In just 3 days, I'm off to Beijing. I'm very excited about this trip! The adoption agency that we used (both times) has a good relationship with Chinese officials, and has been asked to take part in a pilot program. It's a sort of "reverse hosting" scenario. If you're not familiar with orphan hosting, that's where a bunch of kids come to the US for a few weeks and are hosted by American families who advocate for them to find adoptive families. This trip brings Americans to China to meet with a group of orphans and spend the week interacting with them so we can come home and advocate for them to find adoptive families. Same basic idea, right?
This is the little boy I've been paired with for the week:
Isn't he a cutie pie? His advocacy name is Aury, and he lives in Beijing. His file is Special Focus, meaning you don't have to have a dossier logged in with China to be matched with him. As you can see from the pictures, his special need is that his hands are a little different. I'll be watching closely to see how he's adapted to his special need, and I'll be writing about what he can and cannot do on his own once I get to know him a bit. As the mom of 2 girls with "different" hands, I'm anticipating he'll be a pretty capable guy! He's less than a year older than my Hannah, so I imagine we'll have lots of fun together.
The other children in our group range in age from 2-10, and I'll be sharing a little about them, as well.
If you want to follow along, I'll be sharing pictures from the trip on Instagram, too.
Please pray for the health and safety of the group as we travel, humble and willing hearts to serve the kids we're meeting, and that our stories and pictures will reach hearts softened by God to be open to adopting these precious kids who need families. It would be a huge blessing to me if you would share the posts I write about these kids, so they can be seen by as many people as possible and have the best chance of reaching their mamas & papas.
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I'm praying for your trip to China, that it will be blessed!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan! :)
DeleteWe just got back from a trip like this. God is amazing. Praying for you all.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear more about it, Maria! Where were you, and who were you with?
DeleteSaying prayers for traveling mercies and blessings to be had by everyone involved. So great to see people taking time out of their lives to make a difference in someone else's! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jamie! I'm so glad I *can* take time off and go do this. My dh rocks!
DeleteWhat a cute little guy! He appears to have arthrogryposis. Hope a family comes forward for him soon.
ReplyDeleteYes, he does. His feet look to be in much better shape than they originally were. I'm eager to see what he can do! :)
DeleteMay you be blessed as you travel. We lived in China for years and I know both the challenges and joys you will face.
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful trip! Where in China did you live?
DeleteThanks for sharing with #What to Read Wednesday. I have a friend in China currently helping a friend with an adoption. She has gone there twice to do VBS style program for a week in an orphanage. She posts pictures about the kids she "connects" with that are looking for adoption. How great that you can go and be an advocate!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting for your friend! I'm not anxious to ever set foot on a plane again, lol, but I did really enjoy the trip, and would love to participate again.
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