Two children's services groups unite for kingdom building

International (MNN) ? Buckner Children and Family Services announced today it will affiliate with Dillon International, Incorporated.

It's all about working smarter and not harder when it comes to meeting the needs of children around the world.

Dillion International's Executive Director Deniese Dillon says, "Both entities are working together to further more adoption services for more families. We can provide more opportunities for adoption to take place domestically and internationally by combining forces." 

Effective January 1, the affiliation calls for existing Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services' international and domestic adoption programs to join Dillon's program and operate with the Dillon name. It is bringing together Buckner's international and domestic adoption programs with Dillon's international adoption, post-adoption programs, and humanitarian services.

Notes Dillon, who co-founded the agency with her husband, Jerry, "We've had close ties to Buckner and their leadership for many years. Their mission to help orphans and under-served children on a global scale has also been our mission and heart since we started our ministry."

Buckner International President and CEO Kenneth L. Hall said the joining of the two entities "marries Dillon's outstanding reputation in the international adoption field with Buckner International's global reputation for humanitarian aid work among orphans and at-risk children. Together, we will be able to serve children and families in so many ways."

Changes that are coming are played off each other's strengths and reputations.  That means the groups can cast a wider net when it comes to ministry. Dillon explains that, through their work, "We are the presence of Christ--it may be the only connection that a person will have to understand who Christ is. So sometimes just the 'being and doing' is being the salt and light."

Buckner, founded in 1879 in Dallas, recorded its first adoption in 1884 and has placed more than 4,000 children in homes through adoption.

The agency began offering international adoption services in 1995 for families in all 50 states and currently offers adoption services in Russia, China and Ethiopia. Buckner also has a comprehensive domestic adoption program for families living in Texas that includes domestic infant adoption, foster-to-adopt, post-adoption services, birthparent services and adoptions of state-placed children.

Dillon International, Inc. is a licensed, not-for-profit child placement agency that has specialized in international adoption since 1972. Originally founded to meet the needs of South Korean orphans, the agency has since expanded to include adoption and humanitarian aid services in India, Guatemala, Haiti, China, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Ethiopia, serving families from offices in St. Louis, Mo.; Tustin, Calif.; Little Rock and Fayetteville, Ark.; Richmond, Ind; Kansas City, Kans.; and the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.  The agency, which has placed more than 5,500 children, also has volunteer adoptive families across the United States who act as agency information and resource representatives to families.