Archive for April 30, 2015

Hosting Works

In the fall of 2014 we heard last-minute about the Great Wall Winter Hosting Program.  Our family felt compelled to move forward with the program and host a boy during the holidays.  We entered the program with the possibility that we might adopt, but it could be that we were to advocate for the child.

We chose to host a six-year-old boy who turned seven a few days after his arrival in the US.  Our family welcomed him into our home and he settled in quickly into our busy holiday schedule.  We celebrated his birthday, attended a family wedding, enjoyed several Christmas gatherings, had numerous play dates, and stayed at my parents’ farm for a few days.  It was a delightful time and he added a lot of fun boy-energy to our home with three daughters!

About halfway through our hosting, we knew we had to make a decision about whether to move forward to adopt or to advocate for his adoption.  Our prayer had been that we would know whether to adopt or advocate.  He fit into our family so well and we love him so, but for reasons we couldn’t really understand, our family felt we were to advocate for his adoption.  That was December 31^st.  Our family prayed that God would lead us to the family who was to be his adoptive family.

That night at the New Year’s Eve Service at our church, a lady I knew casually came over to ask a few questions about the hosting program.  As we talked and I shared about adoption (our three daughters are adopted), it became evident that this family would probably be his forever family.  They had talked about adopting at some point and recently had discussed that with the ages of their biological children, it might be a good time to move forward with adoption.  On January 2, they made the phone call to Great Wall to start the adoption process.

We could not have selected a better family for him!  He will join a family of loving parents with a sister and brother close in age to him.  The boy is three years older and the girl is about a year older, so they will be in the same school and participate in a lot of the same activities.

What we couldn’t understand quickly became evident and the beautiful journey continues to unfold.  The rest of the time he was in our home, we made more memories with him that we will always cherish! The last two weeks, we spent many hours with the adoptive family, though he did not know they would be his forever family (in keeping with hosting guidelines).

Our family is so blessed to know this family even better and have our host boy grow up in our community. Of course, the first few months, we will keep our distance as he bonds with his forever family, but we look forward to being part of his life and watching him grow!  What an amazing journey for us, the host boy, and the adoptive family as several lives are changed forever through this hosting experience!

Philippines Host Kids are NOW Available!

We have the children listed on the photo listing. Due to Philippines confidentiality, the kids photos are not listed. If you request more information on them, one of our hosting team members will contact you and provide them and additional information for you.

View the Hosting Photolisting

China Summer Hosting Photo Listing Now Available

It’s official! The 2015 Summer Hosting Program is starting off with a big bang! We have already matched some really great kiddos thanks to our VIP families that registered early. We only have 40 spots available and as of this evening there are 36 spots available which will decrease by several over night.

Visit our hosting page here to request a password and begin looking at all of the sweet children ready to visit America.

Please reach out to our matching team today if you are interested in being a part of the 2015 Hosting Experience. Our hosting program has so much to offer for those who are looking for a way to give back to these sweet children.

We need families that are looking to host to adopt, or host to advocate. What does host to advocate mean? It means bringing a child into your home for the summer and giving them the experience of a family. But more than that, it’s getting to know them as a person to help in the advocacy efforts of finding them a forever family. It’s sharing that child’s story with your friends, family and community in efforts to find that child’s forever family. It’s committing to that child wholly knowing you will not stop until you find the family that can best serve that child’s needs. It’s being that child’s advocate.

We also need families as back up host families. Unforeseen circumstance occur, and situations present themselves that not everyone can handle. In case of an emergency we need families all over the united states ready to take action in the event the child can not stay the entire time with their original host family.

We need chaperone host families. Families that want to open their home to one of the caretakers that will be traveling with the children. The adults that travel with children also need a place to stay, you could provide that for them at no cost to your family.

We need home safety visit providers, approved individuals that can help families get their home approved for hosting a child.

Lastly we need advocates, we need people like you that are reading this right now because you care about the children, to share the hosting program information with people you know. You can share a child’s photo listing photo on your Facebook, twitter, etc. Help get these kid’s faces out there so we can find their host family and potential forever family!