Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Steve, Heather, Ed, Joe, Emily, Hana, Zeke and Samuel!
~ Our Story ~
Adoption was something we talked about early on in our marriage, but then children came, life was busy, and it wasn’t until a few years ago, 2004 specifically, that we talked about it again. In fact, it was a time when we both looked at each other, realized we were getting older and if we were going to adopt, we might want to get serious and look into what was involved.
We decided that we would ask the kids what they thought, and then, when they seemed excited about the possibility, we started researching. Actually, our research only took a few days, we felt at peace about adding to our family via adoption, and we quickly determined that we were destined to adopt internationally rather than domestically. As we looked at the international possibilities, it seemed we were drawn to China. Clearly, God had a plan for our lives and, at this point, we were following His lead.
We needed to find both a local adoption agency to do our home studies as well as an international agency to handle the adoption itself. We contacted a couple of local adoption agencies. The only local agency that seemed right for us was Adoptions Plus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The next step was finding the best agency for the adoption. We checked with friends of Heather’s, who she worked with via email for “The Old Schoolhouse” magazine. As it turned out, all recommended All God’s Children International (AGCI) in Portland, OR.
As a family we talked about every aspect of adoption, prayed about direction, and moved forward. We started out by signing contracts, completing paperwork, and stating that we were interested in a child under 2, however, we weren’t opposed to considering siblings or a child with special needs. In fact, while we waited, expecting the referral of a child in December 2004, we fell in love with a little girl on the September special needs list. On January 3rd, 2005, that little girl, Rao An Ping, from the Shangrao Social Welfare Institute, in the JiangXi Province, became our daughter, Hana Anping Allen. She was 16 months old, beautiful and we knew she was meant to be part of our family. We knew, though, before we left China, that our family was not complete and we were going to be going back.
Just over a year later, after Hana had had two surgeries and was doing better every day health-wise, our dossier for our second adoption arrived in China. Again, we had contracted with Adoptions Plus and AGCI. Again, we told AGCI that we didn’t know what God had in mind for us, but that there was a child waiting for us in China.
Well, on December 12th, 2005, we saw Qin Yi Guang, from the Xin Xiang City Social Welfare Institute, in the Henan Province, for the first time and he grabbed our hearts. On September 9th, 2006, Qin Yi Guang joined our family and on Monday, September 11th, 2006, he became, in the eyes of China, Ezekiel Yiguang Allen. Forever to be our son Zeke, or Wekey as Hana calls him. He was a little over 2 ½ and just 5 months younger than Hana.
Zeke is doing great, has really settled in, and we know, without a doubt, that God meant for him to be part of our family. We also know that God isn’t finished with us yet. Thus, here we are again, waiting to travel yet one more time to China, for another son God has planned to be a part of our family.
This particular adoption has been interesting for several reasons. First, we had this idea that we would never adopt out of birth order. We wanted to insure that our children remained in the order, from oldest to youngest, in which they joined the family. Well, God obviously had other ideas. We should learn not to have our own pre-conceived ideas, nor absolutes, when dealing with God. Second, we had always prayed with each adoption that God would clearly show us, preferably written with lipstick on the bathroom mirror, which child He had destined for our family. Lipstick never became necessary since we knew instantly that Hana and Zeke were to be ours after passing over many others. And third, we had to overcome some obstacles not faced with the first two adoptions.
Although we had only been home six months with Zeke, on March 13th, 2007, we saw a young 10-year old boy, Zhong Zi Chang, on the AGCI website. There was never a doubt that he too was our son.
We called AGCI and told them we were interested in Zhong Zi Chang. They said “no.” Seems they didn’t feel we’d been home long enough with Zeke and that we would be in violation of the one year wait between adoptions. This wasn’t the answer we had expected. We pressed on with life, but Zhong Zi Chang was never far from our thoughts.
One month later, on April 13th, Tiffany, at AGCI called and asked if we were still interested in Zhong Zi Chang. We sure were. She told us she would immediately email his file to us for review. Over that weekend we reviewed his file, spoke with our pediatrician, Karen Kennicott, and knew, without question, that our answer would be “yes.” First thing Monday morning, April 16th, we called Tiffany, told her yes, and we were ready to go forward. We were moving with lightning speed, getting paperwork started, contracts signed, etc., and on May 8th our Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt Zhong Zi Chang was submitted to the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA).
We continued to move forward when we received a call, on June 11th, telling us that the CCAA had denied our adoption due to our family size. We appealed this decision since family size (maximum of 5 children living in the home) is exempt for a special needs adoption, according to the CCAA rules of May 1, 2007. While we waited we felt completely calm, although we had been denied by the CCAA, because we felt God had called us to adopt this boy. On June 22nd, we received a call from Tiffany. She said that the CCAA had reconsidered our adoption given the rules as stated, and were approving us for this adoption. We were thrilled, especially since we had continued to work to complete all of our paperwork, never slowing while we waited for word from the CCAA.
Everything with this adoption has progressed along with very few bumps in the road (although, there were the two potholes – our initial “no” from AGCI and our initial denial by the CCAA, but those didn’t deter us in our quest for our son.) We received the paper (i.e., the Favorable Determination Letter or I-171) required from the U.S. Immigration folks about 2 ½ months ahead of schedule, our dossier was ready, state certified and expedited for authentication, and our preliminary approval (PA) arrived at just the right time to meet up with our authenticated dossier so they could both be sent to China.
Now we wait and count the days until the arrival of our Letter of Commitment (LOC), followed by our Travel Authorization (TA). During this waiting period, we pray that our dossier will sail through the CCAA screening process.
We believe that Zhong Zi Chang is a son God has planned for our family and we are following His leading. Zhong Zi Chang will be named Samuel Zichang Allen when he joins our family. Samuel means “asked of God,” or “God hears.” We think it’s a good strong name for this young man.
We all traveled as a family to bring Hana home. We all traveled as a family to bring Ezekiel home. And our current plan is to all travel as a family to bring Samuel home. Please follow our journey and pray for us, for Samuel, for his birthparents and caretakers at the orphanage, and his foster family with whom he is currently living.
Blessings to all of you,
Steve, Heather, Ed, Joe, Sam, Emily, Hana, and Zeke
Zhong Zi Chang’s Story
(as written in his medical report)
Zhong Zi Chang, male, born 7/8/1996, was found by an elderly villager on 7/15/1996 near a flower bed by the street. He was sleeping in a cardboard box, wearing a white infant outfit. There were 2 more sets of flowery infant clothes nearby. After asking around for the baby’s parents and getting no result, she took him into her own home. Later on, the lady got too old and weak to take care of the child, so she reported the case to the local police on 10/18/2003. The child was then brought in to the CWI, after approval was granted by the local civil affairs office. Physical exam showed the child was healthy.
Zhong Zi Chang has been developing normally: He was about 7 and a half upon arrival. We arranged for him to attend a local elementary school. Now he is in fourth grade. According to his teacher, the child adjusts to new things very quickly. He can talk and communicate well with others. He has strong social skills, already making a few friends not long after joining the school. He can play with other kids, older and younger alike. With other people, he is always courteous and polite. He has no trouble with sharing. He takes care of himself and works hard. Around the house, he takes the initiative to help, such as taking out the garbage, wiping tables and sweeping the floors. When he encounters something that he doesn’t understand, he knows to ask. His teacher told us that he was easily distracted when he first came to the school. He was also sloppy with his homework. But now he has changed his attitude, paying much closer attention to classes. His homework has improved greatly. It’s now nice and neat. The improvements show in the grades too. He is quite active. He likes to jump and run around. He is even more active in PE classes.
Zhong Zi Chang is active and optimistic. He is naughty, restless, but also polite. He says hello to people he knows. He has a stong self-esteem and likes to hear compliments. He likes to listen to story-telling. His mood and feelings swing along with changes in the story.
