Dossier to Hong Kong

It's been 25 days since our dossier went to Hong Kong. We're getting some initial questions from International Social Services of Hong Kong which means they are looking everything over. That's really exciting for us. We're also waiting on several grant applications to be checked and so we need time for those to go through the approval process. There are several other grant application that we're working on right now. In the meantime, I'd like to share an article we wrote for our October church newsletter.

An Invisible Thread

By Liz & Henry Kingma

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break.”  Our family is connected by many red threads, woven together carefully by God and joined together to create a family.

Henry and I have always shared a strong sense of calling to be adoptive parents. After we had been married for seven years, we began the process to adopt a child with special needs from China. A year later, we met and brought home our daughter Meili. She was a little bundle of energy and joy! A short time later, we began visiting First UMC. Two months later, Meili had the first surgery to repair her cleft lip and palate. We were overwhelmed with the support we received from First Church. Pastors Gary and Jennie both came and spent time with us at the hospital, praying over Meili before her surgery. We also received support in the form of visitors, cards, and meals provided over the next week while Meili was home recovering. The people at First made us feel like family.

            Two years later, we began the process to adopt another child from China. The following year, we welcomed Willem into our family. He has overcome many developmental obstacles and endured many surgeries and continues to grow and thrive! Meili was delighted to be a big sister and proved to be a very good one for Willem!

Now, we thought that we were done with adoption. We had completed two adoptions, had accumulated a second mortgage on our home and had lots of debt. However, this past winter, Henry and I felt a strong sense of calling to begin the adoption process again. This time the calling was harder for us to comprehend. Financially, we had exhausted all of our resources and we didn’t know how we could make it happen again. However, we were encouraged by friends and family who reminded us that God does not call us to do more than we can handle and that when we trust God to provide, we allow him to work miracles. We also received support from the adoptive community at First Church.  It was because of all the support that in February, we began the process to adopt again, this time a child with special needs from Hong Kong. 

            Meili explains our family’s call to adoption this way, “I think that we’re doing it partly to help some people in need and it’s kind of fun to adopt someone. It’s a good fit for us because all of the children in our family are adopted. A family that has people who are adopted looks all different. It’s a variety and I like that!”

            Adoption is part of our family’s response to the gift of salvation we have received from God. Our adoption into God’s family compels us to look at the world around us and to find ways to live out our gratitude. Jesus spent his entire ministry reaching out to those on the margins, including orphans. It is estimated today that there are over 150 million orphans worldwide! So how can you make a difference when there are so many? You do it like Jesus often did, one person at a time.