of AGCI’s vision will continue to grow as we trust God for miracles. Dawson can see worldwide transformation and positive impacts for children and families across the globe. While some plans are still under wraps, he believes the scale of AGCI’s impact will grow significantly in the next three to five years.

How You Can Get Involved 

There are many ways for you to become involved in making a lasting difference through AGCI!

If you’d like to learn how AGCI is transforming the lives of children and families around the world, please explore our website, social media channels, and listen to the Together by AGCI podcast. You can also support AGCI’s mission financially.

Do you feel that God is calling your family to adoption? Fill out an adoption pre-app! In honor of National Adoption Month in November, we are offering a $500 adoption grant to any family who completes an application by 11/30 and goes under contract by 12/31.

Have a question? Click the button below to send our team an email.