4 Siblings Home from the Philippines!
Sibling Group of Four Comes Home!
We’re so delighted to share that a sibling group of FOUR kiddos has recently come home from the Philippines! These kiddos range in age from 4 to 13 years old. As a larger sibling group, their files were on the Philippines Special Home Finding list, meaning their new Forever Family was able to request to be matched with them specifically! Congratulations to these amazing kiddos and their new Forever Family from all of us at Children of All Nations!
One More Kiddo Coming Home Next Week!
Another one of the families in our Philippines adoption program will be bringing their child home within the next week! After hosting their kiddo last year through CAN’s Orphan Hosting program, they have been anxiously awaiting the moment that they are able to reunite, and bring their child home forever. We are so happy that this moment has come for them, and our thoughts are with them as they reach the next leg of their adoption journey!
Philippines Adoption
Children of All Nations has three different Philippines adoption programs, a Waiting Child program, a Healthy Track, and a Relative Adoption program.
Healthy Track Adoption
Each year we are given a limited number of spots to fill for the Healthy Track program, and we are now accepting applications! If your family is interested in learning how you can adopt a medically healthy child from the Philippines, contact our CAN Matching Specialists to learn how you can get started today! In this program, families must be open to adopting a child of either gender. Additionally, while there is a possibility of being matched with a child as young as 2.5 years old, we ask that families are open to at least age 5.
Waiting Child Program
Our Philippines Waiting Child program provides families with the opportunity to look for their child on what is referred to as the “Special Homes Findings List.” This is a list of children that are considered more difficult to place based on their age, their special need, or the fact that they are a part of a sibling group of two or more. Families in this program do not necessarily have to be open to either gender, making it a great option for families that feel strongly about being matched with a child of a specific gender.
Relative Adoption
If you currently have a family member that is living in the Philippines and is in need of adoption, CAN may be able to help! Contact our Philippines Matching Specialist today to learn more!
Philippines Orphan Hosting Program – Photo Listing NOW Available!
Our Philippines Program is currently open to families in Texas, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York. If you live in one of these states and are interested in learning how you can host an orphan this Winter, contact our hosting coordinators at shannon@gwca.org today! Our photo listing is now available!
– Click here to view our Philippines Orphan Hosting Photo Listing –
Resources
- Learn more about our Philippines adoption programs
- Contact our Matching Specialists
- Register for our upcoming Philippines Webinar on May 5th
*For privacy purposes, the image used is a stock photo.
Read More
Seeing the Entire Picture
Below is the latest blog post from our CAN matching specialist, Hilary! Visit her blog to read more about her trip to Haiti to meet with our in-country representatives and visit the orphanages that we’re partnered with!
I Spy.
Take a moment and study this picture. What do you see? What really stands out? Immediately I noticed the serene blue water in the back, the ships ready to sail out to sea, the blue sky, the man on his motorcycle and the green trees. But then I start to look closer and I see a tarp covering a small building being used as a roof, the many umbrellas lining the street as vendors try and make a daily wage, a tap tap carrying passengers and many buildings. I could probably continue to stare at this photo and find more and more things that did not initially stand out to me but my point to this blog post is this…We travel to these countries, adopt from these countries, and give back to these countries but sometimes we are not always aware of what is actually right in front of us.
Sometimes as we find ourselves getting caught in the hustle and bustle of working or trying to give back I think it is easy to forget the realities of the countries we are working in and/or adopting from. Countries like Haiti that have no infrastructure are striving everyday to rebuild their country from the earth quake, get a stable president, keep their families together, find a steady income and essentially survive. Unfortunately this is the reality. These are all of the things we need to make sure we are not forgetting. We should always try to see everything in the “picture” because this is also the education piece we need to be passing on to adopted children. The good and the hard side of where they came from. Haiti will always be their home, their birth country, and where their birth parents are but it will also be where they met their forever family for the very first time.
“He is mine in a way that he will never be hers, he is hers in a way that he will never be mine, and together, we are motherhood.”
Hilary’s blog: Help. Hope. Haiti.
Read More6 New Referrals from Africa
What an exciting time this has been for our families that are adopting from Africa, as we’ve recently received a total of six new referrals! One of these referrals is for a family in our Uganda adoption program, and the other five are for families in our Burundi adoption program. Congratulations from all of us at GWCA and CAN, as you’re one step closer to bringing your little ones home forever!
Burundi Adoption
Our Burundi adoption program offers families a relatively quick matching process, fantastic in-country staff support, and the opportunity to be matched with a younger, medically healthy child. While the age of each child matched will vary, we have seen that most referrals are for children under age 5! If you’re interested in learning how you can join our Burundi adoption program, contact our CAN matching specialists today!
Child Sponsorship
Children of All Nations’ child sponsorship program, Fostering Hope, helps provide opportunities for giving back to children in need through individual and program sponsorship. Sponsored children will receive monetary donations from individuals and families to support their orphanage or foster home care, nutrition, schooling, therapies and medical care based on their individual needs. Sponsors receive photos and updates on the child that they are sponsoring, and get to see firsthand the difference they are making.
If you’re interested in learning how you can sponsor a child, visit our Fostering Hope page today!
Read More5 Things You Should Know About Philippines Healthy Track
Children of All Nations is currently accepting applications for our 2016 Philippines Healthy Track adoption program. If your family is interested in adopting a healthy child, this could be the perfect program for you! Below are 5 things about this program that we want our families to know. Contact our Matching Specialists, visit our website, or join our private Philippines Facebook group to learn more!
1. Healthy Kids!
All referrals that families receive in this program are for medically healthy children! As a growing number of adoption programs are beginning to turn their focus towards Waiting Children, our Philippines Healthy Track program is a great option for families that feel a healthy child would be the best fit.
2. Younger Kiddos Available
While we ask that families are open to at least age 5, it may be possible to be matched with a child as young as 2 and a half years old!
3. Can’t Specify a Preferred Gender
With the Philippines Healthy Track program, you are unable to specify a preferred gender, meaning you must be open to the possibility that you could be matched with either a girl or a boy. If you feel strongly about being matched with a child of a specific gender, we would encourage you to look into our Philippines Waiting Child program.
4. Single Applicants Welcome!
The Philippines Healthy Track adoption program is available to single applicants, however, they will be matched with a child between the ages of 9 and 15 years old. Contact our Matching Specialist to learn more!
5. Limited Number of Spots Available
Each year CAN is given a limited number of open spots for our Philippines Healthy Track adoption program. We have already begun filling our spots for 2016, and they’re filling up fast! If you’re interested in learning how you can claim your spot and begin your adoption journey, contact our Philippines Matching Specialist today!
Read MoreFamily Home From Guyana
With one of our amazing families bringing their child home from Guyana this week, we wanted to share a blog from another one of the families in our Guyana adoption program who brought their kiddos home nearly two years ago! If you’re interested in learning how you can begin your Guyana adoption journey, contact our CAN matching specialists or visit our Guyana adoption page today!
Well, blogging hasn’t happened in a while! We’ve been a little busy – became a mom again for the 4th and 5th time! We are loving life with 5 kids. Miles and Kallie have added so much joy, laughter, noise, and fun to our family! I’ve had several blogs I want to write on our adoption story but there is one I just couldn’t wait to write anymore. So if you will all bear with me as I share a few adoption stories in the coming weeks – some things are just to good to not share!
My family (husband and 3 biological children) headed to Guyana (South America) to adopt Miles and Kallie (siblings) We stayed in a furnished apartment. Guyana is hot/humid and there is not much to do there (like really – there is nothing to do there!) so our days were filled with homeschooling (yep, perks of homeschooling you can do it anywhere), swimming in the pool, and in the evening we would all cuddle up and watch a movie.
One night the kids wanted to watch Horton Hears a Who – I love this book, I’ve loved this book for a long time. Last summer we spent a week in Tahoe with my husband’s family and visited a traveling Dr. Seuss museum that included his rare hats. Super fun trip and we learned some really neat stuff about Dr. Seuss. There were rare paintings he had never planned on releasing to the general public and the stories they told about his work was wonderful. But the explanation for Horton Hears a Who I will never forget – they told us that Dr. Seuss wrote Horton Hears a Who against abortion. I researched this and there are conflicting reports as for whether he actually wrote it for this purpose or not, but it sure made the book stand out to me in a whole new way.
For those of you who have never read Horton Hears a Who the general story is that a large elephant hears a noise on a flower that has a speck on it. The tiny speck has the entire town of Who-ville living on it. Horton and his enormous ears are able to hear the town and he promises to take them to a place of safety. Horton has a great quote “a person is a person no matter how small” and he goes through all sorts of teasing and weather and perils to finally put the speck in a safe place so the town of Who-ville can survive.
Now back to my story (sorry totally derailed) . . . my kids decide to watch Horton Hears a Who one night while in Guyana. I’m cuddling up with Kallie on the couch watching this super funny movie and the Lord so sweetly spoke to me. He reminded me of all the times I was back in America feeling crazy because my heart and my arms were breaking for my babies in Guyana that I couldn’t get to quick enough.
Adoption is hard, it isn’t like when you are pregnant with a child and everyone knows you are expecting because – well. . . it’s obvious by that cute little basketball under your shirt and the jar of pickles in your hand!!! When you are “expecting” with adoption no one knows and you want to shout it from rooftop. Every time you buy a piece of clothing or their beds or their toothbrushes you just feel like a crazy lady and end up telling the checker at Target all about the kids you are adopting only to have them look back at you like a deer in headlights wondering why on earth I had to get in their lane. Oh yeah friends, lived this out more humiliating times than I should have. Yes, I have some super amazing stories where when I couldn’t contain myself and started sharing with strangers about the children I didn’t have and they were equally as excited with me – one in fact has become a friend because she just had to know when we were bringing our kids home and has been praying for me ever since! But there are plenty of times I shared and people just confirmed the craziness I was feeling by the look on their face. It’s hard – adoption is so hard!
I also can’t say enough thanks to those who followed up constantly on where we were in the process – why? Because though most days I had nothing new to report it made Miles and Kallie feel real, it made me not feel so crazy, and you so constantly reminded me of the faithfulness of our Savior. You see like Horton – we had a speck in Guyana. 2 beautiful children – “my Who’s” that no one knew existed, that no one knew needed help and home and mom and dad. Yet somehow by the grace of God, He put us in the exact right place at the right time so we heard “our Who’s” tiny cries, their longing for a family, their need for safety and protection and love.
I sat on the couch that night watching Horton Hears a Who and sobbed and sobbed. I was living the real life Horton Hears a Who! We serve a God who also says “A person is a person no matter how small” and He heard them and brought us together. I had “my Who’s” finally safe on my lap cuddling watching a movie and it was all too much for my hea
rt. Too much amazement at the goodness of God, too much gratefulness that He chose me to be their mom, too much love for “my Who’s” and it was simply a night I needed to share with you.
Friends, I don’t know where you are at in life right now, but I do know that we serve a God who hears our cries – ALL of them. From the smallest child to the greatest it makes no difference. I just want you to know as you read this your Father hears you.