August 1, 2003

Caring for and serving families in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama,  Mississippi,
Florida, Texas, and Louisiana 

Operation Hope Kids Arrive in Nashville!

Ten children from Smolensk, Russia arrived in Nashville on July 11!  To read more about the children, please go to http://www.childrenshope.com/southeast/index.htm or click here.  

Just wanted to share a picture of our family from our first vacation to Gulf Shores.  We had a great time and Cole loved the beach and the water.

Thanks for making us a family!  Love, Terry, Janet & Cole Edwards  

To those of you who do not know, Staci and I have been pursuing adoption for about three years. We settled on Colombia, because of our personal ties there from summer camp in the eighties and the country’s adoption-friendly procedures and infrastructure. We applied for a single, healthy little girl between the ages of newborn and three, but we firmly stated that if they were to find such a person and she had a sibling who was younger than our natural-born son, then we would welcome them both to avoid separating them. We got The Call at home at about 7 P.M. on Friday, June 6th, 2003. There was a little three-year-old girl, Angie and her big brother, Giovani. Giovani will turn six in July. They needed a home. We had one. To read the rest of the story, please click here.

Doug, Rebecca and big sister Samantha proudly welcome Taylor-RaeYukta Marshall into our family.  We left for New Delhi, India on June 13^th.  We returned to Louisvillle, KY on June 20^th. Taylor-Rae is 2 1/2 years old and came from the SOS Children’s Villages in Delhi.  She is birght and full of life.  Samantha (5 ½) has been a great help and teacher to her little sisiter!  We are overjoyed and still in shock to have our daughter home and a part of our family!

 
Face the World Foundation International High School Exchange Program is looking for loving, caring, and supportive host families for teenage students interested in coming to the US, from 30 different countries. For more information, please contact:

Lindsey Schreiner
515 Brooksboro Terrace
Nashville, TN 37217
615-399-2776 (home/fax)

615-479-1541 (cell)

http://www.facetheworld.org

Please join us on August 9 from 11:30-2:30 for a Summer Carnival at 614 Westview Avenue in Nashville.  Activities will include:  a magician, games and prizes, swimming, ballon typhoon and much much more!  Drinks and sandwiches will be provided, please bring a side dish to share!  For rsvp or directons call:  David or Elisabeth Taron at 615-269-7480! 

Due to the quota system for China adoptions, single parents can make up only 8% of adoptions.  As a result, the waiting list through CHI has gotten lengthy, with waits of 2-3 years.  We have decided to stop taking applicants at this time, and reevaluate the wait in approximately 6 months.  We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. 

We continue to accept applications from singles to adopt from:  Russia, India, Colombia, and Vietnam (when they reopen)! For more information about any of these programs, please contact Brenda@childrenshopeint.org
 

 
Please join us for free information meetings: 

August 2, Frisco, TX

Hope for Orphans, Stonebriar Community Church

4801 Legendary Drive, Frisco, TX

9:00-4:00 PM 

August 3, Pulaski, TN

Giles County Public Library

122 South Second Street (Downstairs Meeting Room)

2:00-4:00 PM 

August 12, Brentwood, Tennessee

6:30-8:30 PM

CHI Office, 7003 Chadwick Drive, Suite 350 

August 17, Tyler, TX

Green Acres Baptist Church, 1607 Troupe Highway 110

Adult Education Building, Leo Lynn Street, Room 103

3:00-5:00 PM 

August 18, Odessa, Texas

Ector Public Library, 321 West 5^th Street

6:30-8:30 PM 

August 19, El Paso, Texas

First Baptist Church, 805 Montana Avenue, Room F101

6:30-8:30 PM 

August 22, Knoxville, TN

Pellissippi State Technical Community College

10915 Hardin Valley Road, Alexander Building, Rm 206, Knoxville, TN

6:30-8:30 PM 

August 28, Jackson, TN

West Jackson Baptist Church, 580 Oil Well Road, Room A136

6:30-8:30 PM 

August 9                      CHI Summer Carnival                                    11:30-2:30 PM           The Taron’s Home

August 15                    Parent Education Seminar                              6:30-8:30 PM            Children’s Hope

August 16                    Dossier Class                                                       8:30 AM                  Children’s Hope

                                    Travel Class                                                            10:00 -Noon           Children’s Hope

                                    Pre- Adoption Class #2                                   12:30-6:00 PM          Woodmont Hills Church

August 25                   Home Study Group                                          6:30-8:30 PM            Children’s Hope

We have had a wonderful month with our Operation Hope kids here!  We hate to see them go back to Russia….we will not have a dry tear!  But, all 10 will return, and actually one more will join them (a younger sibling,who was too young to come!) as they join their forever families in the next few months!   

All of the countries are busy, busy, busy, as you can tell from the stories we have featured this month!  There is no better time than to start making your dreams of adoption a reality….and we would love to help you however we can! 

We don't want to burden you with a lot of information, but we do want to help you if you are looking for a way to adopt. If not, please let us know and we will regretfully remove your name from our newsletter.   E-mail me at my address below with any question you have.  I would love to hear from you.   

Brenda 

Southeastern U.S.
 Brenda Barker, Director
 7003 Chadwick Dr. Suite 350
 Brentwood, TN  37027
 615-309-8109   Fax: 615-309-8483

 Brenda@ChildrensHope.com
 Also serving the following states: TN, KY, GA, AL, MS, FL, TX and LA