Bethany News Blog : Archive

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In February 2009, the Grand Rapids Press featured Irina, a sixth-grader from West Michigan, and the story of her school raising money for a new prosthetic arm. On April 26, the Press reported that hundreds of readers contributed to the school’s fundraiser that has topped $55,000 to date. The Birds added to their family of 8 children when they adopted Irina and two of her sisters from Russia between 2000 and 2003 through Bethany Christian Services. Since then, the Birds have a tradition of bringing Christmas cookies to Bethany staff every year. Read more about Irina and how the community has supported her and her family

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/04/fund_drive_for_cummings_elemen.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/02/grandville_school_family_reach.html

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Adoption Experts in Indianapolis
By Kimber Graves

           
Jennifer Wolosin   Monisha Mannan  Tara VanderWoude   LuAnn Woodruff

While nearly a dozen staff members at the Indianapolis office have merged their personal and professional lives by adopting children, four staff members were adopted as infants. Their personal experiences afford them a unique perspective about the services we provide at Bethany.

Monisha Mannan, Tara VanderWoude, Jennifer Wolosin, and LuAnn Woodruff recently shared some poignant insights about the significance of adoption in her life. For each woman, information about her birthfamily was scarce to non-existent.

“I was told as a child that my birthmother was a teenager,” shares Jennifer, who was adopted at five weeks old. “When I was 12, my parents helped me write a letter to my adoption agency, asking questions that were important to me. Of most interest, I discovered that the two previous generations were all African American. I had been raised identifying myself as bi-racial, and it seems that I'm not.”

Born in South Korea and adopted around age one, Tara had incomplete knowledge of her adoption story. “I knew I lived in an orphanage, but that was the extent of it,” she relates. “Having little to no information has caused me to either think little of my past or, at times, to fantasize and wonder: Was I born to a poor family or were my Korean parents wealthy, so my birthmother’s pregnancy had to be hidden for some reason. Was I conceived from two people who loved each other or who only knew each other casually?”

LuAnn, whose adoptive parents took her home directly from the hospital, also grew up without any awareness of her birthfamily. She reflects, “One thought that has always followed me, is: Who do I look like? I don't have any physical resemblance to my adoptive family, and it would have been nice to have a photo or additional information.”

 “I have always known I was adopted,” says Monisha. “I am an advocate for telling children the truth about their origin. Because I was told so early and there was no secrecy surrounding my adoption, I never perceived it to be negative. My parents told me they chose me from all of the other babies and that I was special. I believed that. I have always believed that.”

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Pro-life organization CatholicVote.org, sponsored by the pro-life Catholic group Fidelis, is behind an ad that focuses on the lives of political and business leaders, sports figures, and others who all could have become victims of abortion, but, instead, were welcomed into loving families via adoption.
The ad is scheduled to air next week during the American Idol Season Finale.

View the commercial and read the full story at lifenews.com

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When Karin and Jerry Freihammer began their adoption journey with Bethany Christian Services, they had no idea what God had in store for their family.  Initially seeking a “healthy” infant from China, they eventually decided to open up to children with special placement needs and truly allow God to show them His plans.  They were excited to bring home their daughter, JunFen, in April, 2008. JunFen has what some would consider moderate to severe medical needs, but the Freihammers just saw her as their daughter.  JunFen recently had extensive surgery and was followed by a local news station. Enjoy her heartwarming story here:
www.wcco.com/video/?id=60075@wcco.dayport.com  

You can also read more about the story in their own words in the April 6, 2009 entry on Bethany’s China blog:
http://www.bethany.org/blogs/chinablog.nsf

And on the family’s personal blog:
www.journeytojunfen.com

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Last night, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric featured the Safe Families for Children program as the first installment in a series about children and the recession.
View the report  

Originally started in 2002 by Chicago-based LYDIA Home Association, Bethany Christian Services has since partnered with LYDIA to run a Safe Families for Children program in both Atlanta and Chattanooga.

For more information visit:

www.bethany.org/atlanta

www.bethany.org/chattanooga

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