Thousands of American churches will be participating in Orphan Sunday this coming weekend aimed at raising awareness of children in need of finding a loving, Christian home.

However, many in the adoption movement say criticisms and actions by international governments to curb adoption numbers are hurting the movement.

Critics of Christians attempting to derail the ongoing adoption processes have used high profile incidents of adoption-related fraud and human trafficking as scare tactics. However, Judd Medefind of the Christian Alliance for Orphans who organize Orphan Sunday said that while they listen to critiques and take them to heart, their partners are eager to support a broad range of orphan-care programs.

Major Christian organizations have joined the call for Christians to adopt children in need such as Focus on the Family in 2007 and the Southern Baptist Convention in 2009.

The number of international adoptions by Americans has been falling over the last decade from 22,991 in 2004 to just 8,668 last year. However, the U.S. foster care system has around 100,000 children who need a home for Christians seeking to adopt a child domestically.