The children, many of whom have lost one or both their parents to AIDS, received school uniforms, shoes, school bags, supplies and nutritious school meals. In some areas the children were also provided with health insurance and mosquito netting to prevent malaria.

Initiated in March 2007 as a way to expand services to children and families at risk due to poverty or impacted by HIV/AIDS, the Longchuan project works in partnership with local schools and teachers. The goal is to provide children with the opportunity to remain with their families and continue their education. Because of generous Sponsors, Holt has helped 325 children in the Longchuan project.

Sponsor a Child Today!

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.

At one point, one of the caregivers picked up a tiny baby and brought him over to me. I put my finger up and the baby grabbed onto it tightly. I bent down and told him: “You have to let me go, because I need to go back home and tell people to help you and tell people to Sponsor.”

That little baby wouldn’t let go of my finger. He just wouldn’t get go. I can’t really put into words what I felt as that little baby held onto me. It was as if he knew that we were going to help him…he knew he was in a moment of love.

The caregivers and foster families are providing tremendous care to children in Holt’s care, but they can’t do it on their own. We will do all that we can to help these children and to tell people to help.

We had an incredible time loving on the foster families and children in the homes and orphanage. We were moved to tears several times. I think we are still processing all that God allowed us to experience, and I know it will take months to sift through the emotion and impact of this journey. I am just overwhelmed with gratitude, with sadness, and with a fresh and deeper passion to help. We have tasted firsthand what “true and undefiled” religion looks and feels like in caring for the widows and orphans, and I don’t think any of us will ever be the same!

Sponsor a Child in Need Today!…click here to go to the photolisting

Danica Ruud traveled with her parents, Keith and Joan, in 2008 to welcome the newest member of their family, Lilah, into their family. Lilah had lived with a foster family in China for almost all of her 16 months of life, where she received attentive care until she entered into the loving arms of her permanent family.

While in China, the Ruud family had the opportunity to visit an orphanage in Nanchang, where Danica was especially moved by what she saw.

Due to loss of funding and the tough economic times, many children in the care of loving foster homes were in danger of being sent back to orphanages and institutional care. Holt, committed to keeping these children with their loving foster families and out of institutional care, asked for funds in July that would help foster families provide for the children until permanent families could be found for them.

“When Holt appealed to Holt families for donations to keep children with their foster families, Danica was very moved and hoped to raise enough money to fund at least one child,” said Joan.

Danica started her very own “Campaign for Chinese Foster Care”, and to date has raised just over $2,000 for children in Holt’s care in China and the foster families who take care of them.

Caring and generous people, like Danica, who is now in 7th grade, truly make the difference in the lives of orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children. Because of Danica’s selfless giving and loving heart, children in China are receiving the care they need.

Lilah was able to receive the care she needed when she was in China, but there are so many other children  who are in desperate need of the most basic necessities .  One way you can help these precious children, is by providing them with a Gift of Hope this holiday season, and funding critical items that will keep them safe, warm and give them the hope of one day having a permanent family of their own….

Give a Gift of Hope to a child in need this holiday season….click here to learn more.

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.

“Once we got home and they began to get adjusted to a new home, new adults in their life and the fact that we would care for them no matter what, they began to bloom in their own special and wondrous ways,” said Lisa.

As you can probably imagine, Brad and Liza have a very busy family life, but they make time to answer questions and share their story with all who ask questions because they take their roles as adoptive parents and Holt Ambassadors seriously.

Thank you, Brad and Liza, for helping older children have a greater chance at experiencing the unconditional love of a family of their very own.

Celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month and spread the word about children who need families by joining the Holt Ambassadors Network

The children in the program do not have life-long health or learning disabilities, and their ‘special need’ can often be corrected with surgery, if it hasn’t been corrected already.

Parents are able to decide which medical needs they feel are within their capacity to care for by filling out a minor/correctable conditions checklist.

Joining this program does not exclude you from the standard waiting process; it simply expands your options and gives you the chance to be matched with a child much quicker!

The following is a story about a little boy named Daniel, a China Child of Promise, who had a minor case of clubfeet. He just recently came home to his permanent family….learn more about Holt’s Child China of Promise program

by Michele Mazzio

Adoption was something that my husband and I talked about many years ago, particularly after we lost our son, Brendan, to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) in 2001. After a long grief process we started to explore and research domestic and international adoption. We discussed the programs and met with various people who had adopted internationally.

As a teenage girl I dreamed of having a little girl from China, and my husband was open to this, as well. After a little over a year of paperwork and wait time, we adopted our daughter, Emma from the Province of Guangdong in 2005. After so many years of empty hearts and arms we held our healthy 15-month old little girl. We were so excited and thrilled to have been blessed by this gift.

Emma is now an amazing 5-year-old girl who loves to hula-hoop, do gymnastics, play the piano and just enjoy life every day. As her pre-K teacher tells her: “You are the sunshine in my classroom.” She has certainly been my sunshine and warms my heart every day. Emma has taught us so much more about love and life and the importance of family. She has even taught me how to parent a child after the loss of another.

My husband and I decided that we wanted to take another journey back to China and adopt another little girl. We completed our paperwork and submitted our dossier to China in 2006. At the time we knew that the wait would be longer than before but not that the wait time would get extended each month that went by.

One day I was reading an article about Holt’s China Child of Promise Program and about little boys who need families too. When I think about adoption from China, I only naturally think about the little girls. I had never thought about adopting a boy from China.

My husband and I discussed the program and explored the possibility of being open to adopting a boy. After so many years had gone by and having my broken heart mended by my beautiful daughter, we called Holt and told them that we would like to be considered as a prospective family in the China Child of Promise Program, and in addition, that we preferred adopting a boy with a mild, correctable medical condition.

I’ll never forget the day I spoke to Holt, they were so happy to hear that we were open to adopting a boy. Furthermore, they told me that it could be a matter of weeks until we received a phone call (something I couldn’t comprehend after waiting for 2 years). We submitted our medical checklist in November and received the phone call in December about a 13-month-old little boy with clubfeet.

After contacting pediatric orthopedic doctors about the severity of his feet and condition, we were told that he has a mild case of clubfeet and would be easily corrected by serial casting and braces. We knew this was the child that we had long waited for.

For me it was that opportunity to provide a life to a little boy that we couldn’t give to our biological son. We left for China in April. Words cannot even express how much love I have for Daniel. He is truly an amazing boy and has shown me once again that life should be lived with joy and happiness. Daniel has gone through a lot since we brought him home, but he laughs and smiles every day. He completed a month and a half of serial casting for his feet and is now wearing his braces. He will only need to wear the braces at night after about a year, until he is about 3. Our two children have truly blessed us, and I never thought how much my life would be completed by my family.

I am writing this article not only to share our story with you, but also to connect with those who are willing to open their hearts to the little boys who need good homes too. If you can open your hearts and minds, adopting a boy can be a significantly rewarding and memorable experience, as it has for us.

by John Aeby, Director of Communications, with Tony Nolan, special guest speaker at Winter Jam 2009 and dedicated advocate for Holt International. Tony recently adopted a daughter from China and visited Holt-supported foster care programs in that country.

“As I witnessed the love that Mrs. Lee, one of Holt’s devoted foster mothers, showed to the babies in her care,” said Tony Nolan recently, “I thought about how God has a great love for every child in need….”

Tony isn’t the first person to be overwhelmed by the devotion and sacrificial love of Holt foster parents. Their selfless love nurtures homeless children while Holt completes the adoption processing for permanent families. When that processing is done, the foster parents release these children to their new adoptive families. Despite the tears, emptiness and loss that foster parents may feel at the end of that process, most are willing to take in yet another child.

However, in China recently, some foster care programs are in jeopardy due to the tightening world economy. Many of these foster programs were initiated and developed by Holt: Holt’s expertise in this field provided the training for foster parents as well as social work and medical staff. In some cases Holt turned over the maintenance funding for these programs to other agencies, so that Holt could develop foster programs in other areas.

Now, some of those agencies are no longer able to continue their funding. But Holt cannot allow these children to be brought back into the orphanages. Holt is stepping out on faith to raise the necessary funds to keep these children with the only families they have known—their foster families.

“Without foster families like the Lees…” said Tony, “these children don’t stand a chance. With the help that [Holt donors] provide, foster parents can take such good care of the children. It truly is something to celebrate.”

“The caregivers and foster families are providing tremendous care, but they can’t do it on their own. We will do all that we can to help these children and to tell people to help.”

Donate to help keep children in China with their foster families…

by Kim Esser

My husband and I went to an informational meeting on adoption in our hometown in 2006. We have three wonderful kids but were open to adding to the family through adoption. After the meeting we immediately started in on the paperwork.

As the one-year anniversary of our log-in date approached we saw the wait time increase triple fold. What were we to do? Stay in the process? Drop out? Switch to special needs?

In the end, we decided to go the China Child of Promise route. My husband and I filled out a minor/correctable needs checklist and then compared our lists, deciding on needs that we thought we could handle. We filed the paperwork in late August 2008 and three weeks later we had our referral! She was a beautiful little girl, about to turn one that week, and she was missing some fingers on her left hand…that was it!

We immediately said, “Yes! This is our child!” and started the process to bring Seren SuPing home. It seemed like everything then took the long route but in reality we were on our way to China in February 2009 to bring home our girl!

Seren SuPing has added so much joy to our family,and we can’t imagine life without her. If you are a family trying to decide if the Child of Promise program is right for you, take that leap of faith. In reality, you are the ones in control because you decide what “special needs” you are open to. There was never any pressure from Holt, and they never tried to persuade us into needs that we weren’t open to.

Holt wants you to feel comfortable with what you decide upon and only wants what is best for the children. I look at our new daughter and can’t imagine not having her. She fits our family perfectly and has made us all appreciate what we have and what we do as a family.

Learn More about the China Child of Promise option…..

View the Minor/Correctable Conditions Checklist

Because of the short time-frame to find this beautiful child a permanent home, Westley requires a family who has experience parenting older children and has paperwork ready to adopt from China.

Westley is a talkative young man who enjoys school and playing sports.  He has had initial surgery to repair cleft lip and palate.

Please join us in asking God for a permanent family for Westley.  If you would consider adopting him or know anyone who may be interested in adopting him, please contact Erin Mower.

*Name changed

Learn more about the Waiting Child Program.

The Nolan family’s journey in China continues (see entry directly below) as they tour the Nanchang Social Center.  The following is Brian Campbell’s account of their experience.

by Brian Campbell, Holt Creative Productions Manager

The Nolans and I traveled to the Nanchang Social Center where Holt has several programs, including the baby care unit and foster care programs. When we arrived at the center Lisa Xu, a member of Holt’s China staff, had just started the tour when a little girl came darting by our feet. Lisa giggled as the energetic little girl leapt into a caregiver’s open arms.

“I have to tell you a story about this little girl”, said Lisa. “Qui* was born with no feet. As she got older and tried to walk, she experienced great pain unless she was on the padded mat or floor.”

As Lisa continued her story, the little girl began dashing about once again. The Nolans started to play with her and observed that she indeed had no feet at the end of her busy little legs.

“As Qui was getting ready to transition into Holt’s foster care program,” Lisa continued, “a caregiver decided to make Qui some little shoes. She made them out of a ball that she cut in half. The little cups have cloth straps that are strapped around her lower legs to keep the cups in place. Ever since Qui received her shoes, she has been so busy running around that she is difficult to catch up with sometimes.”

We watched Qui take small steps back and forth to manage her balance as she chatted to the Nolans and snacked on the candy they brought.

“Was this part of the caregiver’s responsibilities?” asked Tony.

“No.” Lisa replied. “The caregiver just had an idea of a way to make this little girl’s life easier and made these shoes in her off time.”

“I am amazed at how much passion Holt staff has for these children, and how they demonstrate that passion in little and big ways,” said Tony. “To have someone at Nanchang who would have the creativity, desire and motivation to do something above and beyond the call of duty is just awesome!”

Read more about the Nolan family’s trip to China on Tammy Nolan’s blog

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. “Here I stand in this small, humble home with two people caring for ‘the least of these.’ They provide opportunities for these two precious children to have a home, a family and a chance.” He pauses for a moment looking down at the baby in his arms and continues, “I never imagined that it would be so powerful, and to see it in action here, to look into Mrs. Lee’s eyes and to see the love she has for these babies is a powerful testimony of the mission of Holt and the sponsorship program.”

Tony gently handed the baby back to Mrs. Lee and said thank you for her service to Holt and the children. She smiled and said that she wouldn’t have it any other way. It was the right thing to do for the children. As we moved into the courtyard to get back to our bus, Mrs. Lee followed us. Just before boarding, Tony hugged Mrs. Lee. I glanced over, and saw Tony wiping moisture from his face, and smiling.

“That’s not just sweat bro,” he said to me. “That was truly a beautiful thing we just saw with the Lees. One I will not soon forget”

*Names changed

Help children stay with their loving foster families until permanent families can be found for them….