Adopted by Design

China Reunion Trips

We are excited to share about a new opportunity for all of our families who have adopted children from China. Beginning summer of 2012, America World would like to offer a unique chance for our families to reunite with those they traveled with during their adoption process and share another experience in China together.  We are hopeful to organize a reunion trip for all interested.

Your time in China would include some sightseeing in Beijing and your child’s local province, and also include some cultural activities for you and your adopted children.  We are hopeful that this will be an opportunity for your child to return and learn more about his or her country and culture and for other siblings, family members and friends to experience this alongside them.  The timeline and exact itinerary for the trip can be flexible, and we would love to work with your family/travel group to coordinate a trip that works best for you. The trip will be hosted by some of our longtime adoption travel guides in China. If you are interested in taking this trip, we would ask that you reach out to those families from your travel group to see if they are interested in reuniting in China and let us know. 

Our vision is to create a reunion trip with families you traveled with for your adoption.  We understand that groups varied in size and number, and that not all families would be able to take this trip.  We are happy to organize a trip for an entire travel group or just one family.  Similar to your adoption, we will set up a tour package which would include hotels, daily meals, domestic flights, ground transportation, English-speaking guide services, activities, and more. The cost of this package would range from $1700 - $2500 per person.

Due to the number of families that we have been privileged to serve throughout the years, please only contact teresa.spencer@awaa.org if you are interested in a trip for this summer. We will send out another email in the future for those families interested in a trip for 2013 and onward.

Welcome Home!

We continue to feel encouraged as we welcome home more forever families. We rejoice with the families who recently returned home from China with their children and are thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness to each of one of them.

We consider it a blessing to walk alongside each family throughout their process and have the pleasure to see the Lord’s sovereignty and provision through each stage.

We rejoice with these families as they enter into the next exciting chapter of their lives!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

AW China Family Featured in the Local News

The Irwin family was recently featured on their local news program, and they shared their story or adoption and their heart for special needs children with their community. 

You can read the full article and view the video here or watch below.

 

If your adoption story has been featured in your local news and you'd like to share, please email blog@awaa.org.

Eternal Investments

In June of 2011, I asked each of you to prayerfully consider giving toward a need that staff became aware of at the orphanage in the Gansu region of China that America World has been blessed to support. 

Specifically, I asked for your consideration in donating money toward 35 chairs designed for supporting older children with cerebral palsy.  We were overwhelmed by your overabundance of generosity and heart to care for the orphans of this orphanage.  Although we only needed $8,400 for these chairs specifically, we were able to raise nearly $25,000!

The orphanage’s new facility was officially opened in November of 2011, and with your overabundace of generosity, we were able to provide the children there with not only these special chairs, but also more equipment and items to benefit the children currently residing there, including additional medical equipment, beds, walkers, clothing cabinets, and a new playground.

We recently had one of our in-country staff members visit this particular orphanage, where she was able to take some pictures of the equipment that your giving has helped to supply.

I hope that you are blessed by these pictures - not because of the physical items themselves, but because of the impact that each one of them will have on the lives of orphaned children.  Thank you for the way that you have participated in the Lord's calling to honor and love Him by providing for and loving children yearning to be called a son or daughter.

Thank you for the way that you are actively transitioning from being an adoptive family to an orphan advocate and making an eternal investment into the lives of the fatherless!

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions on how you, your family or church can get involved with caring for the Lord's children.  We are desirous to continue to build His kingdom by partnering and supporting your ideas and efforts.

 

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development (jason.west@awaa.org)

Welcome Home!

Please join the America World staff in welcoming home the families who have returned from China.  They each spent time in Beijing exploring the Great Wall, learning more about Tiananmen Square, and visiting the Forbidden City.  Each family traveled to the capital city of their children’s provinces where they met their children for the first time, finalized adoption paperwork, and explored some of the local sights.  Welcome home, forever families!  May the Lord bless you as you continue to follow His plan for your lives.

Welcome Home!

Please join the America World staff in welcoming home the families (pictured) who recently returned from China.  They each spent time in Beijing exploring the Great Wall, learning more about Tiananmen Square, and visiting the Forbidden City.  Each family traveled to the capital city of their children’s provinces where they met their children for the first time, finalized adoption paperwork, and explored some of the local sights.  Welcome home, forever families!  May the Lord bless you as you continue to follow His plan for your lives.

China- Mission Trip to Gansu Province

America World is excited to announce that we are partnering with Visiting Orphans for a mission trip to the Gansu province, August 2-14, 2012.  This is a wonderful opportunity for families to serve one of our partnership orphanages where many special needs children reside. Families and individuals who participate in this trip, will have the opportunity to experience China’s rich culture in Beijing before traveling to a rural area of the Gansu Province. During this trip, team members will have the opportunity to share love and care for children who have a wide range of medical needs. 

There is a great need for team members who are in the medical field -particularly those who are physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, or speech therapists; however,  any individual or family is encouraged to participate in this trip.  Whether holding a child, playing games with a toddler, making crafts with older children, or feeding a baby their bottle, there is something for everyone on this trip.

Individuals and families interested in this mission trip opportunity, should contact Frank Pass at frank.pass@visitingorphans.org to learn more. Additional information about this exciting trip can be found by clicking  here. 

Infant Incubators Given to Chinese Orphanages

We are excited to announce that through the support & donations from America World families, we were recently able to provide some additional donations to several orphanages in China. It is always wonderful to see how God lays a certain desire on the hearts of churches or families and we are able to join with them in helping to provide additional resources where needed. Most recently, funds were able to be used to help provide infant incubators for two small orphanages, one in the Hei Long Jiang Province and another in the Chongqing area.  Both orphanages were in need of these items, and were thankful for the infant incubators and enclosed a few pictures. As always, we feel blessed to have the opportunity  to give additional equipment and resources to orphanages in need, which is made possible through the generous giving of our families. Please join our staff in praising the Lord for His provision and care for orphanages and children in China and throughout the world. 

From Travel Group to Family

The cover of the America World calendar this year is a photo of eight girls, all from China. They are all from the same province in China, and the families of these girls met during travel. This travel group has a fun and unique story of the close bond they have formed since returning from China. Please enjoy their story and pictures below, written and submitted by several of the moms. Thanks to Cindy Martens for organizing.

There were 11 families who received their babies one day in Guangdong, and we all really feel like we became one big family.  We have a single mom, one family who had adopted previously, some who were first time parents and some who had older biological children, and yet when we're all together, our diversity only seems to bring us closer.  Our girls are uniquely all within six months of age of each other and will all be in the same grade.  They call each other their China sisters and, no matter how long they've been apart, they fall back into a beautiful familiarity with each other. 

We regularly email each other, we visit as much as we can, and we arrange mini- and entire group reunions whenever possible. We've had mini reunions everywhere from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., to Pennsylvania! Our families, though we are from all different backgrounds and places in parenting and live all across the country, we couldn't be closer in our hearts.  We all say we truly formed a family on that hot day in a crowded conference room in Guangzhou, China.  What a blessing it is to all of us!

I still marvel at this “red couch” photo, where we were able to get seven of our eleven sitting beautifully without crying! 

This is a photo of their birthday party that we threw for them while in China.  Most of us missed their first birthdays, so we gave the girls a party together! Finding a cake proved to be pretty challenging, so we bought them each individual cakes from the hotel's restaurant.

Here is our first Guangdong Girls reunion when our girls were just two.  This time we had TEN of eleven there.  As you can see, they weren't quite as cooperative that time around! We are still waiting for that elusive photo of all eleven. 

While we were anxious to meet other families in our adoption group, we never dreamed that we'd grow to love these families as our own.  We realize that ours is a special connection, and its greatest value is the gift it is for our girls to be able to remain close and maintain their own connection to their beginnings.  My personal prayer is that it will give them a sense of belonging beyond their own families and purpose in where they are now.

Welcome Home!

We are reminded of the Lord’s faithfulness as we continue to welcome home more forever families.  The travel group departed for China over Christmas weekend and met their children on Christmas day! Each family spent time in various provinces finalizing their adoptions while learning more about their children's homeland and culture. Please join us in rejoicing with these families and welcoming them home in the new year!