The GOOD, BETTER and BEST News

        Have you ever experienced the new car phenomenon?  You know when you are looking to purchase a car and finally you settle on the right make, model and color.  Then once you buy it you seem to notice just how many other cars on the road look just like yours.  I hadn't thought of China before August 2019, but once we started the adoption process I read books about China, books about adoption, books about adoptions from China, took adoption classes on the Chinese culture and language, and watched several documentaries on Chinese adoptions.  Then China itself became big news!  Suddenly in January 2020, every time I turned on the news all I heard about was China.  And it wasn't getting the publicity that I would have wanted to hear.  Strange how something that was nowhere on your radar seems to now be everywhere, whether you like it or not.  Very much like buying that new car.  
    
    For many months we hadn't heard any positive news coming out of China.  Even once the press died down a bit about the novel coronavirus, our own inquiries into what was going on in China were limited and every door seemed to be closed.  But finally last week we received some much needed GOOD news!  China has begun opening to those who have pre-existing work visas and started allowing them back into the country.  No we don't have a pre-existing visa and we won't be going there for work, BUT this is a step towards the country allowing outsiders to come in.  So we take it as forward movement.  
    
    Before I can explain just what this news means for us, there is a bit of a backstory I have not shared too much about.  I will do my best to explain and hope I don't lose you.  When Katie was first "found" on May 6, 2018, it was outside the gates of the government orphanage in her small town in southern China.  She was assessed by a physician and determined to be approximately 1 years old at that time and a health report we have from January 2019 says "Conclusion and Suggestion: cerebral palsy".  Other than these health reports we have no other knowledge of Katie's prior life.  But what I can share is how we came to learn about her.  I had mentioned before that we received her picture and a request for prayers for her.  But this picture came to be because of a very special Australian couple who serve as missionaries to China.  In their ministry to this orphanage they discovered Katie and saw something special in her, and thus gave her the name "Katie"  (because it fit her bright eyes and smile).  They were familiar with her special needs and began trying to work with her and help with her flexibility, mobility and care.  They also began a process of advocating for her care and for her adoption by getting her picture and information out to those contacts they have around the world.  So we came to know this couple because of the photograph we received and we have remained connected to them over the past year.  

    After the U.S. holiday season comes the Chinese New Year in January.  Our missionary friends often return to their home country during the New Year because China shuts down for 2 weeks to celebrate.  Before they left they were asked to foster Katie in their home until the adoption was finalized, which they promptly agreed to do once they returned from Australia.  Early February was their expected return date, but God had other plans.  Our hearts broke as we learned that their holiday home would be interrupted by COVID and the opportunity to return to China and their work would be denied.  This is where our contact with Katie as we knew it had ended and most of the bad news began.  We had ups and downs where we thought they could return and they packed up and got partway there to Hong Kong in March.  After a 2 week quarantine in Hong Kong they should have been allowed in to quarantine 2 more weeks in China and then return to their hometown.  But a complete shutdown of China in late March left them stranded in Hong Kong.  And so this dear sweet couple has spent the last 6 months living in Hong Kong and praise God they have now finally been granted re-entry!

    So the BETTER news is that after a 2 week quarantine in China (now one week down), this sweet husband and wife team will be allowed back in their China home and hopefully be allowed an opportunity to connect with Katie again.  We don't yet know what this will look like or what God has in store next.  But we are hopeful.  I feel great anticipation in this waiting, and I am so thankful for these 2 Australians who came into our life along with Katie.  I do hope we will meet and spend some time with them when we get to travel to China ourselves.  

    In the meantime, we are waiting for final immigration approval for us to be able to get Katie and for the Chinese government to issue travel approval and visas for adoptions.  Please join us in praying for China to re-open for this very important need.  I know so many that are waiting just with our small little adoption agency and can't imagine how many others around the United States are in a similar predicament as we are.  Please also pray for China-U.S. relations as they seem to produce highs/lows within our process.  As the unrest within our own government and all the negative press plays on our television screens, the world is watching and on the world stage our reputation has been less than stellar.  We all feel the negativity, disunity and hate within our own spheres, and believe it or not, these behaviors reflect poorly on Americans as a whole, and thus impact how we are perceived by the Chinese government.  It is complex and so very much of it is out of our control.  But our God is the God of the impossible, and none of this is too big or complicated for Him.  

    As our story unfolds and the details are revealed it is incredible to see the hand of God at work.  How else does this small town Palmyra family get connected to a big-hearted Australian couple living as missionaries in China an advocating for a tiny Chinese toddler in need of a forever family?  Amazing stuff!  And guess what?  None of us set out to do big things for God.  We set one foot in front of the other and took steps of obedience to the One we call our God.  We said "yes" when it seemed hard and when it didn't make sense, we believed that His ways are higher and greater than anything we could imagine or plan ourselves, and we believed that He calls us to love like He first loved us.  And that is the BEST news...only because of the unfailing love of Christ do we have what it takes to open our hearts and homes a little wider to prepare for Katie.  I hope you see that!  Because of what Christ did for me I can live loved and love the way He taught me to.  

    "Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."  Ephesians 3:17-19


On a side note: I would encourage those that want a deeper look into foreign adoption or a better understanding of what our adoption journey in China may be like, I highly recommend getting on Amazon Prime Video and watching "Find Me".  It is only about an hour, and it will give you an inside look into adoption from the point-of-view of the orphanage and the family coming to China.

                                                Celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival last week


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