From the Bethany CEO

I love working for Bethany Christian Services. Our CEO is an incredible man that leads Bethany very, very well. I count it a privilege to work with him.

Below is an email he sent out the other day recapping 2010.



At this time of the year, I like to reflect on the blessings that God, by His grace, has given Bethany in the past year. Although Bethany has an excellent reputation as an adoption agency, we all know Bethany is much more than that. As our mission says that we protect and enhance the lives of children through both adoption and social service programs. The following are highlights of the ways Bethany was blessed by God in 2010.

By the end of the year:

• Bethany will have completed almost 200 adoptions of children from Ethiopia and protected and enhanced the lives of 2,000 Ethiopian children through sponsorship, foster care, and other humanitarian programs.
• Bethany will have completed the adoption of 175 children from China. Bethany also will have served 150 children in foster care. Our plan is to serve 300 to 400 children in foster care in 2011.
• Bethany will have placed more than 700 infants in the U.S. through our domestic infant adoption program and will have served more than 3,000 children in foster care.
• Bethany will have placed almost 600 children who were abused and/or neglected into adoptive homes from U.S. foster care.

Other reasons for thankfulness include the following:

• Eight Bethany branches have begun to offer Safe Families for Children™, a new service in which volunteer families provide a temporary alternative to foster care.
• With offices already in 32 U.S. states, Bethany will be opening new offices in Alabama, Ohio, and Montana.
• Now working in 17 other countries, Bethany will be opening new programs in Brazil and South Africa.

These are wonderful blessings, and we can rejoice about the fact that in 2010 Bethany will have protected and enhanced the lives of more than 50,000 children throughout the world.

While Bethany's mission does not change, the application of that mission continually needs to change. We are consistently looking for God-directed opportunities to offer more services. Our vision is to serve more than 75,000 children by 2015.

I thank each of you for being a part of Bethany's ministry and for your help in accomplishing our goals. I wish you and your families a blessed and merry Christmas.


William J. Blacquiere
President/CEO

A Brand New CARR

Something has been cooking in the Carr household for almost a year now, but we have not talked about it publically… however, that is changing today!

We would like to introduce you to the newest Carr – Jarrell (also called JJ)!

We got a call earlier in the year from our local foster care workers asking if we knew anyone interested in adopting a deaf child. Beth and I had been discussing the possibility of another adoption so I told them that I “knew someone who had been discussing it”.

We would later learn that Jarrell was not only deaf but he also has several other medical issues. We walked slowly from that point. With four kids, my travel schedule, and Beth working full time, we knew we didn’t need to overload our family and get into something that would do more harm, for all involved, than good. Over the past couple of months, we have felt better and better about proceeding. We recently realized that our family would be incomplete without Jarrell. JJ was a Carr, we just had to make it legal.

Yesterday was his third birthday. He will never spend another birthday as an orphan. From now on, he will be in the same family line as all of the Carr’s that have gone on before me. Soon, he will become a Carr with all of the rights, privileges, and curses that come with that name…

We are still in the transitioning stage now and completing all the required paperwork and approvals (all technicalities at this point). He will be spending most of the holidays with us and then will move in permanently after the first of the year. It has been an incredible pleasure working with his foster parents. They will continue to be part of his life as they live very close to us and love him very much.

Be praying for him as he has many challenges to overcome including:

1. Learning sign language

2. Adjusting to his new home and family

3. Dealing with his other medical issues

China - Part 2

After a great day in Kaifeng at the deaf school, we loaded up and headed to Jiaozuo which is Xiaoli's hometown. We know an American who is working with her orphanage to provide foster homes. She does not live at the orphanage and it has moved so we didn't think we would get to visit it. However, she was having a meeting at the facility so we met her there. Unfortunately, we did not know that we were going (our translators were talking with each other giving directions) so we were not able to prepare Xiaoli. We didn't want to get her hopes up if we couldn't go, but we would have liked the opportunity to prepare her if we were. We didn't get the chance.

Once we arrived we went into a room where our friend was in a meeting with some nannies from the orphanage. They immediately recognized Xiaoli and came to her with hugs and kisses. Xiaoli was a bit overwhelmed. We then saw some of her friends. She got pretty emotional but after some time to process things, she loosened up a bit (for those of you who know Xiaoli, this is very unusual for our little diva).

One of Xiaoli's fondest memories is of a wedding that she was able to attend before we adopted her. One of her nannies was getting married and the wedding was held at an outdoor area beside a lake. We saw a few pictures before and remembered that there were some huge white columns. While driving through town, we saw them. We were able to go over and let her spend some time there and took a few pics of her. There were also several couples there getting their pictures made for their weddings. We were really glad that she got to experience this.

That evening we drove back to Zhengzhou where we were able to spend some time with the Pam and Clay Williams. (To see more about them goto http://www.swallowsnestzz.org ) We wanted to spend Thanksgiving day in China with them because they are doing some incredible work. They run several foster homes where they take the babies with the most severe needs and keep them in apartments. All of the workers are like-minded people. This is not a family situation where there is a mom and dad, but it is a place where the babies get a lot of attention, love, and are prayed for regularly. The success rate of these babies getting better and getting adopted is very, very good.

A few of the 5 star hotels provide a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving, but they are extremely expensive. As an alternative, we went to a local place that was featuring Peking Duck and it was fabulous! There is so much that we are thankful for as a family because of what China has meant to us. It was a unique opportunity to spend Thanksgiving there.

We finally ended our trip in Shanghai. About a year ago, I met a young Chinese man in the Pensacola airport. He was here for three weeks for work. We had him over for dinner a couple of times and took him to a high school football game (the highlight of his time in America). We have stayed in touch with each other and he wanted us to visit his family. We took him up on the offer and they treated us to a great day in Shanghai. We visited the Oriental Pearl Tower, The Bund, and ended the day at one of nicest restaurants I have ever enjoyed.

Our flights back home were not only uneventful, but Beth and I got upgraded to business class! For takeoff and landing, Xiaoli sat with Beth and I sat with James in coach. After we got up in the air, I moved to the lay down seat! We were only a couple of rows ahead of the kids and some poor lady had the window seat while James was in the middle and Xiaoli was on the aisle. There were two business class seats beside us that were empty and we asked the flight attendants to move the kids up with us. I even explained that they are deaf and it would be easier on everyone to do so. She said it was against policy and that Beth or I could sit in coach with one of them. I politely told her the Beth and I would be sitting in the business class section and that they would have to "baby sit" the kids. Hopefully we will not be asked about that incident on our next homestudy...

Thanks for reading about our travels and work in China. Sorry it took so long to get some updates on here. You can see many more pictures on Beth's facebook page.

China Part 1

SINCE I COULD NOT BREAK THROUGH THE "GREAT FIREWALL OF CHINA" DURING OUR RECENT TRIP, I WILL POST THE NOTES THAT I MADE IN SEQUENCE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS


Well… an interesting couple of days… Made it Beijing Saturday night and went straight to bed. Sunday was very cold with 50 mile per hour wind gusts – nice. However we braved Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall, and (what I call) The “Great” Silk Street Market. Guess which one we spent the most money at? The best part was the opportunity to spend time with our good friend Wang Yong Bo (Bob). He has been a guide for us on every trip to China (he is the guy in both adoption video’s bringing the kids to us).
We then took the overnight train from Beijing to Kaifeng. We had no interpreter and none of the workers on the train spoke English. I had a note that asked “is Kaifeng the next stop?” and they were getting tired of telling me “no”. We finally got to the right stop and I am sure there are still jokes being told about the “da bizi” (a not-so-nice word used to reference Americans meaning “big nose”.)

I don’t even have words to describe the welcome reception given to James. The deaf school is now in their third location since we started our relationship with them. We first took a tour then they took us to a room where the party was about to begin. The video is not edited but I will put up a couple of clips and pics. It was as if a King had returned to his throne. James really does inspire the teachers and children at the school.



After all of this, we went and had a meeting with the staff where I was able to encourage them with some Words that will never fade away. The interpreter is not like minded so it was very interesting. He is an older man who is very, very smart and wise. He has traveled the world. He told us later that he owned a copy of the Good Book. That evening, he opened it and read the story again that we had talked about. He said that he was very moved. He was also very overwhelmed that people like us would adopt a child with special needs. At one point he said, “I want to ask you a very direct question, how and why do you do this?” (open door, insert foot and start talking). This began our conversation with him about how it takes faith to adopt a child. We were able to share our entire story with him. In the end, we agreed that all religions have some good teachings and that you can find good people anywhere – but that is only when we use man as the comparison. When we use God as the comparison, we are not so good. Only One could could claim to be the Good Shepherd.

He said that he was raised to believe that the government was god. For a person like this, there are many, many layers that have to be cut through to get to the heart and the truth. I would ask that you would remember our friend Leo as he is really wrestling with all of this. Even when I wanted to pay him some money for interpreting for us for the two days he said, “But remember, you will need this money for all of these children” to which I responded, “didn’t you hear me? God is faithful and he will meet every need that I have.” That really put him in a tailspin. He gave me his email address and asked that we stay in touch.

In the next couple of days, I will write about Xiaoli’s visit to her city and our Shanghai friends.

Churches and BCS

I found this great testimony from the pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Hattiesburg, MS. This makes me proud to represent Bethany Christian Services.

Grace Transforms
From Dr. Sean Michael Lucas

My dear friends:

This past Monday, I had the wonderful privilege to play in the golf tournament sponsored by Bethany Christian Services. For those who are not aware, First Presbyterian Church partnered together with Woodland and Bay Street Presbyterian Churches to start our local chapter for Bethany Christian Services. This is a ministry that Sara and I support financially because of the way it serves the Gospel: Bethany is the largest Christian adoption and crisis pregnancy service in the country. If you want to find out more about Bethany, go to http://www.bethany.org/.

Not only does God use this ministry to redeem lives out of difficult or painful situations, but he also uses it to teach us something of his glorious Gospel of adoption. As our Westminster Confession of Faith puts it, all those whom God justifies, he "makes partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God" (WCF 12). Bethany Christian Services provides a conduit for children to experience adoption; in doing so, they learn a bit of the gracious Gospel. Just as is true for them by physical adoption, in Christ, we have God's name put on us; we receive God's own Spirit; we have access to God's house and throne; and we are enabled to call him "Abba, Father."

As wonderful as it was to support Bethany Christian Services the other day, I played golf poorly. Not just poorly, but really poorly. The kind of poorly when you come home and tell your wife, "I am never going to play golf again." The kind of poorly where you come home after playing eighteen holes and you go out to run three miles simply to work out your negative feelings. The kind of poorly where you feel frustrated and ashamed because you feel like you are letting everyone else down when you are playing.

But as I was running, something happened to me. As all the negative feelings-guilt, shame, frustration, anger-rolled around inside my head and gut, I began to picture myself running to Jesus. I began to hear God's Word in my ears and heart: "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of the new covenant" (2 Cor 3:5-6). My competence, my sufficiency is not tied to swinging a golf club, preaching a sermon, correcting my child, writing a book, listening to a church member or a hundred other things that I may do well or do poorly. My competency and sufficiency is from God through Jesus by the Spirit; God looks at me through Jesus and sings, shouts, and rejoices, "Competent, sufficient, mine!"

I needed to run to Jesus to hear that I am his adopted child, pitied, protected, provided for, sometimes chastened, but never cast off. Guilt, shame, anger, frustration are all wiped out when I hear him say, "You are mine." How about you? Do you need to run to Jesus today? Do you need him to remind you in the midst of your guilt, shame, anger, and frustration that you are not an orphan, but an adopted child? Do you need for him to say once again, "You are mine!"?

In the grip of God's grace,
Sean

Pittsburgh and Safe Families

I get the same response in almost all of my travels when I tell people that I live in Pensacola, FL. They all want to know what it is like "living at the beach". Technically, we live on the very northern end of Pensacola. As a family, we went to the beach one time this year... I am probably a bad Dad. Actually, I am a mountains person. Geographically speaking, Lynchburg, VA was our favorite place to live. We loved the weather (even the snow) and especially the mountains in the fall. This week I was in Pittsburgh working with our Western PA office. While the plane was landing, I saw the colors of the trees and was so jealous.

I was introducing the Safe Families for Children model for several churches in the area. This is an incredible new program that is now functioning in ten states. This program prevents children from having to enter the foster system when other options are available. Many families have lost their jobs, savings, and homes during the recession. Could you imagine living on the streets with your children while you were trying to get back on your feet? What about a young mother with no family support who has just given birth to a child and is experiencing postpartum depression?

Before our churches got too educated and sophisticated, the church used to take care of these children. Now we rely on the government to do it. This should not be the case. True biblical hospitality says to these families, we will care for your children. Safe Families is not designed to step into recurring situations for repeat offenders. It is designed to help those who are in a crisis and need someone to care for their children on a temporary and voluntary basis.

I will share more about the specifics in the next couple of posts. For now, here is a video from CBS news where they interviewed my friend, and founder of Safe Families, Dr. Dave Anderson. VIDEO

Heading to China

It has been over two years since I was last in China. In a few weeks Beth, James, Xiaoli, and I will head back over for about 8 days. This will be a special trip because it will be Xiaoli's first trip back since her adoption. She was almost six years old when we adopted her so she has a lot of memories from there. James is a little more nervous than she is. He was four when we adopted him and his experiences there were not as positive as Xiaoli's. His orphanage was in much worse conditions.

You never know what a trip like this might bring up in a child. The smells, sights, (no sounds for them since they are deaf), the feeling of being in the majority again as an Asian will be very exciting to their senses. This can either produce an overload of excitement or cause shutdown. Each child handles it differently.

Another exciting aspect about the trip includes scarves. Beth's mom battled cancer from 2008 to early 2010. During that time she began knitting scarves for the children at James' and Xiaoli's orphanages. We have over 100 scarves that we will be taking with us to hand out to the children. As you could imagine, this will be a pretty emotional time for all of us but especially Beth.

We will be there during the week of Thanksgiving while some other friends and family stay here to look after the house and our oldest two kids. I can't wait to post some pics and to be able to share more stories!