AWAA Blog

www.awaablog.com

America World has started a new blog to keep their families updated on the latest from El Salvador, China, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Russia and Ukraine. We continue to be pleased with the way they seek to serve their families as well as the children in all these countries (as well as India and Brazil, where they are working on building relationships in order to begin new programs there).

Orphan's Ticket Home

They have also started a blog for the "Orphan's Ticket Home" initiative. Here is the latest update on how the Orphan's Ticket Home funds are being used in the organization, Identity for Children:

We are happy to announce that our Orphan's Ticket Home campaign has raised $74,100.00 so far with 134 families donating. We cannot say thanks enough to those of you who have contributed to our campaign. (February 21,2008)

We are in our third month of raising funds for an Orphan's Ticket Home and we are so pleased to tell you how your donations are serving the orphans!

1. Identity for Orphans: in El Salvador they have already registered 32 children and 24 are currrently being investigated. 1 child has a court date on April 15th and 2 children are waiting for an audience with Procuraduria. 22 are also close to completion in the registration process. (March 13, 2008)

We are so proud of the work AWAA is doing on behalf of children who need families. We are privileged to be a part of that work. Sometimes it's hard to wait patiently for our child to come home to us from El Salvador, but we know that God is working mightily to bring him or her to us.

Meditation on Adoption

Just stop and think about this:  God adopts us!!

Though we were far from Him and sick with sin (with no way to get to Him on our own), God gave Christ so that those who believe in Him can be adopted as sons and daughters into God's family!  

The process we have to follow to adopt our child into our family sounds much more complicated, but is FAR less costly.  We are giving a year or two of our lives and some of our financial resources to this journey, but Christ sacrificed all--his very life--as an adoption fee for us.  We are privileged to have a family (someday) that will reflect God's loving plan for us so closely.  

Adoption is a miracle.  These are some scriptures verses that have been encouraging to us and other adoptive families as they wait to be united with their miracle.

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. 

Proverbs 19:21

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:18 

I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight.  

Proverbs 3:5&6

Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Make your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice

for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.  

Proverbs 2:2-5

For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord.  Plans to prosper and not harm you. Plans for hope and a future. 

Jeremiah 29:11

The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

I Thessalonians 5:24

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:15

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:1

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:  He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession."
Psalm 2:7-8

Hope for El Salvador

James got me this beautiful plaque for my birthday this year.  It was handmade in El Salvador, and what better word to summarize this path leading us to our child?  We don't know where our child is or when he/she will come home to us.  We are in the dark, but we know... we are sure in our hearts that we will be together in God's time.  Sometimes it's hard to keep hope alive, but my heart knows without a single doubt that God will take care of us and take care of our child until we are a family together.  

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1

Thanks Mom and Dad

... or should I say Grandma and Grandpa?

Kim's parents bought an "Orphan's Ticket Home" on Kim's birthday in honor of their grandchild!  They are so excited about meeting their grandchild.

Thank you Mom and Dad.

Orphan's Ticket Home

We are proud to be associated with America World. The longer we work with them, them the more we are convinced of their commitment to Christ and to the Biblical commands to care for orphans. We are proud of the integrity they demonstrate while working with foreign governments and all of their clients here at home.

AWAA launched a new initiative around Christmastime this year in response to orphaned children's need for legal identification in order to be considered adoptable. The initiative is called An Orphan's Ticket Home.

Here is what their website says:

Identity for Orphans in China & El Salvador 3,780 children given the opportunity for a "home"

One of the greatest challenges orphans face is they do not have the necessary paperwork in order to be adopted. With your support, America World is undertaking a new initiative to make children "paper-ready" in countries such as China and El Salvador. Through this program, we hope to provide the necessary legal services and documentation to help orphaned children overcome this problem and become eligible for adoption. What's more, documentation for children is crucial for those who will not be adopted as well. Simple basic documents, such as a birth certificate, provide children a ticket to a better education and health care. Purchasing one ticket provides identity papers for one child in El Salvador and up to four children in China.

We have purchased a ticket in honor of our child and are praying that God will use this campaign to bring life-giving change to children around the world. The AWAA website has more information about what they plan to accomplish with the resources they raise.

www.awaa.org/events/orphanstickethome

A letter from AWAA

Our friends and family often ask us if there's any "news about the adoption." So, whenever we get a letter like this one, I like to pass it along so that we can all adjust our prayers to reflect what we know. Though the timeline has changed again and there are signs pointing to a significant delay in the time it takes to bring our awaited child home to us, we know that God's plan has not changed. We will not give up on El Salvador abandon our child. We are encouraged by the spirit of the letter and the OPA (Oficina Para Adopciones) which seeks to best serve El Salvador's waiting children. We are also proud of America World for the diligent and faithful work they do on behalf of the world's orphans.

You'll be home with us soon.


Dear El Salvador Families,

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement in my most recent trip to El Salvador. I was able to visit two small orphanages outside San Salvador with Identity for Children. The children I met were as loving and as beautiful as any I’ve met so far. They were always smiling and excited to play or just get hugged. I was especially moved when we visited a home for HIV+ children. Many were very healthy, active, and loving infants and children. I hope to have pictures for you all soon.

America World is developing a program and process that works with HIV+ children available for adoption. With new medical technology, HIV+ children live full lives without serious medical issues arising from their condition. Adopting an HIV+ child is not for everyone, but this may be a good option for many families.

During my trip I was able to meet with the Director of OPA; we talked about options for AW families as things are moving slower than any of us anticipated. She shared that they do still have children to place but there is still a lack of human resources to not only process families’ dossiers (to be approved by OPA) but also within ISNA to process the children’s paperwork for adoption.

I encouraged her to give (and gave suggestions for) options that would allow families to learn more about the older children and special needs children that are waiting and available. We’ll keep you all posted as that portion of the program develops. We are encouraged though by their deep desire and commitment to continue to work with our families in placing their children for adoption.

However, due to the significant time delays we are seeing we do need to revise the estimated wait time for a referral and now project it to be 18 months and increasing. All of America World’s information will be reflecting this estimate in the coming days. I know this is hard news for many families to hear and I want to assure you that we’re doing everything possible to decrease this wait time. In addition, we have decided to stop accepting new applications after February 8th for this program, in order to allow the backlog of families to be processed.

I know that many of you were praying for more immediate positive outcomes to be seen from my trip. If after praying about and discussing this new information you determine that this is no longer the right program for your family and wish to transfer to one of America World’s other programs by March 1, 2008 you may do that. While we do not transfer fees as a matter of practice, for any family who feels that they do not want to continue in the El Salvador program at this time we will transfer all program fees to another America World Program. Our current programs with the shortest wait time between dossier submission and referral are Ethiopia , Kazakhstan and Russia .

If you decide to withdraw from the El Salvador Program you will need to submit in writing to me your desire to withdraw from this program and your desire to switch to one of our other programs. You will need to be reviewed through our Intake Department for that other program; if approved, all of the fees you have paid so far will be transferred for you toward your new program. If there is a cost difference that will be reflected in what money does transfer. If you decide to withdraw from the El Salvador program and not to transfer to another America World program the America World refund policy will be used to determine any refund of program fees.

We are doing everything in our power to be able to place waiting Salvadorian children in the homes of America World Families. One avenue we are taking is to setup a roundtable with members of government humanitarian aid and development projects in El Salvador to discuss ways in which they can leverage their aid against the commitment of El Salvador to process and place orphans into permanent families. In addition to this, we’re supporting the work of Identity for Children to help orphans get their necessary paperwork and we’re continually in contact with ISNA and OPA regarding the status of their work and our families dossiers.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about this information. My prayers go with each of you as you seek God’s will for your family.

In His Service,

Christi Hicks
Latin America Program Director
Eastern Europe Family Coordinator

6723 Whittier Avenue, Suite 202
McLean, VA 22101
Toll Free: 888-ONE-CHILD ext. 124
Direct Line: (703) 891-3145
Fax: (703) 356-8973
www.spirit-of-adoption.org

(KJV) Romans 8:15 For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father.
Click here to learn more about AWAA’s An Orphan’s Ticket Home campaign.

Dr. Seuss in Spanish

I don't think Horton Hatches the Egg has been translated into Spanish.  I can't find it anywhere.  Dr. Seuss is a hard one to translate.

Horton Hatches the Egg

On the recommendation of one of the families in our El Salvador Adoption Online Community, we purchased the Dr. Seuss Book Horton Hatches the Egg. I have always loved Dr. Seuss, and this book has some parallels with international adoption.

In the book, a mother bird can't continue to sit on her egg, so she asks Horton the Elephant to sit on it for her. He decides he will commit himself to it and is "faithful one hundred percent." All sorts of troubles come his way because of his resolve to care for the egg no matter what. After sitting faithfully on the egg for fifty one weeks, it finally hatches. A one-of-a-kind "Bird-Elephant" emerges and Horton is happy one hundred percent.

I'm going to hunt for a Spanish translation.

Christmas Presents

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday and spent time with both sides of our family. We spent Christmas Eve (and a few days before) with James' parents, brother and grandparents Koehler. Then, we spent Christmas day (and a few days after) with Kim's parents, brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. The holiday was full of food and family and love... but someone was missing. Even though our child is not yet in our home and in our arms, he or she was in our hearts this Christmas. The Amerman grandparents hung a stocking up for "Baby Fullton" on Christmas Eve, and in the morning it was filled with a teddy bear, a special book (translated into Spanish by Grandma Amerman) and some toys. James' Uncle Don and Aunt Cheryl sent a present all the way from Georgia--a One Year Children's Bible.

Everyone asked about "the adoption process" and we let them all know that we are waiting patiently for God to send us our child--hopefully before next Christmas. When we got home, we cleaned out our child's room and set out all his/her toys and books on the dresser. Now, the room has books, toys, a dresser, a desk and a beautiful mural. All it needs is a bed and a rug. (Without the bed and rug, it echoes a little bit!)

First Referral

From the AWAA Weekly Update 12.21.07:

America World has received its first referral of a 5 year old boy for the El Salvador Program. ...Due to confidentiality we are unable to disclose the reasons, but the family referred the child did not accept this referral. America World will continue to work with the Office for Adoptions on this referral as well as for all families waiting to be matched with referrals. America World continues to advocate for this child as well as all of the children in El Salvador. In the new year, we will continue to partner with other organizations to assist children in being paper-ready to be eligible for adoption.

This is bittersweet news because, HALLELUJAH! El Salvador's new process for international adoptions works and there is now a small light at the end of the tunnel. But, how my heart breaks for this 5 year old boy. Offices in El Salvador close soon for Christmas and won't open until the second week of January, so no one will hear anything until at least then. We're praying that this will be the beginning of the opening of the floodgates of blessing for many children and many families. It feels like another step closer to our child.

Christmas Epistle

This week we sat together to write our annual Christmas letter. We took the opportunity to officially announce (to those live far away and might not have heard) that we are waiting to adopt a wonderful child all the way in El Salvador, whom God has chosen to be our son or daughter. We stated in the email that we hope next year's Christmas Card will be from a family of 3. What a wonderful Christmas present that would be!

It's hard to see Christmas arrive and know that our child is not in our home yet. We wish we could shower him or her with love and gifts and teach him or her all our holiday traditions and share with him or her all our favorite holiday memories... and create new ones. We trust the Lord that that will come even though our hearts already feel the empty spot our child will someday fill. We trust and pray that God has provided a safe and happy place for our child to begin their life and that he or she will somehow sense that we are waiting to bring him or her home.

1000 blessings in one concert

A few weeks back, we were invited to Steven Curtis Chapman's "This Moment" concert in Bloomfield, CT by Shaohanna's Hope, an organization founded by the Chapman family to "mobilize the body of Christ to care for orphans." They asked us to come to the concert to help them by being the face of CT adopting families. When we accepted the invitation we found out that we would be going on stage with Steven Curtis Chapman so that the whole audience could see that a real, live, Christian family in Connecticut is preparing their home to love and accept a parentless child from far away.

What we didn't know was that Shaohannah's Hope was going to collect an offering that night that would be given to us... onstage... in front of 1000 people... as a grant to help us pay the last round of fees to bring our child home to us. We were stunned when we found out and overwhelmed to accept a generous gift of $4000 from the offering and Shaohannah's Hope. Around $2700 was collected at the concert, and was matched by Shaohannah's Hope. Before we left the stage Steven Curtis Chapman and everyone in the audience prayed for us and our child in El Salvador.

After the concert, we had the opportunity to follow Steven Curtis Chapman to his dressing room for some pictures and a wonderful chat about the miracle that adoption has been in his family's life, how God is working the same miracle for our family, and how God truly works the same miracle in each of us who comes to be adopted into His family through Jesus.

At least 1000 blessings in one evening!

The Mural Completed!

Karen finished our child's mural today!

Study Time

The mural on our child's wall is nearly finished and we have been working on other home-improvement projects (a new kitchen floor and countertops) which will make our home more ready for the arrival of our son or daughter. This week we ordered several books about adoption parenting in an effort to prepare our minds and hearts more fully for the new roles we will have once we become a family. It is time to learn as much as we can so that we will be the kind of parents God wants us to be to our precious child. Our agency, America World, recommended many books including the ones we have begun to digest.

Raising Adopted Children: Practical, Reassuing advice for Every Adoptive Parent by Lois Ruskai Melina (Revised Edition)
The Whole Life Adoption Book: Realistic Advice for Building a Healthy Adoptive Family by Jayne E. Schooler
Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child by Beth O'Malley

Some more information

In today's mail, we found this letter from the US Embassy in San Salvador. Though short and obviously standardized, it contains some important information.

1. The embassy is on our side and works hard for adoption cases.

2. The wait for our child to come home may be longer than we had first thought (1-2 years, according to the embassy)

3. We now have contact information for more people who may be able to answer questions from different perspectives and keep us informed when we need information.

The thought of a longer wait jarred me for a while, but James helped me realize that we will wait joyfully for as long as it takes to bring our child home. God has our child chosen for us and will bring him or her home when the time is right. I'm thankful for this news that helps us prepare ourselves better.