JULY 2002 NEWSLETTER

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

Florida,Texas, and Louisiana

THE DORRIS’ STORY

By Rebecca Dorris, Brentwood, Tennessee

On April 15, 2002, my husband Charles and I adopted a 10-month-old baby in China. This was the culmination of many months of paperwork and over a year of waiting to receive the referral. Throughout those months I prayed for our daughter every day and at some point during the wait started praying that she would recognize our faces. Mark 11:24 says “...whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours....” For months I prayed that this child would know our faces--know that we were her parents whether through dreams, visions or whatever way God wanted to use. I so wanted her to be comfortable and content with us as we were united as a family. In early April, a few days before we traveled to China, my husband asked me how I was going to feel if she didn’t recognize us and didn’t bond easily. Would I be devastated after this very specific request? I told Charles that we would just wait and see but that I trusted God to answer that prayer, however He chose to answer it--whenever he chose to answer it.

On Monday afternoon, we anxiously waited in our hotel room for the knock at the door that would announce our daughter’s arrival. About 1:40 p.m., I looked through the peephole in our door to see several people getting off the elevator and a caregiver holding a baby. Our baby, Rao Wen Xin to be renamed Zara Wen Dorris, had arrived! There was a knock at the door and Charles and I huddled in close as the caregiver brought the baby to us. She reached out to Charles to touch his face and went into his open arms. She looked at him, then looked over at me and gently stroked my face and touched my hair. This baby recognized us! What a big smile and a look of contentment on this baby’s face. Then she came into my arms, just laughed and continued to stroke my long hair. Charles leaned over to me and whispered, “Your prayer was answered!” Our time as a family started off in such a blessed way. The next 10 days in China and traveling home were filled with special memories of getting to know each other and even more bonding. We praised God for answering that prayer in such a precious way.

Days later as we got back from China, Charles and I wondered what she would think of her new home. Zara slept on the ride from the airport and when we got her out of the car, her sleepy eyes focused on the house. Her expression seemed to be, “I’m home. I’ve been waiting to get here!” Each room we walked through to show her around seemed familiar to her. She just smiled and cooed as we gave her the tour. She seemed to be saying, “Is there anything new you want to show me? I knew about my house too!” My prayer for our baby to know we were her parents had been answered immeasurably more than I had expected! Zara not only knew we were her forever family but she knew her home. She truly thinks it is “home sweet home.”

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask...” Ephesians 3:20

MEET THE CRAWFORD AND JACKSON FAMILIES

Doris Crawford and Scott Jackson are work colleagues who share an uncommon bond: they both adopted children from Russia in the past year.

Crawford read a newspaper article last year about “Operation Hope,” a program to bring older Russian orphans to the United States for summer visits with host families. “Yuri came to stay with us four weeks last summer,” Crawford said. “He got along well with our daughter, Michelle, who happens to be exactly one day younger than Yuri. I really liked the opportunity to host an

THE JACKSON FAMILY

older child before making a decision to adopt. Before the

THE CRAWFORD FAMILY

end of Yuri’s visit, a CHI interpreter asked Yuri if he enjoyed staying with us. Without any discussion with us, Yuri told the interpreter that he had a good time and that my husband and I were going to Russia to adopt him on his birthday. That settled it. We missed Yuri’s birthday, but in November, less than nine months after I saw the article in the newspaper, Yuri came home to live with us.”

Jackson and his wife, Helen, and their 15-year old son, Ben hosted 9-year old Kirill last summer, but Russian family members surfaced after the visit, and he is now living with them. After getting over the disappointment, the Jacksons decided to pursue another adoption and brought home their 7-year old daughter, Tatiana Emily Jackson, “Tanya,” in February. “Tanya gave my wife and me a big hug when we arrived at the orphanage. She had been living there about a year, and it is clear the staff loved the children and the children loved them. We brought gifts for the other children, who are adorable, and a Barbie doll for Tanya. After the adoption hearing, Tanya asked my wife and me if she could give the Barbie to one of the little girls in her group. Of course we agreed. Tanya said that she would get another in America. She was correct.”

Both Tanya Jackson and Yuri Crawford are adjusting beautifully to their new homes. “It’s been just over four months that Yuri has come to be part of our family. He really has a great sense of humor, he is super athletic, he’s doing well in school, and he has no doubts about his place in our family,” Crawford said. “He is a typical nine year old.” “The beauty of Operation Hope is that it is a chance to make sure it will all work out before the adoption is finalized.” Jackson says, “By this time next year, families interested in this program could be as lucky as we are.”

MANY WONDERFUL CHILDREN STILL WAIT FOR FAMILIES

Please know that there are many older and medically fragile waiting children in all of the countries we work in, including sibling groups. Please go to our Southeastern Web Page and see the children. If you are interested in our Wonderful Waiting Children, please email brenda@childrenshopeint.org . I would love to answer any of your questions.

RUSSIAN RECEPTION

We are so happy to announce that we will be hosting our Russian Staff from Moscow, on August 4-6! We are so excited to have them come and visit Nashville. Please plan on attending a reception on Monday, August 5^th from 3:00-5:00 PM at our offices! This is a wonderful opportunity for those of you in the waiting stage to see who will meet you and who is working on your behalf in our Moscow office! For those of you who have already traveled, I know you will want to see our Moscow team again, and show off your children! And, of course for those of you just beginning to think about adoption, this is a fabulous opportunity to meet staff, families, and children! You won’t want to miss it! For more details, please email ondrea@childrenshopeint.org.

VIETNAMESE RECEPTION

Our Vietnamese Coordinators, Thuy from Vietnam, and Nicky from our STL office will also be visiting us on August 7-8^th. We will be hosting a reception for them on Wednesday, August 7^th from 3:00-5:00 PM, at our Brentwood office. This is Thuy’s first trip to the US and she cannot wait to see all the children that she has helped find their forever homes! It will be wonderful for those of you waiting in our Vietnam program as well to meet Thuy who will take care of you while you are in Vietnam, as well as Nicky, our St. Louis Vietnam Coordinator. And of course, if you are thinking about adopting from Vietnam, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to have our Vietnam team here in Nashville to meet and talk to! Please plan to join us! For more details, please email ondrea@childrenshopeint.org.

INS CHANGES--CHINA

Due to the length of time referrals are now taking from China (up to 13 months), many families are finding that their INS approval is expiring. (This actually happened to my husband and me, over 11 years ago, when we adopted our daughter from China!) We are asking you that if your INS is 3 months from expiring, that you refile your INS form I-600A. The new fee is $460, plus $50 per person 18 and over in the home, to be fingerprinted. You will also need to have your social worker do an update to send with this, as well as the photocopies of birth, marriage, and divorce decrees. We do not want your INS approval to expire! You have waited this long, and additional waits due to INS I-171-H approvals being expired by even one day before your final appointment in Guangzhou, could delay your travel for many months! We don’t want this to happen to you. Please check your INS approval, it is good for 18 months, from the date that is listed on your 171-H. If you have questions, as always, do not hesitate to contact, Brenda@childrenshopeint.org or call 615-309-8109.

If you are upset about having to redo this approval, we would encourage you to again contact your senators or congressmen and encourage them, as much of the adoption community is, to increase the length of the approval to 2 years.

UPCOMING INFORMATION MEETINGS

Please join us for free information meetings:

July 9 Brentwood Offices 6:30-8:30 PM

July 29 Birmingham, Alabama (The Mountain Brook Inn) 6:30-8:30 PM

July 30 Huntsville, Alabama (Huntsville-Madison County Public Library) 6:30-8:30 PM

August 13 Brentwood Offices 6:30-8:30 PM

UPCOMING EVENTS

July 5-6 Operation Hope kids Arrive

July 13 Dossier Class 8:00-10:00 AM Children’s Hope

Travel Class 10:00-11:59 AM Children’s Hope

Operation Hope Gathering 5:00-7:00 PM The Wilson’s home

July 15 Home Study Group 6:30 –8:30 PM Children’s Hope

July 20 Op Hope Reception 2:00-4:00 PM Belmont Church

July 26 Operation Hope Kids Leave

Aug 2-4 CHI 10^TH ANNUAL REUNION Chicago, Illinois

Aug. 5 Russian Reception with

Moscow Staff 3:00-5:00 PM Children’s Hope

Aug. 7 Vietnamese Reception with

Ho Chi Min & STL Staff 3:00-5:00 PM Children’s Hope

Aug. 10 Dossier Class 8:00-10:00 AM Children’s Hope

Travel Class 10:00-11:59 AM Children’s Hope

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

Aug. 19 Home Study Group 6:30-8:30 PM Children’s Hope

A Message From Brenda Barker

Happy Fourth of July! At no time in my life, have I seen patriotism from Americans, as much as I have in the last year. When you have traveled abroad and/or adopted internationally, you know with heartfelt gratitude, the joy of being an American….which often others take for granted. Of course, I love the countries I have visited, particularly my children’s birth countries, and the rich heritage and culture they have brought into our lives! I know after our first adoption trip to India 15 years ago, I literally kissed the ground when we arrived in the USA! Even the sight of American cities in the Embassy in India had me in tears! We are indeed a people blessed of God, and as our pledge of allegiance states we are, “One nation, under God.” There is no better time to begin an adoption than this July, and add another American to our your family and our country! Let us know if we can help!

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