Welcome to the Defender Podcast, a resource to help mobilize and equip the body of Christ to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services, and I'm your host, Herbie Newell. It's Wednesday, January 29, 2025, and I'm coming to you from Birmingham, Alabama. Well, today, we are joined once again by Carla Thrasher, and what we really wanna do is unfortunately mark the 5 years of suspension of foreign adoptions in China. And today is actually the day that 5 years ago, the COVID 19 pandemic shut down what we thought would be temporarily adoptions from China internationally.

Obviously, we've seen a handful of families and a handful of children come home over the last 5 years. We still have 300 children that are desperately waiting for their families without any true future insight. And so we wanna give you an update on this 5 year anniversary, but also as we see a new president come in, maybe just some hope, a glimmer of hope that we have heard, that might invoke a difference at least in these 300 children coming home before we do bring her on. Of course, Carla is no stranger to the defender podcast. She is a licensed social worker with a degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a certified TBRI practitioner to the TCU, Karen Purvis Institute of Child practitioner through the TCU, Karen Purvis Institute of Child Development.

She joined Lifeline in 2,000 and 1, and she is the senior director of international adoption. Carla and her husband, Jamie, have 3 children and 2 grandchildren, 2 granddaughters that live here in Birmingham. So, Carla, you know, as we just think about and I know a lot of people have heard about and, certainly, we've done podcast about it, but just give us a short, again, kind of background on this 5 year anniversary of this suspension.

Thanks, Herbie, and thanks for having me on again. As Herbie said, we're marking the 5 year anniversary of the suspension of adoptions from China. And I think what makes this even more significant is when you talk about intercountry adoption from China, you're talking about a country that was at one time kind of the model, for all countries that participated in intercountry adoption. They were steady, they were predictable, they were reliable, their central authority was easy to work with. We had wonderful relationships, with the people that worked at the central authority Since 1992 when China began intercountry adoption, over a 160,000 children were adopted from China, over 82,000 of those coming to the US.

So I think those numbers and just that background makes this even more significant. So when Herbie began hearing about this virus that was happening in China and sharing it with our team. You know, we were paying attention, we were looking at ways to prepare our families. But on this day, 5 years ago, when the actual call came from China, that families were not to travel and adoptions were coming to a halt. You You know, at first, it was it was very surreal and we kinda went through the motions of calling the families and comforting them.

Several of them were just about to get on airplanes and and fly to China to meet their children. You know, at that time, I'll be really honest with you, looking back, we thought maybe a few weeks, you know, maybe a few months, and that turned into a year and then 2 years, 3 years, and then we find ourselves where we are today. And over that course of the 5 years, it became probably about the first couple years we received updates on the children. We were still receiving updates from the orphanages. Families were receiving pictures and videos, so they were able to keep track of how their children were doing.

Then at the end of 2022, that communication stopped as well. And I think at that point, I know Herbie will agree. I think we all kind of saw the writing on the wall that maybe we were starting to see the end of the typical adoption program, between the US and China. But I think what makes this situation more significant is we all held on to so much hope that the 400 families in process matched with children, that had, you know, invested so much time and heart and resources into this process. Our hope was that they would see, the day that they would meet their children.

Yeah. And, certainly, you know, I think as we go back, we remember too that we thought this was gonna be just a a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months, and certainly to realize that we're now half a decade, 5 years from that. To think of the time that these children have aged, to think of all of that, and it just reminds you daily of, of the global And and then, of course, it's a crisis affecting over a 140,000,000 children worldwide and many of these are are social orphans and they need more than just temporary aid. They need hope and love and security that only a a family can provide. And so we know while adoption is a beautiful way to answer this call, less than half a percent of these children will ever be adopted.

And so that's why we at Lifeline are committed to walking alongside families in this faith filled journey of international adoption, equipping them to step forward in obedience and to care for the vulnerable. And so even in this time of 5 years and the the grief, I would just encourage any family who says, instead of shrinking back from providing families for children around the world, I would encourage families to say, we need to be in a response because, you know, we look at these 300 children that still need to come home that have been matched in China. And while their lives are are are certainly it's tragic, there's also such hope that there are families that want them and are still in the pipeline and advocating for them and wanting them to come home. And so I would just even put the call out. If anyone's ever been interested in adoption, you can always visit our website at lifelinechild.org or lifelinechild.org backslash adoption.

So, Carla, even with that and into that point, 300 families still waiting. And then in September 2024, we got another announcement. Give us the update that we got in September 2024.

Right. So September 2024, we received notification from our department of state that China would no longer be participating in intercountry adoption. As I mentioned earlier, I don't think any of us were really surprised, by that announcement. But the hope continued to be that the 300 waiting families will be able to bring home the children that they were pursuing. And that kind of fast forwards us to today.

Lifeline, you know, really jumped in and began to advocate for those 300 families. We asked for clarity. We asked for information directly from China or the central authority in China. We really wanted the families to know that we were continuing to fight for them and for the children that they already considered to be their own. But kind of the same thing when that announcement came, we immediately scheduled a Zoom call, with our waiting families here.

Lifeline has about 48 of the 300 waiting families. So we scheduled a Zoom call. We got on the Zoom and, you know, honestly, we all just kind of looked at each other, for a few minutes. And even though this wasn't an announcement that maybe we weren't expecting, it was just very surreal that it was actually happening. So we comforted those families.

We let them know the plan moving forward, that this announcement, you know, as far as we were concerned, really just spurred us on, to fight for their families and for their children. And since that time, we've spent a lot of time with officials in very high places, based on the US side and communicating, with anybody we can on the Chinese side, really just advocating for specifically these children. These are children with every single one of them has some type of special need. These are children that will not be adopted domestically in China. So their fate is that they will be in orphanages for the rest of their lives, probably up until the age of 18.

And then beyond that, as we all know, the future's bleak. These are children that turn to lives of crime or begging or prostitution. So we really that's what spurs us on. It's the lives of those little children and just really wanting them to be cared for in families. We believe as a ministry that children belong in families.

Yeah. For sure. And, you know, we did talk with some of the folks in China and, you know, there's certainly not a promise, but there definitely is hope that with the new incoming administration, with our our new secretary of state, Marco Rubio, as well as the new president, especially if those will make an active ask of China, that potentially there still is hope for the 300 waiting children. Talk about, really, Carla, just the impact because we we talk about a lot of the developments. We talk a lot about the suspension.

Talk a lot about how that's happened, but but talk about the impact on the family and the family specifically and the children specifically.

Absolutely. And I'll start with the children. Over the the first couple years of the pandemic, the concern was that these are children with special needs that were not receiving the medical care, that was needed. We wondered if their needs were being met. We wondered if they had the supplies that they needed.

And then as time went on, we wondered about things like education and just socialization and all of those types of things that children would be in need of, that they would be receiving if they were able to be adopted into families that were going to meet those needs. When I talk about the families, Herbie, this is a group of families that just will forever have a very special place in my heart. These are families that these are families that were so are so committed to these children. I mean, we're talking over 5 years, we saw very little attrition, in our numbers of waiting families. Where you kind of expect that maybe some families will move on or the expense of keeping paperwork updated might be too great or just the grief might be too hard.

We have a group of families that has remained so committed to the children that they were pursuing and they will always be special. And knowing their commitment really inspired us as a team and a ministry to really just get in there with them and advocate with them for their children. Our team too, I'd like to throw them in there. Our team, there's just been a tremendous impact on our team here at Lifeline. We have prayed for these families every day.

We have advocated for funding to help them with expenses. We have had monthly Zoom support calls where sometimes we get on and there's not a lot to say, but we know we're there for each other. And I'd say to our team here at Lifeline, this is a group of young women that have also remained so committed to caring well for these families. You know, even as some families have had to make the

difficult decision maybe to let this process go or to move on just

based on their circumstances, this tremendous loss, You know, and that's why there is so much impact happening. But at the same time, I don't want to be remiss in mentioning that we've seen the Lord work in just amazing tremendous ways. Sustaining us all, opening doors of communication, you know, that that we prayed for. And I'd say too, just giving us hope that he remains steady and he remains sovereign. We trick ourselves sometimes into thinking that we're waiting for governments to move or waiting for certain people to make phone calls or send emails.

But ultimately, we know we're waiting on the Lord. And he's a God that changes the hearts of kings and he moves mountains, and that's where we place our trust today.

Amen. Amen. For sure. Well and, you know, through all of this, you talk about all the the work. You know, we certainly have done so much advocacy as well.

Advocacy to the highest levels with senators and policy makers, with the previous administration already with inroads to the new administration, you know, even partnerships with our organizations just to raise awareness. Talk a little bit about some of the specific advocacy that's happened through groups like CCAI, you know, this governor's letter. And for people that that that are listening, just what's already been done on the advocacy front since September?

Yeah. Since September, I know that there are there are people who have organized letters, like Kirby had mentioned one that was signed by, I think, over half of the governors, in the United States. There's been letters that have been signed by very high officials asking president or former president Biden to please reach out, and address the officials in China. Even on the kind of the grassroots level, there's a website now for all the waiting families that was organized by a very proactive waiting mama. Lifeline has circulated documents with the information on the children and the pictures, because we wanna be sure people know these aren't just names or these aren't just numbers.

These are are real little children waiting for families. I know Herbie and a group of men met with the embassy in DC, the Chinese embassy in DC. Again, just trying to make any kind of inroads with people who could impact the conversations that were happening, about the decision to allow these families to move forward.

Yeah, for sure. And, you know, Bruce, so much of that has been done, but but how would you call people that are listening to this who say, well, what can I do? Maybe they're adoptive families who've been through this process, and they're just grieved to see this going on or maybe even families there's that are one of these these 300 families. What what's a call to action? What can people do to really even try to advocate for these waiting kids and and maybe even to see the doors open back up in China?

Yeah. I'd say, you know, 1st and foremost, just pray. Just pray for doors to be opened, emails to be answered, phone calls to be answered, just very the very practical things. I'd also encourage families that are waiting or, you know, former adoptive families, tell your stories, make sure people know what it means for a child, an orphan to be adopted into a family. How that is just life changing for that child.

Reach out to officials in your area and let them know, hey, I heard about these waiting families. Could you please continue to raise this up to the highest levels, so that people will reach out to the people in China that, you know, can help with looking for solutions. I just have a very strong feeling about not letting this issue die. You know, there are over 300 little children on the end of this and 300 families that care so deeply for them, and it's just important that we continue to fight for them until we have final doors closed, that we're continuing to tell their stories. And, Herbie, you mentioned this a little bit ago and I'll circle back to it.

It's really important that we all just take heed with the orphan crisis. Every single day, the world becomes a more dangerous place for vulnerable children. And we're talking about children all over the world, not just China, but we're also talking about children in Haiti that are in the middle of just mass chaos in their country, children who have been impacted by the war in Ukraine. But just on the very practical day to day, there are children that live without moms and dads and anybody that's watching over them or caring for them or protecting them. And it is a it is a hard process.

It is a challenging process, but if you feel called to care for specifically older children, children with special needs or sibling groups, there are children that are waiting for you to answer that call.

Yeah. Amen. And again, if you're interested in adoption and, again, I think we hear these things and we get discouraged from adoption, but, really, it's a selfless act of inviting a child into your home who doesn't have a home to give them a hope and a future, you can always visit us at lifelinechild.org backslash adoption. Again, lifelinechild.org backslash adoption to let today be the day that you answer the call of God to care for one of his children either living around the world or maybe residing in a mother's womb today who's going through an unplanned crisis pregnancy. These children need us.

They need us to pray for them, to advocate for them, but they need us to be faithful to step forward no matter the hurdles and obstacles when god is calling us to do so. So we hope that you will visit lifelinechild.org backslash adoption. Thanks for joining us for the Defender Podcast. We hope to see you again next week. Thanks for listening to the Defender Podcast.

If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review The Defender Podcast to make it easier for more people to find. For more information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, visit us at life line child dot org. If you want to connect with me, please visit herbynewell.com. Follow us at lifeline on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org.

Beloved, will you allow God to use the gospel through you to impact the life of a child? Please contact us because we are here to defend the fatherless. We'll see you again next week for the Defender podcast.