Sasha Performs at the Chinese Spring Festival Gala 2018!

Sasha performs "Three Inches of Heaven" for Bucknell's Chinese Spring Festival Gala 2018!
Xin nian kuai le! Happy New Year!

At the gala, Sasha was able to share about her two sisters, Hope and Brittain.
Listen to the audience (a lot of Chinese students, families, and faculty) react when Sasha shares the news that this will be Hope and Brittan's last Chinese New Year without a family.

Translation:
We’ve stopped at this place, afraid to go any further
Not allowing sorrow to make an appearance
On the next page, the goodbye you hand-wrote
I cannot refuse

We’ve walked this path too hastily
To embrace is not what I’m am truly longing for
It’s too late, I could not wait anymore to look back and appreciate
The scent of magnolia cannot protect against wounds

Don’t look anymore at the sunlight peeking through the clouds
Don’t search anymore for the heaven we had decided upon
Don’t sigh anymore, you said it yourself that humans are transient
Unable to get three inches of daylight
The place where I loved you was heaven..

If you'd like to help Hope and Brittan come home, please visit: www.paypal.me/Tingministries

Ting Ministries Returns 2 China: Help Hope and Brittan Come Home

Thank you to all the friends who contributed to this post and who have been interwoven with our adoption story of Hope and Brittan...

Annie Hamlin Speaks about Her Friendship with Stephanie...

"Many of you may know my sweet, amazing friend, Stephanie Carpenter, founder and director of Ting Ministries. I first "met" this amazing family about 10 years ago. The Lord used Steph to plant a seed, one that would grow and change my life forever!

Not only did the Lord pick a sweet, incredibly faithful mentor for me but He picked one whose heart is exactly as mine.

Steph loves to run - check!

Steph loves animals - check!

Steph is involved in dog rescue - check!

Steph is heavily involved in orphan care - check!

Steph has adopted multiple times - check!

The difference is that this amazing family has adopted 7 beautiful, higher needs girls from all over, including Bulgaria and China. They are in process for 2 more high needs girls from China, who were locked away in a room, left to die. Steph fought to get them file ready and have fought against SO many attacks since their process began.

 Steph's girls are amazing and beautiful and so very very special but their needs are more than most families are willing to take on. Steph and her wonderful Hubby, Brian, chose to follow the Lord with abandon! Their home and their hearts are so full of love and blessings and tremendous witness. They are the founders of Ting Ministries."

About Ting Ministries (from their website):

"We are the Carpenter family.  We have seven (soon to be nine) special daughters adopted from all around the world!  Brian and Stephanie Carpenter are founders/directors of Ting Ministries – a 501(c)3 Christian nonprofit orphan ministry.  We are passionate about caring for “The Least of These” and being a Voice for the Voiceless.

Our daughters all have some type of special need – some mild and some more severe – but they are all our treasured daughters. Their special needs include: deafness, blindness, post traumatic stress disorder, Cerebral Palsy, spastic quadriplegia, Spina bifida, feeding tubes, epilepsy/seizure disorder, cochlear implant, club feet and other orthopedic issues, failure-to-thrive, global developmental delay, institutionalization etc.

Our first adoption was from Russia and Sasha was never supposed to walk and was headed to a mental institution.  She is now 20 years old and a double major at Bucknell University. Sasha is also the Administrative Assistant and Director of Social Media of Ting Ministries and has a heart for the aging out orphans.

Ting Ministries got its name from the Carpenters' daughter Ellianna, whose Taiwanese name is Ya-Ting which means "to listen with your heart."  Avigayil “Tin Tin” is adopted from the Philippines and her orphanage and region is where Ting Ministries began ministry work in 2009. Today, Ting Ministries works in the USA, Philippines, Ukraine, China and Bulgaria."

Annie Shares Our Urgent Need:

"I am writing this today to ask for help. Steph, in the middle of their adoption of 2 more high needs kiddos, helped us with our adoption of Will in so many ways, too many to even get into here but now they need help!

This incredibly faithful family needs $4,577 and they need it... like yesterday!!!

The total from their agency for the remainder of the adoptions, including travel and post adoption services, is $35,277

Please take a moment to pray for this family, to share this post and if you feel so led... DONATE!

Not feeling as if you are being called to adoption? Well, this is a wonderful way to help another family who has felt called and has said "YES Lord!"

Just go here to donate - www.paypal.me/tingministries

Hope and Brittain...

                                                                  

Sasha Speaks on Special-Needs: "I Didn't Start Out Normal to Begin With"

View the complete original post on Sasha's blog. Titled: Going Down This Road: The Priceless Reality of Leaving Normal Behind

Thanks to some great friends, I got the opportunity to see Priceless, the film that was popular last year. It is the story of a man named James who unintentionally gets involved in the lives of two sisters, Antonia and Maria, who are being trafficked across the country. When he realizes what is happening, part of him wants to ignore his part in the atrocity. But a voice keeps calling him back until he can no longer ignore what he must do. James, along with the help of his newfound partner, Dale, an older man hiding a past of his own, set out on a harrowing mission to free the sisters and shut down the trafficking and prostitution in the area. While some plot points of the movie are dramatized for the sake of film, it is based on true events and stories of human trafficking survivors - and this knowledge adds all the more depth to the characters' plight.

Photo Credit: www.pricelessthemovie.com

Going Down the Road...of Special-Needs Adoption

There was one part of one conversation that stood out to me in the movie. Dale tells James about what he will encounter if he chooses to rescue the girls.

"If you go do this, it's all in. You go down this road, the things you'll see, the things you'll do - you can't go back to normal life again. It'll change you."

"I didn't start at normal to begin with." 

This. This is the reality of special-needs adoption. 

Any adoption is a compassionate commitment to a child. Yet, I think nothing changes a person as much as special-needs adoption, both when travelling to bring the child home and later, when the trips are done, the rescue mission complete, and you settle into a new everyday routine.

I traveled to Ukraine in 2014 amidst the EuroMaidan protests to bring home two of my sisters from a дом инвалидов (literally translated: Home of the Invalids, ie. special-needs orphanage). Looking back, Dale's words to James could have easily been said to me, both then and even now.

Sasha, if you go to this orphanage, it's all in. When you step in those doors, you will always carry part of it with you. You will dream it, write about it, talk about it - until all your friends are sick of it. But you will keep screaming for those who cannot, even when it seems like no one listens and you are so tired. Still, you will carry it with you and keep on.

You go down this road, lined with dying children, lonely souls who have never been touched....the road of advocacy, with hundreds of pictures of children whom you will never meet, but who grab your heart. You will weep over some and wonder what it is that has pricked you heart so deeply for those you never met.

My sister Lina in Bulgaria

Weighing 12 pounds at 5 and a half years old.

the things you'll see...blind children tied to their beds...teenagers the size of four-year-olds, graying skin stretched over the skull of a boy only a year older than you, with deep, hollow sockets...

the things you'll do... I remember holding hand of a seventeen year old with a shaven head. I stroked the top of his hand, but even this gentle movement did not bring comfort to him. Instead, his eyes clouded and his face winced in pain. Or, how I was approached by translator when we came into the room. I heard one voice chattering in a room full of forty children and found out what the boy was saying through our translator. "Sasha, he says he wants the pretty girl to come sit next to him." So I sat and smiled and kept the company of a boy who was my age, with pale skin, a gaunt face, and bristly short hair trapped underneath a mound of comforters. At that time, he could still talk and smile and his laughter brought smiles to everyone else.

***

The reality is, when you embark on a journey of special-needs adoption - you can't go back to normal life again. It'll change you, whether you are prepared or not, whether you think it will or not. And most likely, even if you are prepared, it will change you in ways you never planned.

What is normal life anyway? Do you mean that other families have parents who have weekly date nights? Or have annual vacations? I often find myself forgetting that most other families don't get a row of children in diapers ready for the day or down for bed every day. Or that I'm the only family I know with six daughters who can't walk independently, some who will need lifelong care. It's not normal, I suppose, to have to help almost all your sisters eat all their meals, because their special-needs make it hard or impossible for them to do so themselves. The time spent in doctor's appointments and wheelchair fittings is more than usual.

No, it's not normal. 

And it most certainly is changing me. Yes - it is a process, every day. I don't think I will ever reach the point  of saying I am done being changed by what I've seen or my sisters' lives. I recall different moments from my trips at different times, some memories more emotional, more stirring than others. I can close my eyes and picture myself back in the дом инвалидов and the weight of the experience still makes me cry, four years later. 

And each day, my sisters teach me about selflessness, patience, and compassionate understanding in a deeper way than I could ever learn on a missions trip. I watch more Peppa Pig and Paddington than most of my peers and have learned to do my work amid constant interruptions. I am teaching English to my teenage sister and sign language to another. All while being a honors student at Bucknell University, double majoring and looking into graduate programs. And, after all, isn't a child's life worth much more than the cost a fancy vacation which will come to an end?

No, my life as an adopted sister is definitely not normal - it's so much more exciting than that!

Adopted from a Russian mental institution at 17 months old because of my mild Cerebral palsy, I, like James, have had my own journey.

So, you see, I didn't start at normal to begin with. It is amazing to see how the Lord is weaving my story together with those of my sisters and how my own adoption and disability has prepared me for their needs.

Some may look down this road and decide, as James could've, it's not for me. 
I wouldn't blame them. As Dale says, you gotta do what you gotta do. Family is important. 

But, he also says, if you are hearing a small voice inside of you saying, don't forget - listen to that Voice. 

The road of special-needs adoption is long.
It's filled with equal measures of joyful blessings and painful lessons.
But any heartache is overshadowed every time you think of the rescue - once seemingly impossible, now complete. A life given a new chance.

This is the priceless reality of leaving normal behind.

                                               Lina this Christmas, home for over 5 years.

In Case You Missed It - Recap of Our Night for Orphans with the Celtic Martins!

In case you missed it...

Ting Ministries Presents

The Celtic Martins & A Voice for Orphans

A big thank-you is extended to The Celtic Martins for coming to share their talents with Ting Ministries and the audience. Keep reading to see a short video of their performance! 

Executive Director of Ting Ministries, Brian Carpenter, shared about God's Word and the orphan. Graduated from seminary with his Masters in counseling, Brian has a passion for fulfilling the calling of James 1:27 - the core verse of Ting Ministries. He believes that getting into the Word is the key to a transformed life in Christ and that is what allows us to care for the Least of These.

Hannah and Sasha smile for a selfie! Sasha spoke about issues of identity in adopted children and families and the healing Christ can bring to these questions. She also sang and closed the night with a dramatic prose performance of The Boy from Baby House 10. This is the story of a boy with Cerebral Palsy who was adopted from Russia, by John Lahutsky. Check out and follow her on her blog: www.natalyacarpenter.blogspot.com

Director Stephanie Carpenter with Hannah and Ellianna. Stephanie spoke about Ting Ministries' work in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Ukraine, Bulgaria and more. To learn about current needs and how you can help, please see Our Projects.  One of our top projects right now is to build an orphanage in Bangladesh. There are currently 30 village children who have nowhere to go and the cost to build a place where they can sleep, eat, and go to school is less than 5,000 dollars! Our partners have also asked for help to purchase a motorbike for safe travel, and pastor sponsorships.

Learn how you can help Ting Ministries's Christmas Child Gift Project. We need outfits, warm gloves and shoes! You can sign-up in the spreadsheet here.

 Angelina and her friend Molly having fun!

Thank you to our friends in Bangladesh who shared their love for Ting Ministries halfway across the world! 

Here's a short clip of the performance by The Celtic Martins. Enjoy!

Thank you again to all who came out in support and to learn more about Ting Ministries and the plight of the orphan. Thank you for everyone who helped in set-up, clean-up and providing desserts!

God Bless!

The CELTIC MARTINS & a Voice for Orphans!

Ting Ministries Presents:

The Celtic Martins&A Voice for Orphans

The Celtic Martins and Ting Ministries:

Come enjoy the incredible gifts and talents of the Martin family as they share their uplifting and toe-tapping music! During the evening, you will learn more about Ting Ministries's growing ministry work in Bangladesh, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Philippines, China and the USA. Come find out how you can help orphans around the world while staying right here, through this local and hands-on ministry fulfilling the call of James 1:27.

Hope to see you there!

Details of the Event:

Save the date - Come for a night of great music and fellowship!

Date: Saturday, November 18, 2017
Location: Fairland Brethren in Christ Church, 529 W. Penn Ave., Cleona, PA 17042
Time: 4-6 pm
Coffee and desserts, entire event by donation - NO tickets needed!
Learn more about the Celtic Martins and Ting Ministries at:
www.celticmartins.com
www.tingministries.blogspot.com

Breaking the Flask for Orphans

Avigayil

Church - where are you?  
Where are the families?  

As obvious as it may seem, orphans do not want to be orphans. They want to be in a family. They want to be loved just like you and I want to be loved. (From "Adoption and the Gospel" by Gerry Clark – a must read).

There are approximately 37 million Christian churches worldwide.  There are approximately 153 million orphans. 15 million of these orphans have lost both parents. Not all of these 153 million orphans are adoptable, but for the sake of making this point, let’s say they all are adoptable.

Do the math. Only 4 children would need to be adopted per church worldwide to eradicate the orphan crisis. Only 4 orphans per church….

Here in the USA, there are 400,000 total children in the foster care system. 100,000 of these children are waiting to be adopted. There are approximately 350,000 churches in the USA. Look at the numbers – that is only 1 child being adopted by every third church.

Where is the church - the believers who are the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth?

We have often been asked, "Why do you want her when you could adopt any other healthy child in the whole orphanage? Why her? What value will her life ever hold?"  Our daughter Avigayil was the child with the highest special-needs in her whole orphanage in the Philippines. Believe it or not, I have heard it said about children who died alone in orphanages before they were adopted:  “Well, at least maybe they smiled and made a caregiver feel useful. Perhaps their life made the caregiver feel good.  At least if they die, they will go to heaven and be with Jesus where they will be healed and loved.  Isn’t that even better than suffering?” 

What? Dying alone in an orphange is better than knowing the love of a family?

It is true that the ultimate answer is yes.  One day, we will all die and these children who never had the ability to understand salvation will go to be with Jesus when they die. Yet, isn’t this answer just relieving us of our guilty feelings?  Our guilt at not seeing and then, when we do see -  our guilt at not opening our own hearts or home to a child in need. Our refusal to answer God's call to care for the Least of These. 

This past week, we have seen the flooding in Texas and the horrors of the extreme need. In this time of crisis, we have come together - people are jumping to action and stepping up to care for others. Our hearts go out for the people caught in this tradgedy and we, like countless others, feel burdened to help and glad to see people rallying together for Texas. 

But I say there is a crisis happening every day. The orphan crisis. It has been occurring for years on end, for child after child, that most refuse to see.  We need to open our eyes and work with the same fervor and compassion that has gripped our country to allieviate the suffering of the amazing folks in Texas. By doing so, we can make a difference in the lives of all the orphans. Yes, all the orphans – remember the statistics. 
It is completely possible.  

Now, back to the question of why we should adopt a child like Avigayil. Let us respond with a simple question. 

Why not her?  

God called us to her and asked us to go. What makes Avigayil any less deserving of a family and love than any other child?  Every child deserves to be loved and know what family is. In His Word, God commands us to Go and care for the Least of These.  He does not have conditions.  He does not say, "Go and care for some...but not those who are looked down upon in the eyes of the world." He says "Go and care for the orphans and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27). All of them. 

We have also been asked, “What value does Avi's life have as a completely dependent child with a severe disability?"  She has as much value to us as parents as our daughter Sasha who also defied the odds placed on her life.  To the world, Sasha, who is an intelligent, gifted academic, an honors student, appears to have more value in life than Avigayil. 

I completely disagree.  

They both have equal value and both have equal right to be loved and to be adopted because both were created by God.  Galatians 4: 4-5: “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.  God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that he could adopt us as his very own children.”

I believe we have it all upside down and that children like Avigayil are not here for us to teach them but rather - for them to teach us.  Avigayil’s life is priceless and God has used her to start a whole ministry in the Philippines. Already, because of her life, countless other children now have a mother and father and know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Avigyail’s life has blessed our lives more than words can express, but we do not adopt because we expect to be blessed.  Indeed, we do not become Christians because we expect to be blessed. Theologian Oswald Chambers in some of his “Utmost for His Highest” devotionals says this: “We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life.  We are not destined to happiness nor to health but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires and interests and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them.  Many of them may be right, noble, and good and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime God must cause their importance to us to decrease (From September 1).

If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain for ourselves, but He pours through us that really counts. As Oswald Chambers eloquently writes: “'When Mary of Bethany broke the flask [...] of very costly oil […] and poured it on Jesus head,'  it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, there were some who […] said,  ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ (Mark 14: 3-4). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion." (My Utmost for His Highest, September 2).

I greatly suspect, in our prioritizing of value and importance, we have it backwards and upside down.  Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did – not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son ”that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).  Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him? Are we prepared to give of ourselves for a child like Avi, whom the rest of the world sees no value in? For if Jesus was pleased with Mary's sacrifice, how pleased must He be when we care for a child like her - the least of the Least of These.

That is ultimately what adoption is – pouring out of your life for Him.  Are you prepared? The truths Oswald Chambers so fittingly stated are at the heart of the question: will you adopt? Will you step out of your comfort zone and your comfortable life and care for the Least of These. Will you break the flask, as Mary did, regardless of how wasteful others may regard your decision? “Now is the time for us to break the flask of our lives to stop seeking our own satisfaction and to pour out our lives before Him.  Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him. (Oswald Chambers Utmost for His Highest September 2).

Noonday Collection *Adoption* Trunk Show: Let's Help Hope and Brittan!

Hi friends of Ting Ministries! A friend of ours organized a Noonday Collection fundraiser for the Carpenters' adoption of Hope and Brittan. Go to Noonday Collection *Adoption* Trunk Show to learn more, and head on over to  this page to see the items in the trunk show! There are lots of items for sale including jewelry, bags, scarves, and accessories!

Here's an excerpt of the event description:
"There will be a live trunk show at my residence August 24, but before that happens, there is an early online opportunity to give even more. If you make an online purchase by August 6th The Carpenter family will receive 15% rather than the normal 10%. Please consider placing your order by August 6th if you know you won't be able to make it to the show.

Noonday has beautiful jewelry and accessories. If you're not familiar with them please take a look at the website. Their items have unique stories and would make thoughtful gifts for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas! Please share the link with anyone who might be interested. Let's make a difference for this family and their daughters!"

Why Both? Orphans and Animal Rescue

From our animal rescue partners at Shelter Friend - Ukraine.: "Often people who drink a lot or homeless are more kind to animals then so called normal pet owner... On the photo is an elderly man who died alone, who lived alone, who drunk a lot... But he saved two dogs and three cats from streets. He was [sharing] food with them and they cuddle at night to warm each other. Man died and relatives will take what ever is left from house except animals.. so we offered them shelter..."

Some people ask us at Ting Ministries why we care about both orphans and animal rescue. If you have ever seen the healing a hurt, abandoned animal can bring to a hurt and abandoned child - that is why. This man knew how it felt to be alone. So, when he saw the lonely animals, he offered what no one else did to him - a home and love. Likewise, our dogs, adopted from Shelter Friend - Ukraine. are an integral part of not only our personal family, but of our TM family and vision. They were abused on the streets, and it is incredible to see the love and understanding they have for our girls, who came out of years of orphanage neglect and trauma. God truly "sets the lonely in families..."(Psalm 68:6) with beautiful results. Learn more about TM's work with Animal Rescue on our website and please check out our partner's Facebook page and website at: http://dryg.org.ua/eng/about/

Update from Shelter Friend - Ukraine

"Often I feel sad about such a stories more then about just strays... Often people who drink a lot or home less are more kind to animals then so called normal pet owner... On the photo is an elderly man who died alone, who lived alone, who drunk a lot... But he saved two dogs and three cats from streets. He was [sharing] food with them and they cuddle at night to warm each other. Man died and relatives will take what ever is left from house except animals.. so we offered them shelter...
Please share our page so more people will hear the plea of our animals
https://www.facebook.com/shelterFriendDnepr/
If you can adopt - adopt
PayPal - shelter.friend.ukraine@gmail.com or martina.ravak@gmail.com International adoptions are welcomed!!! Thank you!!"

TM Bulgaria: Announcing Pleven!

Ting Ministries is excited to announce we are expanding our work in Bulgaria to the Pleven orphanage. As some of you may know, the Carpenter's daughter Angelina came home from Pleven at 5 and a half. She weighed only 12 pounds. 

Today, she is almost walking! Gone is the little girl who never smiled - she is full of joy, fun, and laughter.

 Ting Ministries works in Bulgaria in several ways already (See Where We Work). Today, we are pleased to begin work in Pleven by the continued funding of the Lelya "Auntie" program. Currently, there are about 80 children in Pleven and 15 aunties who come to the orphanage for 4 hours a day. (Disclaimer: TM Bulgaria is not a continuation of, nor affiliated with The Pleven Project. We are an independent organization with our own team).

How it Works:

The aunties each look after one or two children and play with them, talk with them, and provide much needed stimulation often missing from orphanage care (due to lack of time and workers). The difference between the children with aunties and those without is clear. Even just a few hours with an auntie has shown great benefits: the children are more on-target socially and mentally, and the better care results in better overall physical development. The hope is the care of the aunties prepares children's development to thrive in the care of an adoptive family. 

The Plan:

TM is establishing Christian contacts in Pleven. As with all our other country programs, these contacts are an essential part of the TM family. They are on-the-ground, seeing the differences and carrying out the programs. They are like-minded in their values and Christian beliefs, dedicated to helping the orphan and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

In the future, TM Bulgaria plans: 1) For every child to have an auntie. 2) To extend work in other regions and orphanages of Bulgaria in the future. 

How You Can Help!

You can help the Auntie Program right now. 1,000 dollars is needed for the Auntie program to be funded for the month of August! This is the salary, shared between all the aunties.

To help fund the auntie program for the month of August: 1) Use the PayPal on our website. 2) Send a check to Ting Ministries, 904 State Drive, Lebanon, PA 17042. Please specify for Bulgarian Auntie program

If you would like to become a monthly sponsor, contact us and we will send you a sign-up form with information. The cost to sponsor one auntie is 40 dollars per month.

Thank you friends and supporters! May God bless you for being a Voice for the Voiceless.

Proverbs 31: 8-9

I am Ellianna!

Hi everyone! Ellianna here! 

My mom let me share this exciting news with you on Ting Ministries - I have started my own blog, here at I am Ellianna! As a short introduction to my blog and Facebook page:

"I was adopted from Taiwan and I'm the face of Ting Ministries, a non-profit organization that helps special-needs and teenage orphans all around the world! Even though I'm profoundly deaf and have Cerebral Palsy, I'm a Voice for the Voiceless. I love to paint and you'll find my Art for Orphans here too. I love my sisters, friends, and walking tacos! Follow my blog to see what I'm up to each day!"

My first official post is coming soon, but for now you can check out My Top 10 List of Things You Should Know about Me by going to this link: http://iamellianna.blogspot.com/p/my.html.

Bye for now! Don't forget to be a Voice for the Voiceless!

They Turned Around and Crucified: Sad News about V

For those who may not have heard, Ting Ministries has sad news. Little V, who we advocated for and who had found a family, passed away before she could come home. We wanted to wait for official confirmation to share this news.V urgently needed a liver transplant.

Little V died waiting for her family to come.

Children die waiting for families every day. They age out. What happened to V is terribly sad - even more so because it should have never happened in the first place. If a family had come forward for her sooner, it is likely she would have survived. When Christ told us to "Go, and care for the orphans and widows in their distress," he did not say "Go and care... AFTER you get everything under control. After you have enough money. After you have enough people supporting you." How many people supported Jesus when he was doing ministry? Didn't the very people who supported him turn around and crucify him? Our Lord did not call us to live comfortable lives.

Today, in honor of V, please look at these children from Eastern Europe that we added to our Waiting Child List. To learn more about a child, go to the Waiting Child Advocacy page. (Contact us for the password).

Team Ting's Make-a-Wish Trip (June 2017)

Avi was blessed with a Make-a-Wish trip to Ocean City, NJ along with her family and a couple close friends. Though she has scoliosis and spastic quadriplegia, Avi loves to smell the salty ocean air and let her curls blow in the breeze. The days were full of laughter, fun, and sand! It was Hannah "Annie's" first time at the beach and her first time on amusement park rides - it turns out, she is quite adventurous! Thank you, Make-a-Wish!

See the joy on their faces and imagine - each of these precious children once had no hope, no reason to smile. They were neglected and abused and had no one to call family. Their disabilities brought even more of a stigma upon them. Now, because they were adopted, they are able to enjoy all the things other children can.

While we rejoice in the redemption of adoption for our girls already home, there are two in China still waiting. Hope and Brittan are still waiting for their mom and dad, for beach trips with laughter, for sisters and friends who will love them, take them on fun trips, and paint their nails. So today, I ask you, as their sister, please don't forget about Hope and Brittan. Please help their wish come true here.