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September 2008
Letters
from families...
Baird Family,
KY (Russia xs 3)
How time has a way of passing by too
quickly. The month of August (as well as
November) always takes me back to our very
special journey of love. August 29th we
will celebrate Spencer's 7th Gotcha day. As
I was thinking back to the sweet journey we
have been on with all of our precious
children. Our sweet Spencer is now 8
yrs. He recently accepted Christ as his
Savior and we are THRILLED! God has gifted
Spencer with such a kind and compassionate
heart. God has also imparted much wisdom
and intelligence upon him. He is a very
smart young man! Spencer recently learned
to play the guitar and I'm excited to see
how God will use that talent through him.
Gannon, who is now 6 yrs, is our witty young
man who always has a song in his heart and a
big old smile on his face! Each morning he
wakes up whistling and singing ready to
tackle whatever may come his way. Gannon
brings such fun and energy to our family.
God has also gifted Gannon with a kind,
compassionate, and nurturing heart. His
contagious smile has a way of drawing people
to him. Then there is our Sofia, who
is now 4 going on 21! Wow! That's the best
way to describe her :) I know God has a
special plan for our little princess. Her
Sunday school teacher has said, "We will
read about Sofia Baird one day!" She is
bold, beautiful and bossy! That girl knows
what she wants and you had better not get in
her way or she will plow you right over!
Don't get me wrong, she too is loving, but
in "her" own way! She's the apple of her
daddy's eye and her mothers loving challenge
everyday! We wouldn't want her any other
way.
Thanks again for bringing these three
precious children into our lives. We are
blessed beyond measure!
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Wilson Family,
TN (China)
 She
is doing so well! She is the happiest little
thing.
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Stein
Family, TN (Ethiopia)
Brenda we
are having a wonderful time! It really does seem like she's
been here forever. I don't know how that happens. She is a typical 18 month old. Very affectionate,
strong willed, really smart, a challenge for her 4 yr old
brother, a chatterbox, loves to sing, likes her brother's
toys better than her own, clingy when strangers are talking
to her, goes to bed at 7:30pm and wakes at exactly
7:00am..... she is a joy. For us, so far the whole
process has been flawless. I know that much of the credit
goes to CHI's organizational skills. You know that we
want to adopt again from Ethiopia and with CHI.
McLaughlin Family,
TN (China)
We
just got back from Hilton Head, and Grace LOVED the
water. She is a natural swimmer. She is just
doing awesome and is so so smart.
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Kassel Family, (China)
 
We
are fast approaching our one year mark as a Forever Family.
I can't believe how fast time flies. Jade is a complete joy.
She is a happy, healthy, and a very busy two year old. I've
included some photos of her second birthday celebration.
She is such a sweet little girl. She loves being outdoors
and helping Mommy with the flowers!
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Russia Family Reunion, TN and NY
 I
just want to love on two wonderful children. We adopted
Ryan five years ago from Russia. He will be six in
November. While in Russia, we met another couple adopting.
They were going through Children's Hope in New York. Their
little girl, Issana, was in the same orphanage as Ryan. So
for both of our trips to Russia we did everything together.
We cried, laughed, and loved our children together. It was
a wonderful experience. As the years have gone by, we keep
in touch. We visit each other and talk on the phone or
email often. Our goal is to let our children grow up
together. We all feel like they have a bond that no one can
take away. We went to Florida last week to visit them and
had a wonderful time. We went to the beach, Universal
Studios, and Kennedy Space Center. The kids loved it and
had a blast. One night during our trip we watched our
videos of our experience in Russia together for the first
time. Ryan and Issana loved seeing themselves as babies and
couldn’t stop laughing. I just want to thank God and
children’s hope for not only giving us a wonderful little
boy, but we also gained wonderful friends we will cherish
forever.
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Burbank Family, TN (China)
 We
adopted Chas and Margo from
the waiting children lists in 2006 and 2007.
Chas, Berkeley, Blaise and Margo ready for the
pool. Chas was adopted 2 years ago and Margo
came home in December 2007.
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Mason Family, TN
(Russia)
  Alex
is doing great and adjusting very well. He is a very funny
and smart little guy and we couldn't imagine life without
him.
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Bullock Family,
VA
(China)
 
Well this week we celebrated our Gotcha Day ( two
years since Mackenzie was placed into our
arms)....Wow time sure does fly when your having
fun. She is the love of our lives and watching her
grow is so much fun.... "Life is more enjoyable when
seen through the eyes of a child". Many of you have
shared in our joy this week and many of you could
not so we are sending a recent photo of Mackenzie
enjoying her Gotcha Day cake . When we sang Happy
Gotcha day to you etc, Mackenzie formed tears in her
eyes and yet had a smile from ear to ear, when Bart
asked her " Mackenzie are you crying ,,she nodded
her head yes and said "I'm not sad I am just soooo
happy"..... Bart and I of course formed tears and
thankfully have it on video tape for I think it was
one of the most heart warming moments we have all
shared. People always say to us Wow what a lucky
child to be brought to the US and given such an
opportunity to live a wonderful life our answer back
is simply no we are the lucky ones...... |
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Reunion Group (China)
 These
precious little girls were at their Gottcha Reunion, Blowing
Rock, NC. They were all adopted in Changsha, China, May
2003. We had a great time being with the other families.
Thanks for getting our families together.
From left to right. Marissa King, Zoey Miller, Anna Bryson,
Mary Beulter, Daisy Ferguson, Neve Dole.
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Vietnam Travel Group Reunion
 One
of the first groups to travel to adopt from Vietnam through
Children's Hope met up this summer...almost 10 years after
their adoptions.
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Bennett Family, TN
(Colombia)
A STEP OF FAITH….
I
believe God placed a desire for adoption in my heart at
a young age. It’s not something I can explain, but I
would visualize a multi-cultural family whenever I would
picture my “future family”. I never knew if I would get
married. I never knew if I would have biological
children. However, I always knew I would adopt.
As I
became an adult, the desire to adopt remained and grew
stronger. However, as a single schoolteacher, I never
felt that I had enough money to start the adoption- so I
continued to postpone it. God continued to nudge me by
placing families who had adopted into my classroom each
year. I would relentlessly question them about every
step of the process. It was through one of my classroom
families that I decided I would adopt from Latin or
South America. Time continued to go by until I was in
my late thirties. I had always thought I would adopt a
toddler, so I decided that I needed to start making it a
reality, or I’d be the oldest parent when my child was
in kindergarten! However, one small problem still
remained….I did not have money for an adoption! It was
then that I read a quote by Joni Eareckson Tada that
changed my life: Faith isn’t the ability to
believe long and far into the misty future….It’s simply
taking God at His word and taking the next step.
I
decided it was time to take God at His word. I believed
that He would provide. After all, what is adoption
expense to the God who created the entire universe?
It was
also at this time that I was drawn to an 11 year old
waiting girl on a web site. The more I thought about
her…the more I realized that an older child would be a
better fit for me, and God placed a strong desire to
adopt an older child in my heart. I decided to submit
my application to Children’s Hope International for the
Colombia program in November 2006. I was excited &
remember thinking, “Ok, God….here we go! I am trusting
You!” I began preparing my home study and dossier. I
continued saving money and began several fundraisers. I
was amazed at the miracles God was doing. Each time I
needed money, I would have it and always had some left
over. It was very much like the loaves and fishes. I
also saw the body of Christ as I’d never seen them
before. People wanted to support this adoption because
God called them to care for orphans. Often, it would be
from people I’d never met. Needless to say, God showed
Himself to be faithful all along the way. I realized
how foolish and unfaithful I had been throughout my
adult life to not trust Him in providing for my
adoption.
However, the travel expenses are a huge part of the
adoption process, and I was concerned about having
enough money for that. I applied for a grant with
Shaohannah's Hope, and was generously given one.
The
exciting part of the story happened at the end of June.
A family in my church had just gotten their referral
from CHI for a Vietnam child. I remember the mom
telling me that she got the call on Friday of their
vacation. The next week, I went on vacation with my
family. On Friday (our last day), I woke up thinking
back to that conversation and just laughed knowing it
was WAY too early for my referral. As we drove home
through the mountains, my cell phone rang with “CHI” in
the caller display. Needless, to say, I thought that
was quite freaky & was a little scared to answer. It
was my social worker calling to say that a little girl
was going to be on the July waiting list, and she
thought I might be interested in her. I just laughed out
loud to God – that I would have that conversation at
church & then get “the call” on the Friday of MY
vacation, too. God truly has the perfect sense of humor
& way to reassure His children of little faith – like
me!
I
read her information and decided to pursue adopting
her. Although the ICBF did not have any information on
her when she came into care, they completed intensive
medical evaluations and determined that she had quite a
history of abuse. They also assigned her a last name
and birth date. I believed God designed us to be
together. I traveled to Colombia in October to
celebrate our Gotcha Day on October 16, 2007. Our
official adoption was on November 1, 2007. I am so
blessed to have Nataly in my life. It truly is an honor
to be called her Mami. She has a joy, zest, and
appreciation for life that teaches me something new each
day.
In
looking at the timeline, I also saw the hand of God:
Nataly was coming into government care in Colombia
(available for adoption) at the same time I dropped off
my application (first week of November 2006) and her
adoption was final November 1, 2007 – only God could
orchestrate that timing!
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Cristofoletti Family, FL (China)
 
Spencer is doing great! He has come such a long
way. His English is amazing and he still will
sneak in a few Chinese words and smile
sheepishly when he does it. As if to say "did
you catch that?" Our daughter Peyton had a
little bit of adjusting to do. She was not used
to sharing and Spencer followed her around like
a shadow. Only a couple of times did she say
"Mom. He won't stop following me. Make him
stop!" It is such a joy to see him learning and
loving. He referenced a little boy at school as
one of his friends the other day and it made me
smile to myself.
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McKenzie Family, FL (Ethiopia)
 Willow
is absolutely adorable! She is just precious and such a
joy. She is growing like crazy and gained 3 lbs in 3
weeks. She is so much chubbier! She is happy unless she is
hungry and then watch out! Peyton and her adore each
other. God truly had her picked for our family the day she
was born.
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Brock
Family, TN (China)
  
These are pictures
of some of the "first" this late summer for Sarah
Morgan. Shown are the first day of preschool, first
day of soccer practice, and first day of dance (her
personal favorite!) Mom and Dad were much more
nervous than she-she enjoyed all! We are so
thankful.
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Harris Family,
KY
(Colombia)
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 Here
are some pictures of Zeb's first day at preschool. He was
all smiles! I only cried a little---Isn't he the cutest! We
are so proud of him.
Zeb is 4 now. Hasn't time flown by? He is truly or most amazing blessing!
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Children's
Hope News...
Greet our newest members of the CHI
family...
.jpg) 
Lindsay Veach, and her new son, Denny
born on August 6, 2008!
  Amanda Bennett and new son, Sam born
on August 11, 2008!
 Ethiopian
New Year Reception 
Come meet our Ethiopian Director Tsegay (from
Ethiopia) and Sharon Turner (from St. Louis)!!
Saturday, September 6 at the Brentwood office,from 10-Noon. Bring your favorite
Ethiopian dish, wear your Ethiopian clothes, bring the
whole family, and we will celebrate the Ethiopian New
Years
Mark
your calendars now to join us on Saturday, September 6.
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Ethiopian Pool Party
 All
of our Tennessee newly adopted kids were there!!
And many waiting parents as well!
 
 
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Run for
Homes, Health and Hope
Run for
Children's Hope
Our CHI Run for Hope team is training hard for the
2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Our team will
join 45,000 runners from all over the globe as they
complete the 26 mile course through the streets of
Chicago. Our goal is to raise awareness of the
plight of orphans around the world as we raise
$10,000 for CHI's Greatest Need Fund via runner
sponsors.
Some of our runners are adoptive parents. Some are
extended family members who have been touched by
adoption. All are
Partners in Hope,
committed to doing the very best they can to help
the forgotten children of the world.
Folks
whose legs just haven't got 26 miles in them can be a
marathon partner. Pick out a runner you like and click
on the picture to sponsor your CHI team member. Be sure
to put you runner's name and "marathon" in the
additional information box!
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Upcoming
Info Meetings...
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Join our
"Online" Adoption Information Meeting
From
the comfort of your home computer, you can participate in a
Children's Hope live "Online" adoption information meeting.
This is an interactive discussion, so we will answer your
questions as we walk you through the process of adopting
internationally.
Click
here for more details.
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We might also
be having a meeting in your state!
Click on the map to
find out the details.
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A
Message from Brenda Barker...
I am
often asked for a picture of the whole family....but
with kids gone to college, the first time we have all
been together was just this month! So, here's the
Barker clan...Faith and Grace (21) were adopted from
India at the age of 9 months, Joy (17) was adopted from
China at 7 months of age, Samuel (15) was adopted at 3
months of age from Latvia, as was Andrew (14) at age 7
months, Melody (14) and Daniel (10) were adopted from
Vietnam at the ages of 5 1/2 years and 14 months, and
finally Kate (7) and Izzie (3) from Ethiopia and were
just adopted in February. And, my wonderful
husband, Ken and I round out the crowd...but I won't
tell you how old we are!!
Adoption
is my life...both personally and professionally, as you
can see. It is always a joy and my personal
privilege to help you on your adoption journey.
Brenda Barker
Southeastern U.S.
Director
229 Ward Circle, Suite C-22
Brentwood, TN 37027
615-309-8109 Fax: 615-309-8483
Brenda.Barker@ChildrensHope.net
Also serving the following
states:
TN, KY, AL, AR, MS, GA, VA, TX, NC, FL,
LA & SC
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Reagan's
first day of school!!
