On Brian's last trip to China, he brought back with him a small token of just a handful of orphans' appreciation for donations made by America World for earthquake relief. What a blessing, knowing that all of America World staff and families' hard work and dedication to these little ones is producing a great effect!
Dear Families,
Thank you for your prayers for Noah during the month of May. Noah has a family pursuing his adoption! Please join us in praising God for answered prayers! Due to shared referrals, we were unable to post a prayer focus for the month of June. However, the lack of the posting didn’t interfere with God’s bold movement on behalf of special needs children in AWAA’s Waiting Children Program! The following children are being adopted or have families pending: Chase, Dylan, Liam, Cole and Jack! Madeline and Piper are currently under review with families as well!
The focus of our prayer for the month of July is Henry. Henry is a shy and sweet 4 ½ year-old boy who has severe hearing loss in both ears. Henry is receiving training in sign language and he is able to communicate simple statements. He is independent and likes to dress himself. Even with his hearing loss he communicates well with his eyes and by observing attentively. Henry is a shy boy and tends to be introverted around strangers, but becomes very talkative once he feels comfortable.
We ask that you join us in praying for Henry over the month of July. We trust that our united prayers for him and for families considering reviewing his information will be pleasing and powerful! Thank you for your commitment to being intercessors on behalf of Henry and all waiting children!
Congratulations to all of the Waiting Children Program (WCP) families who have accepted referrals of special needs children this week! As of this afternoon, 19 Electronic Acceptances (EA) have been sent to the CCAA. The CCAA posted many referrals over the course of two days and all families who were initially matched have been called. In addition, WCP families were emailed on July 10th and July 15th with information on specific shared referrals. Please contact your Family Coordinator if you are interested in reviewing any of these children. We are so happy that these families are one step closer to bringing their little ones home!
We would also like to share that our Waiting Children Program staff did a record number of shared referral processing in the month of June. A total number of 27 EA’s were sent to the CCAA on behalf of America World families that month!
There are still America World assigned referrals available for adoption. Please click this link: http://www.awaa.org/waitingchildren/china/ and ask your Family Coordinator for the password.
We have families traveling to China today – which is always very exciting! As usual, let’s keep them in our prayers.
I am planning on traveling to El Salvador in the next couple of weeks – I don’t have dates set yet, but hopefully will soon. The purpose of this trip will be to follow-up on the meetings I had earlier this summer. I also have the intention of meeting with the organizations that we’ve been partnering with. I would appreciate your prayers for me, our agency and the different adoption authorities in El Salvador.
Duni, our Ethiopia Program Director is in Ethiopia right now. She is working with a few specific families as well as continuing to streamline and refine the adoption process. We heard from her today - it’s great to hear about our Transitional Home and our staff and all the work they’re doing in Addis.
“Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1:17
The CCAA posted new shared referrals today! The China staff has been working diligently to process some of these referrals as quickly as possible. All China families who are part of the Waiting Children Program have been notified by email. America World is praying for all waiting families during this time and ask that families join us in prayer for this new groups of referrals. We encourage families who have questions about the shared referral system or Waiting Children Program to contact their Family Coordinator.
Referrals
We are pleased to announce that we received 6 healthy referrals today! Families receiving referrals were logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs on January 25, 2006 (group 247). The little girls are currently located in the Jiangxi province and range in age from 7 to 9 ½ months old. Please join us in congratulating these families, and in praying for them as they prepare to travel.
Next Referral Group
Our next LID group anticipating a referral have a log in date of January 27, 2006. (Group 248)
Referrals
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before January 25, 2006.
Dossiers Reviewed
The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents (dossiers) registered with their office before January 31, 2007.
It's hot and humid here – which is typical of the D.C. summertime. Although the heat may be having its draining effects on people, our agency's work continues to roll on.
I've recently returned back from China on a weeklong business trip. I was able to meet with the former Minister of Civil Affairs as well as the staff of the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA). They were pleased that America World has been placing more and more children with special needs from our Waiting Children program; and, in turn, I thanked the Center for their partnership with our agency and other agencies.
We are grateful for the many referrals we had last month and it's our hope and prayer that the numbers will continue to increase throughout the summer.
We are still working with OPA and the other government entities with our El Salvador program. I am still planning on traveling to El Salvador again this summer to follow-up in person to my recent trip there. I've asked our in-country staff person, Alexis Castro, to write an update to families involved in this program - families can expect to see this in the next day or so.
I was reading in my Bible recently about God’s command to serve as an advocate for orphans. This is America World’s aim and without you, this would not be possible. This is our mission together and we will continue working on behalf of orphans until Jesus returns. Your prayers are greatly appreciated for this work!
Be on the lookout this Fall for a newly designed, better functioning website. We’re adding some new features and hoping to make it a better source of information for families in the adoption process. Thanks to those of you that sent us your thoughts and feedback.
On a personal note, my second daughter's adoption day is the fourth of July…I was in China 12 years ago this week…my wife Renee was taking care of our other daughter Fei. Over a decade later I still have very fond memories of holding her for the first time and travelling with what was to be the first group of many families. Our office will be closed on Thursday and Friday in recognition of this important American holiday. Happy Independence Day to all of you and thank you for allowing us to help build your family!
~Brian Luwis, CEO
In the month of June, seven families successfully completed their adoptions and are now home with their children! One family is still in country and several more have received court dates and are preparing for travel.
We are excited to see so many families moving forward with their adoptions and so many beautiful children coming home! Almost all recent referrals have been boys, and we expect this trend to continue as Russian officials continue to tell us that there are very few young girls available. Families who are interested in adopting boys are strongly encouraged to apply for America World’s Russia program.
Congratulations to one America World family who successfully completed their adoption from Kazakhstan. This family returned home with two sisters! We are excited to see how God has worked in the lives of this family to complete this adoption. Our prayers are with them as the girls adjust to life in the US with their new family.
This week America World sent an update to families in the program regarding the Consulate. Any families who have questions about this update should contact their family coordinator.
Congratulations to one America World family who successfully completed their adoption from Ukraine. This family returned home with three siblings! We praise God for what He is doing in the lives of these children and our prayers are with them as they adjust to life in the US with their new family.
Families who are interested in adopting older children are encouraged to apply for America World’s Ukraine program.
