New Day

On December 4, Oregon experienced a major wind and rain storm, which caused flooding in some areas. I got called in to staff the state’s Emergency Coordination Center from 6 pm until 6 am. Things were mighty quiet along about 3 in the morning, but fortunately I had brought my laptop and the ECC had wireless.

I had gotten an email in November from the McGinnis family, who was at a similar stage in the adoption process and was waiting for Emily. Emily was also from Luoyang, and they told us about a message board for families adopting from Luoyang.

So, I was surfing the message boards and trying to stay awake, when I read a post about New Day Creations and how they do foster care in Luoyang. I went to their website and was reading through it (trying to keep my eyes open), when, suddenly, there was Leah.

Needless to say, I was awake.

The information for the girl that New Day called “Amy” was slightly different from our referral information, but I was certain it was her from the photos.

Although I was tempted to call Molly right then and there, I decided it might be a wiser choice on my part to wait until I got home a little after 6:00.

I sent an email to New Day and to Tiffany at AGCI. Tiffany emailed back later that morning:


Good Morning! This very well could be her! Wow!

It was my understanding when I emailed New Day when we got the group that none of our kids were from there, I typically email them in the beginning to see. It could be a date of birth discrepancy. What you can do is email the director, Karen Brenneman, her contact info is on the website, and see if it is her.

This is a Christian foster home that takes in special needs kids from orphanages across China to help better care for them. When families travel they do not go to New Day though, but to the orphanage listed on the medical. This is seen as a foster home like any foster home. The neat thing is though, with the size of the organization and staff they actually have a website and you can typically get updates and some families even get to call their kids! Isn’t that unreal!

Let me know what you find out! How exciting!

Tiffany Williams
All God's Children International
China Special Needs Case Manager


I sent another email to Karen at New Day, and she replied that evening:

Dear Mark & Molly,

The Chinese name we have for Amy is Dang Yi Miao. In looking at the pictures though I am pretty sure that they are the same child. Often orphanages will change a child's name and birthdate when they send in the paperwork a second time.

Mike & Zhu Zhu are in charge of the Luoyang branch. They will be able to give you as much info as you want. It is good that you contacted them. They are in the USA right now for the holidays.

We can also send you the monthly updates that we send to her sponsors. She is with one of our foster families.

I have attached this month's update and picture.

This is wonderful to know that she will soon have her very own family. Once you have your pre-approval let us know and we can put a star next to her name saying she is matched. Also you can change her name to what you want and we will change it on the website.

When you talk to Mike and Zhu Zhu you can see where to send a photo album of your family and home. This really helps the children with attachment.

Thank you for the exciting news.

Blessings,

Karen


We were very excited to learn that Leah was in foster care. Often, children who are in foster care in China tend to have an easier time attaching to their adoptive family than those who stay in an orphanage.


While we were in Burns for New Years, Molly’s friend Wen Ling called from Taiwan. She got some details about New Day, and before we knew it, she called us back and said she had just spoken to “Grace” at New Day in Beijing! Wen Ling emailed us Grace’s email address, and we got a response from her shortly:

Hello Mark & Molly,

I got your e-mail and also Karen's e-mail about more info. of Amy. Here I found more for you. I also e-mailed to Karen. I am her assistant in beijing. She is taking care of adopted parent for questions or other issues. I am very glad to talk to your taiwaniese friend wenling. She said she might come with you for adoption. Looking forward to see all in beijing.

Amy was placed into the local foster family on the Aug.12,2005. She doesn't go to preschool and not learn english. She had her cleft lip and palate repaired. Her pronunciation is not quite clear beacause of her situation. Her height: 96cm.

Blessings

Grace



Once we received our Pre-Approval, we couldn’t wait to send Leah a package. Karen offered to have letters translated, and we wrote one to Leah and one to her foster family:


Dear Amy’s foster family,

We are so excited to be adopting Amy!

Thank you for all the love and care that you have given her. We are deeply grateful for the way you have helped her grow during her time with you. She is so fortunate to have people like you to care for her.

We are excited to travel to China later this year and bring Amy home with us. We would love to meet you if that is possible.

We will be giving Amy a new American name, “Leah.” We are sending a package with some things for Leah, along with a photo album with pictures of our family.

We also have some questions for you that we will send to New Day Creations. Your answers to these questions will help us make the transition easier for Leah.

We will be sending another package soon.

Thank you again for loving Leah and for taking care of her.

Sincerely,

Mark & Molly Cotter


* * *


Dear Amy,

We are so excited that you will be a part of our family.

We can’t wait until we can come to see you and bring you home to us. Hopefully we will be there very soon!

We want to give you a special American name, “Leah.”

You will have two brothers, Luke, who is 7 years old, and Logan, who is 6 years old.

We have a beautiful room waiting for you, decorated with ladybugs.

We are sending some things in a package for you. There are some pictures of us, too.

We love you so much and we can’t wait for you to be a part of our family forever!

Love,

Daddy and Mommy




In the package we included some toys, candy, coloring books, clothes, and a photo album containing photos of us, our house, the grandparents, etc.

We sent the letters and the package to Karen in Beijing and soon sent her a list of questions about Leah.

Karen, as always, responded with answers in just a few days:


Dear Mark & Molly,

The answers to your questions are below.

Blessings,

Karen


1. What does her name (Dang Yi Miao) mean? (We understand that "Dang" is a common surname given to orphans in that area. We're thinking of keeping "Yi Miao" as her middle name, depending on its meaning.)

The orphanage gave her this name. The basic meaning is “little plant.”


2. What does her name on the referral packet (Dang Yi Ya) mean?

The orphanage gave her this name also and it has the basic same meaning. It means “little sprout.”


3. What name is she called?

Her foster family calls her Yi Miao.


4. How tall is she? How much does she weigh?

Height:101cm; Weight:17kg; Head: 50cm; Chest: 50cm; Seat: 56cm; Teeth: 20, Foot length:16cm.


5. What does she like to do?

She likes cutting things using scissors and making handicrafts.


6. What are her favorite toys?

She likes dolls.


7. Has she had any health problems or allergies?

She had cleft lip and palate surgery. She doesn't speak clearly. Otherwise she is healthy.


8. How would you describe her personality?

She used to be timid. She is quite outgoing now.


9. What makes her happy? What makes her angry or upset? What makes her frightened?

She is happy when she get gifts. If her foster brother touches her dolls, she will get angry or be upset. She is afraid of dogs and cats.


10. What do you do that comforts her when she is upset or frightened?

Bring her dolls or some her favorite toys.



On February 20, I turned on the computer to check the news as I was getting ready for work, and I was thrilled to find an email from Karen with photos of Leah and her foster mother with the package we had sent.

I’d received an email recently from another family who had adopted from Luoyang, and their son was in New Day as well. Melissa said that they were thrilled with the care he had received and spoke very highly of New Day.

So far, we agreed wholeheartedly.