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 »
A pastor’s offer of prayer encouraged a couple to proceed with their first of several adoptions through Holt International
by Todd Wisotzkey
Dianne and I got married in July 1993 and five years later began our family with the birth of a beautiful baby girl named Kayla.
Our journey to extend our family through adoption began when Kayla was about 2. The idea of adopting a child had come up in our discussions before, even prior to our marriage. The process seemed intimidating, and we were anxious about unknowns and all the factors that were out of our control. We initially decided against pursuing adoption. But the Holy Spirit worked on both of us, and we both independently came to the conclusion that we wanted to adopt. This would be our way to serve God by sharing our blessings, which included our marriage and family life, access to good medical care, loving extended families, a safe family-oriented neighborhood and caring Christian friends.
We began researching adoption agencies and procedures, which took many hours on the Internet and phone conversations with agencies. We ended up choosing a Christian agency—Holt International.
Shortly thereafter, I became overwhelmed with fear and worry about whether we were making the right decision to proceed with adoption. We were just getting into the mountain of paperwork, and had not yet been matched with any child. Dianne and I had prayed a lot about our decision and received many indications that this was God’s will for us, but the details and the unknowns of how we were going to handle it were causing me to question our plan. I finally said out loud in a tense discussion with Dianne, “I think we should back out.” In that very instant the phone rang. I answered, and was greeted by the pastor of the church we were attending at the time, asking what he could pray for on behalf of our family. Every week, he prayed for five families, and it took him more than a year to get through the congregation’s rolls—this week, he happened to have reached us. I stood speechless, in awe of God’s timing of this phone call. My doubts about the process vanished immediately. 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 »
When a long-waiting couple opened their hearts to a boy, their assignment from Holt International came quickly.
Excerpts from the blog of Lisa Ronda
We started out our adoption process only open to a girl, as young and healthy as possible. So to end our adoption with a boy who was 2 1/2 years old with a minor special need was sort of our “surprise” ending.
We were just over two years into our adoption when we decided to talk with Kris Bales, our Holt social worker, and just learn a little more about adopting a child with minor healthcare conditions, now known as the China Child of Promise Option. We figured asking a few questions couldn’t hurt anything.
Kris mentioned that if we were open to a boy, we might be matched more quickly, as most families in the program were not open to boy adoptions. We knew that we would be adopting a second child from China as soon as we finished our first adoption. So we decided if we were matched with a boy this time, we could always request a match with a girl next time.
We opened up the age range to include 2 years and under, boy or girl with minor healthcare needs. Within several weeks we were presented with Zhao Jian Hui, now named Aaron. His healthcare need was unfamiliar to us, but after discussing his medical records with our pediatrician, we felt that it was within the scope of what we were able to take care of.
Aaron’s medical condition was completely corrected with a minor surgery. He is wonderful and very healthy. We feel so blessed to have been matched with him and are so thankful that God placed it in our hearts to open our match criteria when He did, so that Aaron could be brought into our family! Read the rest of this entry »
Ajita* doesn’t know how to lace her shoes yet, but she has a good habit of wearing them whenever she goes outside. Maybe she is just glad to have a pair of shoes, this smiling 4-year-old who was found abandoned near a bridge outside Kathmandu when she was 2. An active girl who likes to scribble with crayons and sing rhymes, she loves younger children and is happy to care for and play with them.
Ajita is one of about 24 children living at the Nepal Child Conservation Home in Kathmandu, where Holt International’s Sponsorship Program helps provide food, medical care, loving nurture and safe shelter for children who are otherwise without a safe home. Read the rest of this entry »
A couple who adopted a perfectly healthy boy with a missing limb through Holt International’s China Child of Promise Option got just the son they wanted
by Sheri Quirie
When I answered the phone, I had no idea how important that call would be. Our social worker asked, “How much purple paint did you get painted last night?” “One wall,” was my answer. “Why?”
“Well, we have a 10-month-old boy we’d like you to consider. Would you like to review his file?” This call caught me completely off guard. After all, I had talked to our social worker the previous day and was told that our wait for a referral was probably going to be about five more months. When it finally registered that she’d said “boy,” my first verbalized thought was, “What’s wrong with him?” Our social worker said, “Oh, nothing really. He’s missing part of an arm.”
I called my husband, David, at work and said, “I think we have a son.” When I asked if we should review his file, David responded with a “Yes!”
Less than an hour after that initial phone call, I had several pages of information and five pictures in front of me. David and I read through everything that evening and contacted our doctor for his opinion. None of us saw any red flags or had any hesitations. Fu Zi Jian was our son! Three months later, we were in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China, and Micah officially became our son.
How did we know that this boy was our son? Well, my first question was: “What’s wrong with him.” We now know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Micah. In fact, limb differences run in our family. Micah’s daddy has one leg that is shorter than the other; his grandpa is missing two fingers.
Limb differences was one of a very few medical issues that we were open to. You and your family know what you can and can’t handle. When considering a China Child of Promise, it’s 100 percent okay to say yes to things others would hesitate at. It’s okay to say no to things that others are comfortable with. Micah’s special need requires an annual visit with a pediatric orthopedic specialist. We drive about an hour for that appointment. It’s very doable for us. Otherwise, he’s perfectly healthy. In fact, our Holt guide in China told us that his Chinese name translates to “Healthy Child.” How appropriate that is for this precious boy! Read the rest of this entry »
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.
