Little Georgia Mei hops and dances, her smile as wide as her face can hold as she follows behind her brother lovingly mimicking everything he does. It is moments like this that make my eyes mist and all I can do is thank God that His plans were so different from mine.
The greatest gift that we have this season is not one wrapped under a tree; it is our Georgia Mei who covers us daily with kisses so extravagant that she has to wiggle all over after giving them. But the gift is more than that; it is what God has done in our hearts as we stepped out on a journey far beyond anything we ever imagined we could handle. Our whole family is forever changed and we would never want to go back.
Continue reading "Christmas Message from the Miller Family" »
“Now therefore stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes.”
1 Samuel 12:13
Reflections from an America World Staff Member
As staff, we accompany families through the blessings and challenges of their adoption process and the emotions that are involved with each stage. And throughout those different phases, families support each other or find support through their church or community as they seek to stay positive and stay connected to God.
I recently traveled with families who were adopting their children from China and was privileged to witness this community firsthand. Families supported and uplifted each other and remembered to honor God as they met their children and began bonding and getting to know them. For families currently in process, the blog and yahoo groups can be used as avenues to share encouragement and advice.
Whether you are adopting from El Salvador, Eastern Europe, China, Ethiopia or Brazil, every family has a unique and special story about how they were called to adoption, their wait time for a referral and their testimony to how God has brought them through the many phases of the adoption process. We are thankful for the many families from all out different programs who have been encouraging each other and sharing their stories. We also acknowledge that many of you have been advocating for orphans by hosting or attending Orphan Ticket Home banquets and adoption seminars and we are appreciative of your advocacy efforts.
Even though we don’t always have the opportunity to meet families in person, I can assure you that America World cares about your family and your adoption. There is a whole team of staff and board members who work behind the scenes on behalf of your family. Everyone from the finance team to our HR manager rejoice together when referrals arrive and are encouraged to know that those children will soon be with their family. As staff, we pray together dailey on behalf of your family and enjoy following along with families who have shared their blogs with us, as you travel and are united with your children.
Whether in the applicant or post placement phase, we are glad you are part of the America World family and stand beside you as we witness the great things the Lord has been doing and will do for your family.
Sincerely,
Melissa Blauvelt
Assistant Asia Program Director
We were married in July 2000. During the ceremony the pastor had me (Alicia) recite my vows from the book of Ruth. Part of those vows recited was, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you go I will go…” From this beautiful moment I always wanted to name our daughter Ruth. Little did we know at that time that God would take us on the other side of the world to find our daughter. We knew from the beginning of the adoption process that we would go back to China and adopt a second daughter…her name would be Naomi.
In March 2006 we adopted our first daughter, Ruth, from China through AWAA. [On a side note, Ruth was being called Ru in China.] God took us through the NSN process for this adoption. The thought of SN never crossed our mind. It was not the path that God had us on at the time. However, He had a different plan for our second adoption.
During March 23 & 24, 2007, I was attending a Biblical Counseling conference in Houston. We were already in the paper work process for our second adoption. During this training, I heard a session entitled "Counseling and Prenatal Diagnosis." Dr. Dan Wickert was the presenter and he made a statement that God used to penetrate my heart. He said, "Most people expecting a baby will say that it doesn't matter if it is a boy or girl, just as long as he is healthy and has ten fingers and ten toes. However, is God still sovereign and good even if the baby does not have ten fingers and ten toes?" His point was: What if your baby is not healthy or is not perfect…what will you thoughts be about God then? The topic was put into perspective of counseling couples that receive this kind of news. However, I could not stop thinking about that statement in terms of our next adoption. My heart was softened and drawn to the possibility of a special needs child through this statement. After returning home that weekend, Keith and I talked about this possibility. This led us to apply to the Special Needs[(now, the Waiting Children] program with AWAA, a month before our dossier was complete. We completed the SN inventory profile indicating the needs we felt would work for our family. We selected several and put our trust in God.
On Feb. 6, 2008, we received the call about a little girl. God quickly reminded me of that statement made in that training session that first softened my heart to this path. I then realized our new daughter did not have ten fingers. We had checked numerous needs that we were willing to accept; however, limb difference was the one we received. God had chosen this precious little girl to be a part of our family before we even applied to the program. While she was just a couple of months old, God had begun preparing our hearts for her. We are now home and so blessed to share our lives with both Ruth and Naomi!
Keith & Alicia Smith
www.youbelong.net/psalmonethirtynine
Reflections from a Volunteer Experience
‘The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” ~Zephaniah 3:17
During a recent trip to China I was able to spend some time volunteering at Bethel Foster Home. This ministry is a foster home and training center for orphans in China who are blind or visually impaired.
Children are referred from orphanages all over China and while some have paperwork ready for adoption, others may never be adopted or are already too old to be adopted. China’s adoption law does not allow children over the age of 14 years be adopted. The founders of Bethel are working on plans to provide long term care for children who will never be adopted, including job training and permanent housing.
As a volunteer I spent time with the children participating in a variety of activities such as taking walks and riding bikes. I assisted with some English and reading lessons for the older children. As it was the Chinese New Year holiday, there was lots of time to play games, sing songs and have dance parties. The older children are in a choir and all of the children love music and enjoy singing for visitors. Also during the holiday, the children enjoyed outings to McDonald’s to celebrate and eat some ice cream!
The home is located on farm property and supervised by a family from France who moved to China to start this ministry. They continue to partner with their staff and other organizations to expand the home and provide for more children. To find out more about these children, their stories and the mission and vision of Bethel, go to the Bethel Training Center website: http://www.bethelchina.org/english/indexen.htm
Sincerely,
Melissa Blauvelt
Assistant Asia Program Director
Reflections from a Volunteer Experience
Matthew 28:19 - Go therefore and make disciples in all nations, baptizing then in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
During a recent trip to China I had the opportunity to volunteer at Agape Family House. The bible verse (listed above) reflects the ministry of Agape Family House and their care for orphans in China who have a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta; more commonly known as OI or brittle bones disease. In addition to providing a home and family environment, Agape House raises funds and provides the wheelchairs, walkers, physical therapy and surgeries for the children.
The staff at Agape House works with many orphanages all over China to receive referrals of children so that they can live in this foster care placement and receive specialized care. Some children have paperwork prepared for adoption, while others many never have the opportunity to be adopted. Through the “Bread of Life Bakery,” Agape Home provides long term opportunities for the young adults who can learn job skills, earn money and live independently in apartments.
As a volunteer I spent time with the children participating in a variety of activities. In the mornings the older children and I would work on some math and English lessons. In the afternoons we would brave the winter weather and take walks in the neighborhood. We spent many hours playing cards and making crafts. All of the older children receive piano lessons from a volunteer, so many afternoons the home was filled with the sounds of children practicing piano music. As I visited over the Chinese New Year holiday, we were able to take a field trip to the local hospital to see a fireworks show!
The ministry is supervised by an American family who started the home and is living in China as they work alongside Chinese staff to build relationships with the community and advocate for these children. To find out more about these children, their stories and the ministry of Agape House you can go to their webpage: http://agapefamilyhouse.com/
Sincerely,
Melissa Blauvelt
Assistant Asia Program Director
Hi, we're Bill and Toni Benton, blessed with 5 wonderful kiddos!! Johnny was 8 years old when Bill and I married and we soon started thinking about a baby sister. A few years later, arms still empty, we kept hearing the cutest commercials on our local Christian radio station, WAVA. They each ended with a raspy 5 year old little girl voice, saying, "Thank you Momma. Thank you Baba." You guessed it, they were AWAA commercials inviting us to attend an information seminar about adoption. Brian spoke live back then, and some other family showed their travel video, and we were sunk!
We started paper chasing in June 2000 and brought Theresa Lin home in April 2002…we followed with 3 more adoption processes, with God leading us through each one! We brought home Abby in February 2004. Both Faith and Alex were adopted through the China Waiting Children Program. We adopted Faith when she was 10 years old and diagnosed as deaf. She was home in January 2006 and Alex (who had a repaired cleft lip and unrepaired cleft palate) was adopted in July 2007. God brought us through many challenges and blessings through these processes- the SARS epidemic, new 2007 China regulations, dossier deadlines, and unemployment.
Johnny is now 21 and a senior at the US Air Force Academy - Go Falcons! We couldn't be more proud of him!! Faith is now 14, has a cochlear implant, is learning to hear, is beautiful and does great in school! Theresa Lin is now 7, is our tender hearted sweetheart, and cute as she can be! Abby is 5 ½ , gorgeous and smart as a whip, and just loves school! And 3 year old Alex... well, Alex is cute and funny and sweet and charming... and it's a good thing, because he's also allllllll boy! As for Bill and I... well, don't tell anyone... but we're wondering if God doesn't have yet another for us somewhere. Shhhh...
As Associates for America World, we LOVE doing seminars and will stop to talk to anyone about the miracle of adoption. We've been so very blessed, how could we not?