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, September 18, 2024, and I'm coming to you from Birmingham, Alabama. Well, today on the Defender podcast, I'm joined by our senior director of international adoption, Karla Thrasher, and we have an opportunity, really, to speak of a very heavy subject, an announcement that came from the People's Republic of China concerning and regarding intercountry adoptions in the future of the participation of intercountry adoptions between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America. And, specifically, we're gonna tell you a little bit about what that means.

We're gonna tell you a little bit about how you can be praying, especially for the almost 300 children that were still caught in the pipeline that had been matched with US families, and we're awaiting those families to come. And, you know, before I do bring on, Carla, I do wanna remind you that even though this topic is hard and difficult, and even though international adoption is a faith journey with many ups and downs, and certainly for many families that were hoping to expand their family and to to be a family to a child in need in China. This news is very tragic, but as a reminder, there are 1,000, millions of children around the world that need homes through intercountry adoption. And so I think we would be remiss if we didn't remind you that we still need families for children. And so if you or your family have ever felt the call of the Lord to intercountry adoption, even with this very somber announcement and the somber news and this hard news, we would ask, would you reach out and learn more about intercountry adoption?

Because we don't need to allow news like this that we believe, is is difficult and hard to be a catalyst that stops Christian missional families from seeking to be a family to a child in need around the world. So reach out to our team. Go to lifelinechild.org, and learn more about international adoption, the countries, and the children that are looking for families. We would love nothing more than on the heels of this adoption to find this grief be filled with joy in seeing another child come home to a missional Christian family. So with that, before I bring on Carla, I do wanna read to you the announcement that our team received on September 4th of 2024 from the US Department of State.

It was addressed to adoption service providers with a note to families, and the note to families read as follows. The Department of State has received a notification from the People's Republic of China, PRC, Ministry of Civil Affairs, MCA, stating the following. Beginning August 28, 2024, except for foreigners adopting step children and children of collateral relatives within 3 generations in China, civil affair departments across China will no longer carry out foreign adoption work. Upon receiving this information via a formal note, we spoke with the MCA on September 2nd. The MCA verbally stated to US consulate staff in Guangzhou that this announcement applies to all pending adoptions as well as those being considered in the future.

The MCA told us they completed processing of all cases with previously issued travel authorizations and will not continue to process cases at any stage other than the collateral relative exceptions noted above. Our embassy and the People's Republic of China will request the information we receive verbally in writing so that we can be certain we understand PRC policies going forward and share them with you. We know this is devastating notice to many of you who have been waiting for years, my editorial note over 5 years, to complete an adoption in the PRC. We never wish to be the bearer of bad news, but we are committed to transparency and wanted to share this information with you as we received it. We understand the distress this announcement will cause you, and our hearts are with you.

After we were notified, we immediately began strategizing internally about our response so we can raise our deep concerns with the Chinese government at senior levels. We will keep you updated on our efforts. If families have specific questions, please address them to your adoption service provider. And adoption service providers, please group questions in emails to the ASP adoption inbox. We will do our best to obtain answers knowing that working with the PRC, MCA, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs is challenging.

And it was addressed at the Office of Children's Issues, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State. And, Carla, I I know for us, we spoke about 2 really heartbreaking things on this correspondence. Number 1, you and I both said it was like the death of a really good friend. You've been at Lifeline for 23 years. I've been at Lifeline for just over 21.

And all of those 21 and 23 for you have been intimately working in some regards with the China adoption process. But then, on another aspect, was the sudden, almost out of the blue, discontinuation of these pending adoptions. Talk to us a little bit more from your perspective, and first on a heart level, how this announcement hit you?

Yeah. Yeah. Herbie, you, you summed it up well. It felt it felt like a death. It felt like a huge piece of us, you know, was no longer with us.

And I speak for our entire team here at Lifeline. You know, we, have walked with these families for 5 plus years and, you know, these families have been amazing. They have remained faithful. They have remained committed through 5 long years of no information, you know, challenging information. And, you know, speaking directly to the announcement that we received on September 4th, it truly came out of the blue and just blindsided us.

We had had some small, what we thought were steps in a positive direction in the 3 or 4 weeks prior to receiving this announcement. So we were kind of cautiously getting our hopes up again and thinking, we were headed in a good direction. And then this announcement just came out of the blue. And it was interesting because it came from our Department of State where typically announcements of this magnitude would come directly to us from the Chinese government. Came on a random Wednesday afternoon, which was also, you know, just kind of interesting.

And we immediately sent an email out to our families inviting them to jump on a Zoom call because it really felt cold, just to forward an email, to families that we knew had already experienced so much heartache and heartbreak. And there just wasn't any part of any of us, and Herbie, I'll include you in that, that thought it was okay that these families were just gonna be receive this information in an email. So we jumped on the Zoom call with a large portion of our waiting families and just the shock and disbelief even looking at their faces. And many were angry. All of them were sad.

And we just took a minute and we just prayed together and just listened and processed. And, you know, our commitment to our families throughout this entire five and a half years has been that we're going to continue to fight for these children. We're going to continue to advocate for these children. And that's where we really left it on that day is that we were looking into things. We were asking questions and we were going to continue to fight for the children until all the doors were closed.

Yeah. For sure. And, you know, I I think people may wonder if they've not been in the China adoption process or if they haven't been even as intimately engaged with the China adoption process, they may hear us say, families have been waiting for 5 years, and you were blindsided by this announcement. I I think what's fair to even explain that is we have been advocating for these children, both with the PRC, with the Chinese Embassy in the US, and with members of Congress, as well as the executive branch for the last 5 years, and everything that we have heard was announcement will be forthcoming about the ability of how we're gonna look at processing these adoptions. I think even to categorize it, it's fair to say we weren't completely shocked that they weren't going to be accepting new applications from new families.

But it's funny, and and without getting into too much information that could be potentially confidential, 41 minutes before the announcement came out, I had gotten a positive note from a high ranking member of congress, one of the highest ranking members of congress, from his staff stating that they had just had a talk with the embassy and that the embassy was even saying that they may start processing these adoptions sooner, at least looking at the family's ability and desire to continue with those adoptions. So we we weren't completely broadsided by the discontinuation of the future adoptions, but to bring in these waiting families and waiting children was certainly something that was shocking.

Absolutely. You know, these are families that several of them had even hosted these children in their home in 2019 through a hosting program, that Lifeline participated in with an orphanage in China. So I think just the the magnitude of knowing that some of these families knew these children, these children knew these families expected that these families were coming for them. Over the past 5 years, these families have communicated with the children through Zoom calls, through letters and sending care packages. So everything has always moved in a direction of the families with pending processes or the families that were matched.

I don't think we ever saw those families not moving forward. I think we thought we saw it just being a matter of time. And, you know, Herbie, just kind of bigger picture. I think just the past 5 years have just been a shock to the whole international adoption community. Because when you talk about China, you talk about for the past 30 years, this program being what other countries look to.

It's been called a, a well oiled machine. It's very predictable. It's steady. You haven't seen the ups and downs that you've seen with other international programs. So I think just seeing, just experiencing this where the largest country in the intercountry adoption community, you know, a country that has sent over 86,000 children to the US, Just seeing what happened in 2020 when we shut down due to COVID and then with the announcement earlier this month, it's just really been a shock to the community as a whole.

And, you know, like I said earlier, our first steps were to connect with our Department of State, our Office of Children's Issues, all the amazing congressmen and senators that have advocated on behalf of these children and to let them know, you know, our expectation is that we are asking questions about these these waiting children and families with a process that's pending. There's a little bit of confusion with regard to the wording in the actual announcement that we really kind of honed in on and asked some very specific questions of our government. But I would encourage everybody on this call, if you have connections, with people in high ranking places that can impact these conversations and help to put pressure on people in the, in the highest offices to help us ask these questions and help us to continue to fight for families for these children. Lifeline as a ministry doesn't take children being denied families very lightly. So this is where we've placed all our energy over the past couple of weeks.

Yeah. And, you know, I I think that even to to add maybe just a little color to things you've said, several of the countries that we work with now in cooperation with Finding Families for Children, Colombia, Costa Rica, even India, have all taken diplomatic trips to the PRC to learn about their adoption process. Mhmm. And so in some regards, China's adoption program was a barometer to the health of international participation in child welfare. And certainly, we know that China's economy has has been bolstered.

There is a little bit more openness upon the the population as as such towards adoption, but still not to the level of really caring for some of these children, as you've spoken to, that that had significant needs. We had waiting children that had Down syndrome, had congenital heart defects, you know, were were blind. Children that just typically and we're finding families in the PRC. And even if they were, they would have already found the family in the last 5 years that would have brought these children in. So all of these children are children that still very much need loving families and loving families that weren't being identified in the PRC.

I think, though, the other piece is we know that some of this is probably political. There is growing tension between China and more western style nations, including Europe, including the United States. However, Carla, I I do think one of our issues and the reason that we're still trying to go to our congressmen, our senators, as well as to the executive branch to diplomatically go and ask China to reconsider on behalf of the waiting children is because we have heard word. We've not substantiated it, but we have heard word that in a couple of European countries that they are preparing some of these same families that have been matched with some of these same children to get ready to travel. Can you can you talk a little bit about the discrepancy in what we're hearing in the United States versus what we're seeing happen in in parts of Western Europe?

Yeah. So the positive steps that I was referring to that we had seen over the past couple of months now were that there were a couple of European countries that have been contacted by the Chinese government with regard to asking if the families in those countries were still interested in moving forward with adoption and then going as far as having them be prepared, to move forward with traveling to China to finalize adoption. So those are the kinds of things that we really want to be sure we've clarified. Why would other nations be allowed to move forward if the US is not being allowed to move forward? Is it a matter of time?

Can somebody clarify for us, maybe these countries are going first and the US, will go next? But probably those are the discrepancies that we're really trying to look into and really pressuring our government, our Department of State, who is our central authority when it comes to intercountry adoption. Are you asking these questions? Have you contacted these governments? Have you made contact with other agencies to ensure they received the same message?

These are things that, you know, I feel these families need to know. You know, anybody that is advocating for waiting children needs to continue to ask these challenging questions. The the stakes are just too high. I mean, these are children that, as you said, need homes, need families, need medical care. And, you know, in the case of Lifeline, our mission and vision is that these children are placed in homes where they're going to learn about Jesus and experience the love of Christ.

And in my book, that's that's a reason to keep going. That's why we continue to ask the questions.

So, Carla, I I do wanna give just something. On September 11th, there was a letter that was written from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. So these are a bipartisan group of both senators and representatives. This bipartisan coalition sent a letter to the director of the Office of Children's Issues, who is over, the diplomacy from the state department. Not sure if I can read the letter in its entirety, but, certainly, what they were asking the Department of State to do was to urge Chinese officials to finalize the cases of the children that had already been matched with their adopted families and to unite them as well as to continue to advocate on behalf of these children.

What I can bring to light as an organization, we also have pressed out towards officials some of the same messages that were in this letter from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption on ways to advocate what we were asking our Department of State to do. So I'm gonna read a couple of those suggestions that we had to members of Congress as well as to the executive branch. So one of the things is we were asking our Department of State to reach out to some of these Western European nations and to confirm that they had received the same verbal message and to also confirm that there are families that are preparing to travel to finalize these adoptions. There's still this confusion, as we've mentioned just there. We've also asked the Department of State to advocate on the highest level for these waiting children.

It's our understanding that some of these Western European nations have sent delegations that include their highest level of state, their heads of state, to advocate for these children. So we're asking that our executive branch send either the secretary of state or even the president or vice president to China in order to advocate. We're also asking that the highest levels of the US government would allow for a delegation to be sent to China made up of officials, adopted families that are waiting, as well as adoption service providers. And, Carla, I think it's important that we also say that the letter initially talked about MCA, you know, Ministry Civil Affairs, but what we've heard is it's actually foreign civil affairs that is where we need to take the message to. They're the ones in China.

They're foreign civil affairs that are ultimately going to bring about change. And then last, but certainly not least, we want to make sure that Department of State translated the statement on pending adoptions correctly. Was it pending adoptions that had not been matched, or did it for sure include those pending adoptions that had already been matched with children? I guess, in whole, how can people that are listening to this podcast advocate members of Congress, people within their government, even their governors, to advocate for these waiting children who had been matched with families?

Herbie, everything you just said, all of those very specific questions would be at the top of the list. Just if you know somebody that has these higher level connections, we can get you a copy of these questions to get to them to move forward. Over the past 5 years, whenever we've had a chance, we've put in the hands of high ranking officials pictures of these children, not identifying information, of course, but information about their needs, so that people understand these are children that are in need of of all types of care. These are children that have now gone without a lot of care even for the past 5 years throughout the the world pandemic. Obviously, praying for these children, for these waiting families.

Through the last 5 years, as we've met with our families every month for a Zoom call, we've prayed specifically for one person, that will hear our plea and will get up out of their seat and say enough is enough. Somebody needs to help these children and care for these families. So praying specifically for that one person who is gonna hear this and kind of take on this battle and speak about this at the highest level. Also, throughout the last 5 years, we have petitioned congress, senators, anybody that has connections with high ranking officials that are having conversations with the Chinese government. We have asked, can you please get us on an agenda where this would come up in a conversation so that communication could even be had regarding this challenge between our countries.

So any of those things, you know, it's really about just getting the right people to speak into these conversations and to advocate for these children, on the highest possible level.

Well, speak, if you will, to how people I mean, you mentioned, and then that was gonna be a question for sure that I had as well, but, you know, you've mentioned people praying. What what are ways that that people can pray on behalf of these children in China, but also for these children that are waiting?

Yeah. You know, obviously, for for the waiting children, these 300 plus specific children, that there would be a path made for these families and children to be together. I'd also ask that that people pray just overall for the children that will be left behind. We already can't even imagine that these orphanages aren't bursting at their seams with 5 plus years of of no children actually leaving the orphanages. So just care that these children will be cared for, that the Lord would just place angels amongst them, that will care for them well.

And I'd also ask that you pray for just this very, very, very brave group of waiting families. And we tell our lifeline Lifeline families all the time, you know, you guys are such a special group and, you know, you you will always hold such a special place in our hearts. But these are families that have continually invested their hearts into these relationships, their time into keeping paperwork updated, looking for information, attending meetings. They've invested money financially to keep processes going. So prayers for them would also be appreciated.

And just, again, just for all of us that are advocating that somebody would hear our voice, that one person would stand up and say, we've gotta do something about this, and that people would then take action. And then just kind of bigger picture, I just pray I I know. I have the assurance that the Lord is always working and that this situation will be it will be for his glory. And I just pray that through this, that even our team in China, you know, we've worked really hard to ensure that they hear the gospel and that we've cared for them well throughout this pandemic and this challenging season with adoption, that the Lord would just bring glory to this situation and it would not be, you know, for naught.

So as we pray, I guess, next thing I would say is, what's next? Like, what do we see as the next around the horizon? Yeah. What's next even for Lifeline with with China? Are are we giving up on China?

Are we kinda seeing this as a shut door and we're walking away after advocating, of course, for these waiting children? What do you see as the next steps?

Yeah. So, obviously, continuing to work towards, clarifying the challenges with the pending adoptions and advocating for those children. But Herbie and I have met a couple times already and talked about, alright, what is what is phase 2? We know through some conversations we've had that it could be possible for us to get back into China to care for the children that are in the orphanages and that won't be adopted speaking specifically of children with behavioral needs, medical needs. So we're looking at the possibilities of a foster center again, a therapy center.

What are some ways that we truly can come back into the country, care for the children, and again, just make the gospel known as our primary mission and vision. So we've already started talking about down the road. We are not turning our back on these children. These children mean so much to so many. Herbie and I took our 1st trip to China together and toured orphanages that those images have never left our minds.

This is a country that our entire ministry, you know, fell in love with and participated in all of the different hosting camps and, you know, trips to China, our unadopted trips, all of the things. So this is a country that we are, we are so invested in and we'll continue to look for ways to to impact this country for the gospel going forward.

I think it's fair even just to say, Roos, that in a lot of ways, it's it's because of China that that we're here. As you and I speaking, just that love for that country and the country of China, it's a it's a lot of of kind of kind of what our our calling is is based upon, is is China and is this adoption program and and the children of China caring so intimately for them. Lastly, just as we close, and and I know we've we've touched on this, but if somebody is is sitting there, they're listening to this, what is something that you would say outside of prayer, outside of advocacy? What can they do, especially if they know one of these families that's impacted?

That's a great question, Herbie. And, you know, and I would say, you know, again, pray for these families, but wrap around these families. If you are in a church where you have waiting families, ask them how you can help them. Like, what specifically are their needs? I know a lot of these families have financial needs right now, again, having invested a lot of their financial resources into this program.

Orphan care ministries like Lifeline, we've invested a lot financially, you know, if if the Lord lays upon your heart to maybe help in that way. And I would say too just not letting it not letting this die, with a situation like what's happening in China. As Herbie opened our podcast today, there are millions of children all over the world that still need homes and families, And China could be the catalyst that reminds us of the need, you know, of the the orphan crisis that we are still continuing to see all over the world. So I would say just, you know, caring for them physically, but also caring for something, a vision that is so important to them and letting them know that you are taking up this cause with them and caring for orphans all over the world.

Then, again, I I certainly don't wanna be inappropriate to the moment, but to end on a positive note, there are still programs where we need families.

Mhmm.

There are still so many opportunities for families to make a difference in the life of a child. And we see that difference. I mean, even as the very sad, tragic information has come out about China, we've had families reach out to us with videos of their children singing hymns of of how their children have come to saving faith in Christ Jesus, of even siblings that have talked about in written letters how much their adopted siblings mean to them that have come from China. If someone's listening to this podcast and maybe what is stirring up in them is, I need to adopt a child before it's too late, what's the process look like, and how can they get started in an adoption journey?

Yeah. I love that you asked that question that way, Herbie, because I feel like this situation, as heartbreaking as it is, has truly energized our team. We get lulled into just a kind of a complacency of of doing what we do every day, but this is a true reminder of countries not offering us this opportunity. You know, right now, we have an opportunity for a hosting program that's coming up in December, through the country of Colombia. We're looking for approximately 10 families that would be willing to host some precious children in their home for 2 weeks.

That's one opportunity. And just we have, you know, 18 other international programs that, you know, we can share more about, but definitely reach out to us, reach out to our team, let us share each of these countries' unique characteristics. You know, let us help you figure out which country would be the best fit for your family. Learn more about the orphan crisis. Learn more about these waiting children that are in such desperate need for moms and dads and families to call their own.

So, again, please reach out to our team, learn more about intercountry adoption, and let's not let this disappointment lead to what could be a a downplay or even to a decrease of missional Christian families that are looking to provide homes to children in desperate need, all around the world. And so we look forward to to joining you with you together again on a future episode of the Defender Podcast. Please pray on behalf of these waiting children. Pray for the children of China. Pray for the church of China to raise up, to to work with, and care for orphans and vulnerable children domestically.

And, ultimately, let's be faithful to what the Lord calls us each and every day as we defend the fatherless. We look forward to seeing 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 Life Line, visit us at lifelinechild.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 to 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.