Winter Jam 2010, a concert tour featuring Christian artists like: Newsboys, Third Day, and hosted by Newsong, continues to be a major force in raising awareness and support for orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children overseas.

The tour, so far, has seen many generous and caring people make the decision to help a child through Holt International’s sponsorship program, and the tour still has 2 full months of touring dates left.   Speaker, Tony Nolan, has offered hope and helped pave the way for orphaned and abandoned children to be given the assistance they desperately need.

A recent newsstory from Urban Christian News reports on Winter Jam 2010’s record-breaking start.   Also, see locations and venues for  remaining concerts and sign up to volunteer to help concert-goers as they select children to sponsor.

Urban Christian News:

Following the first six dates, Christian music’s largest annual tour, the Winter Jam 2010 Tour Spectacular, has kicked-off with the highest average attendance in its 15-year history. Launching January 8 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Winter Jam has seen nearly 63,000 attendees to date, an average spike of more than 9% from last year, making history for the Tour franchise. Concerts at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, each drew crowds in excess of 13,000. In addition, Winter Jam has facilitated 1,401 sponsorship commitments to adoption and child welfare organization Holt International, to help meet the needs of orphaned children around the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Holt is assisting Children and Families affected by the devastating Earthquake

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday saw children and families, already starving and impoverished, left with nothing. Holt is now in Haiti helping to assist the children and families who are struggling to survive in this broken country.

Although communication with our staff in Haiti continues to be difficult and there are still many unknowns, we have learned from Holt-Haiti Director, Mansour Masse that the 30 children being cared for at Holt Fontana Village are “OK.”  Holt has been in Haiti since 2004 and the Village, located about 40 miles North of Port-au-Prince, is home to children waiting to go home to their permanent families in the United States.

“We are profoundly grateful the children and staff in our center are safe,” said Holt President and CEO, Kim Brown. “We still do not have an assessment of the 120 families in our Family Preservation program, and we are doing all we can to determine their safety.”

Christian music group and Holt advocate, Julian Drive, was in Haiti on a humanitarian trip when the earthquake hit. The group has now safely made it home to the United States.

“As we flew away and looked over the devastated city,” said Shane Bowers. “I could not help but have a huge burden in my heart for those left behind that are now forced to try and reassemble a life that was already so broken to start with. God help the people of Haiti.”

Before departing Haiti, the group did whatever they could to help in this dire situation and be an encouragement to the frightened children at Holt Fontana Village. They put on a concert for the children in the Village and the surrounding community and brought a little brightness into the lives of the families who have lost so much. Read the rest of this entry »

by Jennifer Goette, Holt Director of Programs, South and Southeast Asia

During my first trip to Vietnam in my new role as the Program Director for South and Southeast Asia, there were many moments that led me to confront the power of the human spirit. Visiting orphanages supported by Holt, I was impressed by the loving care and genuine affection provided to each child. I was also touched by the need that emanated from each child, young and old, to be loved and cared for. Some of the children would find loving, permanent families through domestic or inter-country adoption; my heart went out to the other children – often older children and children with special needs—who would probably wait for years hoping to find a family of their own.

I was profoundly moved by a quiet young man with a determined spirit who has been living in care for most of his childhood. Tuan Ahn has a quick smile and is shy about his accomplishments. Orphaned at the age of eight years old when both of his parents passed away from infections believed to be caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Tuan was sent to live with his grandparents. After only two years, his grandparents were too old to care for the young boy and placed him with an orphanage supported by Holt International outside of Ho Chi Minh City. There he has received care and positive encouragement for more than nine years. Read the rest of this entry »

Caring for ‘the least of these’

Tony Nolan, dedicated advocate of Holt International’s work, recently traveled to China with his wife, Tammy, to receive the newest member of their family, Joy. On this trip, the Nolan’s visited a Holt –supported foster family in Nanchang and Holt’s baby care unit, and learned of the great need that still exists for these children to continue to receive quality care.

by Tony Nolan

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis talks about the law of human nature. When you see someone in great need, there’s something in you that no matter who you are instinctively wants to engage and help that person. When my family and I traveled to China to receive our daughter, Fei Fei “Joy” Nolan, and visited Holt’s foster care programs and baby care unit, I felt like we were in the zenith of one of those moments, viewing the loving care provided to the desperate and helpless children.

The children we saw in Holt’s foster care programs are completely dependent on their foster family. As I witnessed the love that Mrs. Lee, one of the devoted foster mothers, showed to her foster babies, I thought about how God has a great love for children in need that had him say: ‘Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress.”

I stood in the Lee family’s small, humble home and witnessed people caring for ‘the least of these’, giving two precious children a home, a family and a chance. To look into the eyes of Mrs. Lee and to see the love she had for these babies is a powerful testimony of the mission of Holt.

Without foster parents like the Lees, and without funds provided by the Holt Child Sponsorship program, these children don’t stand a chance. Giving is so important in the lives of children in Holt’s care, it allows foster parents and caretakers to take such good care of them…it truly is something to celebrate.

On our trip, my family, and I also visited Holt’s baby care unit at the Nanchang Orphanage. These abandoned and vulnerable babies are wrapped up and taken into Holt’s care, which fosters healthcare, nutrition and so much more. A lot of the babies have cleft lips and it takes the caregivers twice as long to feed them, but they always care for them with patience and love. Read the rest of this entry »

Tony Nolan, special guest speaker at Winter Jam 2009 and dedicated advocate for Holt International’s work, is currently in China with his wife, Tammy, to receive the newest member of their family, Joy. On this trip, the Nolans visited a Holt-supported foster family in Nanchang.

The following post from Brian Campbell recounts Tony’s experience at the home, and how a foster mother’s devotion dramatically changed the life of a child in her care.

By Brian Campbell, Holt Creative Productions Manager

“This is one of the hottest days on record in Nanchang,” Lisa Xu, a social worker on Holt’s China staff, tells me. The Nolan family takes this in stride as we board the van to visit a foster home. We hike the flights of stairs to the 6th floor. Sweating and panting, we arrived at the modest apartment occupied by the Lee family. Tony brought his whole family and with the social workers and myself, it was difficult to squeeze the 12 of us into the foster family’s small (by U.S. standards) 2-room apartment.

The Lees care for two foster children: Ling and Ruo*. When Ling, who was about 2 months old at the time, came to live with the Lees, little was known about her medical history, outside of the normal medical exam she received when she was first admitted.

As Mrs. Lee interacted and played with the children, she noticed that Ling exhibited behaviors that didn’t seem normal. Mrs. Lee researched ailments with similar symptoms, and during Ling’s next check-up with a Nanchang social worker, she pointed out that Ling showed signs of hearing difficulties.

The social worker scheduled a hearing examination that later confirmed Mrs. Lee’s suspicion. Although it is difficult to know how severe Ling’s hearing loss will be, because of the attentive care and actions taken by Mrs. Lee, and her love and concern for this child, Ling will receive the treatment and attention she needs. Mrs. Lee will also be better equipped to care for her.

Tony was quite moved as he listened to this story and held Ruo.

“What can you say?” he starts. Read the rest of this entry »

A look at how Holt is helping children and families in Haiti

By: Bruce Dahl, Director of Programs for Africa

On a recent trip to Haiti, Country Director, Mansour Masse drove Dan Lauer and me around to see the wonderful work Holt is doing in the lives of families and children in Haiti.

The Holt Fontana Village
When we arrived at the Village, the children were taking their afternoon naps, and it was quiet as the midday heat surrounded the compound. Inside, the almond trees and other tropical plants provided abundant shade and a small, almost cool breeze below the canopy.

During my last visit to Haiti, the construction of the Holt Fontana Village had just been completed, and our first children, six girls, had been accepted into care. Today there are 31 children in care, and the second phase construction of four additional houses is close to completion, which will allow the intake of another 20 children, expected by the end of this year.

Family Preservation
We traveled the half hour north from the Holt Fontana Village to Montrouis, where we met Abdullai, who is managing Holt Haiti’s Family Preservation program.

Holt’s Fanmi Ansam (family together) program has about 90 participating families. The central focus of the program at this time is the provision of school sponsorship and family trainings, which family members are encouraged to attend each month. Besides learning about health, hygiene, family planning and other practical information, the families receive useful kitchen utensils, dishes, a pot or pan, a tool, or cleaning supplies at the end of the training to improve their lives and, of course, to encourage their participation.

The monthly trainings are instrumental in bringing the families together, but also teach people who live in dire poverty how to protect themselves from disease and to improve health, through adopting simple daily behaviors, such as washing hands with soap and water.

Mansour shared a story of a single mother whose child had become seriously ill with diarrhea and a high fever. She took her sick child to the doctor and was told that he had parasites. This had been a recurring problem with all of her children and no matter how much medicine was prescribed, the condition would always reappear. Read the rest of this entry »

Inspiring stories about sponsoring children in Holt’s care

From Loving Sponsor, to Loving Home
by: Jenn Hand, Nepal

I was at a Newsong concert when the Lord completely captured my heart as the band shared about the ministry of Holt International.  I honestly thought I should ignore the fast beating of my heart as I heard the stories of the children in need of sponsorship, because I myself was a graduate school student, which of course equals little to no money.  But I knew God was calling me to the sponsorship table, where I picked out my little girl, Manna. I fell more in love with her every month as I sent that check and loved getting the very detailed updates about how she was doing.  Little did I know during this time God was calling me to come serve him in another bordering country to where she lived in south Asia.   I was amazed how God provided for me as I raised support to come serve Him in south Asia, and even without a steady paycheck, there was always enough money to send to little Manna.  I proudly displayed her picture on my refrigerator.  In 2007 I left for south Asia where I received the blessing of getting to work with an orphanage here.  Every time I hugged one of our orphans I thought of Manna and prayed for her to find a great home.  I almost got to meet her in October 2007 as I traveled to Bangalore, India, to lead a women’s conference, however the conference session went too long, and I was unable to meet up with her foster family before I had to leave.  Every time I see a beggar child in the streets of south Asia (and there are hundreds) I praised God for the ministry of Holt and for the foster home Manna was in.  When I heard she was adopted into a loving Christian family, I just could not stop praising the Lord.  Now I have a new little girl’s photo on my refrigerator

Inspired to Give
by: Joann Westerman, Fair Oaks, CA

My daughter and her husband adopted a beautiful baby girl from Korea through Holt in October of 1999.   Tristen was 5 months old when she came into our lives.  Because of this amazing life-changing experience, I have dedicated my life to helping children.  I feel sponsoring is just a small way of helping.   I also do volunteer work with children in crisis.   Being able to financially and physically help children fulfills my life.

Joi’s Prayers Answered
by: Richard Buckley

As part of a ministry event called The Advent Conspiracy, my family and I chose to do four things to focus on Jesus this past Christmas: We worshipped more fully, spent less on ourselves, gave more to others, and loved the people God has placed in our path more fully. One exciting thing we did was to allow each of our daughters to sponsor a girl from their native country (2 from China and 1 from Korea).

Joi sponsored a child through Holt International, and she fervently prayed for her.  Every mealtime and bedtime prayer included a special mention of her name asking God to watch over her. If I forgot to pray for her, Joi made me “do it over,” or she added her own “P.S.” to God after the prayer. The amazing thing is that her sponsored child has the very same foster parents as Joi did! It’s tempting to say “It’s a small world after all” but it’s much better to say “What an awesome and huge God we have!”

Joi is a new Christian, and I love to see God affirm new believers as they grow in Him. This past week we got a letter from Holt International noting that Joi’s sponsored child had been adopted and has a forever home in the United States. You should have seen Joi’s face when it sunk in! Amy and I had the honor of telling Joi the Lord not only heard her prayers, but He has acted on them and placed this special child in a family where she will have the opportunity to hear the Gospel and understand unconditional love.

As we read the letter at the dinner table, we came to a paragraph noting that we had been assigned another Korean baby girl to sponsor and pray for.  She is the latest addition to our sponsorship family. Please pray for her to have a forever family soon…and remember, if you don’t, Joi will be there to remind you!

Hands Full of Children in Need
by: Juan Ocampo

I took the rest of the child sponsorship folders and handed them to a lady who wanted to look at them, and she ended up sponsoring a child. She then handed the pamphlets to someone else, and the sponsoring moved forward. Seeing the handful of pamphlets that began in my hands being sponsored by others was God’s way of telling us that, though we could only sponsor one child, He would always provide for the other children to be sponsored as well. Our hearts melted, and we thanked God for His love.  My wife and I registered to sponsor a 4 years young little girl from the Ukraine for 6 months at $30 a month. That is a minimal amount of money that will help her with her medicines and general needs. That’s the least we could do. I’m sure it will go on beyond the six months, but everything has a beginning. Read the rest of this entry »

Children and families benefit from a renovated healthcare clinic in Shinshicho, Ethiopia

By: Ashli Courtright, Managing Editor

A year ago the waiting room of a government-run healthcare clinic in Shinshicho, Ethiopia, and the only healthcare facility in the community, sat run down and almost completely empty. Many residents opted to travel long distances to other clinics, or remain in their homes as their treatable medical conditions worsened. Now, with the help of Holt International, the clinic has been completely renovated, and the residents of this community are finally receiving the medical treatment and care they desperately need, in a clean and safe environment.

In January Will Dantzler, Chairman of Holt’s Board of Directors, joined with Holt’s Ethiopia Country Director, Dr. Fikru Geleso, and members of local and central Ethiopian government, to cut the ribbon at an inauguration ceremony, signifying the opening of the beautiful, newly renovated clinic, and welcoming a new beginning for the estimated 250,000 area residents who will benefit from it.

“The clinic is 25 years old, and had never been renovated, no construction had been done to it until now,” says Dr. Fikru. “It was very unclean, and the nurses were inexperienced. We renovated the entire clinic, and did additional constructions including: sewer system, electrical system and telephone system.”

Holt, along with generous donors, provided funding for the renovation work and partial funding for a full-time doctor and several nurses who are now running the clinic and providing medical assistance to over 3,000 people a month, most of whom are women and children. “It benefits a lot of women specifically,” said Dr. Fikru.

Read the rest of this entry »

Concert-goers respond to the needs of homeless children

Winter Jam 2009, a concert tour featuring several Christian artists, continues to be a major force in raising awareness and support for orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children overseas.

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.

A recent newsstory out of Tennessee reports on Winter Jam 2009’s record-breaking series.  Also, see locations and venues for the final remaining concerts and sign up to volunteer to help concert-goers as they select children to sponsor.

Alpha Omega News

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 »