Reflections from Recent Travels
Recently while traveling in China I was privileged to accompany China program adoptive families during their in-country adoption experience. Some of the highlights of that portion of my trip to China included spending time with the families and hearing their stories, meeting our in-country staff and seeing the efforts from the orphanages and CCAA to care for the children.
Family Experiences
It was wonderful to meet many families and hear their adoption stories and testimonies. Most families had waited a long time for their referral and travel. Many of them adopted through the waiting children program and experienced the challenges that can be associated with reviewing referrals from the shared system. Even among the different adoption stories and details of each family’s process, the common theme I heard expressed from each family was how God brought them through the process and led them to the child He had planned for their family.
Meeting In-Country Staff
The guides who work for America World in China are all very knowledgeable about the adoption process and love spending time with the families and their children. Many of the families knew the guides from their previous adoption with America World! Throughout the many appointments and various paperwork the family completes while in China, the guides do everything they can to help families not to worry about the details and to assist them in the process. They truly care about the families they serve and enjoy their jobs.
CCAA and Orphanage Care
In visiting with the CCAA, it is clear that they continue to work diligently to connect children with their forever families and care for the children still in orphanage care. They have been encouraging orphanages to register children for international adoption and have been educating the orphanage staff in how to care for children with special needs. The CCAA sponsors the Tomorrow Plan which funds surgeries for children in orphanage care. The orphanages continue to use foster care to help them care for children in a smaller family environment.
Even among the challenges with the continued increasing wait time for a healthy referral and the review process for the waiting children shared referral system, it is evident that God is still working through the China program and uniting children with their families.
Sincerely,
Melissa Blauvelt
Assistant Asia Program Director