Children's Hope International E-Newsletter

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

DEVELOPMENT AID:

	China Earthquake Daily Updates Amongst the Suffering
	Emergency Food Relief for Ethiopian Children
	Night of Hope Will You Be There?
	Artists Relay the Message

PARENT-TO-PARENT:

School's Out!
Slide into Summer

PROGRAM UPDATES:

	China Referrals and Adoptions Kick-Off June
	Colombia 10 Children with Recent Homecomings
	Ethiopia Flurry of Action in Ethiopia Program
	Kazakhstan Some Families Are Traveling to Kazakhstan
	Russia 34 families from 16 States Have Completed Adoptions from Russia in 2008
	Vietnam Joyful News in Vietnam Even During Uncertainty

Request a copy of our Adoption
Guide to see which program
is right for your family.

Help the lives of orphans by sponsoring a child today!

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Our Accreditations

For forty-two years I never got anything for Father's Day and I never missed it. My life was busy and very fulfilling. Going back to school at 30 years of age was very challenging and it took all my time. After receiving my dental degree, I decided to specialize in pediatric dentistry. It was there that I met the woman who would become my wife. We were very happy and looked forward to our life together. We discussed children and looked forward to starting a family.

After researching our options we decided to adopt internationally. We started our journey in September of 2006. As anyone who has been through the process knows, we celebrated each small step as one more accomplishment toward our dream of adoption. Home study, check, dossier, check - the many steps along the way, each was a small victory. Finally, our application packet was in country and the wait was on.

About a week ago I started thinking about what to get my father for Father's Day. I remember the homemade cards I made him as a child and the bad aftershave and ties I gave him as a teen. I had no idea what to give him this year to let him know how special he is. My Dad is the most kind and gentle man I have ever known. His family always came first. I still had not figured out what to give him.

When we started the adoption process, Elsie and I decided we wanted more than one child. Two would be just right. As our paperwork went through, we were approved for up to three children. We were open to three but had our expectations set on two. We discussed the possibility of three, prayed about it and asked God to bless us with what He knew we needed. On Monday we talked about the adoption, where we were and the Ethiopian rainy season soon approaching. We resigned ourselves to hopefully getting our referral after the courts reopened and traveling in the fall. Just when you get it figured out, life changes.

On Tuesday my wife called me at work, she told me to get someplace private. My heart skipped a beat! She said Toni Lynch was on the phone and I ran to my office. Then the news, how about three children - two girls and a boy! Wow. That night my wife discussed it, prayed about and decided ?three? was just right. God answered our prayers and if He said three, than three it was. My wife and I are on cloud nine? we can't wait to meet our children.

So, after 42 years, I am getting the best Father's Day present anyone could ever ask for, OUR CHILDREN! And I'm going to give my father his best Father's Day gift ever, his grand children!

(Next Mother's Day is going to be pretty special, too!)

-Kurt Swauger, adopting from Ethiopia with wife Elsie