Holt runners and aid station volunteers came together to participate in the Omaha Marathon 2009 to raise money and awareness for the Holt Ethiopia program. Nearly 15 Holt runners participated in the 10K and the half marathon portions of the event, and another 10 volunteers helped out by directing runners along the route and handing out Holt items at the finish line.
Through the team’s hard work and passionate efforts, runners were able to raise $3,565, making the event a huge success! This money will go to provide the children in Ethiopia with much needed medical supplies.
The race began at 7:00 AM, and as the Holt team began the first mile, minds were focused not so much on the physical race that the team was running, but on the figurative race – the race to bring medical supplies to the children who are waiting in Holt’s care in Ethiopia.
Every child deserves a home, and while these children wait for their forever families, the team focused their minds on Holt’s dedication to providing a safe and healthy environment for them. Some runners wore pictures of their own children on their Holt t-shirts, those waiting to come home and those who have already come home, and this helped add a very personal touch to the race. The mood was festive, but everyone was keenly aware of the seriousness of the cause.
“Several runners commented on the picture I pinned to the back of my shirt of my son Jack wearing his most infectious grin! It helped open the door to conversations about Holt and our cause,” said Holt mom Cathy Morin. Read the rest of this entry »
November is National Adoption Awareness month. This is a wonderful time to spread the word about children throughout the world who need loving families, and acknowledge adoption as one way to build a family.
Many Holt adoptive families have found a great way to raise awareness about adoption and help more children find families through the Holt Ambassadors program.
The Holt Ambassador Network is composed of people who share the Holt story and raise awareness in their communities about the urgent needs of homeless children around the world by: organizing fundraisers, speaking at churches, schools or civic groups; or volunteering at Holt events. One of these families is the Burns family…
Brad and Liza Burns are the proud parents of eight children, five of whom were adopted from China. When Brad and Liza adopted their first daughter, Faith, their eyes were opened to the great need for adoptive parents for children in China.
“After seeing the difficulties these children face, we felt called to look into adopting another child, and that’s how we got our second daughter, Hope.” says Brad. “Hope was five years old when we adopted her. She lived in a state run institution, and her room, which she shared with another child, was eight by five feet with a small bed on the cement floor and a Red Cross blanket. The workers do wonderful things with what they have and truly have a heart to help children, but the fact is, they just don’t have enough resources.”
Brad and Liza later adopted Grace and Joy, and most recently, Jewel, who was 14 years old at time of placement.
Brad and Liza shared their experience of adopting older children with 30 attendees in last month’s Holt Webinar titled “Adopting Older Children – Information for the Decision.” The Webinar attendees were prospective adoptive parents considering an older child through Holt’s Journey of Hope program.
The Burns family talked candidly about the grief process the children went through as they adjusted to their new lives in the United States. They shared how they helped their daughters adjust and become the resilient, happy, vibrant young ladies they are today. Read the rest of this entry »
by Susan soon-keum Cox—Vice President of Public Policy
We at Holt International want to inform our constituents about a movie entitled “Orphan” scheduled to be released in July by Warner Brothers. We are concerned about media depictions that demean or degrade children. We are especially alarmed about the movie’s negative portrayal of adoption and children in need of families.
As adults we have a responsibility to speak out and advocate on behalf of our children. Many people have already contacted Warner Brothers with their concerns, and at least two groups have developed petitions to respectfully protest the messaging of this movie. One group, Orphans Deserve Better, has developed a website to mobilize efforts against the film. Please review their petition’s information and include your voice among those who are making it clear you do not support the movie “Orphan.”
Warner Brothers has already responded to initial protests about the movie and made efforts to remove some the offensive language from the movie’s original trailer. In response to pressure from adoptive parents and other concerned individuals, Warner Brothers has removed the line: “It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own,” from recently released trailers. However, it remains unclear whether or not the line was removed from the movie.
With only 10 days left in the 2009 concert series, Winter Jam will finish its nine-week tour on March 15. During the tour so far thousands of people have decided to help a child through Holt International’s sponsorship program. Despite the difficult economic conditions, tour goers’ compassion and generosity have surpassed expectations. Speakers, Tony Nolan and Kim Deardorff, have offered hope and helped pave the way for orphaned and abandoned children to be given the assistance they desperately need.
NASHVILLE, TN—March 3, 2009—“The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular,” well established as Christian music’s largest annual musical tour, is defying today’s challenging economy by notching yet another record-breaking year. Still in progress, Winter Jam 2009’s average nightly attendance increase of more than 4 percent over last year’s record-setting pace is highlighted by the recent stop in Greensboro, NC which boasted an unprecedented Winter Jam turnout of more than 20,000 people.
Despite escalating prices due to the current economic climate, Winter Jam has continued its commitment to the unique “no tickets” policy, which allows fans to pay $10 at the door for admission. Hosted for the 14th consecutive year by Grammy-nominated and Dove Award-winning artist NewSong, Winter Jam 2009’s headliner is reigning “GMA Artist of the Year” tobyMac. The Spectacular also welcomes special guests Hawk Nelson, current “GMA New Artist of the Year” Brandon Heath, Francesca Battistelli, Stephanie Smith, pureNRG and featured speaker Tony Nolan. The Afters, BarlowGirl and Family Force 5 are also performing at select Winter Jam dates. The 35-city tour, which launched in early January, will conclude at the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN on March 15. Read the rest of this entry »
When Juan Ocampo attended Winter Jam Christian concert recently, he realized that God was directing him toward sponsoring a child. The following is Juan’s account of that event:
I can’t say that I am very familiar with today’s top Christian artists, but I was familiar enough with a few, and thank God that He is able to use the music and the artists to do His work. I have to say that I was moved by the mass of youth praising the Lord and having fun in their faith. It was a full house of over 10,000 people, and 1,800 souls were saved that night.
Holt International is an organization that helps “give orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children safe and nurturing environments in which to develop,” and they were one of the organizations and sponsors involved with the tour. My wife and I attended the concert to enjoy the celebration of our faith, but after the Holt International story and testimonies of former orphans, we looked at each other with certainty of what the Lord was calling us to do. God had touched my wife and I to sponsor a child.
We headed to the crowded table where Holt International staff and all the pamphlets of needy children were. On our way to the table, my wife and I were praying for God’s direction Read the rest of this entry »
One day in Seoul, Korea, a newborn baby boy was found in the garbage and taken to Holt in the hopes that his life could be saved. He was soon adopted and raised in Michigan by his parents along with his sister, who is also adopted from Korea. Over 40 years later, this same boy, now a grown man, lives a healthy and happy life of service to others.
Kim Deardorff has a profound adoption story and exceptional talent for music. He is a self-taught pianist, composer and recording artist. His musical skills have afforded him the opportunity to travel the world, working for Fortune 500 companies such as Walt Disney, The Discovery Channel, The Kennedy Space Center, Universal Studios and many others. But Kim considers his most recent opportunity to be the most meaningful. He is currently touring with the Christian music group, NewSong, sharing his adoption story from center stage at the largest Christian music event of the year, Winter Jam—for the purpose of raising up new sponsors for children in Holt’s care. The 2009 Winter Jam concerts feature NewSong and many other Christian artists. Read the rest of this entry »
by Sally Dunbar, Holt Family Recruitment Specialist
Jeonju, Republic of South Korea—Few things are more precious than a child’s face on Christmas. The 2008 Holt International Gift Team hosted the annual Christmas party for infants and children at Jeonju Babies’ Home on Saturday. Jeonju is a homelike care center for infants and children whose birth families cannot care for them for a variety of reasons. Some children have been brought to Jeonju by their birth parents or relatives; social service workers have brought others. Regardless of how the children arrive, the goal for them is to help stabilize their families to make reunification possible, find domestic adoptive families when reunification is not possible, or find families through intercountry adoption when it is in the best interest of the child. About half of the 60 children at Jeonju will eventually be reunified with their birth families.
The Christmas party at Jeonju is the children’s biggest party of the year. The staff begins preparing for next year’s party as soon as the current year’s party ends, and this year was no exception. The children performed an entire program of folk and modern songs and dance.
As our bus approached the city of Jeonju, our team noticed a big celebration or festival going on. We learned that the children of Jeonju Babies’ Home have become quite popular in the community for their musical and dance talents and had been invited by the governor of the province to perform in the city’s celebration, but the children respectfully declined because the celebration was the same day as our visit, and staff felt our visit was more important.
The 5- and 6-year-old boys and girls performed several perfectly choreographed songs and dances including a traditional Korean drum orchestral performance. I was impressed at the concentration and memorization their performance required and understood why they’re so popular in the community. They were truly good! After their performance, Santa arrived to pass out toys to each boy and girl. At first the children sat patiently across the room for their names to be called, but with every name called, the children scooted in closer and closer to Santa until they were all but reaching in Santa’s toy bag to find the present with their own name on it. Read the rest of this entry »
by Sally Dunbar, Holt Family Recruitment Specialist
Ilsan, Republic of South Korea—It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Ilsan Center, known affectionately as Holt Ilsan Town! Today was the annual Christmas party at this residence center for homeless, disabled children and adults, some of them now in their late 50s and who have been here since Harry Holt first developed this site in the early 1960s. I couldn’t tell who was more excited: the 270 residents or the Holt International Korea Gift Team.
Molly Holt welcomed the Gift Team into her home, the last original structure that Harry Holt built at Ilsan with his own hands, and told us how much the residents have been looking forward to this day. It wasn’t long before our group was off, each donning a Santa hat, carrying bags and bags and bags of gifts, delivering them to every residence home at the center. The residents were so excited that some of them burst outside to greet the team before we arrived at their doorsteps. We shared a few Christmas carols and exchanged many hugs, but that was only the beginning of the festivities.
Once every home had received a bag of gifts, the residents, staff, volunteers and guests made their way to the gymnasium (home to Holt’s wheelchair basketball team and site of the annual Holt Cup Games) for the main Christmas party. Two members of the Gift Team (a mother and daughter) had the privilege of meeting their sponsored child, a 6-year-old boy, and walking hand-in-hand with him into the Christmas party. The happiness and excitement that was in the air instantly came over us as we walked into the gym. Residents young and old filled the room, beaming from ear to ear and talking excitedly in words I couldn’t understand with my ears, but understood perfectly well with my heart. Read the rest of this entry »
Today’s party at the offices of Holt Children’s Services of Korea (HCS) was the 40th Annual Celebration for Holt’s foster mothers. Nearly 80 foster mothers, representing a combined total of over 300 years of service, came to Holt’s office in Seoul where they were honored by Mr. Park, Heung-keun, director general of Social Services; President Min, Kyung-tae of HCS; Molly Holt, board chair of HCS; Paul Kim, director of programs for Korea of Holt International Children’s Services; and Kim Hanson, Holt International board member, adoptee and adoptive mother.
Mr. Park, Heung-keun opened the ceremony with these words: “Today is a day to honor angels—the children who are our angels and their foster mothers who are their guardian angels.” As I looked at the children’s precious faces and into the eyes of their loving foster mothers, I silently asked God to bless their everlasting bond with one another. Read the rest of this entry »
“You cannot lose sight of the goal” say Holt International adoptive parents Tom and Debbie Lizer, who are now in process of adopting a second daughter from Haiti. The Lizers live in Iowa, where they find time in their busy lives to serve as Holt Ambassadors.
by Debbie Lizer
“We live vicariously through the Lizers.” That’s what our good friends tell their friends!
Who are the Lizers? My husband Tom and I and our brood — seven children, four of whom are adopted or in process of adoption from other countries — are the Lizers. We are somewhat set apart from our “normal” friends.
Our adoption journey began 19 years ago when we brought home our first daughter, Reka, from India at 22 months to join two big brothers. Our tiny little girl flourished and soon our family grew by another son. We put the thought of future adoptions not out of our minds, but still buried rather deeply.
After years of waiting for the right time to make the decision about another adoption, we realized that time was making the decision for us. If we were going to do this, it was now or probably never. I started searching Holt’s Waiting Child website “just to see who was out there.” We thought we might be interested in a preschool-aged child and soon came upon a little girl from India with many unknowns. She stole our hearts and before long, we were working on a dossier, knowing that the choice wasn’t necessarily “safe,” but it was right. Four-year-old Vaishali joined us in a year, and we thought our family was probably complete.
It was during the post-placement phase of this adoption that our social worker urged us to consider Holt’s new Haiti program if we should want to proceed with any subsequent adoptions. We smiled and said, “We’ll see,” but thought, “That won’t happen.” In time, though, curiosity got the best of us. We started reading about the Haiti program in Holt International magazine and checked out the waiting children on the website, “just to see who was out there.” Our interest grew as we noticed the older girls needing families. We reasoned we could handle the placement of an older child, as we had already mastered the ’tween and teen years (to the extent that that’s possible!) and, we rationalized, we really could use a playmate for Vaishali, a sibling closer to her age. We noticed a little girl 7 years old, and our interest continued to grow. Maybe she would fit our plan. But God had a different plan, one much more complex than our own, one that started us on a new journey down a long and rocky road. Yet, God’s plan was a perfect one, and this is how it has been unveiled… Read the rest of this entry »
Through the team’s hard work and passionate efforts, runners were able to raise $3,565, making the event a huge success! This money will go to provide the children in Ethiopia with much needed medical supplies.
