Fundraising Update

Our fundraiser for our sweet little girl is complete. Thanks to all of your help we were able to raise $850.00. That seems like so much money! I feel such gratitude and extremely humbled by those who gave during the Christmas season. Today my adoption agency verified that all the money will go directly to Sarah and the friends her age. They even asked me how I wanted to spend the money. Truly amazing! I actually told the agency that I trust them to distribute the funds the way they see fit. They just returned from another trip to Sarah's orphanage (it seems like they are there every 3 months) so I trust that they know these cuties and will do the right thing for them.

They asked if I would like updates on how they have spent the money ... I said YES! I have had tears of gratitude in my eyes all day long. Thanks again to all of you for helping our Sarah. It is so hard to be apart from our girl. It is hard to spend Christmas without her. It is hard to see her growing up so much in pictures. It is hard to know that she has a family, yet remains an orphan. It is hard to know that we are still 5 to 7 months away from bringing her home. This fundraiser was as much for her as it was to bring me some comfort. 

I will keep everyone updated as I get more information. With much love and gratitude,

Marisa

Here is a picture I received today and some that I received over Christmas.

Check out those bangs! Love it

Lookie, Lookie!

Look at our sweet Sarah! This picture was taken about 12 hours ago. We met some friends through a private Facebook group. All the members have or are adopting out of Sarah's orphanage. My one request from my new friend was that she give Sarah a hug from me. (She just met her daughter who is Sarah's good friend and was given permission to visit the orphanage today.)

I'm so thankful for the kindness of our new friends. She said that the orphanage is clean and the workers are so kind. Her comment was that all of the children seemed happy. Notice all of their warm clothing they are wearing inside. I have heard that they have heaters but cannot always afford to turn them on. We have a service project  you can read about here.

These pictures are making me so happy. Today is already an amazing day!

Look at our girl - I can't wait to hold her. But look at her nanny's loving gaze. So sweet!

There is the hug I begged for. This makes me so happy.

I like seeing some of her personality shining through.

A Christmas Service Project

I have joined a Facebook group with families who have adopted from Sarah's orphanage. It has been wonderful to see more pictures and try to get a better idea of what Sarah's life is like. It has also been hard to see how poor her orphanage is and the serious needs they have. Just to give you an idea, up to a few weeks ago, they had never had heat. That is a lot for this mom's heart to bear.

In light of this information, I have teamed up with our adoption agency to raise money for Sarah and her friends this Christmas and Thanksgiving Season. It costs so much money for shipping that we have decided to just raise money and send it over to Sarah's orphanage directly. If you are interested in helping our sweet Sarah and other orphans in her orphanage, here is what you do:

Go to  CCAI (our adoption agency who is also a Chinese Children's Charity) and click on donate in the top right hand side of the page. From there when it asks if this is for  a specific project, click on that. Then type in "Bentley ZhuMaDian Project" and all proceeds will go directly to Sarah's orphanage in her name. You can also write a check and mail it into CCAI. If you do that please write "Bentley ZhuMaDian Project" in the memo. The link above will provide you with CCAI's mailing address.

There are about 600 children in Sarah's orphanage. They are located in Henan province, which is the poorest province in China. It is also the most populated with over 100 million people. Sarah's orphanage is located about 2 hours south of the main city, so there are even fewer resources.

As a family we are always looking for service projects this time of year. I honestly can't think of a better way to serve. These children are truly in need and so deserving. I like the idea that everything we give will go directly to these cuties. Each of Sarah's siblings are working on making money to send to her too.

The due date will be December 10 so that we can get the money to them before Christmas. Thanks for all of you who choose to help! Sarah, as well as all of us, will be eternally grateful.

This is our Sarah - this picture really pulls on the heart strings

Service Project

Cora and her cousin Will joined forces to gather items for John's orphanage. They did such an amazing job. Cora is 13 and Will is 12 which makes it all the more impressive. Together they gathered clothing, hand towels and t-shirts to transform into bibs.

The bulk of the donations came from our neighborhood. (Will lives right around the corner.) Our neighbors were so generous and even though we said they could donate gently used items, most were brand new. Neighbors also donated enough cash that we can send all the items without digging in our own pockets.

It was so wonderful to watch these two cousins join forces and make a difference in the world. It is truly amazing to witness the good that can come from two devoted young people, who are trying to follow Christ's example and make a difference in the world. In such a short period of time, sweet orphans in John's orphanage will benefit from these.

As we washed, sorted and folded clothes, and made bibs, we were all overcome with the joy of serving these orphans. It was a small effort compared to some, but it made an impact on all of our lives, and we know that serving in this manner is going to become status quo around here. Guess what our boy's Eagle Scout projects will be from now on? I can just picture John working on this project in 12 or so years. So exciting, and I am very proud of Cora and Will!!!