Is There Room in Your Heart and Your Home for a Waiting Child?

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Is There Room in Your Heart and Your Home for a Waiting Child? Easy toLove Is there room in your heart and your home for a waiting child? Many of our waiting children have minor or correctible medical conditions, are older or in sibling groups, and they need loving, adoptive families. See children who need families today by visiting the Waiting Child section of the Holt International website www.holtinternational.org/waitingchild/photolisting finding families for children Dear Readers Christina* greeted me a few years ago at the home of her foster family in Romania. She was 12 years old, with dark eyes, and dark hair pulled back into a SUMMER 2006 VOL. 48 NO. 3 HOLT INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S SERVICES ponytail that framed her pretty face. I was surprised by how normal and healthy P.O. Box 2880 (1195 City View) Eugene, OR 97402 she looked. Ph: 541/687.2202 Fax: 541/683.6175 OUR MISSION I expected her to look, well… sick. After all, Christina was HIV-positive. Instead I Holt International is dedicated to carrying out God’s plan for every child to have a permanent, loving family. found a girl on the cusp of adolescence who wore the unadorned, fresh beauty of In 1955 Harry and Bertha Holt responded to the conviction that youth. God had called them to help children left homeless by the Korean War. Though it took an act of the U.S. Congress, the Holts adopt- “So this is the face of AIDS,” I marveled. ed eight of those children. But they were moved by the desperate plight of other orphaned children in Korea and other countries In this issue of Holt International magazine, we feature a look at the range of as well, so they founded Holt International Children’s Services in order to unite homeless children with families who would love work Holt is doing around the world for children affected by HIV/AIDS. HIV now them as their own. Today Holt International serves children and families in Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, afflicts an expanding circle of innocent victims. Christina had received a vacci- India, Korea, Mongolia, the Philippines, Romania, Thailand, the nation with a reused syringe. United States, Uganda, Ukraine and Vietnam. AIDS devastates lives indirectly as well. Most of the children Holt serves in PRESIDENT & CEO Gary N. Gamer Uganda wear the title “AIDS orphans.” VICE-PRESIDENT OF PROGRAMS & SERVICES Carole Stiles VICE-PRESIDENT OF MARKETING & DEVELOPMENT Phillip A. Littleton With some urging Christina talked about her dreams and hopes. They weren’t VICE-PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC POLICY & ADVOCACY Susan Soon-keum Cox huge goals by the world’s standards. Mostly she looked forward to a regular sort VICE-PRESIDENT OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Kevin Sweeney of life—a family, children of her own. And she hoped to be reunited with her BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR James D. Barfoot VICE-CHAIR Julia K. Banta PRESIDENT EMERITUS sister. By an ironic twist of bureaucratic fate, her sister who was not HIV-positive Dr. David H. Kim SECRETARY Claire A. Noland MEMBERS Andrew R. Bailey, Rebecca C. Brandt, Kim S. Brown, Wilma R. Cheney, Clinton had to stay in the government orphanage when Christina was released into Holt’s C. Cottrell, Will C. Dantzler, Cynthia G. Davis, A. Paul Disdier, care. Christina, because of her medical condition, was no longer allowed at the Rosser B. Edwards, Jeffrey B. Saddington, Shirley M. Stewart, Love Steven Stirling orphanage. HOLT INTERNATIONAL magazine is published bimonthly by Holt International Children’s Services, Inc., a nonprofit Christian child We reach out to children like Christina because they deserve more, and they welfare organization. While Holt International is responsible for the content of Holt International magazine, the viewpoints expressed in deserve a chance to make their dreams real. this publication are not necessarily those of the organization. * not her real name —John Aeby, Editor EDITOR John Aeby MANAGING EDITOR Alice Evans ASSISTANT Sara Moss SUBSCRIPTION ORDERS/INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES Send all editorial correspondence and changes of address to Holt International magazine, Holt International, P.O. Box 2880, Eugene, CONTENTS OR 97402. We ask for an annual donation of $20 to cover the cost of publication and mailing inside the United States and $40 outside the United States. Holt welcomes the contribution of let- CHILD SURVIVAL ters and articles for publication, but assumes no responsibility for Child Survival in a Time of AIDS 6 return of letters, manuscripts, or photos. REPRINT INFORMATION Holt faces the challenge of helping children Permission from Holt International is required prior to reprinting any survive the AIDS pandemic. portion of Holt International magazine. Please direct reprint requests to editor John Aeby at 541/687.2202 or [email protected]. ARKANSAS OFFICE ADOPTING 5016 Western Hills Ave., Little Rock, AR 72204 How to Prepare for a New Arrival 22 Ph/Fax: 501/568.2827 CALIFORNIA OFFICE Plan ahead to help your children 3807 Pasadena Ave., Suite 115, Sacramento, CA 95821 adjust to a new adoption. Ph: 916/487.4658 Fax: 916/487.7068 MIDWEST OFFICE SERVING IOWA, NEBRASKA AND SOUTH DAKOTA Cover: Helene Regier, born in China, 10685 Bedford Ave., Suite 300, Omaha, NE 68134 ADOPTEES TODAY is the daughter of Don and Jan Ph: 402/934.5031 Fax: 402/934.5034 A Time for Forgiveness 28 Regier. Story page 16 MISSOURI OFFICE/KANSAS OFFICE 203 Huntington Rd., Kansas City, MO 64113 A woman forgives the parents who Ph: 816/822.2169 Fax: 816/523.8379 long ago relinquished her. 122 W. 5th St., Garnett, KS 66032 [email protected] OREGON OFFICE DEPARTMENTS Capitol Plaza 9320 SW Barbur Blvd., Suite 220, Portland, OR 97219 Update 4 Ph: 503/244.2440 Fax: 503/245.2498 NEW JERSEY OFFICE 340 Scotch Rd. (2nd Floor), Trenton, NJ 08628 Annual Report 10 Ph: 609/882.4972 Fax: 609/883.2398 Around the Globe 12 COPYRIGHT ©2006 BY HOLT INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S SERVICES, INC. Easy to Love 14 ISSN 1047-7640 From the Family 16 ACCREDITED BY Calendar 30 COUNCIL ON ACCREDITATION Family Tree 31 www.holtinternational.org 3 update First Lady to Chair Conference nominees. For a look at their concert schedule and more infor- mation about the group, go to: www.thecrabbfamily.com. First Lady Laura Bush is Honorary Chair of Holt International’s 50th Anniversary Conference, to be held October 18–21 in Eugene, Oregon. “Looking Forward: A Global Response for Adoptee Graduate Photos Homeless Children” will bring together international leaders, Deadline for photos of high school and college graduates is children’s advocates and professionals from around the world July 1. Please e-mail digital images (set your camera at 3 mega- to share their expertise. pixels or higher) to [email protected] or mail wallet- A panel of international sized or larger photographic prints to Graduate Photos, Holt adult adoptees spanning International, P.O. Box 2880, Eugene, OR 97402. Please do not five decades and three send inkjet or digital prints. Short stories from families about generations will present their graduate are also welcome. on the final day. An International Conference For more information, go to: www.holtinternational.org/conference Calendar Photos Your adopted child could be a Holt star! Deadline for calendar COA Accreditation photos is July 15. Please e-mail digital images (set your cam- The Council on Accreditation (COA) renewed accreditation era at 3 megapixels or higher) to [email protected] for Holt International in March. Private accreditation provides or mail glossy prints 4 x 6 to 11 x 14 to Calendar Photos, Holt assurance that organizations meet recognized industry stan- International, P.O. Box 2880, Eugene, OR 97402. We cannot use dards. Mildred Silvie, Director of the Accreditation Commission, studio photographs or inkjet or digital prints. noted: “COA’s program of quality improvement is designed to identify providers that have set high performance standards for themselves and have made a commitment to their constituents Letters & Stories to deliver the very best quality services. COA is proud to recog- For E-News, Holt International magazine, Bridge of Love and nize [Holt] as one of these outstanding providers.” An interna- China Moon newsletter, we welcome letters and stories from tional and independent nonprofit organization, COA examines adoptees and their families about their experiences with adop- private, nonprofit and for-profit organizations as well as public tion. We also welcome letters and stories from sponsors about agencies. the significance and commitment of sponsorship. Query: Managing Editor Alice Evans at [email protected]. Crabb Family Christian recording artists the Crabb Family now represent Next Issue the Holt International Sponsorship Program at their concerts. A combined Fall/Winter edition of Holt International magazine Sponsorships help support homeless and at-risk children until will be mailed in early November. their placement in permanent families. The five siblings from rural Kentucky are the winners of four Dove Awards in 2005 for their Southern gospel music; they are also three-time Grammy In Memory Robin Robieson Vondette, adopted from Korea in 1964 by Clarance and Ruth Robieson of Los Alamitos, Calif., and beloved wife for 27 years of Scott Vondette, Sparta, N.J., passed away on February 10. Marlyss Ritter, beloved wife of Harry Ritter and mother of Aaron and Sarah Ritter, passed away January 24 in Davenport, Iowa. Born in 1952 in Korea, she was adopted by Fredrick and Beverly Winn. Nicholas Ryan Hanson, 24, a senior at Southern Oregon University, died at a hospital in Medford, Oregon, on January 22. A two-time All-American track and field star, he was adopt- ed from Brazil at age 8 and is survived by his parents, Ron and Joni Hanson of Bend, Oregon, and three siblings. ■ 4 Summer 2006 Remember the children left behind By Gary N.
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