Angels from Near and Far A Resource for Adopting Children

Lia had such a hard time adjusting to me that we put on the shelf any ideas of adopting again. But as time passed, she began to settle in and to act loving toward us. She began to accept me as her mama, and we began to see a remarkable little girl emerge. She is sensitive, fearless, compassionate, gentle, funny, athletic, artistic, happy, cheerful, and a true-blue friend. Also as she began to take her place in our family, she also began to speak of this special friend more and more. My heart was breaking that we, in essence, split up a sibling pair. Although they were not related by blood, they were sisters in every other way. I began to pray for this girl to find a home. I tried to find her another home here, but no one was interested. In time I began to pray for her to join us, if it was God's will.

September 5, 1999: I went to our pastor's wife and asked for her to pray. She prayed a dynamic prayer for this girl, praying for God to make His will known to us, and for someone to love her for us if we were to have her, for a hedge of protection to surround her, for her health and happiness, and also for God to speak to Michael if it was His will for us to adopt this girl.

September 6, 1999: Lia asked me what a sister is. She kept saying that Tung Chung Lam is her sister in China. Michael overheard her telling me about her school days in China, and she mentioned how her "sister" was always with her, all day, and that their beds were next to each other. They were never apart until we adopted Lia!

September 7, 1999: Michael came home from work, quite seriously saying he had something to tell me. He told me that he had been thinking about Tung Chung Lam all day, from the minute he opened his eyes in the morning! He could not get her off his mind! He even had gone so far as to figure out how to pay for the adoption. I told him that I wanted her, and we should take this as coming from God. We could not do anything until China became willing to allow identified adoptions, which at this time, they were not.

November 4, 1999: Our agency personnel are back from a long trip to China, in which they met with the directors of the welfare institute where Tung Chung Lam lives. They also met with CCAA, trying to convince them they should cooperate on identified child placements. They did not get to see Anna for us, or get any information on her, but since CCAA is not willing to do this type of adoption on a reliable basis, there is not much reason to pursue it at this time any way.

November 5, 1999: This morning, I woke up at about 5 am and my thoughts turned to Anna. I heard God tell me, "I have the way."

May 1999	July 1999	February 2000
March 2000	April 2000	July 2000
August 2000	August 2000	March 2001
	April 2001

August 2000: A family who adopted a child from Guangzhou was able to get us photos and video of Tung Chung Lam! They said the orphanage director knew which girl they wanted to film, and that they were aware of our desire to adopt her. The director told them several Chinese families had expressed interest in adopting this girl, but they wanted to offer her to us first. We were impressed by this! They told the family to pass this information along, and to stress to us that if we wanted her, we need to adopt her soon. The orphanage is eager to place her in a family before she becomes much older. Her Mandarin name is Dong Song Lin, and means, "East, Pine Tree Forest." I ordered our home study and INS packets, just in case we can begin soon.

September 25, 2000: John Harrah has taken a trip to China, meeting with CCAA to ask if they can do our identified adoption. The answer is YES! We began our home study process, applied to INS, and began and gathering documents for the dossier.

January 5, 2001: CCAA has pre-approved our match! Our dossier is not even there yet! They are pressing us to get it there soon, but we cannot push the home study agency or INS to work faster. This is amazing to be pre-approved before the dossier is there.

January 9, 2001: Our home study was approved! I hand delivered it to INS, and now we wait. The adoption laws in China will change on February 1, so we need to have our dossier there before that, or we'll have to redo much of it, costing time and money. We are praying that our dossier makes it to China before that deadline. Our Senator, Gordon Smith, got involved to press INS for speedy approval.

January 24, 2001: INS approval!!! God is never late! Thank you, Lord! We faxed the approval form to Harrah Family Services so they could include it in our dossier very quickly, and get the dossier there before the laws change. Thanks to Senator Smith and his staff!

January 26, 2001: Our dossier is on its way to China! We are DTC! DTC means, "Dossier to China!"

August 23, 2001: WE GOT THE CALL!

Anna's documents arrived at the agency and were faxed to us!

YAY!!!

August 23, 2001, Anna Song's referral photo

September 21, 2001: Travel Letters are in from CCAA and so we can now plan travel. The Guangzhou Trade Fair is again getting in our way, so we are planning a November trip to avoid overpaying for our hotel room. Lia and her mom are going to China! This has come on the heels of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. I know that God has not given us a spirit of fear, and I am relying on Him to get me safely to and from China. Americans are marked as targets of terrorism worldwide, and many are rethinking doing international adoptions because of the need to travel overseas. I am in God's hands. God will protect me, under the blood of Jesus.

November 2001: Lia and I went to China to get Anna! We had a wonderful, safe, blessed trip; it was really the trip of a lifetime! Anna is a wonderful addition to our family, very sweet, healthy, and fun. Anna and Lia play well together and remind me of two playful otters. Anna is fitting in well in our family and is adjusting quickly. She wanted a family and mommy, so she is eager to fit in and love us. This story has a wonderful end to it!