Shine a Light: Golden Dawn Adoption Assistance

During the wait until we start hearing back from our agency and our in-country adoption facilitator regarding our court dossier, which we expect will be another week and a half (it was sent to Ian's country yesterday), I would like to shine a light on some of the people and GOD connections that have played a major role in helping us raise the insane amount of money we need to bring Ian home, and erase the possibility of him perishing, very soon, in a lifeless mental institution.

Our sweeet, smart, beautiful little boy, Ian

One thing I don't think I mentioned about our little man Ian is that the doctor at his orphanage told us he is "mildly" developmentally delayed. While we have made a concerted effort to not have expectations about his physical or developmental conditions, it is really hard for me in particular to do that, because special education is my career.

In the short time we got to spend with our new son Ian, and watch him process so many things he has never encountered in his entire life (like individual sustained attention towards him, parents, a brother, technology like an iPod, cell phones, affection, etc...), we believe that is more on the mild side of cognitive impairment. He learned how to use the iPod (generally, how to activate it and use his finger to slide the lighted bar to "unlock" it) in just two exposures to it, of less than 10 min. each.

We also watched Ian distinguish his left from right shoes, and follow EVERY direction he was given (in Russian of course).



So, this boy is SMART! He is capable of learning, and he is every bit of a typical boy who likes to rough house and run around with daddy...a bleak, cold, inhumane institution is NO PLACE for Ian, nor any other child.

Ian also showed emotion, lots of emotion. I have not written about this until now but I think it shows something tender about our son. When it was time for him to return to the groupa on the first day, when we got to get a glimpse of where he spends most of his days, he cried. He was fine until he was told to go and sit down in a chair that was in a semi-circle, facing an old, small television that was playing some cartoon. He sat in the last chair near the door, where we were peering in. He began to cry. He was clearly distraught, and he was looking at us with this look on his face like, "please don't leave me."

We know that the children are made to sit on those chairs for HOURS and HOURS watching the SAME CARTOON OVER and OVER again. That in and of itself, would drive even the most sane person, nuts.

Craig and I have talked at great length about what might have been happening in Ian's mind at that moment he was crying in the chair, looking at us. We have concluded that he knew, even in that short amount of time, that we were there for him, and that we were something different, and maybe he even realized that we were something better.

He did not want to go back to the groupa, that was clear at that moment. It was really heart breaking for me to look at him cry. His out of control cry is different than what i would call his, "realization" cry. That realization that we were leaving him there, or even if it wasn't him realizing we were for him and we were leaving...it was the emotion on his face and the manner in which he cried that was so desperate, that replays in our minds everyday as we battle to bring him home.

...and it is a battle to be sure. The forces of wrong never sleep, and one orphan boys tears do not deter things from happening that push us back and try to make us think that it is impossible to make Ian "one less."

As I write this, our sweet baby Ari is in the hospital. We have been here for two days now, and while we hope to be discharged this evening, we could be here longer. In addition, our fight for the waiver of the 10 day wait after our court trip is more that likely going to be in vain, which means thousand of more dollars for a return, peak season in terms of airfare and hotel, trip to bring Ian home. We are certainly weary. We will have been in this process for more than a year before Ian is home. In the mail today came too, a "note" from the President an organization that claims to support parents of children with Down Syndrome, basically stating that they can't help people adopting from Reece's Rainbow and that families should not ask them for help...and no, I am not kidding.

Yes, still, we rise. We will bring him home, and we are not without deep, deep thanks to those organizations and individuals who have come to stand by our side, armed with hope, love, and generosity...and without judgement and cynicism. We know that God see's what they are doing to help us save Ian and we know that Jesus comes for us, we will have lived as best we could to be a blessing to other people, no matter their need, intellectual capacity, skin color, "station", or any other thing that mankind creates to divide us.

When we returned from Trip 1 to meet Ian, we knew we had to raise a bunch more money to get him home. We thought we had time, in terms of Ian's health, we though he was "healthy." As you know, we refused surgery for him in his country, because the chances he would pass away are much greater than if he were home, had the best care possible, and a FAMILY, to care for him in his recovery. With Ari in the hospital for the third time in his life now, we are sharply reminded that children are fragile beyond what we can see. Ian is our SON, and to imagine him having surgery without ANYONE there 24 hours a day with him is - sickening.

Our sweet Ari, never alone in the hospital, ever

So, we press on with the ever changing paperwork demands (and the ever stricter), praying for God to reveal the final funding we need. We applied for grants, and we did not get several. If you know anything about adoption grants, you know that the need greatly surpasses the availability of granting organizations to help all the families that need help to save kiddos. We are not bitter about it, in fact we are thankful that somewhere, someone is getting help to save a child's life. 147 million orphans in NOT RIGHT.

Still, there is never a reason to be without hope. That is what Jesus did for us, he gave us eternal hope, even in death. In 2004, a sweet little girl named Karissa Dawn Smith, died in an accident. She had been adopted into the Smith family. Her family made the journey to her in Viet Nam in 1999. She was, and still is, very loved.

In her death, her family rose to give hope to others. They started "Golden Dawn Adoption Assistance." The "golden" part of the name of Karrissa's foundation is a dog named Tilli. Tilli is a Golden Retriver.

Tilli Noel

Tilli has, since 2008, bore 45 adorable little purebred puppies, which when sold, generate the funds for the Golden Dawn Adoption Assistance Grant. This grant is up to $2,000.00 for families adopting orphans.

One of the precious pups that is helping to bring orphans home

(shhh...don't tell Craig but we may be adding one of these to our family too!)

Ian has been gifted a Golden Dawn grant, and it was exactly what we needed to pay the remainder of our US fee's due to our adoption agency. Praise Jesus. We did not find this grant via an internet search. We were led to it because of Anya. Anya, home in March 2011, was in Ian's groupa, and she was Ian's best little friend in the orphanage.

Anya Fillmore, home in March 2011 from Ian's orphanage
pictured here on Easter 2011 with her new big sister

Anya's family, The Fillmore's, told us about Golden Dawn after they too, received this special memorial gift to help bring Anya home. After not getting some of the grant's we had spent hours and hours applying for, to receive this one, was and will forever remain, very special to us. This one, small, but powerful family, who lost their own child after working so hard to complete an international adoption and bring her home, through their grief, has found a way to be intstrumentatl in rescusing TWO orphans with Down Syndrome from the same orphange, thousands of miles away.

When I applied for the grant, I said nothing about Anya because I didn't feel like it would be fair to the other people applying (they give only one grant per cycle). They chose Ian anyway, and we are SO incredibly grateful!

This little light....Karissa Dawn Smith, and her dog Tilli...are lettin' it shine for Ian, they let it shine for Anya, and they are no where near done playing a significant role in rescuing God's children! Amen.