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February
2007
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The Earls Family, TN (Russia)
I just wanted to
send you one of our new pictures of Joseph and Svetlana. They are both
doing great. During church this past Sunday, each child was asked what
he/she was thankful for during children's sermon. Joseph said, "My
sister." Svetlana said, "My mommy." Both of these answers really
touched my heart. Mommy and Daddy are most thankful that we have these
two beautiful children to love forever.
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The Berger Family,
TX
(Russia)
God bless and thank you for all you do!
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The Fuqua Family, TN (Russia)
Hi Brenda and gang....sorry for just now getting back to you. We
are so glad to be home and Alena Grace ("Lena Grace") is doing just
great...she's 16 1/2 months old and already ruling the roost.
Believe it or not, her brother is letting her! I've
attached a couple of pictures...she's a cutie! Thank you for
everything.
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The Sanders Family, TN (China)
Wishing you a
Blessed New Year!
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The Brown Family, TX
(China)
Just wanted you and everyone there to know
everything went great in
China. You were right they do a great job once you are in China, our
coordinator was Elsie and she was great. Our guide was Simon and
was very helpful and so informative about so much it was hard to take
all the information in, I have tried to journal in order to remember
everything. We met so many wonderful people in our group and the
people we met in the shops around our hotel. Chloe is doing great
and we are settling in very nicely. We had a great Christmas too!
Vonda and Brenda have called and emailed me and I just have not had a
chance to respond. Kinda crazy around here now with 4 children, I
can't believe I have 4 now.
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The
Galusha Family, GA (Vietnam)
OUR BUNDLE OF JOY...Adoption is NOT for everyone and we certainly felt that we fit
into that
category. However, God seems to always have different plans and today we
have a beautiful daughter from half way around the world. Amazingly He
gave her characteristics that fit right into our family and us to her.
She likes to make us laugh
as much as laughing. She is so smart that it
can be scary. She also can be bossy and
very hard-headed, just like her
mum. She loves music and hamming it up for the
camera (dad). She
parallels a lot of things that her older brother did at her age, but
of
course he disavows any knowledge of that.
What an amazing outcome for a journey that we did not plan to take.
Pssssst, we are praying about a sister.......
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The Milburn Family, TN (China)
 We
are doing great! It is hard to believe that we will celebrate
her 2 year adoption day on January 31, 2007. It has been an
incredible experience. I wasn't sure at the time about adopting
a 4 year old, but all has
turned out well! I haven't had to change diapers, that is
definitely a plus!
Madelyn has adjusted well and is currently in Kindergarten. I may be biased on this, but I think that Madelyn is
extremely bright. : ) All her grades have been A's.
Amazingly last year in
the pre-K class she attended there was another girl adopted from China
and this year there is a girl in her class adopted from Russia.
We
really never experienced problems communicating, especially after the
6 month mark. I still can't get over how quickly she learned
English. Unfortunately she has lost her Chinese language skills. I am exploring other ways to deal
with this so that she doesn't lose it completely.
Madelyn has grown 6 inches and gained 10 lbs. I think that she
will always be small, but who knows. We finally are able to shop
in the 4 and up section now that she is in a solid 4 (almost a size
5!). Most of the time she eats like a horse and loves fruits
(especially oranges and watermelon) and vegetables. Most of the
time she will pass up sweets for a piece of fruit. Yeah!
She definitely eats healthier than I do. And, she is extremely
energetic. I think, in part, this has helped her stay relatively
healthy. We just have occasional colds to deal with, but nothing
big.
My
family absolutely adores her. Madelyn and my Dad have a great bond.
She loves my Mom too, but it is grandpa that she goes to first. It
has been this way from the beginning. Sometimes I wonder who this man
is! He is so different with her than I remember him being with my
brother and me. We have traveled together a fair amount. This summer
with visited Disneyland in California and Madelyn had a blast!
Madelyn has definitely been a blessing in my life. I love her funny
sense of humor and her smiles! : ) She loves to sing and dance
around, read books, play with her toys, watch videos (which she
declare is her most favorite thing to do), play with her friends,
pretend to be a princess, and talk (chatter chatter chatter!). She
also loves church and has recently told me that she loves "God and
Jesus" the most and then me!
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The
Lauderback Family, TN (Russia)
adopted 3 siblings!
We
are all doing great.
Trying to get into routines. Dustin started kindergarten last week. He
is
loving it. We started Dillon in a Mother's Day Out Program today. I called and they said he's doing great. Daelyn
is getting caught up as well.
Thank you for all your help in making us a much bigger family.
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The Outland Family, TN (China)
I actually made it all the way to China. I picked up Ella at the
Adoption Affairs office yesterday morning at about 10 am. She was
SUPER sad all day.
She definitely is grieving and has cried a million alligator
tears. They must have taken good care of her at the orphanage. By days
end though, we had made great strides. We stopped crying, ate well and
have been sleeping all night. She has smiled only once so far - at a
Chinese kids show on TV. She seems to really like her toys!
Ella has a head full of black curly hair - curly like Chris' (I don't
know how he pulled that off) :). She has to suck on the corner of a
blanket to go to sleep - glad we figured that out quickly. She still
takes a bottle with milk powder and rice cereal and also eats some
regular food. She is a SUPER wild sleeper. We have a king size
bed in our room and she has been on every square inch of it last night
while sleeping. I will bet that the bed feels like heaven to her - the
comforter is down and the sheets are so soft and nice.
When I got her they had her dressed in 8 - count them - 8 wintertime,
thick items of clothing- not including her diaper and socks and shoes.
They "bundle" the babies here and she was CERTAINLY bundled!
Ella is full of smiles now!
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The Parkin Family,
TN (China)
We are doing great! Rod and I are in
love with her.
Thanks for any advice you can offer
and for everything you have done for us...China
was a blast
and Mia is a beautiful, happy, healthy baby
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 The Carroll Family, LA (Russia)
Thanks for
calling and writing. We appreciate everything CHI did to see
us through our adoption and are so pleased that you haven't
forgotten about us now that we are home. Things like this
make me recommend CHI to friends expressing interest in
adoption all the time!
Madison has
been home about a month now and is doing wonderfully.
The changes in her from day to day are nothing short of
amazing.
We're so happy and PROUD of her.
Expect
to hear from us regularly, since we're already
talking about
doing this again . . .
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CHI
NOW LICENSED IN KENTUCKY!
Please
Welcome New Kentucky
Outreach Coordinator, Michelle Satler!
Michelle is the part-time Outreach
Coordinator for Kentucky. She and her husband, Gary, began their
adoption journey for their new daughter from China in May 2006. A native
of Kentucky, she graduated from the University of Louisville, with a
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She has spent nearly 8 years working for
non-profit agencies. Michelle is very grateful for an opportunity to
work with families considering adoption and to be a part of an agency so
devoted to helping children find loving homes.
You can contact Michelle at
michelle.satler@childrenshopeint.org
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Vietnamese New Year
Celebration!
Don't forget!
February 17, 2007 is our Tet party. We
will be celebrating at the Children's Hope Brentwood office from 12:30
pm and 2:30 pm.
Please bring your favorite Vietnamese dish and a Vietnamese recipe
which could be featured in our monthly newsletters.
There will be lots of great food, crafts, and activities for the
children.
We hope to see as many
of you as possible and we look
forward to your favorite dishes and recipes!
Please RSVP to Sara (sara.demerchant@childrenshope.net
or 615-309-8109) by February 7th.
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 Chinese New Year
at CHI!
Mark your calendars!
February 18, 2007 is Chinese New Year, and we'll be celebrating again at
Canton Chinese Restaurant in Cool Springs on Saturday, February 24, 2007
from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM.
More details coming soon regarding lunch costs.
Please come and help
us bring in the Year of the Pig!
Please RSVP to Jenny (jenny.shoemaker@childrenshope.net
or 615-309-8109) by February 19th.
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 Middle
School Support Group
Begins February
CHI's 7th annual
Middle School Support Group is starting soon!
This group is designed for adopted youth, both domestic and
international, to provide a safe place for adopted middle
schoolers to talk about their adoption experience and their
associated emotions and concerns. It is a
cost-free, 6-week program that consists of both fun and
reflective activities designed for adopted adolescents. Our
first meeting is
Monday, February 26,
2007 from 4:30-5:30.
This will be an introductory meeting for both parents and
children.
Questions? Want to RSVP?
Please contact Jenny or Susan at (615) 309-8109 or
jenny.shoemaker@childrenshope.net
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New Adoption Education
In preparing for Children's Hope's
application for Hague accreditation, we have been researching adoption
educational resources that will meet the Hague regulations. The Hague
regulations require 10 hours of pre adoption training for all our
families that can be consistently presented and verified through
testing for a list of specific Hague adoption topics. Effective January
1, 2007, Children's Hope will be implementing our new Hague compliant
pre adoption education program for all approved applications after
January 1, 2007. We are so excited about our new educational program
that we wanted to offer it to our existing families that may also be
interested. This is strictly voluntary for any applicant approved prior
to January 1, 2007.
Children's Hope is pleased to offer this Adoption Parent Education
opportunity to all our existing families - "Heart of the Matter Seminars
- Because They Waited" DVD set (10 hours of Hague
Compliant Adoption Training) and on line testing instructions, as well
as the EMK press book entitled Adoption Parenting Creating a Toolbox,
Building Connections. The first week of the month, following the
month in which you finish taking all the online tests, Heart of the
Matter will provide CHI your testing results. This offer is strictly
voluntary for any family that submitted an application prior to January
2007. We think that this set will provide you with informative pre and
post adoption education that you can view and reference before and after
your adoption journey. The cost of this set for CHI families is $100,
which includes shipping and handling. The set will be mailed book rate,
so please allow 2 to 3 weeks mailing time.
To order the DVD/book set, you may visit the Children's Hope web site at
http://www.childrenshope.net
The link for the DVD/book set can be found on the home
page by scrolling down and looking in the middle of the web page for
"For more information about purchasing Approved Adoptive Parent
Education you may go directly to the form
at
http://www.childrenshopeint.org/Parent%20Education.pdf
For
more information about Heart of the Matter Seminars, please visit
http://www.heartofthematterseminars.com/
For more information
about EMK Press, please visit
http://www.emkpress.com/
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Great Opportunity for China Families...
TCIF (Talk Chinese It's Friday) is for elementary school children K-6.
The classes are held at University School of Nashville at downtown
Nashville. Two classes are offered: Beginners class, 4:45pm-5:30pm on
Friday, and Intermediate class, 5:30pm-6:45pm. Both classes will begin
on Jan 26, and ends on May 11, with three weeks off: March 16 & 23
(Spring Break), and April 6 (Good Friday), with a total of 13 weeks as a
series.
The fee for beginners' class is: $200 with discount of #10 for early
registration by Jan. 22, $10 discount for the 2nd registration from the
same family.
$220 with the same discount of early registration by Jan 22, $10
discount for the 2nd registration from the same family. In addition, $10
discount for a successful referral.
PCCS (Parents-Children Chinese School) has been held in three locations
around Nashville, Hendersonville (the first Saturday of each month),
Hermitage (the second Saturday), and Franklin (the third Saturday). This
is a class for an entire family with lots of movement and interactive
activities between children and parents as well as among children.
Stories, singing, game-playing, arts and crafts are adopted to enrich
the learning about Chinese language and culture.
The curriculum and theme for this Spring is listed as below:
Feb., Family and food - Chinese New Year will be on Feb. 18. We will
focus our lesson on learning more about Chinese custom of celebrating
the biggest event of the year. Cooking demo on making Chinese rice cake
(symbolized "Rising Up") will be included.
March, Toys - make and learn the ways Chinese children play during
leisure time with siblings, friends and parents. The Seven-Crafting
puzzle pieces will be introduced and played on.
April, China & penda - learn more about China this country, story of
China and Chinese people, making flag & Chinese traditional houses with
curly roof lines
May, Nature & Dragon Boat Festival - celebrate mother's day and Dragon
Boat Festival; learn some phrases about nature including trees and
rivers.
Tuition is $100 per family with one child registration including the
supply fee. There will be only an additional $20 for each additional
child from the same family. Scholarship will be offered this year for
those who have need. Please contact Chelsea Gary, the coordinator
or PCCS at cgary@shaome.com,
or
Josephine Huang, the teacher of PCCS at
huang-yeh@harpethhall.org
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Junior Orphan Ambassador:
The James 1:27 Project
Please read the story below to see how one of our Junior Orphan
Ambassadors, John Harris, turned $20 into more than $800 for
orphans in
Vladivostok, Russia.
The JAMES 1:27 Project: One fifth-grader's plan to stretch a dollar and
help others will bring toys to Russian orphans.
Paducah Sun (Paducah, KY), 12/08/2006
COPYRIGHT 2006 The Paducah Sun
Byline: Leigh Landini Wright
Dec. 8--Twenty dollars doesn't sound like much these days.
But for Community Christian Academy fifth-grader John Harris and 12
other classmates, it's a challenge to see how far they can stretch the
money to help others.
A school parent who wishes to remain anonymous gave each fifth-grader
a $20 bill and issued a challenge. Do something for someone else.
Teacher Laura McGee asked the children to write down their ideas.
Several children wrote that they would buy Bibles, and several wanted
to buy Christmas presents for needy children. One girl said she would
send the money to Iraq where her cousin recently was injured in the war.
Another said he would buy Christmas lights for an elderly neighbor and
install them.
She said the children have learned that Christmas isn't always about
receiving, it's about giving.
As an example, parent Joanie Harris asked her 10-year-old son, John,
what he wanted to do with his $20 bill. After suggesting providing toys
for a child off an Angel Tree, John looked at his mother and said he
wanted to do something to help children back at the Russian orphanage.
He was adopted at age 18 months from Vladivostok, Russia.
"Do you want to send money," Harris asked.
"No, I've got to increase it," John answered.
The increase will come from selling personalized embroidered 19-inch
red plush stockings during the Christmas Cheer bazaar from 8 a.m. to 3
p.m. Saturday at Community Christian Academy High School, 110 Lebanon
Church Road. John has dubbed his project "James 1:27," which says
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world."
John found the name of the project in words from a Christian
children's song that was taken from the verse.
"I wanted to do this because I was adopted from Russia," John said. "I
want to help them buy educational toys so that they can learn how to
write, do their ABCs and numbers."
The agency that handled their adoption is no longer certified, so the
family contacted another agency to ask what could be done to help
orphans. John will use the proceeds to buy toys for children in the
orphanage. He is working through Children's Hope International, which
does humanitarian work and adoptions in his hometown of Vladivostok.
Harris said the agency plans to buy educational toys with the proceeds.
"I have a lot of toys, of course, from my parents, and they don't have
much stuff," John said of the orphans.
His mother is touched. "It is sweet that he wants to give back,"
Joanie Harris said. "He said to me, 'Maybe if we raise enough money, we
can go over there and buy an orphan.'"
Harris said John is learning that Christmas isn't about toys or the
latest electronic game. "It's about giving to others who are less
fortunate and thinking about the kids who don't have families," she
said. "There are a lot of kids who are parent-less or family-less who
don't have what he has."
Copyright (c) 2006, The Paducah Sun, Ky.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985
or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions
Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
**You can find out more about the CHI's Junior Orphan Ambassadors.
Just visit
http://orphan.childrenshope.net/Junior-Ambassadors.33.0.html**
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February
is the month of love...
Consider giving from your heart to help
children around the world!
You can begin TODAY to provide a child with food, clothing, and
education through CHI's
Orphan Sponsorship Program.
Visit
http://orphan.childrenshope.net/
to see
how YOU can sponsor a child in need.
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Upcoming Information Meetings
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UPCOMING EVENTS
February 10, 2007
~
Pre-Adopt
I ~
8:30 AM to
12:00 PM
~ Children's Hope
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A MESSAGE FROM BRENDA BARKER
The
greatest commandment of all is to "Love one another." What a
wonderful month, when we are encouraged to share our love with others.
Give your spouses, children, friends and family an extra hug this month!
And, there is no better month than February to put that love into action
by beginning your adoption journey. Let us know how we can help!
Brenda
Southeastern U.S.
Brenda Barker,
Director
229 Ward Circle, Suite C-22
Brentwood, TN 37027
615-309-8109 Fax: 615-309-8483
brenda.barker@childrenshope.net
Also serving the following
states:
TN, KY, GA, AL, AR, MS, VA,
LA & SC
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Our Accreditation
Click
on the logos to read more
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 Click here to request an
information packet regarding
international adoption with Children's Hope
International:
send info, please. . .
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