Telling the Story!

August 1996, Fuzhou, Fujian, China: I was adopted by my two loving parents.  I came to my new county, to my new home, to my new family and built my life as an American citizen.  Two years later, I was blessed with a brother, a best friend, named Timothy. Over 17 years later (January 26-February 8), my mother, my brother and I have the opportunity to return to Fuzhou and give back to an orphanage that cares for “un-adoptable” children in a group home setting.  These children are my peers.  These children could have been me if not for the blessing of adoption.

Living Hope International is an adoption agency in Pennsylvania that supports the Living Hope Fuzhou Group Home, which is a Christian group home to orphans. Where I was lucky enough to be adopted, these children have lived here for most of their lives.  When the group home was started, the children were transferred from a government orphanage on the same premises.  They were raised with an all Christian staff and received unconditional love under the direction and guidance of a wonderful director.  The children are now of the age designated by China, 14 and above, to be too old to be adopted. Last year, Amy Gentry was asked by a Christian non-profit organization to lead a team of volunteers to this orphanage to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) during their winter break. 

The ESL camp in February was a great success.  Not only was the team able to teach English to the residents there, but for the first time children from the government orphanage were allowed to attend.  The team was able to show the love of Jesus as well as teach it.  The children that attended from the government orphanage were impacted so much they went back and asked to come and live in the group home.  These children were indeed transferred to the Fuzhou Group Home. 

Amy has been asked to return again this year and continue what she started and has asked the my family to join her.  As the face of adoption changes and the numbers of children being adopted internationally declines, we as Christians have a wonderful opportunity.  As China has increased pressure to care for those that are not adoptable due to them aging out of the system or significant medical needs.  These are the children with which we will work.  These are my peers.

Our team will not only go to China to teach ESL, but also to teach skills to the house parents in Trust-Based Relational Interventions. TRBI, developed by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross at Texas Christian University is a family-based intervention that is designed for children who have experienced relationship-based traumas such as institutionalization, multiple care givers, maltreatment, and/or neglect. This will help provide the environment needed by these children to heal from their hurts.

We thank you for your support!

Ivey, Timothy, & Beverly Burke