Blogs New to the Blogroll:
• The Donaldsons--WI China SN 4/08 (Completed)Welcome Home! A Newly Completed Family:
• The Gertsons--MO Kazakhstan (Waiting)
• The Rogals--IL Ethiopia (Completed)
(a familiar family with a new address)
• The Gebhardts--IL Russia 4/08
Happy Fasika (Ethiopian Easter) on behalf of all Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia!
Fasika is the most important festival for Ethiopia's devoted followers of the Orthodox Church. Followers fast for 56 days, abstaining from meat and animal products like egg, butter, and milk. They pray and treat others, and themselves, as positively as possible - no cursing and no gossiping! During this time, spouses do not share the same bed.
Fasika holds a unique place in the Orthodox Church. The day is celebrated in remembrance of Christ's crucifixion; the 56 days of fasting is a symbolic representation of sharing in His sacrifice for all human beings. Followers celebrate Fasika with intense joy, food, drinks and the exchanging of gifts. Keeping the tradition alive, Children’s Hope International - Ethiopia will distribute holiday gifts to 150 Ethiopian orphan.
Today (Miaziya 17, 2000 Eth. C) is Good Friday in Ethiopia and Ethiopian Easter will be celebrated this Sunday (Miaziya 19, 2000 Eth.C). The Children's Hope International - Ethiopia office is closed today in celebration of the holiday.
Today is World Book Day - traditionally a day to celebrate literature and the anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. We at Children's Hope International have reason to celebrate.
Children at over 50 schools throughout Ethiopia will be receiving much needed textbooks, shipped by cargo this month from DC. Book provider World Bank Family Network is able to make learning within reach for these Ethiopian children for the first time with the aid of Children's Hope. When the books arrive in port city Djibouti, Children's Hope will have the glad task of distributing these books to disadvantaged children who previously had limited or no access to the bound pages - which may open their minds and their imaginations.
Have you read a humanitarian-themed book recently that you feel others should know about? Leave a comment and help celebrate the blessing of literature with us today.
She's a mom to 9 beautiful children, from 5 different countries; she's also Children's Hope International's Southeast Regional Director, known and loved by families in the 11 states she serves.
Brenda Barker and her family are an inspiration. This month, they will be featured in LifeWay's print magazine, LifeLines. Brenda and her husband Ken most recently adopted two beautiful sisters, Kate and Izzie, from Ethiopia. Click here, to get a peek at their family!
How do you know when you'll be ready to adopt again? An expert herself, Brenda answered this question in a 2007 Children's Hope e-news article.
For a 2-year-old burn victim, it must be hard to understand why she has to leave her friends and family behind in China, only to experience increased physical pain from yet another surgery. Sheng Zheng Wei, nicknamed Haodi, from Shandong Province, China, is feeling the pain of an operation two weeks ago and is now receiving therapy twice a week.
Her first trip to Boston in 2007 saved her life. This current visit to Shriners Burn Hospital is to continue the surgery needed to reconstruct her face after a terrible accident. Haodi was less than 1-year-old when she fell into a pot of boiled noodles in 2006. The burns were so severe, that her neck and chest fused together making it extremely difficult to breath and eat.
Pictured: Now recovering from the beginning of her second round of surgeries on her severe burns, Haodi, takes a cracker break with her mom, at a volunteer’s Boston home.There was a national outcry for help in the media and on the internet in China.
Blogs New to the Blogroll:
• The Davises--WA Colombia (Waiting)Waiting Families No Longer, Families Beginning Their Travel:
• The Dishmans--TN Ethiopia (Waiting)
• The Gutweins--IN Ethiopia (Waiting)
• The Mills--NY China LID 1/15/07 (Waiting)
• The Adelmans--CA Colombia DOT 4/26/08Welcome Home! A Newly Completed Family:
• The Boyacheks-- AL Colombia DOT 4/21/08 - New!
• The Calderaros--IN Colombia DOT 4/14/08 - New!
• The Derrs--PA Colombia DOT 4/26/08 - New!
• The Williams--MO Russia T1 DOT 4/18/08 - New!
• The Anzaldis--NY China SN 4/08
• The Komnicks--IL Ethiopia 4/08
• The Millers--MO China SN 4/08
• The Moraleses--IL China 4/08
• The Williams--VA Russia 4/08
April E-News
During a week when 44 families were on adoption trips, Erin Inghram writes about her struggles during her long wait to adopt.
“I can be still and quietly hope, but I can also passionately wait. For a while I felt guilty, thinking that I must not have enough faith if I couldn’t wait in a serene state of mind.”
Even with numerous weather and flight cancelations across the country today, 25 Children’s Hope families will remember this day fondly. It is homecoming day!
New Children’s Hope families blanketed the nation today. The two week adoption trip to China ended for all 25 families in airports from California, to Texas, through Ohio up to New York.
Welcome home to you all.
Frequent Flyer miles are piling up this week for Children's Hope families. There are 44 families on adoption trips this first week of April.
* A group of 25 families are with their new children in China this week.Want to follow along with a few of these families? Check out the Traveling Families blogroll:
* There are 13 Russia families who are either on their first or second trip.
* Two families in Ethiopia fly home with their new babies this weekend while one family came home from Colombia on Wednesday.
* Two additional families arrived back home yesterday from Kazakhstan with another family now headed in that direction today.
For the Nothums, Friedrichs, and Brandts, I noted their child's adoption month and year in their link description. Let me know if this is helpful and I will update the Completed Families blogroll to show when families arrived home.
The Brandts--MD Russia 2/08 (Completed)
The Chambers--MO Colombia (Waiting)
The Friedrichs--MO Vietnam 11/06 (Completed)
The Hymans--TX Ethiopia (Waiting)
The Nothums--AZ China 8/04 (Completed)
By mail received today from China Center of Adoption Affairs, Children's Hope received seven China referrals for our families with a 1/6/06 log in date! Each of these referrals were for a beautiful little girl from the Jiangxi province. Six of these infants are 7 to 9.5 months, and one is 3 ½ years old.
Their new families waited 27 long months from their paperwork log in date to this special referral day, and will now travel to complete their Chinese adoptions in approximately 8 weeks. Congratulations!
Children's Hope International's families to receive referrals from China next are those with 1/13/06 and 1/16/06 log in dates.
We also received official referrals for two of our waiting children families today! Congratulations to them also!
Happy Anniversary Ethiopia Program! On April 3, 2007, Children’s Hope International became licensed to work in Ethiopia for the purpose of adoption and humanitarian aid - upholding our mission to provide “Homes, health and hope for children in need."
In our first year, the Ethiopia program placed 28 children into their forever homes with some truly amazing families.
"God has been gracious to us as we started the program and learned the requirements for a successful adoption process in Ethiopia. I am thankful to our amazing in country staff as well as our incredible US staff who have worked diligently with me, and our families, to see that our program, and your adoption was successful," says Sharon Turner, Ethiopia Program Director.
"To our pioneer families who dedicated themselves to be our first several families through, thank you for the confidence that you put in Children’s Hope to complete your adoptions. May your life with your new children be all that you have hoped for and full of God’s richest blessings. And for all of the families who have so selflessly donated to the House of Hope and other causes in Ethiopia, thank you so much."
This morning in Children's Hope headquarters in St. Louis, our Ethiopia US staff celebrated their first year by providing a modified Ethiopian coffee ceremony (the traditional coffee ceremony is quite long), with popcorn and Ethiopian bread. 
Pictured: Erin Tilley, adoption social worker; Toni Lynch, adoption consultant; Sharon Turner, program director; Roxanne Wang, dossier review specialist.
"They serve the popcorn with every coffee ceremony," says Toni Lynch, Ethiopia adoption consultant. Toni experienced Ethiopian cooking and culture firsthand last year as she traveled first with her church to Koray, Ethiopia to minister to Ethiopians suffering from leprosy and HIV/AIDS. Then, in Addis Ababaa, she prepared Children's Hope International - Ethiopia's transition home House of Hope, by painting murals and purchasing furnishings. It's coming. Last year 1300 parents and adopted children (from 26 states!) came together for Children's Hope International's Reunion Picnic. Be one of them in 2008. Mark your calendar for the annual picnic, July 12, 2008 in St. Louis, Missouri.
The night before - gather and take the St. Louis West's Marriott by international adoption storm. The day of - eat, drink, and be merry with Bandana's BBQ and discover entertainment while both adults and kids make and rekindle friendships. This year is the year; July 12 is the day.
For details and pre-registration visit the Reunion Picnic website. Registration is required to eat lunch, catered by Bandana's.
It's only 100 days away!
Have the Children's Hope News widget on your desktop? You can add the SpringWidget Countdown to your desktop, too. Click the 'Option' button above to add to your desktop, blog, or social network. (Hover your mouse over each icon, then click your option; the green box is for desktop installation.)Photos from 2007's 15th Annual Reunion Picnic!
View all Children's Hope widgets.
Spring is here, and for some, that means putting on their running shoes for the hope of fitness... and this year also for the hope of children worldwide.
Children’s Hope International will have a team running in the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Runners come from all over the world to participate in this event, considered to be the pinnacle of achievement for elite athletes and everyday runners alike. On Sunday, October 12, 2008 runners from all 50 states and over 120 countries will set out to accomplish a personal dream.
Running for CHI will mean running for a great cause - children in need of homes, health and hope. Become a part of something bigger this year – come run with the Children’s Hope marathon team!
How to RegisterNot a runner, but know a runner? Share this opportunity with your friends and family. Children's Hope International seeks to recruit runners and sponsors in order to help children in desperate circumstances. It's the kids who make it all worthwhile.
If you'd like to run with the Children's Hope team, register soon as the race is limited to 45,000 runners and fills up fast - VERY FAST! Bank of America expects registration to close in April. Type Children's Hope International in the fill-in box after the drop-down list of charity names.
Click here to register online.
Click here for a downloadable mail-in registration form (PDF).
Click here to confirm your registration.
Once you are registered, please email Mary House with your confirmation number.
